Page 54 of Strip Search

Miles Carvello

Jackie’s text said she’d pick me up in front of Dalton’s in a half hour and then she didn’t pick up the phone or respond to any of my texts. I was trying not to be pissed, but it wasn’t working. Thirty minutes later on the dot, she pulled up in her rental car.

“We’re taking my car,” I told her.

She opened her mouth to argue with me, but must have seen the look on my face. “Fine.”

Backing out of my parking spot, I gave her enough room to pull in and then waited for her to get in the car before ripping into her.

“What the fuck was that all about?” I had preset the Moondust Cherry Ranch into the GPS, so I didn’t need to think about directions. I pulled into traffic and glared at her out of the corner of my eye.

“Miles, are you selling drugs?”

“The fuck?” I whipped a glance at her. “Is that what you think you saw?”

“WhatdidI see?”

I shook my head and tried to put a simmer on my temper. Normally I wouldn’t tell anyone about Grier, but Jackie was leaving in less than two weeks. “That was an undercover cop trying to get a hold on the drug trade this side of the Strip. I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention that bit of information to anyone. It could literally cost him his life.”

“That’s a convenient story,” she said.

I shook my head. “You can believe me or not. I don’t give a fuck.”

“I want to believe you,” Jackie said. She placed her hand on my arm. I shook her off, still too pissed at her to want her touch. I knew this was a bad idea. I should have gently tossed her fine ass out of my club instead of letting her shake it on stage and I definitely shouldn’t have fucked her over a desk. I should have taken my time with her in bed. Because that was all I could think about now. How it was all fucked up and it would have been so damn good.

“You don’t have to take me to Pahrump,” she said quietly.

I pulled over to the side of the road, amidst the blaring of horns. “Do you want me to go with you or not?”

“Yes. Yes, I want you to come with me to Pahrump. Yes, I want to believe you’re not a drug dealer. And yes, I still want to fuck your brains out.”

My lips twitched. “You couldn’t have led off with that last one?” And just like that the anger simmered down to a mild irritation. I got back on the road.

“Here’s the thing,” Jackie said, and I couldn’t wait for what was going to come next. “We missed a few steps in our courtship. I’m not complaining, because I liked what happened. But I know nothing about you that hasn’t come from the Internet. How would I know you weren’t a drug dealer?”

“Fair enough.” I shrugged. “The Internet has most of it. What holes do you want me to fill in?”

“Are we still talking about sex? Because all of them.”

“All?” I drawled. The day was looking up. Another notch of tension eased in my back. Maybe this situation wasn’t completely fucked up.

“Why did you come back to Las Vegas? You looked like you were living the dream in Ibiza, London, and Mykonos.” Jackiekicked off her shoes and put her feet on my dashboard. “I bet you saw a lot of exotic dancers.”

I swatted her feet down, avoiding the question. “That’s dangerous. If we get into an accident, your dance career is over.”

“Danger is my middle name,” she said.

“Is it?”

“No it’s Aida. My mom gave us Broadway middle names. Lisa’s middle name is Pippin.”

“You got lucky.”

“One of the few perks of being born first.” Jackie eased the seat back. “Have you got a middle name?”

“No. My parents weren’t too concerned with me. My uncle Johnny raised me for the most part. You would have liked him. He had a weird sense of humor and he loved blondes.”

She was quiet for a moment. “When did he pass away?”

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