Careful What You Kiss For Read Online Free PDF

floor, as though she weighed nothing at all.
    Milo shoved a door open. Tensley’s brain registered a paper gold star taped to the wood, its edges crumpled. The bouncer somehow maneuvered her into an upright position in a chair. “Breathe,” he commanded.
    She did her best, choking back the aroma of cigarettes, burned coffee and perfume. After a few minutes, the adrenaline surge subsided, leaving her seasick.
    Milo stood. “Better sit it out for a while,” he said over his shoulder.
    She raised her head, no longer sure what was real and what wasn’t. “If I don’t shake my scrawny ass, I won’t have a place to live.” She wanted him to tell her that was a mistake, at least.
    Instead he sighed and said, “You’re in worse shape than I thought.” He sounded sorry for her. Tensley’s self-esteem, fragile at the best of times, slunk off to a corner to sit things out.
    “Go on, get dressed and get outta here,” Milo said. “I’ll cover for you.” He closed the door behind him.
    She stared at it for a few minutes, waiting for her brain to kick in with instructions. When it did, the directive was urgent.
    Clothes. Now.
    She pushed herself off the chair, legs trembling. It didn’t take a lot of looking for her to find her station, a mirror above a table littered with makeup. Beneath the bright bulbs, a flyer had been affixed to the glass. It was a picture of Tensley, with hair longer than she normally wore it, pointing full, perky boobs at the camera while one finger pulled her bottom lip into a pout.
    “Lila Delightful,” the poster screamed. “Now appearing exclusively at Gary’s Gorgeous Grecians.”
    Ohhhh hell no.
    Her lungs stopped working. All of the items on her mental list blurred together, tumbling around her brain, their virtual boxes filled with questions instead of tidy check marks. Shoving them aside, she forced herself to gulp air, waving her fingers in front of her nose.
    First things first.
    She wrenched a metal locker next to the station open, chest heaving, and began digging around inside until she found something to put on — worn, tight jeans with a threadbare knee, an oversized Seattle Seahawks T-shirt, socks and white tennis shoes. Hand shaking, she dragged a comb through her hair and used a tissue to wipe away the layers of makeup.
    She pulled a leather purse from a hook in the locker and opened a wallet inside. A wad of crumpled bills, mostly tens and twenties, fell to the floor. The wallet’s plastic pockets held a blood donor card, a debit card used so many times that half the bank’s name had worn off, a library card and a driver’s license. She inspected each. Tensley Tanner-Starbrook , read the license, with an unfamiliar address and a weight she hadn’t seen since high school. Birth date matched. October 1. Height matched . Five foot eight. Eyes matched. Green.
    Then her hand closed on a piece of crisp white paper tucked inside. A checklist, in her handwriting. “Pay rent” was the first item. “Touch up roots” was the next. Tensley lifted a hand to her hair. “Ask Gary for more hours. Repair costume.”
    The boxes were small, perfectly drawn squares — evidence as damning as a fingerprint. She’d always said there wasn’t much in life that couldn’t be handled with a checklist.
    Until now.
    Tensley tried to fold the list, but her fingers were shaking so badly, she had to give up after only a few seconds and shove it back inside the purse, along with the money she grabbed from the dusty floor. Purse clutched to her chest, she walked to the door and opened it, blinking at the green cast of the lights.
    Not going to think any more. Just going to get out of here.
    She followed a long hallway, her shoes squeaking, to a door that led outside. It opened to cool night air that washed over her, awakening her senses. In the distance, a siren wailed through night air spiced with the flavors of someone’s cooking.
    Her eyes drifted closed. Was stripping a trade she’d learned