Seduced by a Dangerous Man Read Online Free

floats.
    Things finally slowed, thank goodness. One of my tables was being bussed, and I stopped by for a tip so minuscule that I practically needed a magnifying glass to see it.
    “We’ll take this one.” Henry’s voice was crisp and clear.
    For a moment I thought I had fallen asleep on my feet, that this was a fun new twist to my Henry nightmare.  
    I turned as the hostess, flanked by Henry and his oversized sidekick, approached.  
    Janet passed behind me. “Watch your language,” she hissed in my ear.  
    I didn’t apologize. What was the point when there was a good chance that I was going to get myself fired in the next thirty seconds?
    “And we want that lovely young lady serving us,” Henry said, pointing at me. I regretted my decision not to hit him the night before.
    “Of course,” the hostess said. She drew out the last word and raised her eyebrows with a smile that said, “ Look at you with the admirers. ”  
    “Actually, I’m on break,” I said as they sat.  
    “Don’t be petty.” Henry pulled the menus from the hostess’s hands and looked at her pointedly until she scampered away, her perky ponytail swinging.
    “She single?” Butch asked, his enormous bald head tilting as he watched her leave.
    I put my hands on my hips and swung toward Henry. “What? Not content to irritate me from the parking lot?”
    Henry held up a hand. “Audrey. We come in peace.”
    Even though I wanted nothing more than to dump a carafe of steaming coffee over his head, I kept my hands planted in place. “Go on.”
    “What’s good today?” Butch asked.
    “Nothing,” I said. “We’re out of everything. So why don’t you two just go on home?”
    “Audrey!” Janet didn’t even try to keep her voice down. Henry held his hand up again.  
    “It’s no problem, Janet. We go way back. She’s just having a little fun. And might I say that you are positively glowing today. How’s Hank?”
    I stared poison-tipped daggers at Henry. I didn’t dare say what I was thinking. It hadn’t been easy to get this job when I had only ever worked for one company and my sole reference was my brother. Getting fired from this waitress position would pretty much guarantee that I would never work again.
      Janet reluctantly walked away, but I didn’t relax. “What do you two want?”
    “Got an interesting call this morning,” Henry said. “Thought maybe you could shed some light on it.”
    “Doubtful.” My heart began to hammer. This would be so much easier if I knew which one of my transgressions was coming back to take a ragged chunk out of my ass.
    “Cut the crap, Henry,” Butch said. “You’re like a bad movie. Stop drawing things out and ask her.”
    “Zak liked to gamble,” Henry said. He was watching me very closely, and I funneled all my energy into keeping my face as neutral as possible.
    Butch slapped his hand on the table. “Damn. I want to eat. Tell her so she can take our orders.”
    I saw that Butch’s attitude annoyed Henry, but all he did was pick up the menu. “I’ll have the sandwich of the day,” he said.
    “Get me a cola and that big basket of fries and mozzarella sticks,” Butch said. He flicked at the dessert menu on the table. “Gonna have some apple pie later, and it better be served with a smile.” He laughed.
    I started to turn away but saw Janet waiting near the kitchen, so I pulled out the pad and scribbled down their orders, then walked the fifteen steps to the computer. Janet nodded in approval, but a vein pulsed in her forehead. Something told me I might be looking for a job even if I managed to stay civil to Henry, and as I tapped in the order, I wondered if it made more sense to just quit. Quitting might look marginally better on my résumé.
    I brought a cola for Butch and a glass of water for Henry and slid them on the table.
    Butch picked up his glass. “Where’s my straw?”
    I dug in my apron and found one of the brightly colored curly ones we gave to kids. I