Hot Pink Heels (The Street Series) (8 page)

Eventually her teeth were chattering and her skin was covered in goose
bumps, but the sobs had subsided and she was left with only the emptiness.
It’s for the best
, she told herself.
What would I have done with a baby?

But the image that haunted her was one from some booklet a lady outside the Planned Parenthood clinic had given her. It was a life-sized picture of an eight-week-old baby that had been aborted. The baby had arms and legs, and Amanda couldn’t erase the picture from her mind.
She had let them kill her baby, and she knew she’d never forgive herself for what she’d done that day.

Jackson struggled with his tie, hating the way it made him feel.
This is the part of my job I don’t really enjoy
, he thought silently. His dark suit flattered his grey eyes and dark hair, which had just been trimmed that afternoon.

Glancing at his phone on the dresser, he saw he only had 25 minutes until he promised he would pick up Clarissa. She would be ready on time and he hated to keep her waiting. Giving the tie one final tug, he grabbed his wallet and keys from the dresser and headed out to the car.

As he drove toward Clarissa’s house, Jackson thought about the past few days. He hadn’t gotten a call from Amanda’s friend and he was truly worried. The thing was, he didn’t even know her last name, and he couldn’t very well go into the police precinct to describe a missing hooker. They’d laugh him out of the place.

So, Jack
son was left with just one thing: prayer. It had consumed most of his waking time for the past several days, but there were times when it seemed like there had to be something physically that he could do.

God, I don’t know what the heck you want me to do
. I have to leave it to you. I did my best to help her, and maybe in hindsight, I should not have allowed her to go back to that jerk, but she is a grown woman and I couldn’t force her to do anything. I just hope she’s okay, wherever she is.
Jackson had always been honest with God, and because he felt like he was friends with God, he had also always been very frank in his conversations.

That was settled then. He couldn’t find the girl and he was giving it to God, so he should be able to go and enjoy this evening with Clarissa without any thoughts of Amanda’s soft hands and her long legs.

Seriously? You’ve really got to get a hold of yourself, Jack!
Mentally punching himself, he attempted to rein his thoughts in.
I am so sorry God; I have never been tempted like this before.
Shaking his head, he pulled up to Clarissa’s and saw she was already waiting for him on the front steps, her navy blue dress both demure and classy.

Jack
son was around the car and opening the door for her before he realized he’d yet to greet her. “Hey Clarissa, you look very pretty tonight,” he said. She
was
pretty, a very pretty girl, and she’d gone through a lot in the recent past with the death of her parents. Tonight’s fundraiser was in honor of her parents and the foundation Clarissa had started to help children in the nearby hospitals cope with cancer.

The event tonight was slated to raise enough money to provide books, video games and other fun things for the young patients to occupy their time when they were in the hospitals all over the Los Angeles area. The James and Roberta Black Foundation was already well-known in California and many new hospitals were coming to Clarissa to request supplies, toys and games although it was still in the early stages of the foundation’s history.

Clarissa was the driving force behind the foundation, although you’d never know it with her calm and quiet demeanor. It was great to have someone care so deeply for the children. He wondered what Amanda’s story was, and if she’d ever had someone care so deeply for her.

Forget her, Jack. You are here for Clarissa tonight and you told God you were putting Amanda in his hands, so why are you trying to take her back?

“…think that might be a great idea,” Clarissa paused, studying Jackson’s face. “Jackson, what do you think about that?” Jackson realized he’d been completely ignoring Clarissa on the way to the fundraiser.

“Uh, I’m sorry, I didn’t get that last part, do you think you could repeat it?” Jack
son bit the inside of his lip. The last thing he’d ever want to do would be to hurt Clarissa, but he was starting to wonder if they were right for each other.

She was a very sweet girl, a deeply devoted believer and follower of Christ and man, the girl could cook!
Jackson’s extra few pounds around the middle were a testament to her cooking abilities, which is how her foundation had started. Simple cookies, handed out to children in a nearby hospital, and now look what was happening.

Jack
son was so proud of Clarissa, and he often let her know it, but lately he’d been feeling like she liked him a whole lot more than he liked her. They’d known each other forever and had gotten even closer when her parents died, but there did not seem to be a real spark there with her, not like…
Danger, Jack. Don’t get tripped up thinking about a woman you knew for less than 12 hours.

It was far more likely that he would never see Amanda again.

Amanda’s “date” was being a perfect gentleman so far.
I could get use to this
, she thought, sliding into the black BMW. Phil rounded the car and got in beside her, smiling nervously.

“I’ve never done this,” Phil said sheepishly. He started the car and made a u-turn before heading into traffic.

“You’ve never driven a car before?” Amanda joked with him. She knew what he’d meant and she took it in stride. Whether he had or he hadn’t, it didn’t matter to her, as long as the second half of her fee was collected at the end of the evening.

Phil laughed nervously. When they pulled up to the entrance of a
fancy hotel twenty minutes later, she whistled. “Whoa, pulling out the big guns tonight, huh? What’s this for again?” She leaned forward, attempting to see the top of the building with all of its glitz and glamour.

“It’s a fundraiser for children with cancer,” Phil said. “The money ra
ised tonight will help kids in the cancer wards get through their time there. It’s a fantastic organization, but I didn’t want to go stag.”

They waited in line for the valets to help them out of the
car. “Okay, look, I just want to go ahead and get this out of the way already,” said Phil, taking his wallet from the glove box. He slipped several large bills out and handed them to her, which she took gratefully.

Amanda looked out the window as the car edged closer to the front of the line. She wasn’t going to be the best-dressed woman there, but she thought she could hold her own. She smoothed her black skirt and made sure there were no problems with her upswept hair as the valet moved up to the door.

Here you go, girl. This is your first night of acting on a bigger scale. Better roles, better money, better everything. Next step: Hollywood.
Amanda took a deep breath and stepped into a fairy tale.

J
ewels were sparkling, champagne was flowing freely and the women’s gowns were as colorful as the magical flower arrangements gracing each table. A large open space was obviously the dance floor, which Amanda was worried about. She’d never been much good at dancing and she had no idea how Phil felt about it. Maybe she’d get lucky and he wouldn’t want to dance at all.

He seemed like a nice enough guy as he guided her toward a nearby table
and offered to get her a drink from the bar. “I’ll just have a club soda,” Amanda said. He shrugged and went off to get the drink. Amanda didn’t want to be tipsy on her date, because she was working and she couldn’t afford to mess this thing up. She’d messed up enough things in the past two years.

Jackson and Clarissa mingled with the guests, glasses of champagne in their hands and smiles on their faces. Jackson wasn’t much of a social drinker, or much of a drinker of any sort, really, so his champagne was mostly untouched.

Clarissa was use to rubbing elbows with this sort of crowd, so she sipped delicately and laughed politely at all the right times before thanking the guests for showing up to support the children. They moved from couple to couple, with Clarissa effortlessly answering questions and directing the conversations toward the children’s foundation and their accomplishments.

Jackson realized he had tuned out again when he felt Clarissa’s hand on his arm. “Jackson, you
are
going to give the invocation, right?” He stared down at Clarissa, who wore a frustrated look on her face.
Clarissa is frustrated? That’s new. But really, what kind of boyfriend or even friend am I if I can’t stick with the conversation for half an hour?

Jack
son smiled, handing his glass to Clarissa before nodding to the dinner host, who was waiting to escort him to the head table. He would bless the food before the guests were served their expensive meals. As he walked toward the front of the room, Jackson mentally chastised himself for his attitude.

Just because you can’t stand these charity functions doesn’t mean you can’t show some real support to your girlfriend. What is your problem, man?
Stepping onto the platform, Jackson moved to the podium and asked everyone to stand and join him in prayer.

He knew exactly what his problem was, and she was currently staring at him in shock.

Amanda was frozen to her spot. Grey Eyes was staring right at her from the podium.
Jackson
, her heart thumped.
What’s he doing here? And why do I have the urge to run up there and grab him?

Dragging in a deep breath, Amanda
finally broke eye contact with him, but only to notice how well he filled out his dark suit and that he’d gotten a haircut since she last saw him. She looked down quickly, still feeling his eyes on her.

Jackson cleared his throat and the awkward pause was over as he began to pray.
She snuck another glance at him while everyone else had their eyes closed for the prayer. She had no idea what he was saying, because she was mesmerized by his lips while he spoke.

At his “amen,” she
put her head down and closed her eyes, hoping Jackson had not seen her looking at him. When she felt Phil’s hand on her arm, she opened her eyes and looked up, expecting to see Jackson still on the platform.

But the prayer was over and the food service was beginning. Jackson was nowhere in sight. Phil led her back to their table and seated her before seating himself.
Amanda’s water goblet was full and she drank deeply, noticing her hand was shaking.

Sneaking glances over her shoulder, Amanda began to pick at her salad. She had no idea how much this benefit dinner cost, but she realized she should eat as much as possible, since she had nothing but a few crackers left back at her place.
She forked up the fancy lettuce, if that’s what you could call it. The strange flavors were not what she was use to, but with this new gig, she hoped she would be forced to get use to this type of situation quickly.

She almost dropped her fork when she
felt someone near her shoulder, but it was just the server letting her know he was there before placing her entrée plate in front of her. “Mandy, are you ok?” She glanced up to see concern on Phil’s face. “Your face is really pale and you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Amanda smile
d at him. “I’m fine. It’s just a small headache but I think it’s because I’m so hungry,” she said, attacking her salmon to prove her point.

Phil nodded and let it drop, striking up a conversation with a man to his left. The two obviously knew each other, so Amanda was left to her own thoughts.
The salmon was cooked perfectly, but there was a pitiful amount of it on her plate. Sighing, she began to fork up another bite.

Clarissa and Jack
son were whispering in an alcove on the other side of the room. “Okay, Jackson, out with it,” she said. “You’ve been acting very strangely since last week and then you just froze a few minutes ago. Who was that woman you were staring at? Do you know her?”

Wow, maybe Clarissa had a bit of a temper after all. He’d never seen her this angry before. She was waiting for a response, her arms crossed in an unfamiliar manner. Jack
son could easily lie to her, but that was not his style. He should’ve told her all of this the other day, but it honestly hadn’t crossed his mind.
Maybe because you’ve been so busy thinking about Amanda
.

“Remember when I told you
Harry and I wanted to go downtown and invite people from the street to attend the new services we’re starting at that warehouse?” Clarissa nodded, her arms still crossed. “Well, I borrowed his car and went to talk to homeless people, prostitutes, whoever happened to be on the street that night,” Jackson said.

“You’re telling me
she
was one of them?” Clarissa raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “She looked too well put together to be from the street.”