Outsider Read Free Page B

swiveled back
to the elevator when Aggie stepped forward.
    The
buxom woman rocked a pair of black leather pants and matching jacket—she’d
probably been out riding with Jace on his motorcycle—but though she was
gorgeous with her flawless alabaster skin, bright blue eyes, and long, straight
black hair that moved like a length of silk when she walked, it was her
self-confidence that couldn’t be ignored. She owned the space around her and
knew it. She offered no apologies. What Reagan wouldn’t give to possess that
much poise.
    Bringing
up the rear was Rebekah—adorable and petite, with an infectious smile and lime-green
streaks in her platinum hair. Beautiful, colorful designs decorated Rebekah’s
exposed arms from wrist to shoulder. Reagan swore the woman had a new tattoo
every time she saw her.
    “Ah,
here they come. Are you ready to go, Toni?”
    Logan
squeezed Toni’s hand and leaned in close to whisper into her ear. She smiled
broadly, her cheeks going pink. “I love you too,” she whispered.
    Too?
    Reagan
grinned at the opportunity to torment her band’s bassist. “What’s that, Logan?”
Reagan said loudly. “Did you just tell Toni that you love her?”
    Toni
stiffened, her eyes wide as she looked up at him. Perhaps she was expecting him
to deny it.
    “Yeah,
I love her. What’s it to ya?”
    Toni
beamed at his declaration while the other women teased him about his newly
expressed feelings.
    “Don’t
mess her up,” Logan called after them as the six chattering women made their
way to the exit. “I like her just the way she is.”
    “We
won’t mess her up,” Aggie said, her ruby-red lips curling into a twisted smile.
“Much.”
    Reagan
sniggered at the horrified look on Logan’s face. They all knew Aggie had a dark
streak; she’d used it frequently in her former trade as a professional
dominatrix. If anyone was going to twist Toni into an unrecognizable form, it
would be Aggie Martin.
    “You
and Aggie have a lot in common,” Myrna said as she wrapped an arm around Toni’s
back and ushered her out onto the sidewalk. “You both have an inexplicable
attraction to bass players.”
    “Oh,
you’re Jace Seymour’s girlfriend?” Toni asked, scrambling to catch up with Aggie.
“Is it true that you used to be a prostitute?”
    Aggie
stopped walking—well, prowling, the woman never actually walked—and turned an
icy blue-eyed glare on Toni. “ Excuse me?”
    Toni
cringed. “I’m sorry. I read that somewhere. Was my source incorrect?”
    Perhaps
inviting the journalist along for a girls’ day out had been a mistake. Toni did
tend to stick her nose where it didn’t belong.
    “I
was never a prostitute,” Aggie said, her voice so cool, Reagan expected it to
frost the sultry New Orleans air.
    “She
just charges men to be her slaves,” Myrna said. “Isn’t that right, Aggie?”
    Toni
tilted her head to one side and then shook it after she’d had a moment to
internalize Myrna’s claim. “The very definition of slavery is when one human is
bought and owned by another, so why would anyone pay to be a slave?”
    Reagan
snorted. “So, so sheltered,” she said. “Let me explain it to you.”
    She
didn’t have to explain much. As the group of women walked down the street
together, men literally tripped over their own feet when they spotted Aggie.
Sure, there were those who were more likely to gawk at Jessica’s model-perfect
beauty, but Aggie exuded sexuality that not many men could ignore. One guy
walked directly into a light post as he watched her pass. Though no men noticed
Reagan when she was with this group of ladies, she was content in the knowledge
that she had two perfect men waiting for her back in her hotel room.
    She
pictured them as she had left them, naked, luscious, and entwined. Damn, she
really shouldn’t have planned an outing on a rare day off.
    “So
men pay you to hit them?” Toni asked Aggie.
    “Some
do. Or did , rather,” Aggie said. “I’m finding new hobbies