Playing for Keeps (Honky Tonk Angels Book 5) Read Online Free

hundred a month base salary, minus four hundred for rent, she had twelve hundred left, plus whatever tips she made. And if the Honky Tonk was like every other bar in America, her tips could easily be three times that of her base pay. But being cautious, she’d figure her tips as a match for her salary.
    Then there was food. From the prices on the menu at the Blue Belle Café, it’d cost at least a hundred a week for food. That brought her to eight hundred, plus what she made in tips. She needed to be able to save more than she spent. Car repairs were liable to be expensive. Chances were the parts would be hard to find, which would drive the price up.
    She wasn’t all that experienced in auto repair, but she was guessing it would cost them somewhere in the neighborhood of three to four thousand to get the T-Bird back on the road. If she wanted to get the heck out of Dodge—or Cotton Creek—as quickly as possible, she was going to need to earn a lot more than ten dollars an hour.
    “Twenty-five an hour,” she finally said, meeting his eyes.
    Cade snorted. “I can hire almost a dozen gals for that price.”
    “Not with my experience.”
    “Fifteen an hour.”
    “Twenty.”
    Cade smiled at her, a lazy, knowing smile she’d seen more than once. It was the smile of a gambler who was holding a pat hand. Funny thing was that she’d never seen that smile look quite so sexy, or had it affect her with a sudden tightening of her nipples and warmth that spread down straight into her crotch.
    “Five to closing, Wednesday through Saturday.”
    Roxie couldn’t believe he’d agreed. They both knew that the offer was about nine hundred percent more than he was required to pay. But she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
    “What time’s closing?”
    “Two am. You get an hour for dinner and fifteen minute break every two hours. We’ll provide one meal per shift and all the water and soft drinks you can hold, but no alcohol unless you pay—half price for employees.”
    She considered it for a moment. With that pay and if the repairs on the car weren’t too much, she’d be bidding farewell to Cotton Creek inside a month.
    “Done. When do I start?”
    “Tonight’s as good as any.
    “Okay. Thanks, Mr. Beckett.”
    “Cade.”
    “Not as long as I work for you.”
     
    The message was all too clear. Hands off. Cade felt a grin rising on his face. He loved a challenge and Roxie Ellis just might prove to be a very stimulating one. “Have it your way. I’ll expect you by five. That should give you time to get settled and changed.”
    “Into what?”
    “Do you have any cut-off jeans?”
    “I have a pair I can cut.”
    “That’ll do. I’ll have a Honky Tonk Angels T-shirt sent over to the boarding house for you.”
    She stood and offered her hand. “Thanks. I’ll see you at five.”
    Cade rose and took it. “Don’t disappoint me, Roxie.”
    She met his eyes with a sassy expression that had heat starting to simmer in his belly. “Disappointment isn’t in my vocabulary, Mr. Beckett.”
    With that, she pulled her hand from his, turned and left without a backward glance. Cade reclaimed his seat, staring thoughtfully at the door.
    Hannah and Cody would be mad enough to spit nails if they found out what he’d done, unless he paid Roxie out of his own pocket, and he wasn’t quite sure how to manage that. He’d have to talk with the bookkeeper, Callie. Hannah said Callie was expected back from a trip during the next couple of days. He’d get with her and figure it out.
    Cade dismissed thoughts of how to handle Roxie’s pay and focused more on how Roxie herself. He should call his contact in Vegas and get the scoop on Roxie Ellis. There was more to her story than just a woman who’d thrown in the towel on a whim and high-tailed it out of Sin City. And he was going to find out what it was.

Chapter Three
     
    Roxie had just closed the front door and turned to head for her room when her landlady, Nellie Mae