Offensive Behavior (Sidelined #1) by Ainslie Paton Read Free Book Online Page B

it.”
    She
looked at her shoes, so Reid did too, his eyes running over the swell of muscle
in her thigh, the even circle of her kneecap, the bunch of her calve and the
slim turn of her ankle strapped in shoes that must’ve taken lessons to walk in.
    “I
don’t go out with customers, Reid.”
    If that
was her real objection it was easy fixed. “So I’m never coming to Lucky’s
again.”
    Her
hands went to her hips and she popped her weight to one leg. “Let me get this
straight. If I agree to eat with you, you’ll agree to quit drinking at Lucky’s.”
    “That’s
right.”
    She
smiled. She didn’t smile on stage. He’d have been walking around with a mortal
injury for weeks if she had. “Thank you for the flowers and the tips.”
    What?
No!
    She
spun around and made for the bar area. He got out of the booth and took a few
steps after her. She was stopped by a group of men, shifting back when one of
them made to touch her. What was he going to do if he got close to her? She’d
brushed him off again. Of course she would, she knew him as a drunk, a loser
customer of Lucky’s who’d never even had the courtesy to tip her before
tonight.
    But it
wasn’t enough and he wanted more of her smoky voice politely putting him down,
more of her glittery eyes and not to be pushed attitude.
    He
watched her disappear off the floor. He watched her dance, with his heart in
his throat and his hands fisted. He didn’t like this feeling she made pulse in
him. It wasn’t like anything he’d felt before. For a start he’d been semi-hard
since he stood at his desk at home and wrote that note, now he doubted he
could’ve stood straight without discomfort.
    He
waited for her to look at him, to throw him some challenge, some acknowledgement
from the stage. She danced three songs and never glanced his way, as if she’d
already forgotten him, and he was surprised how much that cut.
    Vi tried
to sell him whiskey, rum, beer, vodka, but he stuck to Coke. She told him not
to take getting shot down hard.
    He
beckoned her closer and she leaned down so he had a damn good view of her
cleavage. “Do I I ook like a man who crashed and
burned?”
    He was
exactly that man, but Vi didn’t know that and Reid knew more about poker and
blackjack than simply counting cards. This time Vi laughed.
    “I’d
like to take you and all the dancers in this shift out for a meal.”
    She
rolled her eyes. “You want to take all of us out, together?”
    He
nodded once.
    “You’re
kidding?”
    He gave
her a not kidding eyebrow twitch.
    “What
if she won’t come?”
    He
nodded again. “If she won’t come, then I gave it my best shot.” And he’d have
to find some other way to start redeeming himself.

 
    SIX
     
    “Oh no.” Zarley waved her hands in front of her face. “No, no, no,
no.” It only made Vi laugh harder. She’d been laughing since she came into the
dressing room with Reid’s damn note, and now she was back with his group offer.
He was preposterous.
    “He’s
not, absolutely not, taking us out.”
    “That
very fine man can sure as glitter sticks take me out,” said Lizabeth.
    “Me
too. Ages since I’ve had a good steak,” said Kathryn. She slapped her concave
stomach as though it was missing the benefits of a chargrill.
    “I’m
certainly not going anywhere with him,” said Melinda.
    Kathryn
tossed her hair. “Knock me down with a feather.”
    “He
doesn’t mean me, does he?”
    That
was the new girl whose stage name was Tiffany. She looked to Vi who nodded. “All
of us. He’s not joking around. I think he’s loaded.”
    He was
clearly loaded. “I think he’s a dealer.” Who else would live like Reid did? That
luxurious unfurnished apartment that was all gym and games, bath and bed. Which
didn’t explain why he was a drunk and not an addict. Not that she needed Reid
to make sense. She didn’t need anything from him, and certainly not flowers and
dates.
    “So we
eat and run,” said Lizabeth. “We’d be