Terms Of Engagement. Kylie Brant

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ words as he attempted to smooth his thinning brown hair. “Can’t believe it. Neldstrom’s such a bastard. Hate that bastard so much.”

      “Haven’t heard anything,” she answered truthfully. She’d worked her shift and headed home for a quick shower and change to avoid arriving here awash in eau de fry grease. But she wasn’t especially eager to get deluged with the latest in the ongoing battle between Mitch and the restaurant owner.

      “He fired me! Said I’d missed too many shifts.” Mitch hiccuped wetly. “Didn’t even care I’d been sick. That I need the job. He just took me off the schedule and said I was done. At the holidays, too. The bastard.”

      Drunken Santa began an off-tune rendition of “Blue Christmas.” And Lindsay was definitely feeling bluer than she had when she arrived.

      “I’m sorry about that, Mitch. Really.” If anyone epitomized victim, it was Mitch Engels. He was short, plump and prematurely balding, with pale blue eyes magnified by thick, horn-rimmed glasses. He was a nice enough guy, if something of an odd duck. Many at work gave him a wide berth, but Lindsay had always felt sorry for him. She was intimately aware of how it felt to not fit in. “If you need help looking for another job…”

      Mitch flung out one hand, knocking his bottle off balance. Only quick reflexes saved Lindsay from a beer bath. “Don’t want another job! Want my job. You’re just like the others at Piper’s. You just want me gone.”

      Lindsay gave a sigh and sat down across from the man, who looked like he was working himself up to full hissyfit status. “Mitch.” She took his hand in hers, squeezing hard enough to get his attention. “You know that’s not true. I want to help you. Why don’t you go home and go to bed. You can call me tomorrow and we’ll talk about your options, okay?”

      He looked pathetically hopeful. “I can call you?”

      She wondered if he’d ever heard a female issue that invitation before. Judging from his reaction, probably not. “We’ll talk about the job,” she emphasized. The last thing she wanted was to shift his bubbling emotions from his unemployment woes to her. “Here’s my number.” She found a pen and scrap of paper in her purse, and scribbled the cell number she’d given out to few others.

      She pushed it across the table toward him. “But you really need to go home now and sleep it off. This place is full of policemen.” She doubted that could make him as nervous as it did her. The Blue Lagoon was primarily a cop bar, although its location near Piper’s meant some of the restaurant workers were regulars, as well. “You don’t need any trouble.”

      Given the fact that most of the occupants in the bar were probably as loaded as Mitch, she might be overplaying that card, but he accepted the number and her words with alacrity.

      “You’re right. I’ll go.” He lurched upward before he’d slid to the end of the booth and nearly toppled face-first onto the tabletop. Lindsay got out and helped him to his feet, gently guiding him toward the door.

      “You comin’, too?” He swayed, nearly knocking both of them into a harried-looking waitress.

      “No, we’ll talk tomorrow, remember?” She opened the door for him, ushered him through it. “I’m supposed to be meeting friends here.” On the spot she made a commitment to stay; it was better than the alternative. “Grab a cab and get home safely. Talk to you soon.”

      Before he could muster an answer she withdrew into the noisy bar and shut the door after her. The string of mistletoe hung limply above her, a possible omen of her evening ahead. Certainly it hadn’t begun too auspiciously.

      Lindsay began to thread her way between tables, looking for Jolie and Dace. The shock of having a pair of cops as friends was secondary to having made friends in Metro City at all. She was usually careful to avoid relationships. It was easier to move on when she wasn’t leaving behind anyone she cared about.

      And she’d been getting that itchy feeling lately. The one that told her it would soon be time to choose another city. Another job. Another life.

      Jolie caught sight of her first and stood, waving her over to a table near the back of the bar. Lindsay felt something inside her lighten. Maybe for tonight she would forget that itchy feeling, and the reason for it. Forget her nonexistent love life, violent past and hopeless future. Spending time with her two favorite people would be the high point of her week.

      But when she drew closer to the table and saw a third person seated there, she mentally readjusted her expectations downward. What was drunk Santa doing at their table, and how long before they could get rid of him?

      “About time you got here,” Jolie scolded cheerfully. “I was about to send Dace to your place to get you.”

      “I got hung up at work.” She exchanged hugs with her two friends.

      Dace gave her a quick once-over and grinned as he reseated himself. “You clean up good. Not that the filthy apron and Piper’s chef’s hat aren’t attractive.”

      Jolie gave him a quick elbow jab. “You look great.”

      What she looked like in the buttoned-up white shirt and black gauchos, Lindsay knew, was a constipated librarian. She didn’t care. Her thrill-seeking days were behind her. And she realized the importance of dressing the part of whatever identity she’d donned for the moment.

      With an innocent expression that Lindsay immediately distrusted, Jolie gestured to the stranger and said, “And this shirtless wretch is Jack Langley. I’ve mentioned him to you, remember?”

      Lindsay narrowed a look at her friend. Make that exfriend. This was Jack Langley? The buddy of Dace’s that Jolie had mentioned several times wanting her to meet?

      Drunk Santa—Jack—picked up her hand and sent a caressing thumb skating across her knuckles. A lock of his black hair had escaped from beneath the fur-trimmed Santa hat and fallen rakishly over his forehead. His devil-dark eyes and lopsided grin were guaranteed to melt the coldest of female hearts. Lindsay’s remained steely.

      Jolie continued, “And this is Lindsay Bradford. Jack, behave. I’m going to get Lindsay a drink. C’mon, Dace.”

      Dace looked confused. “Why do I have to come?” Jolie grabbed his arm and he stood, long-sufferingly, to trail behind his fiancée.

      “I’ll bet you’re a good girl, Lindsay.” Jake raked her with his liquid-coal gaze and a corner of his mouth kicked up. His smile deepened the dimple in his chin. “You look like one. Luckily for you, I still have something in my package for good little girls.”

      Her brows rose at the transparent euphemism. But then he reached into a paper bag on the table and withdrew a handful of “gifts,” setting his offerings in front of her.

      She surveyed the slightly wilted fruit slices and paper umbrellas with a jaundiced look before transferring her attention back to him. “This reminds me. I have a few Christmas disappointments I want to discuss with you. Let’s start with that lame Barbie you brought me when I’d specifically asked for a G.I. Joe.”

      He slapped a hand to his chest, feigning shock. “Those damn elves. They must have mislabeled the package. That’s it. Danny the dyslexic elf is getting the ax.”

      She didn’t smile, because it would only encourage him. “Your elves told me working for you is a lot like working in СКАЧАТЬ