Starlight (Peaches Monroe) (Volume 2) Paperback – September 2, 2013 Read Online Free Page B

cheeks reddened as I realized I’d been glancing over at his package.
    We stopped at a red light, and Mitchell jumped out of his Miada up ahead of us and dashed back. “Roommate disaster unfolding. Custom dress, wrong sequins, giant tantrum. Sorry, but I have to bail on sushi.” He handed a business card to Keith to pass to me. “Call me if you need anything. Please forgive me for bailing. See you Tuesday!”
    The light changed and people were already honking as he dashed back up to his car.
    Keith turned his head and gave me a deliciously naughty look, his brown eyes twinkling under a wavy lock of black hair. “I think we can do better than sushi.”

CHAPTER 3
    I chuckled nervously and crossed my legs, feeling younger and much stupider than twenty-two. A good-looking man with a muscular torso and a sizable flotation device will do that to you, even if he says his confidence is all an act.
    Keith crossed three lanes and turned right, looping back the way we’d come.
    He wouldn't give me any hints, then he took me to a cozy steak and seafood restaurant where everybody seemed to know him.
    A man I assumed was the owner came by with a bottle of chilled vodka and tiny glasses. “My man,” he said to Keith as he poured us all drinks. “I decided on the Alfa Romeo. You’ll have to take it on the PCH sometime, trade me your wheels for the day.”
    I accepted the glass of vodka and shot it back, as I didn’t want to be rude. “Smooth,” I said, smacking my lips. “You do know he drives a green van straight out of a Scooby-Doo movie, don’t you?”
    The man laughed, partly distracted by another group of people waving him over. “You make sure my man takes good care of you,” he said. “Because if he doesn’t, you know where to find me.” He winked twice, then waved at the other table and headed their way with the bottle of vodka.
    “I met Edgar when I started to do the landscaping,” Keith explained. “Don’t get your hopes up. Edgar winks at all the girls, but he goes home to his wife, Vanessa.”
    “She’s a lucky woman.”
    A waitress with long, dark hair came by our table with a tasting plate, on the house.
    I noticed Keith wasn’t checking out the hot waitress, but gazing at me, a look of adoration on his face.
    “Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked.
    He seemed surprised by the question, and didn’t answer.
    I continued, “I’m sure you have a dozen girls on your phone who’d be here with you tonight in a heartbeat. Scrawny girls with big, round boobs up to their chins.”
    “I’ve decided not to date models or actresses anymore. I want a real girl, who’s honest.”
    “I should introduce you to my roommate.”
    “Maybe I’ll have to come visit your town. Foxworth? Farmville? No, that’s not a real town, is it?”
    “Beaverdale.” I watched as he drained a tall glass of water. “Did you really take diuretics before today’s shoot?”
    “You have to, as a male model. The world may accept a voluptuous girl in her underwear, but it’s a total double standard. We men have to be hard. Rock hard.”
    “Speaking of which, did you have a sock stuffed in there? Underneath your goodies?”
    He grinned and took the prop glasses out of his blazer pocket and put them on, turning into Clark Kent.
    “I know those glasses are fake,” I said.
    “But I still like wearing them to read menus.”
    “You’re crazy,” I said. “But at least it’s a cute kind of crazy.”
    He perused the menu, avoiding my question about stuffing his shorts. Oh, that faux-nerdy look was doing a number on me. He made the room feel warm and my clothes feel restrictive with the simple addition of fake glasses.
    That single shot of vodka had gone straight to my head, loosening my inhibitions.
    I kicked his foot under the table. “Hey, so what else about today was fake? You gonna tell me or do I have to pat you down?”
    He flipped over the menu as he said, “This is a trade secret, so keep it under your hat, but