Viking Heat Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Whenever I can, babe.”
    They all plowed into their food, ordered more drinks, then clapped and shouted out their opinions as Cage and Marie, under the direction of Brooks and Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” did what could only be described as a combination Cajun two-step and dirty dancing. Right after that, half the place seemed to be up and dancing to that old Chuck Berry classic, “Johnny B. Goode,” with everyone enthusiastically singing the refrain, “Go, Johnny, go!” Cage and Marie were good, really good.
    Slick asked her to dance, halfheartedly, but she told him she wasn’t in the mood for tripping the light fantastic. She could tell he was relieved.
    Geek, a Mensa-IQ SEAL with a boyish demeanor belied by a wicked grin, asked Candy to dance. Geek liked to give the impression of being a bumbling, inexperienced hayseed, but he’d been the one to help set up a hugely successful site on the Internet called www.penileglove.com . Enough said! A short while ago, when someone asked what his latest project was going to be, he’d answered that he was writing an essay for a book of philosophy about women. His section was going to be on how to determine the kind of sex partner a woman would be by the way she ate her food. At that point, the men said, “Sweet!” and every woman at the table stopped chewing. But, hey, look at him out there on the dance floor. Those hips knew what they were doing. Wild Candy had to work hard to keep up.
    JAM, or Jacob Alvarez Mendozo, was once a Jesuit priest or at least studying to be one. She’d bet her one and only pair of Jimmy Choos that there was a story there. JAM led Dottie out to join the others. His dancing was much more sedate.
    Terri was yakking away at Scary Larry, who never even batted an eyelash or took part in Terri’s one-way conversation. He probably figured Terri would go away if he ignored her. No way! According to the grapevine, Terri had made a vow at one time that she would get laid by Scary Larry, eventually. Different tastes!
    Then there was Sly, who stared at Donita for a long moment, then asked Kendra to dance. The jerk! Donita raised her chin haughtily, but Joy could see that she was fighting tears. In fact, Donita quickly rose and made her way to the ladies’ room, probably to get herself under control.
    “Well, that was pleasant. Not!” she commented to Slick.
    “Give the guy some credit. He’s crazy mad in love with Donita, but she can’t make up her mind whether she wants him or not.”
    Joy’s left eyebrow rose a fraction. It wasn’t like Slick to listen to or pass on gossip.
    “I’m just sayin’.” Slick took a sip of his beer, then exclaimed, “Oh, good Lord!”
    Approaching their table was a statuesque thirty-something woman with flowing ebony hair and a creamy complexion. It was Slick’s ex-wife Barbara, who had moved to Coronado recently, much to Slick’s chagrin, and was working in an aerobics studio owned by one of the SEALs’ wives.
    “Barb, what the hell are you doing here?” Slick asked right off the bat.
    Barb flinched but sat down on Slick’s other side. “Just slumming.” She reached over and took a sip of his beer.
    “That figures. Since when do you drink beer?”
    “I learned from the best.”
    It took him a moment to comprehend that she meant him. “You’ve got to be kidding. My bank account is empty, thanks to you. What could you possibly want from me now?”
    She didn’t say anything, just stared at him.
    And Joy realized in that moment that all the litigation this woman had filed against Slick over the years was just an attempt to gain his attention. She didn’t want his money. She wanted him. A clear case of aggression transferal.
    Joy got up to leave them alone. Walking outside to the parking lot and then into an adjoining park, she sat down on a bench. All of a sudden, she felt very lonely.
    Sometimes she didn’t think she was healed at all. Maybe she was just kidding herself that she’d entered