Stripped Read Online Free PDF

lovely.”
    â€œJust like you. This looks amazing, Dahlia.” The table was filled with beautiful food, and something in him warmed, knowing she’d made it for him. People didn’t do that for him, and he realized how much he was missing now that it was there.
    â€œFlatterer. My mom taught us all how to cook. My brother is better at it than me or my sister. But knowing how to cook helps make macaroni and cheese and ramen a bit more palatable night after night.” She laughed and waved at the food. “Help yourself.”
    They filled their plates and ate for a few minutes, silent until they’d gotten a bit full.
    â€œSo how did you end up with a name like Dahlia? It’s not one I hear often.”
    â€œMy great-grandmother was named Dahlia. My grandmother and great-aunts were named after flowers. My gran was Violet, her sisters were Rose and Daisy. You get the picture. But they didn’t name their daughters that way, and my mom thought it was a nice tip of the hat to that older generation.”
    â€œAh. Interesting. Are you close? With your family, I mean.”
    She sighed. “I love my family very much. They’re good people and they work hard. They want what’s best for me.”
    â€œBut?”
    With a rueful smile she took another sip of wine. “They don’t think being in Las Vegas is what’s best for me. They really don’t think my job at The Dollhouse is what’s best for me. This was supposed to be four years and it’s been nearly six. While getting my economics degree I discovered just how much I loved business so I decided to get my master’s degree in business administration.” She shrugged.
    â€œBut my full-ride money was for undergrad and not for grad school. I’ve had to pay for pretty much all of it since I’ve been in the MBA program. I’ve gotten a few grants but mainly it’s loans and lots of ramen noodles.” Pausing, she took a bite of her spinach before continuing.
    â€œThey wanted me to come back home and go to school there for my master’s degree. But the MBA program here is exactly what I needed, and they admitted me, which isn’t such an easy feat straight from undergrad. And now they’re pretending like I’m coming back when I graduate.”
    â€œAnd you aren’t?” His esteem for her rose even higher, knowing that she worked hard to get ahead and finish school. He and William had been damned lucky to grow up with the affluence they had. Still, their parents expected them to work for a living instead of turning into the trust-fund trash he saw so often in the gossip sheets.
    â€œI could never go back there. I’m not the same person anymore. I’m not cut out for Liberty. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice place to grow up, for the most part, but it’s not for me. I may not stay in Vegas, depending on my job options, but I won’t be going back.”
    â€œWhat do you want to do with your degree?” The idea of Dahlia not being around after she graduated made him sort of nervous.
    â€œRun or manage a business. I want to be a CFO someday. It’s why I like Las Vegas so much. So many opportunities with all the hotel management groups and corporations based here. But…well, it hasn’t been as easy as I thought it would be.”
    â€œBut what?”
    â€œNothing. Anyway, it’s not like shaking my ass on a stage is helping, but I did an internship the last semester of last year and through the summer and that was really helpful.”
    â€œWhy do you shake your ass onstage? Not like I’m complaining. I like your ass. I especially like it when you shake it.”
    â€œMoney. Internships don’t make you much money, if any at all, and I can’t afford that. So I did the internship and then I did both when I started working at The Dollhouse. I have a job interview in two weeks with the corporation I interned at. They