Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender by Maya Banks, Sylvia Day, Karin Tabke Read Free Book Online

she gave herself off. The rest of her time was spent studying or working.
    She hurriedly dressed, splashed water on her face, and pulled the unruly mass of her hair back and twisted it into a knot. Then she tiptoed back through the bedroom, stopping in the kitchen to leave a quick note. Just in case they got up before she did.
    On second thought, she’d better check to see if they had the fixings for breakfast, because if not she’d need to stop off at the twenty-four-hour grocery down the street. Eggs were cheap, as were cheese and mushrooms. She could make a mean omelet and she could make biscuits from scratch.
    She shook her head after searching the fridge. Judging by the takeout cartons and the pizza boxes, they ate out often and weren’t much on cooking.
    Satisfied with her plan, she quietly let herself out of the house and headed for her car.
    Twenty minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot of Powell’s Pub. As expected Merriam’s jeep was parked on the side, but the rest of the lot had long since been deserted.
    Digging into her purse for the key she hadn’t yet returned, she got out and hurried to the door. After letting herself in, she headed toward Merriam’s office in the back, and sure enough, light shone from underneath the door.
    Jessie paused, sucked in her breath, squared her shoulders, and knocked.
    “Who the hell is it?” Merriam demanded. “I’ve got a gun, just so you know.”
    Jessie was well acquainted with the gun Merriam kept behind her desk. Merriam liked to flash it around and generally let it be known she armed herself. She said it discouraged dumbasses from trying to score easy cash.
    “It’s Jessie, Merriam. I need to talk to you.”
    There was a long pause. “Come in.”
    Jessie opened the door and peered in to see Merriam sitting behind her desk, a scowl on her face.
    “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming back here after walking out last night.”
    Jessie’s mouth dropped open. “You fired me! What the hell else was I supposed to do?”
    “You seemed interested enough in working the night out until those two cops started sniffing around you.”
    Jessie was convinced the woman had never smiled in her life. She was wrinkled, looked about seventy, even though Jessie knew she was in her fifties, and she had the deep rasp of a lifelong smoker.
    “Look, Merriam, I didn’t steal anything from you. You have no proof and I want my job back.”
    Jessie was absurdly proud of how confident and forceful she sounded.
    Merriam’s lips thinned. “I know you didn’t steal the money. But I’m not happy about you skipping out of here last night so I haven’t decided if you get your job back yet.”
    Again Jessie’s mouth flopped open. “You know I didn’t steal the money? And you fired me anyway? Are you crazy?”
    “You aren’t making a case for me rehiring you,” Merriam said dryly. “I didn’t find out you didn’t steal the money until after closing. That’s all I’ll say about that. Now I’m short one more employee so if you’ll get your ass into work tonight to cover, you can have your job back.”
    For a moment Jessie stood there at a loss for words. She’d expected to have to fight. She’d been prepared to fight. Then her eyes narrowed because, really, it had been far too easy and Merriam was anything but easy.
    Merriam scowled. “Quit gawking. I made a mistake. You won’t hear me saying so again. You either want your job back or you don’t, but make up your mind so I can figure out if I need to hire two new employees.”
    Jessie smiled then. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be in tonight.”
    Merriam waved her hand in dismissal. “Get on out of here then. I’ve got work to finish up so I can go home and go to bed.”
    Feeling giddy and triumphant, Jessie turned and hurried out of the office.
    “Don’t forget to lock the door back on your way out!” Merriam hollered behind her.
    Jessie shook her head and walked out, locking the door before she headed for her car.