Betting on Wolves (Shifter Country Wolves Book 2) by Roxie Noir Read Free Book Online Page A

singing that on a Saturday night in Vegas.”
    “I’d have had a good time,” she said. “We should have prepared more, maybe the two of you could come up with some backup singer dance moves.”
    “Don’t push your luck,” Houston said.
    Diane’s song ended, and she held up her microphone to raucous applause, walked off stage, and hugged every person in a group full of middle-aged women.
    “Up next is Kirsten, Houston, and Jack, singing Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. Come on up, you guys!”
    Kirsten put one hand on each man and pushed them toward the edge of the booth, then followed them out to the stage, drink in hand.

Chapter Five

    Houston

    Houston was well on his way to seriously drunk. Kirsten was there already, he could tell, though something about it just made her even more appealing. She wasn’t a sloppy drunk, she wasn’t spilling her drink or tripping over herself, but she sure was a giggly drunk, and every time she giggled, Houston felt something deep inside him glow.
    So he kept trying to make her giggle.
    The DJ in charge of karaoke handed them each a cordless microphone and switched them on. Houston looked at the thing in his hand like it was some sort of exotic animal.
    Where do I hold it? he wondered. A foot away? Six inches? What if I break it?
    And what the hell do I do with my other hand?
    The song started, and TV screens all over the bar flashed red, then showed the first screen full of lyrics. Houston stared, open-mouthed, suddenly panicking.
    This isn’t even the song that I thought it was , he thought.
    “Is this it?” he hissed to Jack.  
    Jack just winked, then turned to the screen and went for it. It was obvious that he didn’t know what he was doing, either, but then Kirsten missed her first musical cue, cracked up, and Jack cracked up too.
    Houston took another swig of his drink, took a deep breath, and gave it shot.
    He was bad. There was no way around that, as he tried to read the words on the screen — not the easiest, given his state — at the same time that he tried to figure out the melody to this song that he’d thought he knew.
    But he did it loud, and he gave it his all, and Kirsten was laughing and giggling, looking over at him with her eyes sparkling, and that was all he really gave a shit about.
    Houston sang louder. He went even more off-key and stumbled over the words even more, but the crowd was starting to get into it now, especially the gaggle of middle-aged women down in the front.
    Finally, just as he was out of breath, the screen went blank, then flashed: 32 measure break. Houston wasn’t really sure what that meant, but Kirsten and Jack seemed to be taking a break as Jack took Kirsten’s hands, did a couple of very bad dance moves, and spun her around as she laughed. Her drink was empty again, and she’d set it on the stage, where a waiter had already grabbed it.
    Then she spun over to Houston, who stuck the microphone in his pocket, grabbed Kirsten, and dipped her until her hair nearly touched the stage. As she stood she grabbed Houston’s shoulder for support, and the middle-aged ladies went wild .
    Kirsten shouted something that Houston couldn’t hear, so he bent down, putting his ear right by her mouth.
    Instead of saying it again, she kissed him on the cheek, her lips warm, soft, and heart-stopping.
    In the crowd, someone whistled, and then the screen had even more words that Houston didn’t know. Not that he could hear the backing track over the pandemonium, either way — now the ladies were shouting for Kirsten to stop playing favorites and kiss Jack, who grinned and made a “what about me?” face at Kirsten.
    Between lines, she threw her arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek, too, leaving bright red lip prints, like she’d marked him. Their antics left Houston to stumble through the words alone, even as the piano and horns in the song built to a crescendo.
    As a substitute for singing well, he did it loudly and raised his