Page 138 of Boyfriend of the Hour

“New attitude too,” I said with a wink, earning more than a few chuckles and a low howl.

“Boys, this is…” Kyle appeared behind me with a cue I recognized. Was I giving a stage name or my real one?

I flashed the smile that always won over customers like these. “Gigi. How’re you boys doing tonight?”

“Better now that you’re here, honey,” said another gray-haired man beside the first.

“That’s for sure,” added a third who looked like my uncle Tino.

The fourth man at the table, who was younger and vaguely resembled the older one in the paisley tie, just cast a blank glance toward me before picking up the cards set before him.

I kept the grin pasted on my face but made a mental note to focus on the others. Obviously, this one wouldn’t be the biggest tipper.

“Well, let’s keep that going,” I told them. “We got some shots of bourbon for you on the house.” I set down the shots in front of each man, allowing them each an up close and personal view of my bare chest. I didn’t have much, but what I had looked good. They seemed to appreciate them, anyway. “Now, what else would you like?”

Each of the men placed their orders, one with an extra fifty for a lap dance later.

“And I’ll have a whiskey on the rocks.”

The voice was like a wet finger drawn down my back on a very windy day. I turned and found the very last person I would have expected. Or wanted to see at all.

Shawn Vamos smiled, revealing that gold filling again among stained teeth. Regrettably, I had to admit he was still handsome, though The sooty black eyes that had charmed me at fourteen were just as sooty and mysterious, the grin just as devilish.

“You know what I like, baby,” he said.

“Shawn, you know her?” asked the large man in the tie.

Shawn nodded. “Yeah, Lis, this is my girl?—”

“Gigi,” I interrupted with a wild look. “It’s Gigi.”

Shawn’s sharkish smile spread with an acknowledgment of our little secret. “That’s right. Gigi.” He turned to the men. “We go way back. You boys need anything, she’ll find a way. And I do mean anything.”

The leers at the table grew a bit more familiar. A bit more expectant.

Dread landed in my gut like an anvil.

“I’ll be right back with your drinks, fellas,” I told them, then turned, conscious of all eyes on me, while I made my way to the bar.

Shawn, however, did not sit down. Instead, he followed me back to where I submitted the orders for the table and waited while the bartender, a large man who simply went by “Mac,” went to work.

“What do you want?” I asked without looking at Shawn, who had made himself comfortable right next to me. “What are you even doing here? You’ve never been into gambling.”

“I could be into gambling. I could be into anything.” He leaned back against the bar and lit a cigarette. “But I don’t think that’s the question, gorgeous. What areyoudoing here?” He toyed with his lighter, flipping the flame on and off. “What happened to your boyfriend?”

“What boyfriend?” I played dumb. Sometimes it worked. But not tonight.

“You know who. I heard you were all over some guy at Casper’s last weekend. Spent the night on the couch. Was it that four-eyed gorilla from Opal?”

“Word travels fast.” Apparently, our plan had worked, in my favor, at least. “Yeah, that’s him. Although I don’t see why it should matter to you.”

For some reason, I didn’t like admitting that I was in a relationship with Nathan out loud. Not to Shawn. Not like this.

Fake.

Not. Real.

But that was the point of this whole little performance, wasn’t it? To make Shawn think I didn’t matter anymore. That I was taken.