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

tantalizing pool of temptation, she had to steer clear.
    With her resolve firm, she headed out the door for her first night of work.
     
    *****
    “Want a warm up?”
    Cade turned his attention away from the schedule on the bar to look up at his cousin Hannah. She held a carafe of coffee in one hand.
    “Yeah, thanks.” He lifted his cup.
    “So the new girl starts tonight?”
    “Yep.” Cade hid a smile. Cotton Creek was a small town and it didn’t take high-speed cable, smart phones or the internet for news to spread faster than wild fire. By now, half the people in town knew Roxie and her friend had broken down. Probably knew that Dini had been hired at the Blue Belle, and that the Honky Tonk was getting a new waitress.
    He’d lay odds that tonight’s crowd would be bigger than normal just out of curiosity. It was the way of small towns. Not much happened out of the ordinary and when something did, everyone was curious.
    “Shit, there go everyone else’s tips,” Hannah said softly, her eyes turned toward the door.
    Cade turned his head to follow the direction of her gaze and a spear of heat spiked through him.
    Roxie.
    Christ on a crutch. What she did for a tank top and cut-off jeans was a sin. A tempting, dead sexy sin. The tank top was tight enough to have been painted on. It accented her full breasts and exposed her from mid-torso to the top of her low-riding jeans. He couldn’t help noticing that the jeans had been cut off short enough to make a man hope she’d bend over.
    Over-the-knee black leather boots showcased thighs that brought images best left for wet dreams to mind.
    “Mr. Beckett,” she said as she stopped beside him.
    “Roxie.”
    “Where do you want me?”
    The sudden swell of erection at her words had several suggestions spring to mind. In my bed, on the bar, the floor, bent across a table . There was a multitude of places he’d like to have her.
    “Why don’t you start behind the bar?”
    “Will do.” She turned her attention to Hannah. “Hi, I’m Roxie Ellis.”
    “Hannah Sweet.”
    “The owner?”
    “One of them. My sister, Cody and I own the place.”
    “Well, it’s very nice to meet you and I appreciate the job. Would you mind showing me the ropes?”
    Hannah cut her eyes at Cade then back to Roxie. “Sure. Come on back.”
    Cade couldn’t help but smile as Roxie turned. Oh, damn. The way the denim hugged her ass was criminal. He better keep her working behind the bar. Sure as shit, there’d be more than one fella who tried to get his hands on that.
    The surge of jealously shocked him. What the hell? Was he experiencing some kind of alpha male thing? He didn’t even know the woman and already he was dealing with an uncomfortable hard-on and jealousy over the idea of another man touching her.
    He gave it some thought as he watched Hannah go over things with her. Roxie got to him and he knew himself well enough to accept that he’d never be satisfied until he had her. And being a gambler, the challenge of winning her had appeal.
    A smile came to his face. Winning Roxie was now the goal. But the key was making her come to him. And she would. He just had to figure out the right buttons to push.
    Yes, he was definitely going to have Roxie. Suddenly, it looked like it was going to be an interesting time in Cotton Creek after all.
     
    *****
     
    It was eighteen minutes past eight when Jayce and Callie walked into the bar. Cody knew that because she’d just looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind the counter. She turned at the sound of Hannah yelling hello to Callie.
    With them was Wes Pursell.
    Cody was about to yell out a greeting when she saw him .
    Lord have mercy. She’d gone on about it with her sister and her friends, bragged about how she’d know when “Mr. Mine” walked into her life and what she’d do, but she’d never fully believed it would happen.
    Truth be told, she was starting to fear that maybe her sister Hannah was right. Maybe they were both