Not right now, sorry.

Tommy contemplates Izzy's answer, then shakes her head reluctantly. "I'm not gonna be very good company right now," she explains. "My mind is on my boyfriend right now. He's doing something kinda dangerous."

Jude smiles. "I'm sure it'll work out."

Izzy nods, while Baby pulls a pouty face. "We can help you be distracted," she whines, half-serious.

"Hush, you," Izzy says, giving Baby a playful slap on the ass. "Let the girl alone. She said no thanks."

"Her mistake," Baby grumps, nuzzling on Izzy's earlobe. The elevator stops, and the girls say their goodbyes as they step out, leaving Jude and Tommy to ride down to the lobby. She watches the lights on the buttons blink off, the elevator doors sliding open to reveal the lobby.

Jude steps out first, holding the door open for Tommy. "I hope I'm not intruding," he says to her as they walk out into the lobby. He stops at the hotel front doors, adjusting his tortise-shell frames and looking outside. "You said your boyfriend was doing something dangerous?"

"Yah," Tommy answers, offering no additional information. The windows of the lobby doors are speckled with water droplets, a light rain graying the sky. She suddenly feels lonely and sad, as she had before the game. Part of her wishes she had gone with Izzy and Baby; she could be wrapped up in bodies and fucking her fear away right now.

"You play cards very well," Jude says, quietly. "And you seem like a nice person."

Tommy is too distracted by her thoughts to catch the unusual tone in his voice. She swings the door open and steps out into the wet, cold drops striking her face and beginning to soak into her top. She takes a few steps before realizing Jude is walking alongside her, his head down, chin tucked into his upturned collar. Stopping, she turns to face him; now her street feelers are perking. "What do you want?" she asks, suspicious.

"Your boyfriend, the one doing the dangerous job?"

"What about him?" Tommy grunts.

Jude pauses, seeming to consider his words. "Is he mobbed up?"

Tommy laughs. "God, no." She studies Jude, senses that he's not a threat, feeling the buzz of opportunity in the back of her head. "Why?"

Jude looks up and down the street, and she gets that he's afraid he's being watched. "How much do you know about the Outfit here in town?"

"Not much, really," Tommy admits. "Should I?"

Jude makes a decision. "I need to get home, and so do you. Tell you what. When your man comes home, if you guys are interested in a money-making opportunity, give me a call." He rattles off his phone number, and, despite her better instincts, she types it into her phone. He actually reaches out and shakes her hand, then turns and, bidding her goodbye, walks quickly off uptown toward the metro stations. She's not sure why, but she feels like she just passed some kind of audition. For what, she has no idea.