Six Degrees of Desperation (Dirty Tricks) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of Jack Daniels. They're going
to go through a lot tonight."
    Audrey leaned up on her toes and pressed a
kiss to Jackson's lips. "Thanks for helping."
    He caught her around the waist and dragged
her close, deepening the kiss. "Wouldn't have missed it for the
world," he said, his words muffled by her mouth.
    Charli eased past the constricted doorway,
leaving Jackson and Audrey alone to their pre-ball groping. With a
sigh, Charli trudged toward the barroom, wishing this night was
over and that everything had already worked out. As she stepped
from behind the bar, Charli's heart cart-wheeled. She braced
herself for the onslaught of orders and the requirement to be
prepared to flip a bottle or two to entertain the crowd. Slapping
away wandering hands of drunken cowboys trying to feel her up, high
on booze and adrenaline from their events at the rodeo, seemed the
least of her worries tonight.
    With her gaze zipping left and right and
constantly turning to see who came through the door, Charli spilled
drinks, dropped bottles and tripped, landing in one toothless
Mexican's lap to his utter surprise and delight.
    When she tried to get up, he refused to let
go, pressing his fingers into her sides so hard, she was sure
there'd be bruises left behind. Nick McBride, Greta Sue's backup,
spun Charli out of the man's grip and onto the dance floor in time
for the traditional Party Mixer Dance.
    The master of ceremonies Audrey hired for
the evening took the microphone at center stage and shouted. “Grab
your partner, but don’t get too comfortable!” Thirty seconds later,
he called out, “Switch!”
    Audrey encouraged the waitresses to take a
turn around the floor. With a men to women ratio of five-to-one
during rodeo weekend, the waitresses helped to even the odds or at
least give the men a chance to dance at least once.
    Charli spun from one man's arms to the next,
her head spinning, her gaze trying to lock onto the men's faces,
searching for Connor Mason's blue gray eyes behind the masks. On
her third pass from arms to arms, she ended up in the embrace of a
man wearing all black like Jackson, only pinned to his jacket was a
soft yellow rose.
    He leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"Love you…naked."
    With a gasp, Charli glanced up.
    “Switch!”
    With a deft move, her partner spun her
around and into another man's arms. This cowboy had on the normal
jeans and stiffly ironed white shirt of any of the regulars who
showed up at the Ugly Stick Saloon on a regular basis. His cowboy
boots were worn from use, but polished to a shine. He wore the
black mask offered at the door for those who didn't have a costume
but wanted to participate in the masquerade.
    Noting nothing special about him, Charli
craned her neck to see where the man in black with the yellow rose
had gone. As her dance partner two-stepped his way around the large
oval dance floor, Charli panned the crowd, dread building with each
step. She had to find Original Sin, break it off and then find
Connor and tell him about her affair with the stranger before
someone else had the chance to break the news.
    The master of ceremonies called out, “Change
partners!”
    Charli braced herself, hoping to duck off
the dance floor and get back to work.
    Instead, the cowboy holding her spun her
out, right into another man’s arms. She looked up at her new
partner, a man dressed all in black, wearing the Zorro-style mask
and sporting a yellow rose on his lapel. He smiled a secret smile
and pulled her hard against his chest.
    Her heart ricocheting off her ribs, Charli
opened her mouth to tell him she couldn’t see him anymore. Instead,
the beat of the music kicked into high gear and the mystery cowboy
took off, twirling her under his arm and back into his chest. Every
time she tried to say something, he twirled her out again, until
the M.C. shouted for the couples to switch partners again.
    “No, wait,” Charli cried, her voice drowned
out by the raucous hoots of the cowboys whose boots