Free Poker Posse 1: Looking at Rose by Qwillia Rain

Ibraham’s broad chest for support when she turned to look at the woman beside her. One sight of Ellie’s pale face and wide eyes shot adrenaline through her veins, rousing Rose to full awareness in less time than it took to blink. She pushed away from Ibraham, aware of the cold that quickly seeped in the moment her body lost contact with his just as it had last night. “Ellie, what’s wrong?”
    Before Ellie could respond, Norah was tugging at her other arm. “Rose, we have to go. Now!” When her friend spotted Ellie, she added, “Thank God. I’ve been looking for you, Ellie.”
    Movement at the edge of the crowd drew Rose’s attention, but the moment she spotted the neat little blue pillbox hat, her heart stopped, then resumed beating twice as fast as before. “Mama?”
    “Not just yours,” Norah assured Rose. Her friend’s gaze darted around the crowd before turning toward the second floor.
    “Rose?” Ibraham’s quiet voice steadied her. He stepped up behind her, his hands settling on her shoulders, returning the warmth that had leached away seconds earlier.
    When she looked up at him, Rose was torn. Everything in her told her to stay, but the fact that her mother and possibly her friends’ mothers were in the club and might see her inclined her to run far and fast to avoid the situation. “I have to go,” she told him. She wanted to say more. Apologize. Beg for another chance.
    “Stay.” It wasn’t a request but a command. His hold tightened. The look in his eyes compelled her to do exactly as he said, but Rose shook her head.
    “I can’t. If Mama catches me here, I’ll die.” The thought of her mother finding her in the club, much less locked inside a big black cage with Ibraham, sent her heart straight to her stomach, then her toes.
    She didn’t want to see the disgust in his face. It was a sure thing that he would find her fear of facing her mother infantile, further proof that she was nowhere near his league, but she’d deal with that later. Another glance at the crowd showed that the little blue hat was drawing closer.
    When she turned back to him, Ibraham wrapped his fist in her hair and tugged her against his chest. Against her lips, he ordered, “Wait for me in your shop tonight. I’ll be there by one.” His kiss was fierce but short. “Go. I’ll keep her busy.”
    Kicking off her heels, Rose scooped them up, then pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”
    He nodded, then turned away, parting the crowd easily on his way toward Viola Whittman. Rose stared after him until Ellie tugged on her arm.
    “Come on, Rose. We have to go.”
    Trying to remain inconspicuous was easier for Norah and Ellie with their average heights. For Rose it was a crucible of stepped-on toes and strange looks as she hunched down so she couldn’t be seen. Halfway across the room, she was separated from her friends and almost had a heart attack when Ellie’s mother, Miss Lucy, backed into her. A shift in the crowd and a lunge to her left kept Rose from discovery, but she hurried her steps as the double doors to the entryway loomed ahead of her.
    They made it through the door and onto the sidewalk without getting spotted by any of their mothers. While they caught their breath and Rose slipped her shoes back onto her mashed toes, Ellie gasped, trying to catch her breath, and asked, “What are they doing here?”
    “They?” Rose asked.
    “I don’t know. The second I spotted Miss Mabel upstairs in her red suit, I lit out to find y’all.” Norah pushed her sweat-dampened bangs off her forehead. “I nearly ran over Miss Raelene and Mama while I was trying to signal Ari.”
    Ellie looked around. “Where is Ari? And Mirrie?”
    Rose shook her head, disbelief evident in her voice. “All of them are here?”
    Norah and Ellie nodded.
    Leaning against a lamppost, Rose concentrated on slowing down her racing heart. “Mama was wearing her blue Jackie O dress and matching hat. Last time I saw her in it