Page 5 of Player For Hire

Like that guy in the elevator. He was the antithesis of Trent. Tall, blond, muscular, and had an easy smile. I was pretty sure charm actually came off him in waves.

“What’s that look for?”

I blinked at Iona as she stood in front of me with a handful of jewelry. “Nothing.”

“That was definitely something.”

“Nothing, really.”

Iona just stared at me.

“Okay, fine. I was just thinking about the guy I rode up in the elevator with this afternoon.”

“Oh, and who was that?” She held out big silver dangling earrings and a chunky cuff bracelet.

“I think his name was Colder.” It was definitely Colder. The name wouldn’t be leaving my brain for a while.

“Oh, you’ll definitely like Lonegan’s then.” She grinned. “He works over there. And the perfect guy for flirt practice.” She tugged me up off the bed. “Now go get dressed. Happy hour starts in a few minutes. We can be fashionably late, but not too late to get a good seat.”

“I don’t know.”

She shook her head. “Nope. Either get dressed here—we’ve seen each other’s everything—or go to your room.”

I sighed and stood. “I’ll take a quick shower.”

“Don’t wash your hair. I’ll make it cute.”

There wasn’t any point fighting Iona when she was in this mood. “Fine.”

“And I’m doing your makeup!” she called after me.

Of course she was.

CHAPTER 3

COLDER

Lonegan’s was bumping. Rain wasn’t going to keep anyone from coming out on ladies’ night.

I swapped out a keg from the nearby Brothers Three Orchard. Their spring cider was our special of the night and I couldn’t keep the tap going fast enough.

Impulsively, I flushed out the line from the domestic beer that wasn’t getting much play tonight and tapped a second keg.

“Hey, how many Dragonbreath kegs do we have left?” I called to Callahan Brinkley, the owner of Lonegan’s.

It was busy enough that even the boss man was behind the bar tonight.

“I have six in the back.”

“Sure about that?” I grinned up at him and tucked the second keg in the back.

“Did you put another on?”

“I did.”

“All right, that makes five then. I’ll talk to Hayes Manning and get some more in for the weekend.” Callahan poured some of our mid-shelf tequila into the blender, adding two cups of frozen raspberries and his special margarita blend. “What’s going on today that everyone is out in this shit weather?”

“I don’t know, man. I thought it would be an easy night.” Once the tap was flowing, I did a quick inventory of our ice and glass situation, then I loaded the small dishwasher with the empties I’d collected on the way down.

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