Razzmatazz-DDL Read Online Free PDF

lower-denomination slot machines. His hair was tousled, his jacket unbuttoned to reveal a flat stomach beneath his wide satin cummerbund. He quirked an eyebrow. She felt a pang of longing. No, she thought, we’d be great together.
    And she wasn’t thinking about gambling, either. Or maybe she was. Somehow, anything associated with Alex Carruthers seemed to be a gamble. A shiny coin appeared in front of her nose, and she blew automatically, reluctantly turning back to Chris and his obsession.
    From his vantage point, Alex felt a familiar restlessness as he studied Kennie. Familiar, yet confusing. His palms itched and his stomach tightened with the strong sensation that accompanied his most powerful hunches, but he’d never experienced such feelings in a casino before. He despised casinos. Maybe it was the whiskey sour he’d had at the bar, or the punch or the champagne, and he was merely imagining his reactions, but he doubted it. Alcohol had never sent his senses wobbling like an out-of-kilter top before.
    Chris and his buckets of money were attracting a small crowd. Alex glanced at his watch and frowned. This spectacle could go on for hours. They didn’t have hours if he was going to get Kennie to the airport on time. He watched Chris signal for another drink, and inspiration struck.
    As the barmaid passed, Alex pulled a large bill from his pocket and waved it.
    “Can I help you, sir?”
    “My friend over there seems to be having a pretty good time,” Alex said easily, toying with the bill in his hand. “What’s he drinking?”
    “Rum and cola.”
    “Could you get the bartender to hit the rum a little heavier, ease up on the cola?”
    “I think I could manage it,” she said, eyeing the bill that slipped from Alex’s fingers onto her tray.
    “Thanks.”
    Alex leaned back against the wall with a satisfied smirk. It shouldn’t be long before Chris was out of commission.
    A few minutes later Chris grabbed the fresh drink and handed it to Kennie to hold for him. But instead of holding it, she raised it to her lips and swallowed. After the first sip she frowned, then shrugged and drank more. Alex winced. That was the last thing he’d wanted, he thought, grimacing. Better not to even think about what he did want, though it had everything to do with the luscious little lady fresh out of the Texas panhandle.
    And that’s when it hit him. Hard, like a belly punch. That restless, singeing feeling was confusing, because he had never experienced it with a woman before.
    Stunned, he plucked a Bloody Mary from the barmaid’s tray and drained it as if it were straight tomato juice.
    These last two hours with Kennie Sue Ledbetter were going to be pure hell.

    ~o0o~

    Kennie stirred uneasily in her sleep, wincing as a shaft of light hit her eyes. Wild, wild dreams...crazy dreams. Strange dreams...clanging bells, raining money, champagne. Laughter...wonderful, wonderful laughter. A fuchsia and yellow sunrise...a pink building. Too vivid to be a dream, too bizarre for reality. And the way her head felt, it was no wonder. Her temples throbbed; a bitter taste coated her mouth; her body felt as if it were weighted down with bricks.
    Confused, she fought to peel her heavy eyelids open.
    She squinted up at a splash of brilliant yellow wedged between two slashes of startling black. She blinked into the mirrored ceiling and the image came into focus: a bed and three people sprawled on it—
    With sudden clarity she met her own disbelieving gaze, then whipped her head from side to side, and despite its rolling, roiling rebellion at the sudden movement, her mind identified the two rumpled, tuxedo-clad men on either side of her.
    “Oh, my God!” Her voice cracked, and she scrambled across the bed, her feet kicking as they tangled in the sheets. Gasping, she tumbled over the foot of the bed and landed in a heap on the carpeted floor.
    “What on earth have I done?” She barely recognized the raspy voice as her own. Panting, she