Power Play. Beverly Long

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СКАЧАТЬ his degree. He’d never felt the inclination to look the man up. Had run into him once at a restaurant, had a couple minutes of very awkward conversation, but that had been at least two years ago. “And he did?” Trey said.

      “Yeah. I really appreciated that. Damn hard to find that first job sometimes. Anyway, says she likes the work. But I’m worried about her. She’s normally really good about returning calls but I’ve left messages over the last few days and haven’t heard back.”

      “Maybe she’s just busy,” Trey said, already swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He put the phone on speaker and picked up his jeans.

      “She’s got two jobs, so that’s probably true,” Anthony said, his voice full of pride. “She’s got a lot of school loans. Won’t let me help her. Says I have my own loans to pay off.”

      That was probably true. Mrs. McGarry had not had the resources to help her children with college expenses. She’d given them a great deal of love, however. And Trey, by virtue of being Anthony’s friend and roommate, had gotten included in the outpouring.

      “I’d just feel better if somebody I trusted had eyes on her,” Anthony continued. “I thought about calling Rodney since he probably sees her at work but I think Kellie might not like it if I drag her boss into our personal lives.”

      “Considerate it done,” Trey said. “What’s her address?”

      Anthony rattled it off and her phone, as well. “But she’s probably at Lavender tonight. She’s a cocktail server there on Friday and Saturday nights. I did call there but they’re jerks about passing personal phone calls through to their employees.”

      He’d never been to Lavender but he recalled that his partner Rico had mentioned it a few months back. New to the strip in the last year, it was building steam as a place to see and be seen. Had a chef from New York who was supposed to be amazing.

      He squinted at the clock. It was a twenty-minute drive from his house. He could get there, make sure she was fine, and be back in bed by eleven. “I’ll call you within the hour,” Trey said.

      “I owe you, man,” Anthony said.

      Not even close. “Keep your phone on.”

      Traffic was very light and he was circling the right block in seventeen minutes. But then he lost a few finding a parking spot. Finally, he was walking up the marble staircase to the second-floor restaurant. There was a young woman in a short black dress with a stack of leather-bound menus. “Table for one, sir?”

      Anthony had said Kellie was a cocktail server. “Just the bar.”

      She made a sweeping motion with her arm, ushering him through an oversize archway. The carpet got thicker, the music louder and the lighting dimmer. It was a big bar, with two long sides that came to an outward V in the middle. Lots of brass and glass and mirrors that made the most of it.

      He took an open spot, three from the end on the side closest to the lobby. There were two bartenders, both males, both probably in their early thirties wearing dark pants and white shirts. One came his direction and slid a cocktail napkin with a lavender L on it toward him. “What’s your pleasure?” the man asked, his tone easy.

      “Scotch, straight up,” Trey said.

      He turned on his bar stool so he could see the tables in the bar area. They were low and surrounded by equally low couches and chairs. Lots of grays and violets and darker purples. He counted five, no make that six, different cocktail servers. Most had their backs to him as they took orders. They all wore black skirts and white shirts.

      The bartender set down his drink. Trey threw a twenty on the bar. “I’m looking for Kellie McGarry.”

      There was a subtle shift in the man’s posture. “Oh, yeah?”

      Trey nodded. Took a sip. “Looking her up for a friend,” he said.

      The man hesitated, then pointed at a server across the room. “Don’t give her a hard time, man. She’s had a rough night.”

      What the hell did that mean? Trey wanted to drill him for information but at that moment, the woman he’d pointed at turned.

      Long dark blond hair caught the light. Shimmered.

      Three steps.

      Her short black skirt was tight, her white sleeveless shirt maybe a little tighter. Three more steps.

      Her tanned legs were bare and a mile long.

      She was smoking hot.

      And he felt wildly off balance.

      She was no longer a gawky twelve-year-old. Maybe if he’d been at Anthony’s wedding seven years ago, but he’d been in the middle of a tour, unable to come home. If he’d seen her there, he now wouldn’t feel as if he’d taken a punch to the gut.

      He watched her go to the far side of the bar and enter her order on a touch screen. She smiled at the other bartender.

      Trey picked up his drink, leaving the napkin and his change on the bar. He passed the point of the V, kept going, until he was standing right behind her. She turned, tray in hand, drinks on tray.

      Startled, she jerked but nothing spilled. “Excuse me,” she murmured, shifting to the side. Her eyes were hazel and her face was a perfect oval. Her hair, parted deep on the side, swept across her forehead. She wore very little makeup, didn’t need it. Her lips held just a hint of gloss.

      “Kellie?” he asked.

      She said nothing. But he got the feeling she was just about to run. She’s had a rough night.

      He stepped back, giving her some space. “I’m Trey Riker,” he said, his voice quiet. “I’m friends with your brother, Anthony.”

      Still, she said nothing. And the bartender was looking a little too interested in their conversation.

      “I was his college roommate. He was the smart one. He stayed and I decided to go to war.”

      “Anthony has mentioned you,” she said. She looked California and she sounded pure Texas.

      That and her sexy painted toes peeking out of her black heels were a hell of a combination. But crashing upon that thought was the realization that he was having these thoughts about Anthony’s little sister.

      Which was almost as bad as if he’d had the same thoughts about his own sister.

      “Your brother gets worried when he doesn’t hear from you,” he said.

      Something, maybe regret, maybe frustration, he wasn’t sure what, flashed in her pretty eyes. But then she summoned up a smile that would have made her orthodontist proud. “I hope you weren’t in the middle of something important when he sounded the alert.” She cocked her head, narrowed her amazing eyes. “I think he’s always been secretly envious of your life.”

      He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Actually, his brain felt really scrambled. “Are you sure he was talking about me?”

      She nodded. “Absolutely. But I didn’t realize СКАЧАТЬ