Playing for Keeps (Honky Tonk Angels Book 5) Read Online Free Page A

Baker walked in from the kitchen.
    “I thought I heard the door,” Nellie Mae said.
    “Oh, yes. Mr. Beckett had someone bring this shirt to me for tonight.”
    “Mr. Beckett? You mean Stella’s nephew Cade Beckett? The one they have working for them over to the Honky Tonk?”
    Roxie didn’t have a clue who Stella was and who Beckett was related to, but it didn’t matter because Mrs. Baker didn’t give her a chance to respond. “You going to be working over there?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Well, now, I know a person has to do what they must to earn a living, but let me tell you what I told your blonde friend. This is a Christian home. I don’t cotton to anyone having shack ups, loud parties, drinking or drugging in my home. So, no bringing men home and respect my other tenants and be quiet when you come in.”
    Roxie bit back a smile. At four foot nothing and darn near as wide as she was tall.  Dressed in lime green Capri pants, a white pullover top with green appliqued butterflies and a green short sleeve jacket to match her pants, Mrs. Baker didn’t exactly pull off the intimation routine. Especially not with that squeaky high-pitched voice, big blonde teased up hair and makeup fit for a stage act.
    Still, she owned the house and Roxie respected that. “Yes, ma’am. You can count on it. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
    “So, are you going to be working in the kitchen or waiting tables?”
    Roxie stopped in mid-motion. “Waiting tables and working the bar.”
    “You ever done that before?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Oh so you’ve spent a lot of time working in bars, have you?”
    All at once, she got it. Mrs. Baker was digging for information.
    Roxie smiled. “I better get changed. Don’t want to be late on my first day. You have a good evening, Mrs. Baker and don’t you worry. I’ll be quiet as a mouse when I come in.”
    Before Mrs. Baker had a chance to respond, Roxie hurried to her room. She grabbed her bag of toiletries and headed for the bathroom to shower. Twenty minutes later, she turned in front of the mirror. When Cade said he’d have a shirt sent to her, she’d assumed it would be a standard T-shirt. Not a spaghetti-strapped, tight, white, cropped-off top that showed as much as it covered.
    There was no way to put a bra under it. Well, maybe a strapless one, which she didn’t own. And forget borrowing one from Dini, who probably had a dozen. Roxie would have to invest in extra socks to fill Dini’s cups.
    At least the wording on the front of the shirt covered her breasts and obscured her nipples. Honky Tonk Angel was stamped boldly in red with a set of angel wings framing the words.
    Cute design. And now her official work uniform.
    Damn, why the hell had she left Las Vegas?
    That thought caused a tightening of her jaw. Not even Dini knew the real reason Roxie had left. It wasn’t something she was willing to share with anyone. Besides, what was done was done and right now she had to focus on making enough to have the car fixed so she could leave this one-horse town and get on with her life.
    As she brushed her hair, her thoughts turned to her new job and her new boss. She’d always made a point not to get involved with people she worked with. It caused too many complications when it didn’t work out. And in Roxie’s experience, work relationships never worked out.
    Cade Beckett was going to make it hard to stick to her rule. The man was lethal. And it wasn’t just his going-silver hair, eyes the color of storm clouds and a face that was handsome enough to stop traffic. Maybe it was that gambler’s air about him. That air that said the bigger the stakes and the more he had on the line, the better he liked it.
    There was an intensity to him that the good-old-boy façade couldn’t cover. And that was dangerous. At least for her. It spelled trouble with a capital T. Bottom line? She had to keep her hands off Cade Beckett. Regardless of how much she’d like to dive into that