The Trouble with Sexy Read Online Free Page B

pulled out the slinky pinky dress she’d bought. “I’ll do it with you. Here, we’ll pull over to the dark part of the parking lot. No one will see.”
    Ryan didn’t protest again. She’d learned over the last few hours that Gracie was pretty much used to getting her way and didn’t take well to the word no. She crawled into the backseat and started to change. Gracie climbed into the front and lifted up her sweater dress, tossing it into the back just as a truck drove by, honking. She continued to pull the pink number over her head and fluffed her hair, unfazed by the fact that someone had seen her nearly naked. Ryan shook her head at the woman’s confidence.
    When Ryan finally finished changing, she stepped out of the car, wiggling about. How did women find the scratchy lace and wedgie-causing boy shorts comfortable?
    â€œHow do I look?”
    Gracie eyed her from the driver’s seat. “Damn girl, I think you went way past sexy.”
    Ryan’s face hurt all the way to Buck’s from smiling so hard. Gracie kept jabbering on and on, and Ryan turned to her in the seat. “Thank you, Gracie. For today. I . . . don’t have a lot of girlfriends. I’m a little awkward around other women especially . . .”
    Gracie gave her a look out of the corner of her eye, “Dumb ones?”
    Ryan gasped. “No. Popular types. Pretty ones.”
    Gracie burst out laughing. “Oh honey, I wasn’t ever popular. I was a drama girl in high school and I tended to say whatever I was thinking whenever I wanted. That doesn’t exactly endear you to people. I just love the spotlight so much that it just keeps following me.” She paused for a minute. “As for not feeling like you belong, I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that tonight. You’ll be the belle of the ball.”
    G REGG WAS GETTING a beer with his friend Michael Stevens, discussing the latest romantic setback with Mike’s friend Gemma, when Mike’s eyes caught something at the door. “Damn.”
    Gregg swiveled his head around to see what had caught Mike’s attention and his mouth dropped. He barely glanced at Gracie standing in the doorway in her bright pink clingy dress. His eyes devoured the curvy redhead in the tight jeans and low-cut blue top next to her. “Holy hell.”
    Mike recovered enough to joke. “I think I covered it with ‘Damn.’”
    Gracie and Ryan walked toward the bar, and Gregg’s eyes were drawn to the shy smile on Ryan’s made-up face. Why was she dressed like that? And why was she wearing all that makeup? Gracie was waving to get Eric Henderson’s attention, and when Eric approached them, Mike elbowed Gregg in the ribs. “You want to go over and say hi?”
    What Gregg wanted was to live in a universe that did not leave him feeling like all the air had been sucked out of the atmosphere. When had Ryan started hanging with Gracie? There was only one way he was going to get any answers, and that was to talk to her. He sucked down the rest of his beer and walked toward Ryan and Gracie, Mike close on his heels. Before the two men rounded the bar, though, a tall guy with spiky hair and earrings approached the two women. It was immediately apparent that Ryan was his object of interest. Gregg’s eyebrows slashed in irritation as he watched the guy put money on the bar, obviously paying for Ryan and Gracie’s drinks. “Do you know that guy?” Gregg didn’t even recognize his own voice, it sounded so dark and gravelly.
    Mike shook his head and said, “Nope. He’s probably just in town for the night, slumming it with us hicks.”
    Gregg scowled as Ryan’s cheeks flushed with color and she smiled sweetly at the stranger. He watched her glossy lips as she took a sip of her drink, and he wondered if the gloss was flavored.
    Mike pushed him forward and asked, “So are we