Cook County: Lucky in Love Read Free Page B

think about the offer, but don’t get your hopes up.” Lucky turned away and they walked together toward the main house. “When is this fitting Kenzie scheduled for me?”
    “She set it up with Bernie over at the boutique. She said you can go in any time today.”
    He groaned. “That’s a total chick store, you know. You’ll owe me.”
    “So, you’re going to be my best man?”
    “No, I’m just going to try on the damn monkey suit because it makes me feel all hot and tingly to wear one.”
    Chance laughed out loud.
    Lucky shook his head in disgust. Damned if he’d ever go through all this fuss to please a woman. He was perfectly content staying a blue jeans-clad bachelor.

Chapter Three
    Lucky stepped into the darkened interior of Hell’s Belle. He smelled of aftershave, a touch of cologne, and spearmint breath spray. Not that he was planning on kissing anyone. Nope. His poisoned lips were staying far away from Cook County’s female population. He was only here because there was no place else for him to go, and he’d had his fill of time spent alone.
    Ladies night at Hell’s Belle always guaranteed a full house, particularly since there wasn’t much else to do on a Thursday night in the small community. As Lucky scanned the room, his gaze fell on several women he knew, some more intimately than others, and a healthy amount of men out prowling for a one-nighter. There had been a time not long ago when he would have been the most predatory one of all, but he’d learned his lesson. There would be no coaxing the ladies into his arms and his bed, no matter how good some of them looked in their tight jeans and short skirts.
    “Well, damn. I thought you might be done drinking your troubles away when you didn’t show up here for a few days,” Rhoda, the busty, plus-sized bartender, said with a sigh as Lucky lowered himself onto a stool in front of the spot she was wiping down. “That or you’d ended up in a ditch somewhere after leaving here wasted.”
    “I’d think you’d enjoy having regular customers as long as they pay.”
    “Not if they pay with their life.” Rho looked at him pointedly.
    Her eyes were tired and a sheen of sweat had her bangs sticking to her forehead, and the neck of her gray T-shirt wet. It was clear the night had been busy and she wasn’t in the mood for Lucky’s usual smart-assed joviality.
    “Some man came by yesterday, asking if I knew a Lucky Masters.”
    He groaned inwardly. The last time someone had been asking for him around town, it had been Sylvia Case’s sister. She’d actually told him she didn’t hold him liable for her sister’s death, but if the past had taught him anything, good luck didn’t last long. “What’d he want?”
    “How would I know? I don’t meddle in people’s business.”
    Lucky arched an eyebrow, earning a smack from Rho’s rag. He couldn’t help but laugh. “What? I didn’t say anything.”
    “What do ya want, smarty pants?”
    “I’ll have a Coke.”
    This earned him a rare smile from Rho.
    “I’ll be paying for that,” a soft, sultry voice breezed past him as the woman who’d been occupying his mind entirely too much lately slid onto the stool next to him.
    “It’s ladies night, so you can’t say no to me. Right?”
    Hell . “Make that a whiskey.”
    Rho’s smile quickly transformed into a deep scowl, but she made the drink, asking Cammie what she wanted and filling her order as well. “Watch this one,” Rho warned her before walking away toward the other end of the bar where she was being flagged.
    “Hmm. Should I be wary of you?” the feisty little brunette asked, twirling the girly umbrella in her drink.
    Lucky spared her a glance before taking a swallow of his whiskey, needing the liquid courage to stay seated. The woman had somehow managed to pour herself into a tight, red, V-neck T-shirt, snug jeans and red fuck-me heels that made him want to do just that. If anyone should be wary, it ought to be him. The last