Bottom Feeder Read Online Free PDF

from
questioning his own sexuality. Dixon thinks he’s just a
tool.
    Anyway, my head bounced off the
pavement like a ping pong ball. There was a small scrape on my face
and some bruising, but nothing more. Tommy jumped in his truck and
raced off. Violet rushed out of her shop to help me. I wouldn’t let
her take me to the hospital so she closed the shop and drove me
home. Violet went along with my story when I told Daddy I tripped
over something on the sidewalk. He tried to thank her with money.
Violet did not accept a dime of what he offered. I liked her
immediately.
    Money and greed float around me like
oxygen. I’d never seen anyone refuse payment from him.
    I think Daddy sort of has a thing for
Violet. Most of Savannah’s bachelors have a thing for her,
actually. She never has to wear makeup. She has the type of skin
women her age—don’t ask, she will never admit this age—pay a lot of
money for. Her flawless skin, combined with waist-length honey
blonde hair that swirls in waves down her back, and almond-shaped
eyes the color of peat moss make her one of the most beautiful
women I’ve ever seen.
    Since her husband left almost fifteen
years ago, she has not given anyone else the time of day. Violet
shot Daddy down with only the grace and poise of someone having
great skill in doing so. Cordell Carrington didn’t know if he
should be angry or impressed. I, for one, was impressed.
    She has a son stationed at an Army
base in North Carolina. He returned from Afghanistan about a month
ago, but hasn’t been able to visit since his homecoming.
    Jackson Monroe is the guy everyone
knows. I was a freshman when he was a senior, but he went to
Savannah High and I went to Coastal. He joined the army the day he
turned seventeen and graduated a semester early in order to start
Basic Training.
    His deployment hit Violet like a Hulk
Smash to the gut. Hoping to lessen the loneliness, I stayed with
her a few times a week while Jackson finished up his year-long
tour. She helped me remember what it’s like to have a mother. I
helped her remember to lock the doors at night.
    I spot a tall, vaguely familiar guy
step through the entryway.
    Oh, he’s pretty. Wait. No.
Wrong word. Handsome? Beautiful? Breathtaking? Whatever he is, he
is definitely something. His combination light brown-sandy blonde hair is
cropped very short, giving off the hue known only in the south as
No Color. Lucid green eyes. Lips you just want to—oh God, that
smile. Dimples! I close my eyes. Open them slowly.
    No crushes, Carrington.
Get yourself together.
    He looks too young to be a
Carrington goon business associate. I study him. The tense shoulders, stiff
back, the tightness at the corners of his mouth and slight twitch
in his right eye show he is barely holding himself together. Like
he can snap or run at any moment. Possibly both. I step closer to
read the words on his lips. Escort.
    Missing. Emission. No, that’s not right. Mission. Gov—
    “ Madelyn, the dress looks
great!” I spin to see Nomi Bradford’s slender face beaming with
pleasure.
    Always the human billboard, Nomi is
dressed in one of her own creations of chiffon and tulle layers
that flow in brown and cream stripes, coming to an end just below
the knee. With her ketchup-red hair, she almost resembles a
meatloaf.
    “ Yes, Nomi,” I say with a
smile. “It’s one of a kind.”
    She nods. “Has your daddy seen it? I
want to know what he thinks.”
    I look over my shoulder.
Daddy and the sexy fellow guy are gone. “No, ma’am. I’m looking for him
now.”
    “ Is Mr. Duvall here
tonight?” Nomi straightens her dress and fluffs her perfectly
coifed hair. Her disappointment is obvious when I tell her Larry is
in Houston until tomorrow. I shudder at her attraction to him. “Be
sure to mention I asked about him.”
    I will not. “Yes ma’am, I sure
will.”
    I begin the search for my father. He
will be upset if he thought I enjoyed myself before he has a chance
to parade me around to