"Hmm. I guess now the question is what you'll do with it."

She pushed into the green room and held the door open so Eric could slide the cart through. "Sure is. Better watch your step, mister."

They worked through the same routine as the previous night, Eric concentrating on the food and bathrooms and Alyssa on gathering the trash and cleaning the kitchen. Every time she glanced at the couch, her stomach flipped.

The room was messier than last time, so it took them close to an hour to finish. Eric pushed the cart of food to the kitchen, and Alyssa rolled out the vacuum. He returned for the garbage, and she helped him carry a third bag of it to the Dumpster out back.

"Thanks," he said when they were done. "You have no idea how nice it is to have help."

"You're welcome. I'll be glad for a little extra money."

He walked her to the lounge and they both clocked out-at least she hadn't forgotten that.

"Hey, Alyssa?"

She looked up as she returned her time card to the rack. Something about his gaze made butterflies take flight in her belly. "Yeah?"

"You don't have to, at all, but would you like to go out sometime?"

Stunned, she opened and closed her mouth, struggling for words. "Uh-"

His cheeks went pink. "Never mind. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no, it's fine. I mean, you took me by surprise." She shifted her feet and wrapped her arms around herself, debating what to say. "Listen, you're a very nice guy, and I'm glad to have you for a friend. And I'm not blowing you off saying that, because I don't really have that many friends here. But I'm kinda hung up on someone else, so it wouldn't really be fair for me to say yes."

After a long moment, he gave a small, uncomfortable smile. "Okay, so...see you tomorrow, then?"

She hoped things wouldn't get weird between them. "Where else would I be?"

He grinned, more natural now. "Right. Me, too. G'night."

"'Bye," she said, turning to her locker to grab her purse. In the privacy of the lounge, she fished out her wallet and counted her money on the couch. She had eighty dollars and change to her name, and the hotel would take sixty-five of it. If that wasn't the definition of dire straits, she didn't know what was. Damn. If things didn't work out the way she expected with tips tomorrow, she might have to seriously consider...what? What could she do? Besides her clunker of a car, she had two things of value to her name-the iPhone that was her only means of staying in touch with Brady, and the guitar he'd sent for her birthday. The latter would likely bring her a couple hundred bucks at a pawnshop, but he would kill her. And it would break her heart to part with it.

But what else could she do?

Stuffing her money back in her wallet, she shuffled out of the room and down the hall. Outside, the night air was warm and sticky and did little to lighten her spirits. She plopped into the driver's seat and let her head thunk back against the headrest. Tossing her purse onto the passenger seat, her gaze landed upon her overnight bag.

A really bad idea crept into her brain.

She sucked in a breath and internally reprimanded herself for even entertaining the thought of sneaking back into the green room.

But who would know? Nobody was the wiser last night. And you can't really afford a hotel tonight. It's cutting it too close. You know it's true.

Alyssa clenched her eyes shut. It was horrible of her to consider, it really was. But would it truly hurt anything? It was just this one last night, and she'd make sure the room was spic and span before she left in the morning.

Before she could talk herself out of the idea, Alyssa grabbed her bag, selected clean clothes for the morning from her trunk, and rushed across the lot. Other cars remained parked there, despite the fact the place was mostly empty, so hopefully her car wouldn't raise any suspicion. Opening the back door, she peered inside. She took a deep breath that failed to calm her thundering heart and tried to act normal. If anyone asked, she could say...she'd left her cell phone in the green room. Yeah. No one would think twice about that.

The metallic clang of pots and pans sounded out of the kitchen, but otherwise Whiskey's was still and quiet. Once she was clear of the kitchen, she jogged down one hall, then another, and finally slipped into the green room. The lights flickered on automatically.

Perched on the edge of the couch, Alyssa was sure any moment the door would burst open and a throng of employees would point accusing fingers at her. Every little noise had her flinching and straining to discern what she'd heard. She eventually set the alarm on her cell phone and stretched out on the couch, muscles tense, feeling nowhere close to falling asleep.

After a few minutes, the lights went out and Alyssa tried to picture jumping sheep to distract herself from how wrong this was. Problem was, instead of saying, "Baa, baa," as they went over the fence, those judgmental wool balls insisted on saying, "Bad, bad."

Okay, subconscious, duly noted.

She woke up on and off most of the night, not successfully relaxing into the deep, restful sleep she craved until closer to morning. But finally, finally, she dozed off.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Alyssa jolted awake, not sure what had roused her. She lifted her head from the couch and blinked into the too-bright light. And there stood Marco, blue eyes blazing and anger carving sharp angles into his gorgeous face.

Oh, crap.

Chapter Six

Worry, adrenaline, and a healthy dose of anger had Marco nearly vibrating. "I have been out of my mind looking for you. What the hell are you doing in here?" His eyes scanned over her, looking for any sign that she wasn't okay.

Alyssa pushed into a sitting position, face pale and bloodshot eyes turning glassy. "Sleeping. What are you doing here?"

"What am I..." Marco raked his hands through his hair. His heart was like a freight train roaring through his chest. "Well, let's see. I came to work early to make sure my bar hadn't gone to shit while I was out yesterday, only to find your car still parked outside."

Alyssa winced.

"When you didn't answer your cell for, oh, the fourth time, I figured either someone grabbed you in the parking lot or something happened to you in here." Another possibility he'd entertained was that she'd gone home with one of the guys, which was almost as bad as the others. Any way he sliced it, he'd been convinced down to his bones that he'd failed in his job of protecting someone. Again. "I was two minutes away from calling 9-1-1. I've been tearing this place apart for the last half hour." He blew out a breath, trying to calm the pounding of his pulse.

Alyssa stood, appearing small and uncertain. "Look," she said, not meeting his gaze, "I'm sorry I worried you. But I'm fine, as you can see." She stuffed her feet into a pair of black Chucks.

Bracing his hands on his hips, Marco glared. "Do you have any idea what could've happened to you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing-"

"Do you have any idea what could've happened if someone else had been the one to find you? Dammit!"

She shrank away from the escalating volume of his words, but he couldn't hold it in. Now that he'd found her, those long moments of anxiety for her safety demanded release. Jesus, if anything had happened to her...