Against the Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

hand and wiggled the tips of her fingers.
    “Still owe me that five bucks, kiddo. Tonight, I intend to collect.”
    “Okay, I owe you, but that doesn’t mean he’s here tonight for me.”
    Babs just rolled her eyes and kept walking. Riggs was sitting in Amy’s section. There was no way to avoid him. She took a calming breath, forced a note of cool into her demeanor and started toward his table in the back.
    She pasted on a smile. “Welcome back to the Kitty Cat Club, Mr. Riggs. What would you like to drink?”
    A corner of his mouth edged up. He had the sexiest mouth. “You know my name. That means you asked. That’s good. It’s even better if you call me Johnnie.”
    Her mouth went dry. “Johnnie. All right, what can I get for you…Johnnie?”
    “Bud Light.” His gaze slowly took in every inch of her body. Her stomach swirled as she turned and walked toward the bar to get his beer. She delivered drinks to a table on her way to his, then set the Bud Light bottle down in front of him.
    “Thanks.” He tipped his head toward a girl named Ruby, who gyrated in a G-string, performing a lap dance for a customer sitting at a table not far away from his. “You do lap dances?”
    Amy’s hand trembled and she had to take a better grip on her tray. “No…I’m, uh, I’m kind of new at this.” Tate had suggested she wait until she was more comfortable with the customers. Her plan was not to do them at all.
    “That so…? How about doing one for me?” He was leaning back in his chair, those powerful arms crossed over his massive chest. He could have been wearing sunglasses for all she could read in those dark, dark eyes.
    “They…umm…cost fifty dollars,” she said, hoping the price would dissuade him.
    “Private costs seventy-five. That’s what I want.”
    Her breath stalled. “That’s a lot of money.” The dancer got a percentage, a way to make extra cash.
    “Think you’re worth it?”
    “I don’t…don’t know…”
    His smile came slow and easy and it made her skin feel hot. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I think you’d be worth every dime.”
    Her legs were shaking. “Even…even if I said I would, you know you can’t touch me.” There were rules about what she could and couldn’t do, how far she was allowed to go. What the customer could and couldn’t do. She wasn’t a prostitute, after all, she was a dancer.
    Well, actually, she was a kindergarten teacher, but he didn’t know that.
    “I’ll talk to Tate, arrange for a private room.” He slid back his chair and stood up. Even in six-inch heels, she had to look up at him.
    When he started to leave, she grabbed his arm. “Wait a minute. I—I didn’t say I’d do it.”
    His mouth edged up. “What’s the matter? You aren’t afraid, are you?”
    She stiffened. Of course she was afraid. She was terrified. But she wasn’t about to let him know. “No, of course not.”
    “Good.” He turned and started walking. As he sauntered off toward the owner, Amy stared after him.
    Oh, my God! She was going to do a lap dance for Johnnie Riggs! And the weirdest part was, deep down in her womanly core, she wanted to do it.

    Johnnie took a seat in one of the comfortable rooms the club provided for private dances. For seventy-five bucks, he got three songs. He wasn’t sure he could handle one.
    The truth was, he had never bought a lap dance in his life. Watching a naked woman parade around in front of him just didn’t cut it, not unless he was taking her to bed.
    But there was something about this particular woman. He wanted her. More than he could remember wanting a woman in a very long time. Maybe ever. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to happen—not without a great deal of trouble.
    He was pushing her buttons, he knew. She wasn’t comfortable dancing for him. Hell, she wasn’t comfortable just being in the room with him, and yet he had a hunch the only way to reach her was to push her hard enough to cave.
    So he walked into the small, dimly