Look Before You Jump by D. A. Bale Read Free Book Online Page A

taken home the trophy, but I was
the real winner in the crowd’s eyes – all hundred and something
lusty, testosterone-fueled eyes.
    If I wanted, I could have my pick tonight –
really any night. But even through my alcohol-induced haze, I
remembered my pledge to lay off the getting laid. This was gonna be
harder – er, more difficult than I’d thought. Thank God Nick hadn’t
shown up tonight.
    Cleaning up after wet t-shirt night was never
as much fun as the event itself. By the time I finished counting
the till, my shirt had mostly dried but my daisy dukes were still a
bit gooey and hiked so far up my butt I’d need surgery to remove
them. My Tony Lamas would never again be the same.
    The inebriated state had cleared during
clean-up faster than Bud had disappeared. Last to arrive. First to
leave. Figured. I waved to Rochelle and watched out the backdoor
until she safely drove off into the muggy night, then lugged the
important things to the backroom.
    “Bud skipped out on clean-up again,” I
grumbled to Grady as I entered the office and plunked the cash box
on his desk.
    The array of security camera feeds flashed
across the screens and revealed the inside of the bar from every
angle, as well as the parking lot of not only Grady’s but the
surrounding clubs too. My boss took security about as seriously as
the guys did at Fort Knox. I always assumed it was carryover from
his military stint.
    After he closed his laptop, I handed over the
inventory tally sheets and a scrap of paper with my nightly tab.
Grady barely glanced at the scrap before wadding up it and tossing
it in the trash.
    He shook his head as he locked up the safe
and grabbed his hat along with a black plastic bag. “I told ya a
long time ago, ya don’t have to keep a tab anymore.”
    I shrugged. “I know. But I figure this way it
keeps me honest.”
    “Since I hired ya, business has nearly
doubled.” Grady locked the metal office door behind us and keyed in
the alarm code. “What your antics bring in more than make up for
what ya cost me in drinks.”
    “Okay, fine. But what are you going to do
about Bud?” I asked as we exited the building and walked across the
lot to my car.
    “He stayed for a good portion of clean-up
this time,” Grady said.
    “Barely,” I returned. “And two hours late
again. Why have you kept his lazy carcass around so long? It isn’t
like I can’t handle the bar by myself.”
    Grady shrugged. “Favor to an old Army buddy,
I suppose.”
    “What’d this Army buddy do? Save your life or
something like that?” I asked as I dug my car keys out of my gooey
pocket. “Cause if not, then you’re getting the short end of the
bargain.”
    “Favors among brothers-in-arms never come
cheap,” he said, opening my driver’s side door after the beep.
“Bud’s his younger brother.”
    “Oh,” was all I could muster.
    “Ya smell like stale beer,” Grady
observed.
    “Thanks to you I’m wearing make-up down to my
ankles too.”
    “Cain’t tell me ya didn’t enjoy the
attention.”
    I smiled. “It was kinda fun participating
this year.”
    “Technically ya cain’t win though.”
    “I know.”
    “Here’s some plastic to put on your car
seat,” Grady offered as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Sure
you’re okay to drive?”
    “More than okay,” I said breathlessly.
    “Yes. Yes, you are.”
    Grady’s chocolate depths made my knees go all
noodley again. The back of his hand brushed against a perky
protrusion when he brought the plastic bag between us. I shivered
from the cool night air, though Dallas nights rarely dropped below
eighty-five degrees in summer. Tonight must be one of the rarelys –
or at least that was my story.
    “See ya tomorrow night,” Grady’s husky voice
called as he sauntered away to his sleek black Dodge Ram.
    After I tore my eyes away from the boss, the
plastic trash bag slid right over the driver’s seat of my Vette
almost as if tailor made. Grady always took special care of me.