The Red Diary Read Online Free

This was just what he'd been afraid of; maybe it'd been a mistake taking the job at her house, a mistake to look inside her world.
    But no. He'd spent his whole lifeá resenting Lauren Ash, and getting up close and personal with her wasn't the problem. The problem ran much deeper, and pushing it down did nothing to make it go away. He was glad he'd gone today, glad he'd seen. Despite himself, he was glad he was going back in the morning. Hell if he knew why.
    The clothes tipped me off. Her smug words still crackled through his veins and left him feeling subservient to her. Without even knowing who he was, she thought she was better than him.
    "Well, shit on a tin roof! If it ain't Nick Armstrong!" Nick raised his gaze to the laughter of Lucky McClaine, a good old boy from up Georgia way who laid bricks for Ash Builders. He noted with little surprise that Lucky still swapped his hard hat for a cowboy hat at the end of the day, and he hadn't even begun to lose his accent despite living in Florida for at least five years now.
    "What are you doing in this part of town, Lucky?"
    Nick offered an easy grin. "It isn't even the weekend." Lucky lived in an apartment in Island Estates off Clearwater Beach. and if he wanted a beer, there were plenty of watering holes closer to home.
    Lucky slid into the seat across from him. lowering a longneck to the table. "Meetin' some buddies from up in -I Tarpon, and this seemed about the halfway mark." He stopped to take a drink from his bottle. "Barely recognized ya, man. Ya need a haircut."
    "Better things to do." Nick said, running a hand back through his hair. He knew it hung long and gangly compared to Lucky's, which was short and sand-colored in the few spots where it peeked from beneath his tan hat, but he didn't pay much attention to things like that. When it got too long, he shoved it into a ponytail. When that got too long, he finally took the time to get some of it cut off.
    "'S that so? Well, I'd like to know what those better things are. Haven't seen you around a'tall lately. Where the hell ya been?" A few years back, they'd shown up at a lot of the same parties, but these days, Nick only ran into him occasionally-usually if they happened to be working the same job. Lucky added a wink. "Ain't settlin' down on me, are ya?" "Not by choice," Nick said with a regretful smile.
    "But work's keeping me busy." He motioned at the papers still covering most of the table,
    "Shit, man"-Lucky laughed-"ya gotta make some time for fun, or what's the point?"
    "Don't worry about me, Lucky, When I want fun, I know where to get it."
    "Hey, you doin' any work out on Sand Key at Dolphin Bay? I'll be brickin' there the next month or so."
    Nick shook his head. "Some of my crew's working in that first building they just finished, but I'm tied up with a job just a few blocks from here in Clearwater for the next couple weeks."
    Lucky looked perplexed. "Ain't no new construction there, man."
    Nick kept his expression blank as he said, 'Tm putting a new coat of paint on Henry Ash's daughter's house." "Damn." A wolflike grin unfurled across Lucky's thin face. "You're paintin' Lauren Ash's place?"
    Nick nodded, then took a drink of beer.
    "Have you seen her?" Lucky raised his eyebrows.
    "That chick's one piece of prime Grade A ass."
    Nick had never liked guys who categorized women as cuts of meat, but it seemed simplest to ignore the remark and move on. He made it a point to sound nonchalant. "Yeah, I met her this morning. Pretty hot."
    Lucky gave another wink. "Play your cards right, bud, and you might get some of that."
    "Not likely." Nick laughed softly. "We didn't exactly hit it off."
    But Lucky shook his head and flashed a knowing look. "If she's anything like her friend, Carolyn, that probably won't matter." This caught Nick's attention, but he tried not to let it show. "What's the deal with her friend?"
    "She's got this long red hair that nearly reaches her ass, and a mole on her cheek just like Marilyn