Hustlers Read Free Page A

room. I’ll just be on the couch.” He turned and headed back to the couch. He sat down, lounging on it before stretching and running his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.
    She gulped as she stared at his long legs, which were encased in denim jeans. She tried to avoid staring at his bare chest, but when her eye’s inevitably traveled up his body to his face, she noticed a sparkle of mischief in his eyes as he watched her.
    “Oh, okay.” She nodded, breaking the stare and heading for the other trashcans in the room. She glanced back over her shoulder as she emptied the kitchen bin. He was still watching her.
    Unsure of what to say, she decided to remain silent as she worked. The suite was clean, so luckily there wasn’t much that needed doing, which was fortunate since she had no idea how to clean a hotel room.
    “So, you’re new then?” His voice caused her to jump.
    She turned to face him, nodding. “I just started today.”
    “How do you like it so far?”
    “It’s good.” She nodded again, trying to find the right words. It should have been easy for her. This was her job after all, but for some reason, she was tripping over her sentences instead.
    “Seriously, cleaning rooms is good? I’d hate it. You know you can do better, right?”
    “I er, huh?” She frowned at him.
    “You wanna go to the concert with me tonight?” he asked, pointing to the flyer on the coffee table.
    She glanced at the leaflet. It was advertising a rock concert in the hotel. “Um, are staff allowed to go to that?”
    “Don’t worry about it. My dad owns this place. You’ll be fine if you come with me.” He winked, and her skin heated up.
    He’s Starling’s son!
He was undeniably attractive, but she had a job to do. On the other hand, this was Starling’s son. Finding dirt on Starling would be so much easier if she knew him, plus his son was hot.
Why not have little bit of fun?
    “Ellie, do not do it. That’s Matt Starling. He has a bad reputation.” Her father’s voice echoed through the ear bud.
    Ellie studied Matt for a moment. He looked bad with that wicked smile on his face, but something about it excited her.
I’ve got a bad reputation. It doesn’t mean I’m not a great date.
“Sure, why not?” she said, ignoring her father’s warning and listening to her libido instead.

E llie hurried across the hotel grounds toward her living quarters. The staff accommodation was in a small block of apartments that were behind the spa. She frowned as she crossed the manicured lawns.
Maybe I shouldn’t have said yes to a date.
Although the rebellion had felt good at the time, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just done something royally stupid.
    She rolled the ear bud between her fingers, glancing down at it.
I really should put it back in and talk to Jimmy and my dad.
She continued rolling the device between her fingers. She loved her family, but she wanted to be a bit reckless. She knew she was supposed to be responsible now, but she never went on dates. Hot dates just didn’t happen in her existence.
One night off can’t hurt, right?
    She crossed an ornate, Japanese-style bridge, smiling down at the coy pond beneath it. Being free to date without Jimmy or her dad in her ear was a nice break from the crazy.
And Matt seems like fun.
    Okay, he wasn’t causing the wild and crazy thrill that scaling buildings and breaking into vaults did, but the room certainly heated up when he was around. It was something that she wanted to experience.
    She narrowed her eyes for a moment. As long as it didn’t interfere with the con, why couldn’t she be a girl for once? Making a decision to live a little, she dropped the ear bud into the pocket of her apron. Then she double-checked that the portable hard drive was still in there, breathing a sigh when she found that it was.
    She needed the check through the hard drive, but assuming it contained what she’d been looking for, she could enjoy a rock concert tonight and