Drive
an excerpt

The waitress' arrival drew my attention from the window. Hell, she could have drawn my attention from almost anything. The way she moved, swaying her hips from side to side seductively, was enough to make me want to end all wars and spend my days bathing her in rose petals. Her lips looked carefully painted but were darker around the outer edges. Yet I didn't take her for the sort to wear lip liner. What is it about a woman's mouth, exactly, that they tend to run off with my thoughts?

She smiled, sat the cup of coffee in front of me, pulled a pad and pencil from her apron, and leaned over the table. The pencil was marked with tiny teeth prints and red smudges. "You didn't hear a thing I just said, did you?"

I shook my head. "I'm still half-asleep and was too busy wishing I had your pencil's luck."

Her grin grew but only lasted a few seconds. Then her eyes tightened. She nodded toward the window. "That's a popular doorway this afternoon." She took her notepad in hand, stood, and looked me up and down. "Be careful, you hear?" Her eyes darted toward the table behind me and then back to my face as her swaying hips carried her back toward the kitchen.

I raised my eyebrows and turned slowly. Four twenty-somethings in jeans and t-shirts occupied the next booth. They seemed involved in a discussion of music and looked to be half-way through their breakfast specials. Nothing unusual, really.

The booth behind them was more interesting. Three men in cheap suits sat with cups of coffee. Each intermittently swept his gaze over the brick building across the street.

I turned back around to the smooth table before cursing under my breath. How did I pick up a tail? Had I? Were they following me, looking for Lucky, or both?

My own pad and pen felt warm as I dragged them from my jacket pocket. I didn't dare stare at the goons behind me but wanted a few descriptive notes all the same.

The waitress returned with a coffee pot. Fantasies of running my hands through her hair trailed at her ankles like smoke. "Refill?"

"Sure." I pushed my cup closer to her, and then nodded my head toward the table of goons behind me. "How long?"

She leaned closer and I fought the urge to pull her into my lap and bite the soft flesh that peeked at me from the unbuttoned top of her blouse. "Not long." The coffee flowed as she half-whispered. "They came in maybe six or seven minutes ago. They haven't been here as long as you."

That was good news. They likely weren't following me. "They seem to notice me when they came in?" I chastised myself for not noticing them on my own when they first came in.

"No." She stopped when inky liquid neared the rim of my cup. "I don't think so, anyway." She paused for a moment. "You a cop?" I shook my head. Her eyebrows went up. "Dyke dick?"

I chortled and grinned. "That obvious, eh?" I started to worry again. Maybe the goons weren't following me but if they made me then they would likely also figure out what I was doing in the diner.

"No." She purred. Her smile flashed. "Only the first part." The clicking of her heels on the tile floor as she sauntered away almost held my attention long enough that I missed a flicker of motion in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see a man dressed in a shabby, brown suit exit the brick building across the street. He looked left, and then right. Then he briskly walked to my left (edit! get the space down or don't describe directions at all).

"Not on your life." A gruff voice sounded faintly behind me. I strained my ears to hear over the rustling of coats and the din of the diner. "I paid last time."

"And I paid the twice before." A different voice answered. "Get over it."

"Leave cash for the bill and shut it." A third voice answered. It was deeper. "We got a job to do."

I didn't dare turn around but watched then in a window reflection. They left their table and ambled toward the front door. I spun my head to see mister brown suit round a corner. He started running just before he vanished from my sight. My pocket seemed intent on keeping me from finding my cash. The man in a brown suit took off and I'd lose him if I didn't hurry.

I dropped a twenty on the table just as the redhead walked up. "I saw them go and figured you'd be next."

I nodded toward the twenty, then added a ten. "That cover it?" She didn't answer so I looked up and followed her gaze out the window. Then I laughed.

A man in dark slacks and an undershirt crossed the road from the brick building across the street. His eyes darted left and right as he went. Once he looked over his shoulder in the same direction mister brown suit and the goons went.

"That's him, eh?" The redhead's voice held a note of amusement.

"Yep." I replied and slipped a pen from my pocket. "And he's smarter than I first guessed. Good thing too."

"You're not after him, are you?" I stopped writing and saw a hint of fear in her eyes.

"I am." I passed my card into her hand. "But I'm working for his missus, trying to keep him out of trouble."

She smiled and her eyes twinkled. She read the card while I put on my jacket (Edit: Check order, did character have her jacket on already?). "Curious and Superstitious, LLC. Long Luscious and Charismatic?"

I laughed again and she grinned wide. "My personal number is on the back." I looked out the window again and saw Lucky pass out of sight. "Does this place have a back door?"

She took my hand without a word and led me through the diner. The door to the kitchen opened with a squeak. Two cooks didn't bother to look up but one of the called out, "Seven's up!"

"I'll be right there." The redhead answered. Then she opened another door and stepped aside.

"Thanks doll." I devoured her with my eyes as I walked into the cold. "Don't lose that card."