She felt him lean forward, and he whispered in her ear.
“Take this,” he said, his warm breath sending shivers through her. She felt his fingers brush something scratchy against her soft skin. He’d put something in there, where the credit chit had been. “And think about your price. I’m prepared to pay it.”
She remained still, frozen with eyes closed for another moment. She felt the heat of him pull away, heard him walk slowly down the hall. She counted to thirty, took a deep breath and opened her eyes again.
It was as if nothing had happened. She could hear the distant sounds of the bar, hear people laughing.
She walked slowly back into the open, eyes immediately turning toward the table where he and Vetch had sat. It was empty.
“Giselle!” Manya called from his spot behind the bar. She turned to him, and her boss looked over at her, frowning. “Where have you been? You got customers waiting.”
She turned toward him, forced herself to smile.
“Sorry, I was in the fresher.”
“You move faster next time,” he said, his words harsh but his tone gentle. Then his face softened. “You all right?”
“Manya,” she said slowly. “Did you see that guy who was in here with Vetch? He had a blaster.”
The man’s broad forehead knotted into frown.
“You sure ’bout that?” he asked. “We have the sensors turned on. They were serviced less than a week ago. No way would he be able to get in here with a blaster.”
“Well, he had one,” she said. “I don’t know how he got it in, but he did.”
“You see him again, you let me know,” Manya said, frowning at her. “Now go take care of your tables.
I’ll let Brant know, he’ll keep an eye out for him.”
She nodded, picking up a tray. The Debsians called out to her in a drunken chorus; she hurried toward them, pasting a bright smile on her face. Black Leather was gone—everything would be fine now. Their bouncer, Brant, was a big man. She doubted that even the tall, scarred man would be able to get by him without a fight. Things were back to normal, and she should be thinking about her tips, not the man in the hallway.
Four endless hours later her shift ended. She picked up her small bag from Manya’s office and headed out the door, glad that it wasn’t her turn to close. She wasn’t up to it. She nodded goodbye to Brant and headed out the door, keeping one eye open for Black Leather. She doubted he was still around, but you couldn’t be too cautious. Blessedly, the open, two-story arcade that served as a thoroughfare through the space station’s port was almost deserted.
Here and there groups of drunken spacers lurched by her, talking to themselves and calling out to every woman they saw. Ahead of her were three men dressed in engineer’s coveralls. They waved at her, shouting something. She couldn’t make out the words, but she knew the tone. They wanted to get laid.
She laughed, shaking her head at them. Typical spacers. They were no threat to her, years of experience had taught her how to distinguish between men who were truly interested and those simply going through the motions.
She doubted the engineers would be capable of making it with a woman at this point anyway. They could hardly walk, yet two of them peeled off from the group and lurched toward her. She rolled her eyes and waved them off with a short, shooing gesture. A dark shadow detached itself from a narrow passageway between two stores. She sensed him right before he took her arm.
“She’s with me,” Black Leather said coldly to the drunks, who looked confused. He gave a low noise, almost a growl, in the back of his throat and they took off down the street. So much for chivalry, Giselle thought in disgust. It hadn’t occurred to even one of the engineers to ask her if she wanted to be with Black Leather.
“I told you, I’m not for sale,” she said tightly, turning away from him. He was wearing his jacket now, but it didn’t fully hide the bulge of his blaster. She tugged at his arm, trying to pull free. He ignored her.
“Where do you live?’ he asked shortly. “It’s not safe out here. I’ll see you home.”
Like hell you will,she thought darkly. She was suddenly sick of his attitude, sick of men treating her like some kind of play object. She had worked a long shift, and she was damn tired. Was it too much to ask to simply go home and rest?
“I’m not headed home, I’m going to visit a friend.”
“Male or female?”
His tone froze her.
“Male,” she said slowly, wondering if that might get rid of him. “I’m seeing someone. We’ve been dating for several weeks now.”
“No,” he replied shortly.
“What?”
“No,” he said. “You won’t visit him. Tell me where you live and I’ll see you home.”
She searched her mind, wondering what to do now. She didn’t want him to know where she lived, and didn’t want to lead him to any of her friends. Hell, she’d only been on the station a couple of months. She had acquaintances, not friends. How was she going to get rid of him?
“I forgot something at the bar,” she said suddenly. “Can you take me back there?”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well, it’s the truth,” she said, putting a note of irritation into her voice. “I forgot my keycard, and I’m not going to get into my apartment without it. Let’s go back to the bar.”
She eyed him sideways under her lashes, wondering if he’d go for it. Without a word, he tugged at her arm and started walking back toward Manya’s. When they reached the door, she asked him if he wanted to wait outside for her, but he just shook his head. Brant stepped aside and let them pass through the door without a word. She tried to signal him with her eyes, but the big man seemed distracted. Damn.
She waited for the alarms to go off as they passed through the security sensors guarding the door, but nothing happened. Would anything go her way tonight? Why the hell didn’t anyone but her seem to notice his blaster? Disgusted, she opened her mouth to catch Brant’s attention; this had gone too far already.
Black Leather squeezed her arm tightly, pulling her close to his body so she could feel the outline of his weapon.
The message was clear.
If she tried signaling someone for help, they’d pay the price.
True fear filled her as she realized Manya’s might not be the sanctuary she’d hoped to find. Manya and his employees had been good to her. She shouldn’t have brought them trouble like this, she thought in disgust.