Bit the Jackpot Read Free

Hard. His eyebrows rose just a little bit, like he was waiting for something.
    Feeling a little weirded out by his intensity, Cara eased to the left, still half-turned. She must be shuffling like a hunchback, but she didn't care. She needed to get away from him, but couldn't seem to force her body to do more than step forward an eighth of an inch at a time. She was either in a dream or she'd suffered some kind of post-dancing paralysis. That had been a really deep cat in the cradle at the end of her routine. She must have sore muscles, or maybe her high heels were too small and she had pinched a nerve.
    He smiled, a slow, charming, roguish sort of smile. "Let me walk you to your dressing room. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"
    Umm. Didn't she just say no twice? She attempted another shuffle and moved all of half an inch. Damn it. She was getting really freaked out. Her legs didn't work. So if she couldn't get her own legs to leave, she'd have to force him to take a hint. "Well, that depends. Do you like long walks?"
    "Sure." The smile relaxed.
    "Do you like sex?" Cara asked in a husky voice, hoping her acting skilis were passable.
    "Absolutely." His nostrils flared.
    "Then take a fucking hike." She'd been dying for months to use that line she'd read in a magazine, and the shocked look on his face was so worth the wait. "I'm not interested, got it?"
    For a long second, he stared at her, like he could hypnotize her into having coffee—sex—with him. She half expected a pendulum to start swinging in front of her.
    "Hello." She waved her hand in front of his face, starting to get ticked off. "Did you hear me? Not interested. Go away."
    He broke eye contact with her, crossed his arms, and shook his head in disgust. "Absolutely unbelievable. I just can't win. I finally decide to live a little and I pick the one woman in Vegas who can shut me out and says no."
    Okay, cute guy was psycho. And she was naked.
    "I, um, have to go… they'll wonder where I am." She started to turn again, but he touched her arm. Crap. Where the hell was a bouncer when you needed one?
    A hideous shriek startled Cara into jumping back three feet. A blur with black hair collided into Seamus.
    He swore. "What the hell is the matter with you, Kelsey?"
    A tall, thin, gorgeous woman wearing a tiny red dress that boosted up snow-white cleavage was clinging to Seamus. Cara took another step back, damn grateful her legs were finally cooperating, even if she was only able to manage geriatric speed. Time to casually slip away and put some pants on. Leave sexy psycho to his skinny girlfriend.
    "They're here, Seamus, I saw them."
    "Who?" He sounded impatient, but wrapped his arm around the woman, patting her back. "Kelsey, babe, we've got to get you counseling or something. I can't be with you every possible second of every day."
    She sniffled and clung to his chest. "I can't help it… I'm sorry. Since they shot me, I just feel scared all the time."
    On that note, Cara was out of there. She started increasing her backup shuffle.
    "Cara, wait." He glanced at her.
    No freaking way. "Look, threesomes aren't my thing. In fact, nothing is my thing, okay? I'm boring and repressed and I have six brothers."
    That weird tugging sensation crept over her arms again, across her collarbone and into her face like an invasive, probing, ice-cold finger. Shuddering, Cara whirled around, fast-walked around the corner, and ducked into the dressing room she shared with the other dancers. Slamming the door, she pushed the lock button in, and grabbed her chest.
    Geez, she needed to get a new job. Maybe paying for veterinarian school and the nursing home with shadow dancing wasn't worth this. That had started to get a little creepy. "What are you doing?" Dawn asked.
    Cara looked at her coworker, sitting in her red thong, touching up her makeup. "This guy followed me." Really strange, sexy guy who had a girlfriend who had been shot and a strange ability to make Cara feel like his fingers