Awakening Her Racy Passion [Racy Nights 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Free

like that. When he’d lived in Racy before, she’d been a sales clerk at Busler’s Department Store downtown. Why was she now waiting tables and washing dishes at her brother’s bar?
    She’d watched them working on Gerry, and at first Trent thought she was going to pass out, but then as he’d sneaked quick glances at her face, he realized she wasn’t squeamish about the blood and gore. She was concerned for Gerry, and his stomach had given a quick little lurch as understanding dawned on him. He’d already been impressed that she hadn’t simply gone back inside as soon as they’d arrived. The compassion he’d glimpsed in that alley was a side of Ria Rodriguez he’d never seen before, and it made him want to get to know her better.
    Front what little he’d heard of her conversation with Sean and Harrison, she’d called 911 right away, and had remembered a lot of details about the man who’d stabbed Gerry. That showed she could keep her head in a crisis. She wasn’t in the lifestyle, but that had never stopped him before. He made a mental note to ask Wyatt about her. His twin worked with one of Ria’s friends, Bonnie Kowalski, and that meant Wyatt might know more about her.
    Paul glanced over his shoulder, and his question pulled Trent out of his reverie. “You mind if I change the channel?”
    Trent shrugged. “Watch whatever you want.”
    Paul picked up the remote. “Yeah, not much on. Sure wish we had our own local channels here. But I guess it’s not a big enough town for that.”
    “Nope. Sure isn’t.” Racy had just over ten thousand residents, and while Trent had enjoyed living in a larger city for the conveniences it afforded, it hadn’t been anywhere near the same as his home town. It was good to be back. He’d missed the way each resident had at least a passing knowledge of all the others, and the way people came together to help one another.
    But while everything was familiar, too many things had changed in the three years he’d been gone. He’d heard about the tornado, but hadn’t been prepared for the damage on Main and Market Streets. Many of the businesses were gone for good, and others had set up temporary quarters while their owners waited for the reconstruction to finish. Luke had been one of the lucky ones who had found another spot in which to reopen.
    His mind started to wander toward the reason he’d left town to begin with, but Trent pushed away thoughts of Deanna. He couldn’t go there. Not tonight. It was still too raw. He forced his images back to the downtown area, which had been hit the hardest by the EF3 tornado in May. The buildings were scheduled to be completed by April, and the town was planning a celebration and grand reopening on May 3, the one-year anniversary of the storm. That had been Zach Kincaid’s idea.
    As much of a shock as the damage had been, the news that Racy’s former mayor, Bernie Crumb, was facing charges for fraud and murder had been the biggest surprise. Trent was glad the town had voted Zach in as the new mayor, although his money would have been on Maddox McCree. He’d gone to school with Maddox, and had heard that the job was offered to him as well, but he’d turned it down. Zach would do well as mayor. He’d been a councilman for years now, and he was well-respected in this town.
    As Trent glanced first at the TV and then at the back of Paul’s head, he smiled as he wondered what he thought of a mayor who was in the lifestyle. That must bug the shit out of people like Paul. At least the crap that Maddox used to take for having his club had abated somewhat.
    Maddox ran a BDSM club in his house, and Trent remembered how Bernie and his cronies had constantly tried to get it shut down. Even among the residents of Racy who weren’t in the lifestyle, most of them didn’t give a passing thought to the club. They went their way and ignored it. But it only took a few people to put a monkey wrench into the works.
    Thoughts of Maddox’s club led