Page 15 of Good Girls Beg

I took a couple of deep breaths in, before pulling my hand out of my panties, doing up my jeans, and washing my hands.

I waited a couple of minutes for the color to fade from my face before I unlocked the restroom and stepped back outside, heading off to the cafeteria for a quick lunch.

While I ate, I tried to ignore the feeling he'd watched me come out of the restroom and knew what I did in there.

CHAPTER SIX

TEDDIE

I thought about ignoring the Zoom link, but when seven o'clock came, I found myself sitting at the table in Lyra’s kitchen and opening my laptop in front of me. The device was slow, but eventually booted up. I started to save for a new one, but that money went to the bar instead. With any luck, I'd get another year or two out of the computer.

My fingers hovered over the buttons before I clicked on the crowdfunding app. At least that was fast to open. I couldn't complain about the internet in Saltgrave.

I logged in to see a couple more people donated twenty dollars each. I appreciated it, I did, but it wasn't going to get us over the line. Every little bit helped, of course, but sometimes it felt like pushing an elephant uphill. Or was that a boulder through the eye of a needle?

Okay, it was neither, but that didn't lessen the struggle.

I sent both donors a quick thank you and clicked on the messenger section to access the link. I half-expected it to have been unsent, but there it was, looking back at me. Harmless, as far as I could tell.

As I pressed on it, it occurred to me they may not turn up. All of this stressing and watching the time might have been for nothing.

Anxious, I sat back and fiddled with the end of my hair as I waited for the screen to load.

When it finally did, the camera at the other end showed only a blackened room. I squinted, trying to make out details. Was that a couch or a table I saw? I couldn't tell if it was either.

A heartbeat later, a light came on, dim, but bright enough to illuminate three faces staring back at me.

No, not faces, masks. Masks I'd seen before. The same three masks from the other night at Vertical. Out in the parking lot. Three men who walked away from me, only one looking back.

My breath caught in my throat.

Blondie sat on the left, leaning forward, a section of his hair falling over the top corner of his black mask.

The guy with intense eyes sat in the middle. Not glaring. Not angry as far as I could tell. Just locked on the screen in front of him.

The guy on the right lounged, arm over the back of his chair, posture suggesting he was bored already.

"You came," he drawled, putting additional meaning into the words.

My face heated. His tone was unexpected for what I thought was supposed to be some kind of business meeting. There was something else though. Something more. His voice sounded familiar.

Where had I heard him speak before? I thought quickly, but nothing came to mind.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. "I had some time to kill. I figured I'd listen to what you have to say." I should end this call right now, before things got weird. Weirder.

"You hear that?" Mr. Bored turned to the other two. "She had some time to kill." His tone was derisive. I could almost see his lip curl.

"Yeah, we heard." Blondie's eyes didn't leave the screen. His attention was on me. Did he recognize my voice? Did he have a clue who I was? Or that I recognized him?

I couldn't tell, and I sure as hell wasn't going to ask.

The man in the middle didn't respond to either of them. His focus was also on me.

"I have a proposal for you," he said smoothly. Whiskey on ice. That was how he sounded. Cool, delicious, but would probably burn all the way down my throat.

"What's your name?" I found myself asking. "If I'm going to do any sort of business with you, I should know that."

Shouldn't I? That seemed like a reasonable request to me. I didn't even know what they looked like. Or if they were serious. This could still be some sort of joke.