Sex & the Single Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

trust in this man.
    â€œWhy? So I can’t see the drunken three a.m. crowd pissing on the sidewalk on their way out of the club? Or so I can’t see the floor show for free? If Melvin’s not going to contact you, what do you care if I sit here and watch your tapes with you?”
    That was the whole damn point. She didn’t care what he saw, she cared that he’d be sitting two feet away from her all night, every night. Besides, she needed to show him he couldn’t waltz back into her life and expect he could manipulate her like some infatuated teenager.
    â€œBring a warrant or you don’t see a damn thing.” She’d hold her ground on this one.
    â€œFine.” Nodding, he conceded her point. “But I’m going to be all the more demanding about what you have to show me if I go to the trouble of getting the paperwork.”
    She scavenged up a few remnants of her New York attitude, the facade she’d needed to make it in the city’s competitive film industry. She leaned close enough to whisper, her chest hovering inches from his.
    â€œDemand all you want, Aidan. I don’t think you’ll be able to obtain a warrant for what you really want to see.”
    If there were any justice in the world, the fact that Aidan chose that moment to lick his lips would mean Brianne had the power to make his mouth go dry.
    An idea that pleased her to no end.
    â€œGood thing I don’t need the court’s permission for that particular show.” He picked up the remote control and pressed play, starting the footage of their meeting in Honeymoon Heaven. “Why don’t you sit down and watch the sparks fly between us on camera and then try to tell me we’re not going to end up seeing a whole lot more of each other before this investigation is through?”
    He shoved the remote into her hands and headed toward the door.
    And despite the staggering number of New York film producers she’d mouthed off to in her day, she couldn’t think of a single comeback to Aidan’s preposterous suggestion.
    He turned at the door to shoot her a parting grin. “See you tomorrow, Bri.” He lifted one eyebrow in signature Aidan style. “But only as much as you are ready to show me, of course.”
    Damnation.
    As he disappeared into the hallway, Brianne wondered how she’d survive the next go-round.
    Somehow she’d dropped a sexual gauntlet tonight and Aidan Maddock hadn’t wasted any time picking it up. If she was going to maintain her sanity over the next few weeks, she needed to get her mind off those mouthwatering muscles of his and back on her job.
    Because Brianne had already revealed too much of herself to Aidan ten years ago, and she didn’t have any intention of making herself vulnerable to him again.

3
    B RIANNE SLID FARTHER into the gurgling outdoor hot tub, allowing the bubbles to tickle her nose as she held her glass out to Giselle for more champagne.
    To celebrate their first night in business, Club Paradise’s new owners had agreed to meet after closing for a soak under the stars in one of the many oversize tubs surrounding the main pool. Amid wafting steam and the thrum of the bubble jets, the four of them were sharing stories from trenches. Summer had lost one of the dancers’ outfits and the woman had trotted out topless, Giselle had gotten into an argument with a drunken patron who insisted she didn’t know how to make a proper Sex on the Beach, and Lainie had a run-in with the cigarette girl over leaving her station in the middle of the evening.
    The last part came as no surprise to Brianne, of course.
    Brianne raised her glass for a third toast, wishing she didn’t have to share her bad news with the happy celebrants. She smoothed a slick finger over the painted ceramic tiles on the rim of the hot tub, pausing on the image of a towering pagan god in the Atlantis-themed picture. The golden god’s knowing