But at least Lexi’s new lunch-shift waitress, Quinn, was having a good time. The older woman wasn’t much of a waitress, but she was nice and worked hard. Most importantly, Quinn didn’t ask Lexi for any personal details about her life, so that made her a great employee and quasi friend in Lexi’s book.
And right now, her quasi friend was out dancing with a man a decade Quinn’s junior, who was head over heels for her. The man everybody called Baby—who very definitely wasn’t one—couldn’t stop fawning over Quinn. Quinn obviously felt the same in her older, more formal way. It was adorable to see.
Lexi spun to make her way around some dancers, ignoring the way it made her feel lightheaded, handed off the beers at the table, and took another set of orders.
She ignored the brown eyes watching her two booths over.
She should’ve gotten used to those eyes on her since they’d been there nearly every damn day for the past month. Should’ve been able to ignore them by now. But no. Her traitorous body reacted every single time Gavin came around. Made her aware of him with every breath. Every step.
She didn’t talk to him. That stunt a month ago had cemented in her mind that Gavin Zimmerman was a danger to her. Not physically—she had no doubt he would never hurt her. But emotionally? Mentally? He was the walking, talking embodiment of danger for her.
She wished the not-quite-sheriff would leave her alone. But also . . . she felt some twisted sense of relief when he was nearby. Almost every night, he’d made sure she’d gotten home safely, although he’d been smart enough not to come anywhere near her while doing so.
And then tonight she’d seen him help Mac out to his truck. Gavin had carried the boxes Mac had wanted to take out to the trash, and he’d done it in a way that hadn’t made Mac feel old or useless.
And her heart had thawed a little. Gavin might have been a jerk in his tactics a month ago, but she couldn’t deny his intentions were good. He’d been looking out for Mac and didn’t want Lexi taking advantage of the older man.
So she’d made him a drink as a peace offering, told Kendrick the name and to make sure Gavin got it.
She’d heard Gavin’s laugh and now the glass was sitting empty in front of him. At least he’d had enough of a sense of humor to drink it.
She knew all sorts of obnoxiously named drinks. Maybe next time she’d make him a Duck Fart. Or a Flaming Gorilla Titties.
The next two hours went by in a blur as the DJ kept the eighties music going, and the women kept the dance floor packed.
Quinn pulled Lexi in for a hug as she walked by after delivering a tray of shots to the women. Lexi had to laugh. There was nothing about their personalities or work relationship that had ever lent them toward hugging. But the older woman was obviously having a great time.
“It’s my first girls’ night out,” Quinn whisper-yelled in Lexi’s ear. “I think I’m doing well.”
Lexi laughed again. “I don’t think you’re being graded on it, Harvard. But I’m glad you’re having fun.”
“Are you doing okay? You look pale.”
“Yeah. I’m just tired.” Her body was closing down on her again. Too many nights with only a few minutes of sleep. She’d thought she had another day or two before it happened, but evidently not.
She just needed to hang on a few more hours. She would make it.
“Let’s take a picture!” one of the gaggle of women yelled. “It’s not officially a good time until we post it on social media. And we have to immortalize the day that Anne announced her wedding date.”
“Yeah!” Quinn exclaimed with more giddy enthusiasm than Lexi had ever seen from her about anything. The straitlaced college professor tended to be quite a bit more subdued and serious. She grabbed Lexi’s arm. “You come be in the picture with us too. Since this is your bar.”
It wasn’t Lexi’s bar, but that didn’t seem to matter to the women yelling their drunken agreement.
But there was no way Lexi could be in a picture they planned to plaster all over the internet. That was how she’d been found before, and she had no more resources to run.
She forced a smile. “No, no picture for me. I’ve got to get back to work.”
“Awww, please?” Quinn gave her a pretty pout.
Lexi needed to quell this before it grew into some big thing. “Here, let me take the picture. Maybe we can start a picture of the week and hang it on the wall.”
The women all started talking over themselves about that, forgetting her refusal to be in the picture. Someone handed Lexi the camera, and the women all grouped together for a shot, posing in the way only women can after they’d had a few drinks. Lexi took a couple of shots, handed the phone back to its owner, then escaped. Crisis averted.
Would she ever be able to take another picture without cringing in fear?
As the night wore on, exhaustion pulled more and more heavily on her. It wasn’t long before she knew she was really in trouble.
Insomnia was a bitch. She knew the condition, at least at this point, was all in her head. She was no longer being given the substances that had caused such adrenaline surges and crashes. She was no longer being manipulated by people she should’ve been able to trust.
But her body had been conditioned to stay awake for days on end, to continue to operate long after a normal person would have been consumed by exhaustion.
It had helped her a great deal in her other career—she’d garnered a reputation for a strong work ethic. The first one on set and the last one to leave.
But right now, the insomnia had her on the verge of collapse. Every step took her closer to crumbling.
She pushed it back the way she always had.
Just a few more minutes. Hang in there just a few more minutes.
And when those minutes were up, she would tell herself to hang in there a few minutes more. It was the only way to make it through.
“Hey, can I help you deliver those drinks?”
Lexi looked up from the tray in her hands. She hadn’t realized she’d stopped walking. She had no idea who these beverages belonged to. The last thing she remembered clearly was taking the picture of the women, but that had been a couple hours ago. Quinn had left with Baby not long after.
The friendly woman in front of her smiled. “I’m Wavy Bollinger. We’ve met a couple of times in passing. Finn and Baby are my brothers.”
“Oh. Hi.”
“I wait tables over at the Frontier Diner, and I know what it’s like to have an unexpected rush. One time, the Linear guys forgot to tell us that they were inviting the entire Reddington City police force out for a training session, then bringing them by the diner for lunch. I was the only waitstaff there.”
Lexi wasn’t exactly sure how she was supposed to respond. Was Wavy trying to tell her she was being too slow? She already knew that. “Oh. That stinks.”
It was all her exhausted brain could manage to get out.
Wavy smiled. “All that to say . . . I’m gonna grab a tray and help you out. This is way too many people for two waitresses to handle alone.”
“Oh.”
Before Lexi could process anything further, Wavy had grabbed the tray from her hand and delivered the drinks where they belonged. Lexi walked behind the bar and was able to stay there fixing the drinks while Wavy and Amber delivered them.