Dirty by Debra Webb Read Free Book Online Page A

assessment of my feet then lifted a challenging eyebrow at me.   “In a heartbeat.”
    We’d had this discussion when my client first offered the shoes as a retainer fee and then the bag as final payment in full, but I decided to keep them for myself. I’ve been smitten since. The bag and shoes were my own personal cestus—imbued with vast feminine power. (There’s no need to spell it out, is there?) I would protect the one or both with my life.   I worked hard.   I deserved them.  
    Hobbs had never let me forget my one selfish act.   Well, maybe there had been two, but who was counting?   Once, just once I had taken a Victoria’s Secret gift card for payment. It had kept me in sexy undies for two years!
    The bell over the door jingled saving me from having to further defend my most obvious vanity flaw, or from having to use the leverage I had gained against Hobbs considering that phone call he’d made in front of Dawson this morning.   Taking advantage of the moment, I swiveled on the heel of my treasured footwear to greet my savior and, hopefully, rich, needy client.
    No such luck.
    “ Hola , Miss Jackie.”
    Alita, a petite Hispanic woman, modestly dressed in her usual plain gray dress that covered her from neck to knees and the kind of sturdy white shoes nurses wore, offered a broad smile as she hurried into the office.   Tucked beneath one arm was a FedEx envelope.
    “ Hola , Mr. Hobbs.”
    “ Hola ,” Hobbs said, scarcely glancing up.   He was still miffed about the Willis escapade.   I felt like throttling him and ranting, How do you think I feel?   But I resisted.   It was his job to keep the bottom line as far away from scraping the bottom as possible.   He wasn’t really mad at me, just my choices in men.   I was pretty pissed at myself.
    “Morning, Alita,” I said, canting my head so I could see the little boy hidden behind the skirt of his mother’s dress.   “Good morning, Emilio.”
    Big soulful brown eyes peeked around at me.   “ Hola ,” he returned shyly.   He wore khaki shorts and a T-shirt sporting a Transformer logo.   Emilio would start school in the fall.   Until then Alita would bring him to work with her most days.   As a single mom with no family on this side of the border daycare was far too expensive.
    “For you, Mr. Hobbs.”   Alita offered the envelope she held to my still stewing assistant.   “I sign for it outside.”   She smiled widely.   Alita was young, only twenty-four.   But her otherwise healthy complexion was lined by varying degrees of fatigue and hope.   Her shiny black hair was secured in a meticulous bun that defied any prospect of escape.   She was my ongoing pet project.   I couldn’t help myself.   I truly was a sucker for noble causes.   The two of us had studied together one night a week until she’d passed the test and gotten her citizenship papers.   Having been born in Texas, Emilio already possessed that privilege.
    “Emilio can stay with you this morning, Mr. Hobbs?” Alita ask hopefully.
    I hid a smile behind my hand.   She made the request from time to time when she had an office to clean where Emilio’s presence wouldn’t be so welcome.   Though he never turned her down, Hobbs occasionally grumbled about the extra duty, insisting that he wasn’t a babysitter.   But I knew the truth.
    He eyed the little boy warily.   “I could use some help keeping Miss Jackie straight today.” He glanced pointedly at me and I gave him a look that dared him to mention the shoes or the bag again.
    As my assistant conversed with the little boy Alita and I shared a knowing smile.   However tough Hobbs pretended to be, however much he complained, he was just as much a sap for the cute kid as me.
    With Emilio busy scattering the Legos my persnickety assistant kept in a box under his desk for the child he claimed not to want to be bothered with, Alita followed me into my office.
    “Miss Jackie, I am a problem.”
    “You have a