Beale Street Blues Read Online Free PDF Page B

desk and zeroed in on Rodney.
    Who were they to treat her as if she was some unimportant new hire? She'd worked for this company for too many years to be kicked to the side for the new fresh face. If Rodney planned on having her in his bed again or didn't want his wife to find out she'd been there, he'd better fix this and fast.
    The door to Rodney's office was open and the room dark.
    "Kathy, have you seen Rodney?"
    Kathy's head darted out from her cubicle. Her all too innocent eyes were always the same, clueless. Even when she and Rodney had sex in his office, the woman had been unaware. "Yeah, he said he had a family emergency and had to leave for the rest of the day."
    "Thanks." She turned and flipped open her phone as she walked. "Rodney, call me back."
    She slammed a tight small fist against the automatic door opener and stomped into the bright afternoon sun.
    If they wanted a fight, she'd give them one.
     
     
    No matter how many times Jaxon played back Darling's words in his head, he knew she was right. He was her boss and there wasn't anything that was going to change about that anytime soon.
    Jaxon eased down the marble steps into the warm waters of the hotel's pool. A quick full-body dip into the heated water and he pushed off. The power of his legs and the precision of his hands slicing through the water drove his body forward. Lap after lap, he looped the pool until the muscles in his body cramped. He was thankful for the ache because it took his mind off Darling, if only for a brief moment. He kept swimming until his arms and legs felt anchored with liquid mercury. Elvis's familiar voice sang at him as he exited the water with no more answers than when he entered.
    No woman had ever intrigued him the way Darling had. He'd planned it that way. But, now that he'd met her, something had changed.
    He wanted her.
    Trailing droplets behind him, he headed back to his room. Nothing outside of Darling quitting or his firing her would put them in a situation any different from the shit Rodney had created with Barbara.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    P issed, Barbara sat on the hotel bed waiting for Rodney to arrive. She drank her wine a little too quickly and choked. The oaky tasting liquor burned her throat as she gasped. She released an angry exhale as her throat cooled. But, her earlier conversation with her sister riled her all over again. So what if she wasn't married? So what if she didn't have kids? It didn't mean a thing. She wasn't a stay-at-home mom like her sister. She worked for a living and even if she had to play the game a little, she could've done it without Rodney, if she'd had the chance.
    What in the hell did Pat know about anything?
    Pat was the kid her parents' loved more. They may never admit it, but they didn't have to say it out loud. It was written all over their faces at every family dinner or trip. Even at church. They always saved a seat for Pat, Ray—her husband, and their son. If Barbara showed up late, she had to grab a seat wherever she found one.
    Her sister, like any other good Southern girl married her high-school sweetheart. They lived near the Mississippi River in Harbortown. Because living in Midtown or Germantown wasn't good enough for Pat. No, they had to live on an island connected by a bridge to Memphis. Harbortown had its own grocery stores, shopping center, bars and restaurants. They didn't have to cross the bridge unless they were coming to visit her or their parents.
    Barbie, you have such a cute little home. That's all Pat had to say when Barbara moved to Germantown and invited the family over for dinner.
    Again, she checked her watch. It'd been thirty minutes since she'd spoken to Rodney. She rose and checked herself out in the mirror. Rodney bought the negligee she wore as a birthday present last year. She might be a little plumper, but she was still too hot for him. Smoothing her dark hair along her pale shoulders, she