"Casey Daniels - Pepper Martin 01 - Don of the Dead" - читать интересную книгу автора (Daniels Casey)

area. Was Joel the man of my dreams? I hate to admit it, but yeah, I was nuts about him.

What was not to like?

Joel was good-looking. Joel was charming. Joel was going to make my dream of being a full-time CCW
come true. That's Country Club Wife, and I was all for it. It would have been my parents' life, only
kicked up a notch. A little more exciting. A little more interesting. A lot more stylish.

I was ready, willing, and able, and would have gone along for the happy ride if my life hadn't gone down
the dumper when my dad's status officially changed from renowned plastic surgeon to just-another felon.

That pretty much explained it all, didn't it? With Dad up the proverbial river, my social contacts had
withered, my engagement had crumbled, and, suddenly, my resume actually mattered. Unless tennis and
suntans counted, I had no job experience to speak of. I had few usable skills.Presto тАж here I was in the
deadest of all dead-end jobs.

I got rid of the thought before it got the best of me, and got myself back on track.

"A degree is a degree," I told Gus, firmly ignoring all thoughts of my country club aspirations. "And
women don't just get married and have babies anymore. Haven't you been paying any attention these last
thirty years? We have careers. And real lives. And although I can't speak for other women, I can speak
for myself. I'm smart enough toтАФ"

"To take care of what I need you to take care of." Gus's smile was predatory.

And I knew I'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book. "Great, get me to admit that I'm smart just soтАФ"

"So you can help me out." He nodded and smiled. "I always knew you would. Even if I had toтАФ"

"Make me an offer I couldn't refuse?" I couldn't help myself, the opening was too good to pass up. It
wasn't until the words were out of my mouth that I wondered if I'd said something I shouldn't have.

I was pretty sure of it when fire flared in Gus's eyes. "That was my line, you know. Way before that
movie came along. That was my line and they stole it."

"Yeah. Right." I looked at the clock on the wall and got up. "I've got a meeting to get to. With Jim. He's
my boss's boss."

"Bosses." Gus nodded. "Yeah, I understand that."

"Then you'll understand that if I'm late, he'll have my head."

"Heads? Nah! We never would have taken any heads. Too messy."

"It's just a figure of speech." I grabbed for the file where I kept a calendar of all the upcoming tours. I
held it to my chest like a shield. "Look," I said, "I'd like to help you but I can't, so I think you'd better just
go away."

Gus shrugged. "Wish I could, baby doll. But I can't. Not until this thing is resolved."