Hard to Fight - Bella Jewel Page 0,2
enough hair to brush!”
Vance laughs again, throwing his head back. His long blonde hair flickers about and when his blue eyes meet mine again, they are positively dancing. “You don’t know what I would have done to be there and see that.”
“I have old man hair in my brush!” I cry, throwing my hands up.
“Aw, come on Gracie, it was funny.”
“It wasn’t funny,” I mutter, shoving away from the desk and standing, tucking my laptop under my armpit. “Ya’ll will never take me seriously.”
Vance stops laughing and reaches out, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Of course we do. We can’t help that you had to bring in a crazy.”
“You knew he was crazy!” I point out, shrugging his hand off my shoulder and walking towards my boss’ door. “I don’t know what you guys think is so funny about it all.”
“But you’re damned cute out there on the job, Gracie Lou.”
“You’ve only seen me a handful of times,” I argue.
“And you’re cute,” he smirks.
I grit my teeth, flip him the bird and knock on Don’s door.
“Yeah?” he calls out.
I swing the door open and step in, staring at my boss. He’s sitting behind his desk, typing on a computer. He looks up when I enter, staring at me over the top of his glasses. He’s middle aged, with salt and pepper hair and dark grey eyes. He’s a great boss, he gave me a chance when no one else would, but he’s also hard to convince that I can handle bigger jobs than men like Cole.
“How did it go with Cole?” he asks.
Did his lips just twitch?
My heart clenches. I’m tired of being made into a joke. He might have taken me on, given me a chance when no one else would, but I don’t believe he truly believes I can be a successful Bounty Hunter.
“You’re never going to take me seriously, are you Don?”
My voice comes out softer than I’d like, sounding tired and generally worn down. Don’s eyes flash, and he looks as though he doesn’t understand why I’d be so upset. Is he really that blind?
“Gracie,” he begins, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.
“Don’t bother. I’ve been here five years, and I’ve worked my ass off trying to prove to you that I’m worth the effort. But you’re never going to believe I’m good enough.” I place the laptop down, then continue. “I’m always going to be the joke, aren’t I?”
Without giving him a chance to answer, I turn and leave the office.
* * *
The liquid burns my throat as it slides down, hitting my stomach with brutal force and causing my world to spin even more than it already is. I close my eyes, inhaling through my mouth, because I’m fairly sure I’ve got no nose hairs left after breathing in the burning alcohol I’ve been shooting down for the last three hours.
“Another!” My best friend, Kady, yells.
The bartender looks at me, then to her, and shrugs.
“I can’t believe they made me go after a dude that wanted me to brush his freaking nonexistent hair,” I hiccup.
Kady turns to me, flashing that award-winning smile as she leans in close, curling her fingers around my arm. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re bad ass.”
I laugh and fist bump the air. “Bad ass!”
We fall into a fit of laughter, and Kady wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. Her voice drops low and she whispers, “I know it’s hard, honey, but one day, you’re going to prove them wrong.”
I lose my smile and even through my drunken haze, there’s an ache in my heart I can’t shake. There’s nothing crueler then when the people you love don’t believe in you. I not only get it at work, but at home too. My mother and two sisters are beauty queens. So to say they’ve never supported my need to ‘be in a male profession’ is an understatement. My mother is waiting for the day I turn around, throw in the towel and declare my undying love for parades, bikinis and world peace.
My dad, however, is my rock. He believes in me and it wouldn’t matter if I decided cleaning toilets was what I wanted to do. He’s just that kind of dad. The kind of dad all dads should be. The kind that is there for me no matter what and with no questions asked. Without him, I would have never fought so hard to train and get to