Cash (Sexy Bastard #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
waitresses to wear those cute spectacles and tight little cardigans.”
    I snort. “Good luck with that.
The girls would blow their lid.”
    Parker sighs. “That’s what
we get for letting them run the show. You’re no fun since
Cassie,” he calls over to Ryder.
    Ryder looks up from where he’s
studying the plans with Jackson.
    “Haven’t gone home alone
in the last week, what do you say to that?” Ryder shoots back
with a smirk and a toast with his beer. He and Jackson abandon the
plans and join us at the bar.
    “I
say you’re two steps
past whipped.” Parker says, but there’s no
bitterness in his voice. It’s all good fun.
    Ryder glances down at the
menu that’s still in my hands. “351.3?”
    “It’s a library call
number,” Parker says. “Cash wants us to be classy.”
    Jackson chuckles and shakes his head.
“And we’re going to take advice
about being classy from Cash Gardner? The man who lives above a bar?”
    There are plenty of guys in Atlanta who
do class—I went to high school with most of them. They’ll
take you out to fancy dinners and woo you with roses. You want class,
give them a call. “In my experience, class satisfies no one in
the bedroom,” I drawl. “Never met a woman who said I was
classy in bed—or out of it, for that matter—and yet I’ve
never had a complaint.”
    “Cash could afford a penthouse in
Buckhead if he really wanted it,” Ryder says.
    My hand slips on the neck of a beer
bottle and it falls back into the ice chest. Ryder knows the elite of
this city—they all turn out for his fight nights. Does he know
about my past?
    “Earth to Cash,” Ryder
says, tapping his beer bottle against the bar.
    “What, sorry?” Get
back in the game , I tell myself.
    Ryder looks at me like I’m one of
his fighters. Nothing gets past him. He takes care of what’s
his. His girl. His friends. His business.
    “I was just saying you’re a
rich man, what with the tips you make and the profits from the bars.
You could easily move out of the studio.” Parker and Jackson
nod along to Ryder’s words.
    “Don’t forget what we each
earn from investments from the clubs,” Parker asks. Always
the money guy, that one.
    “But out of curiosity, what does
he make in tips?” Jackson asks.
    “Ryder, don’t
—”
    “Usually he cashes out at four
hundred at the end of his shift,” Ryder says with a smirk.
    Jackson slams his glass onto the bar
and Parker lets out a whistle. We all make a good fucking living in
the business, but clearly they’re not expecting that kind of
money.
    “On a good night,” I add.
Got to put it in some context for them.
    “Hell, put me behind the bar,”
Jackson says. “I’ll give up designing the building and
sling drinks myself for cash like that. Not to mention the ladies.”
    I give each drink a final stir and top
them off with orange peels.
    “May I present, 351.3.” I
stand back and watch as they try the new libation.
    “Damn, that’s
good,” Jackson says. Parker nods, still drinking. Ryder
salutes me with his glass.
    “You’re
welcome,” I say, with a laugh.
     
    * * *
     
    The game hums in the background, but
we’re still gathered around the plans for The Library. The
building’s got great bones, especially with all of the shelves.
Jackson’s done a number of adjustments that’ll take it
from former bookstore to the hottest new nightspot in ATL. And this
ain’t the kind of bar you went to in college, either. It’s
the sort of place that brings back the nostalgia of old-world
libraries and mixes it with the modern feel of the current club
scene.
    “Where the hell is Knox?”
Jackson asks as we’re winding down. We’re setting up an
opening date and still have more than half the game left to enjoy.
    “Cassie could take Knox’s
vote,” Ryder suggests.
    There’s a grumble around the
table. “Are you kidding?” I ask. There’s really
only one rule to board meetings: no girlfriends. It was never a
problem when we were all