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deserted. A dog barked in the distance. Another howled in reply. The trees behind cement and chain link fences bent toward me, as if urging me to find safety. I heard a rustling sound and quickly whirled around, searching for any shadows that didn’t belong.
    All I saw was the lazy brush of an empty plastic bag on the street.
    I shivered and held my jacket tighter around my chest. Taxis usually ran a couple blocks away from my house. Only a few yards were left until I was in a more upbeat neighborhood.
    “ Thwap !” My heart soared up to my throat as the sound disturbed the night. I jumped and glanced about, expecting a figure to dart out at any moment. No one walked behind me. Seriously unnerved, I quickened my footsteps, wondering if I should start running down the sidewalk and screaming for help.
    When I heard the muttered rasp of heavy breathing coming from directly behind me, I didn’t even bother turning around. Taking off like a shot, I managed to run a few paces in my stilted heels when I realized that the labored breath and rustling sounds had come from a stray dog that had managed to get into a neighbor’s garbage.
    I held my racing heart and chuckled at my own crazy imaginings. I was safe. I was completely and totally safe. I managed to find a taxi and arrived at the firehouse with little complications. The music was already thumping and shaking the walls by the time I greeted the bouncer and stepped through the doors of the new Mickey’s .
    Leah and Lila greeted me. The girls were decked out in matching costumes that exposed their flat, bronzed stomachs. “This place looks amazing!” I said in way of greeting.
    “Totally!” Leah responded in her heavy, Spanish accent.
    “Where’s Manuel?” I yelled above the music.
    “He’s over there.” Lila pointed to where Manuel was talking to the DJ. I swerved through the few customers holding drinks in their hands. Since it was a pop-up, the entertainment was only just beginning. Neither of the Old Guards had taken their places around the poles yet, though I saw Kensie doing her thing on an old man that looked about ready to keel over and die.
    “Hi, sweetie.” I wrapped my arms around Manuel’s waist and rested my head on the back of his neck.
    “Hi,” he rumbled and turned around. When he saw the jean coat I wore over my outfit, Manuel’s face turned stormy. “Why are you still wearing that?” With little warning, he tore the jacket from my body and then grinned when he saw my black costume and bare skin. “That’s better.” He slapped me on the bum. “You’ll need to work harder tonight. Essence isn’t answering any of my phone calls and I don’t know when she’ll be in, so I’ve lost one of my top girls.”
    “Hey,” I hissed, “I told you to stop doing that. I’m not any other girl here, Manuel.”
    “Sorry, baby.” He ran his palms down my arms, “I just can’t help it. When I’m around you… I can’t,” he kissed me, “keep my hands to myself.”
    His attention usually soothed me. His touch often turned me on. But tonight it didn’t. Maybe it was the unfamiliarity of the new location or the threat of potentially losing my head because of a roaming serial killer. Whatever the reason, Manuel’s words didn’t melt me the way they usually did. I caught a glimpse of the intentions behind his flattery. I saw a glimpse of the man that love and great chemistry had blinded me to.
    He wasn’t the man that I thought he was. Or maybe he had always been the same and I was the one suddenly cured of my blindness. Manuel’s hands were feeling up my backside. I slapped his roving arms away, angry that he wasn’t the guy I’d convinced myself that I loved.
    “I have to get to work.” I snapped and strutted away.
    As I walked, I could feel the attention of the customers. Their eyes slipped over my face for a split second before they devoured the breasts on full display in my tight top. Their eyes flickered down to the smooth skin of