Sizzling Read Online Free

sign.
"Okay— I'll let you eat in peace. Do you want the
television on?" She opened the cabinet doors, exposing the
television and DVD player, then left the remote on the bed. "Call
if you need anything."
    * * *
    BY FOUR-THIRTY that afternoon, Lori felt as if she'd been the
victim of a hit-and-run. Her momentary breakthrough with Gloria was
nothing more than a distant memory once the older woman finished
complaining that her bed was too hard, her pillows too soft, that her
sheets had an odd smell and that the television buzzed.

"I'll
get a serviceman in here as soon as possible," Lori said, doing
her best to be patient. She also had to keep herself from looking at
her watch. This had been the longest afternoon of her life. And to
think it had only been a half day with Gloria.

She kept
telling herself that Gloria was unhappy for a reason and that things
would get better.

A little after five she headed for the
kitchen and found a tall, pretty, large-breasted woman unpacking a
giant tote bag. Her uniform marked her as a nurse. Her physical
description told Lori who had done the hiring.

"Hi,"
the woman said, smiling brightly. "I'm Sandy Larson, twilight
nurse. Which is a first. Usually I'm the night nurse. On call when
it's dark. Hey, that sounds like the title of a book. Or a porn
movie." Sandy grinned. "Not sure which I'd rather be in. On
a good day…"

Lori did her best to greet the woman
pleasantly, despite the sudden knot in her stomach. What on earth was
wrong with her? So Reid had gone true to type with the other nurse.
What did Lori care?

Lori brought Sandy up to speed on Gloria's
care. "She's tired so she's a little difficult, but not
awful."

"I can handle her," Sandy said. "If
my patients give me any trouble, I start talking about my favorite
soap opera. That usually bores them into falling asleep. It's why I
love the night shift. You day girls work too hard." She leaned
toward Lori. "Gotta love this job, though. Twelve hours of pay
for an eight hour shift."

"It's great. I'll just go
and tell Gloria goodbye."

"Sure thing. See you
tomorrow."

Lori nodded and returned to the study. "I'm
heading out," she told Gloria. "I'll be back in the
morning."

Gloria looked up from the magazine she'd been
reading and stared at Lori over her glasses. "I can't imagine
why you would think I would care about your comings and goings. Stay
or go. It doesn't matter the least to me."

Lori grinned.
"I had a good day, too, Gloria. You're more than welcome."
    * * *
    REID PARKED his Corvette behind the Downtown Sports Bar and
climbed out. He stood staring at the rear door for a full minute,
then told himself it wouldn't be so bad.

Ever since he'd blown
out his arm and had to retire from baseball, he'd been working at the
family sports bar. "Working" being a loose definition of
what he did. In theory he was the general manager. In reality he came
and went as he wanted, occasionally worked behind the bar,
entertained customers with stories about his baseball career and life
and hired the female staff. He'd always thought of the sports bar as
a refuge— a place to hang where he was known and admired. Today
it was nothing more than a house of shame.

Everyone inside
knew him and he was willing to bet his impressive bank account that
each one of them had read the morning paper.

"Goddamn it
all to hell," he grumbled, then used his key to let himself in
the back door.

Figuring he might as well get it over with as
quickly as possible, he bypassed the relative safety of his office
and walked into the bar.

Instantly the low rumble of
conversation stilled and all eyes focused on him. Reid kept
moving.

"Hey, hon," one of the waitresses called,
her mouth twisted in some weird almost-normal smile. "Good to
see you."

He nodded and continued walking through the
happy hour crowd.

"Reid!" one guy yelled. "How's
it hanging?"

Reid ignored that, scanned the clusters of
patrons and saw two familiar faces in a corner. He headed directly
for