Black Girls and Bad Boys: Stealing Loretta Read Online Free Page A

enough for her not to
feel too uncomfortable about him coming with her. Several groups of people were
dotted around the various booths and tables, but the bar itself was bare of
customers. She headed straight for it and climbed onto a stool.
    The barman came over and gave her a subdued
smile. What did she want? She never drank this early in the day.
    “A rum and coke, please.”
    He served it up and the man from the street
held out a crisp ten pound note.
    She thought about protesting, but what was
the point? If she stayed quiet, he might get bored and leave her alone.
    “You work at the bank, don’t you?”
    “Yes.” That much was obvious from her
outfit.
    “I didn’t think they let you drink at
lunch.”
    She gulped down half of the rum and coke.
The alcohol burned pleasantly at the back of her throat. Swivelling on her
stool, she gave him another look. Being objective, he was a good looking guy.
    But not as irresistible as he thought he
was.
    The rum hit her bloodstream, loosening her
up. “Today’s a special occasion – we got held up so I get the rest of the day
off.”
    “Seriously?”
    She nodded.
    “Jesus. Were you there?”
    “Yep.” She finished the drink and asked for
another, getting her purse out before he could pay for that one too. Now that
she’d mentioned the robbery, it was very tempting to tell him everything.
    “I’m Jordan, by the way.” He held out his
hand.
    She looked him up and down, then decided
there was no harm in shaking it.
    Strong grip, big hand.
    She imagined telling this man she didn’t
know that she’d just kissed a bank robber and stifled a giggle.
    “What?”
    “Doesn’t matter.”
    He ordered himself a whiskey mac.
    “So you don’t have work this afternoon
either then?”
    “No.”
    She thought to ask what he did, but it was
such a boring question. “Any plans?”
    “Well,” he smiled and a twinkle came into
those lovely blue eyes. “I was hoping I could persuade a certain attractive
lady to have lunch with me. If she hasn’t already eaten.”
    She wished she had some smart quip ready to
feed him. Flirting was one of those things she’d never quite mastered. “I
should go home.”
    “Says who?”
    It was too hard not to smile. Men never
came on to her. Well, not men like this anyway.
    “You didn’t tell me your name.”
    “Loretta.”
    “Loretta. Hmm.” He pulled his stool a
little closer to hers. “So. What’s your answer?”
    “Sorry, I can’t.”
    “Am I coming on too strong?”
    Yes. She
shook her head and took another sip of her drink.
    “What can I say to tempt you?”
    She looked him right in the eye. He’d
already tempted her. He was a very tempting man. But she shouldn’t. Nice
girls didn’t go for lunch with strange men they’d bumped into in the street.
    “What’s on the menu?”
    “What do you fancy?” That twinkle was still
firmly in his eye. He was a bad boy. She could tell.
    “What’s good after being held up at
gunpoint?”
    He laughed. “I think that calls for steak
and oysters.”
    She drained the last of her drink and
plonked it down on the bar rather harder than she’d meant to. “I know a place
that does great steak.”
    What had being a nice girl ever done for
her?
    ***
    P icking up the sexy bank manager had been
easier than he’d expected. She must have been buzzing from the robbery too.
    Life and death situations are always the
best aphrodisiac. She’d never been in any real danger, but she didn’t know that
and now she wanted to seize her destiny with both hands. He’d seen it happen
before.
    The important thing was to keep the
situation moving and avoid giving her the time to stop and think about what she
was doing. There was enough of the sensible businesswoman about her to throw
things off track if she got the chance to be rational about this.
    But Jordan knew what he was doing. With the
right amount of flattery and alcohol she’d be begging him to take her back to
his place. There was plenty of time