"Wiesner, Karen - Gypsy Road 01 - Leather and Lace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wiesner Karen)

gotta come off first."
Rod watched her pull a low-cut shirt over her head, one as tight as her
pants, and then stab her feet into mile-high heels. Feeling a little conscience
wouldn't make him stop her from going. "Your suitcases are--"
"Forget it. I wanna get the hell outta here now." She did get her purse,
car keys and jacket before heading for the bedroom door.
"See you around, Nicole," he called to her pleasantly.
"When hell freezes over, you bastard."
He laughed, but later he was lonely. Not that he wanted Nicole back. Most
of his friends were gone. His sister, JoJo, was in The Keys on business, for her
chain of health clubs. Jon Rushing and Blackie Scarpacchio, the guys he owned
the shop with and had grown up with, would probably be heading down to Milwaukee
soon, to Rainbow Nights, where the four of them spent most weekends. So Rod was
alone in the house his sister owned but didn't mind sharing.
Maybe that was why he'd had so many women here since his sister started
traveling so much. He didn't like being alone, but he hadn't liked any of the
women he'd invited in enough to want them to stay for more than a week or two.
Half of them didn't have names for him anymore. Or faces. They all seemed the
same. They'd all been forms of Nicole Martini.
No wonder JoJo didn't pay attention to them when she did come back for a
day or two here and there. What was the use of going through formal
introductions for women who weren't going to be there long?
He went downstairs and got out the phone book. Beauty by Bethany was listed
under Beauty Salon, but it only had a business address and phone number, no
names. He'd have to wait for Travis to get back to him tomorrow, even if the
wait might kill him.

Bethany let herself into the apartment she occasionally shared with her
big brother. Randy fixed up old houses for a living. He'd been in Minnesota for
the last year working on a house, but expected to return to Wisconsin as soon as
the house sold. During the time he searched for another house to remodel, he
would stay with Bethany.
Randy was like a father to her, and she loved him more than anything in the
world. Their real father had died long before she could remember, and their
mother had died when Bethany was eight and Randy was seventeen. He had raised
her, though it had never been easy financially. Money from his own pocket was
what he'd used to put her through technical college and then through beauty
school. He'd also put up the collateral when she opened her own salon.
In her bedroom, Bethany carefully removed and hung up her skirt and blouse,
then put on a comfortable dress.
If wasn't for Randy, she reminded herself, she would have nothing.
Everything she owned had been bought with his money. Even the profits she earned
at the salon could be considered his, since it was his collateral that had put
her in business. Not once had he ever complained about caring for her.
In the kitchen, she put together a "gourmet" salad, her most frequent meal
when Randy wasn't there to cook for. She ate it with candles and music while
listening to the one message she'd gotten, from her brother, on her answering
machine. Maybe once she talked to Randy about it, she would stop thinking about
Rod.
Why couldn't he have been terribly unappealing? Why couldn't he have had