Chapter 19

I froze. Suddenly, everyone in the booth was staring. I gave Joel a nervous glance, praying that he wouldn’t feel insulted all over again.

In his eyes, I saw a flash of humor that caught me off guard. Back in the boardroom, he hadn't been amused. But of course, that probably had something to do with Derek, who'd been awful from the get-go.

Before I could even begin to sort things out, April's voice rang out again. "So? Did she?"

Hoping to end this now, I called back, "Nope. Not this year." And then, desperate to change the subject, I made a show of looking around the bar. "So, how about this crowd, huh?"

But April didn't take the hint. Instead, she leaned forward and laughingly announced, "Wanna know my favorite? It was the policeman, for sure."

I cringed. I knew exactly which "policeman" she meant. He'd been my first stripper, a gag gift for my eighteenth birthday.

With a nervous laugh, I said, "Speaking of policemen, did you see the new traffic light?" Into the blank stares of everyone around me, I added. "You know, by the library?"

Dorothy, who actually worked at the library, gave me a perplexed look. "Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Nothing, actually. But I was kind of hoping no one would notice. Still, I gave the diversion my best shot. "Well, you know. Like if people don't notice the light, they might get stopped…" I cleared my throat. "…by a policeman?"

April laughed. "Yeah. Maybe." She grinned across the table. "But he wouldn't look like 'Officer Night Stick,' that's for sure."

A newer friend, Francine, asked, "Who's Officer Night Stick?"

I gave a dismissive wave of my hand. "No one. Just a joke." Desperately, I turned to Joel. "Hey, do you wanna dance?"

The corners of his mouth lifted. "You mean with you, or…?"

My face was burning now. Feeling like a total idiot, I stammered out, "Well, um, I didn't mean for me or anything." I forced an awkward laugh. "I mean it's not like I'm confusing you with a stripper now."

Unlike in the boardroom, obviously.

"Yeah?" he said. "Good to know."

Suddenly, April called out, "Hey, Joel!"

He turned to look. "Yeah?"

She laughed. "You're not the stripper. Are you?" At this, the whole table erupted in fresh laughter, except for me and Joel, even if he did look vaguely amused. He looked to April and said, "You see a cop uniform?"

"It's not always a cop," she said. "Like last year, it was a construction worker." She looked to me and said, "Right?"

"Uh. Yeah." I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "But how did you know? I mean, you weren't in town or anything."

She smiled. "Get this. My mom sent me the pictures."

"Pictures?" I swallowed. "What pictures?"

"You know," she said. "From the ribbon-cutting ceremony. There was that article in the weekly paper. C'mon, you must've seen it."

"Oh. The article? Yeah, I saw it."

Unfortunately.

And yes, the article did have a few pictures. The biggest one showed me, looking absolutely horrified as Mister Hard-Hat strutted his stuff.

Even worse, the article had been picked up by a national news service. This meant the story, along with the photos, soon found its way onto Web sites and gossip pages around the country. Or cripes, worldwide for all I knew.

It was a total nightmare. Just thinking of it, I sank down in the booth and tried to disappear.

"Oh come on," April said, "don't be glum. It was a riot."

For her sake, I tried to laugh. "Maybe for you. But trust me, after a few birthday strip-a-thons, the joke's not nearly as funny, you know?"

I snuck a quick glance at my watch. Soon, it would be midnight. The way it looked, my aunt was actually going to keep her promise.

No more strippers.

Thank God.

I glanced to Cassie, who'd been sitting in relative silence across from me. In the short time that I'd known her, I'd never seen her so quiet. When our gazes met, she winced.

I gave her a questioning look.

After a long moment, she mouthed one terrifying word. "Sorry."

I tensed. "For what?"

Wincing again, she pointed to a spot somewhere past my left shoulder. "For that, actually."