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The silk, calf-length, asymmetrical skirt was patchwork, a dainty, flared, delicate confection of tiny, two-by-four-inch patches of teal and purple, a skirt for an impoverished princess The hem flipped when I danced and the elastic waist rode low on her, on ht it, but hs and the skirt still looked good on irl had said

I wore the skirt low onneckline The blouse wasto lavender The aht with the outfit hung with old chain, between e Well, sorta At least a valley, if not a crevasse, thanks to all those extra pounds, a very tiny percentage of which had landed as fat on my boobs I slid my feet into a pair of purple sandals, with ankle straps for dancing

I tugged the purple and teal skirt lower onthe peasant top lower onbra beneath Sexy, but showing nothing The skirt whispered around ht I’d heard Rick LaFleur play the saxophone in the band at the Royal Mojo Blues Company There had to be a reason I’d chosen to wear this outfit tonight Was it because Rick was gone, but not totally gone, as in dead and buried? Was it because he had texted me several times since he disappeared with Paka, his neere-black-panther girlfriend, as if keeping in touch with me was important? Not that I had texted back I wasn’t that stupid Or was it so else?

I let hten my skin, drew on some lips in a vamp red, and mascaraed my lashes I didn’t test the moveht That first night dancing, I’d worn a turban But tonight, I French-braided ether at the crown of ht sheen of ht black to one I’d stopped h sometimes it crept back in Life sans boyfriend--any boyfriend--could be unexpectedly lonely I smiled at myself in the mirror, scarlet lips and a dress that was sex on a stick New beginnings often started with the broken bits and shattered pieces of the old I was not the dual’s soul had been broken and put back together with bailing wire and duct tape And life went on How corny was that?

But just because I’d grown up a bit didn’t h sheath with a vamp-killer and two stakes and stuck two ain and let the skirt fall slowly over the weapons Yeah I was stillwhen I opened my door, but the chatter stopped when I entered the main rooue and ed, "Shhhh-oot," instead of what he’d started to say

Feeling uncertain again, I bunched my skirt with my hands and said, "Thanks"

Eli’s brows rose with a restrained reaction of so to rock the house tonight? Or George’s dreaot a date with Bruiser?" the Kid asked his brother

I looked down at my dress "Yeah I’ue You know? He’s British He was raised by a Lady, as in a capital L Lady He dates vamps, some of whom are royalty I mean, I was raised in a children’s home"

"And you can hold your own anywhere with anyone, Janie," Alex said, staunchly

"Yeah, but I bet she can’t dance," Eli said

"I can, too," I said, stung

"Prove it," Eli said "Music" I heard a faint click, and so African-inspired with dru "No" The ed to a Latin beat, horns and drums, hot, with a deep basso rhythm to it Eli stood and held out his hand "Yeah That one, bro Prove it, babe"

"How’s that gonna make me feel better about a date with Bruiser?"

"Trust rabbed in to name It had a six-beat dance pattern that cued as tri-ple step, tri-ple step, step, step, like a boogie-woogie, but theindependently of one another butto work Somehow Eli whirledmotion that would have put a lesser worinned

"What is this?" I asked

"The locals called it ‘ha’ dzuuy,’ which I think was translated as ‘hard rain’ in Mayan or so hard as he twirled h a complicated set of moves that involved a lot of hip rotation, then slaainst a rock wall "My unit was stationed in Mexico for a bit during a war between drug lords We partied with the locals in our downtime

"Try this" His feet continued the same pattern while his hips performed a sinuous, snakyclasses, all come-hither and keep-away at once I followed the step and added a slight dip-and-bounce at the end, rolling ain Eli looked like I could have knocked him over with a feather--nified surprise

Theon the front door My date was here

Oh crap My date But my nerves had dissipated so out of Eli’s ar as I tossed a tiny bag over my shoulder and opened the door on the late-day, May air

Bruiser’s scent swept in, s with the New Orleans’ air--spring sunshine, heated concrete, and the wet of the Mississippi It all h I couldn’t see the weapons, I kneearing the casual clothes, dark brown slacks and a starched white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a jacket hanging by a finger over his shoulder Bruiser had great arms, muscular and tanned