Blake spotted her the moment she returned. Hell, every man in the room had
either craned his neck or swiveled his head. As she walked up the aisle, she
looked familiar but he couldnโt place her. Now, away from the other women, he
figured it out. Black Opal was a beauty. Dressed in lavender or her usual black,
it didnโt matter.
Heโd often wondered if her off-stage persona was anything like the
on-stage one. Over the top in everything: her hair, too black to be natural and
too long to be real, would fall to her ass. Heโd seen her dance, seen her use
that mane as a cloak, teasing the audience with silky sweeps over creamy white
skin, revealing only hints of what lay beneath. The old clichรฉ fit. The woman
put the tease in striptease.
Heโd been in the club a couple of times under the guise of private
investigator. When clients wanted to be entertained in Vegas, it usually
involved a show, a stage and beautiful women, clothes optional. He had nothing
against women seductively taking their clothes off, but he preferred them to do
it in the privacy of his bedroom, for him alone.
Heโd spent years as a special agent locking up scum who preyed on
innocent women, but Maggieโs club was different. The women were considered
performers with an act, some with agents, and were treated as such. Any woman
whoโd ever been coerced or pushed into stripping knew the difference between
Heartโs Desire and other clubs. Maggie and the three women whoโd walked with her
down the aisle gave anyone who wanted out of the business a helping
hand.
The few times heโd seen Rhonda dance heโd been unable to take his
eyes off her. Normally he didnโt even bother to watch, but sheโd exuded this
confidence, this donโt-screw-with-me aura that had men falling at her feet. Go
figure. But even though she looked like a ball-buster, Blake had sworn heโd seen
more. What, he wasnโt sure.
He put a hand over his mouth, failing to stifle yet another yawn.
His last case had done him in. Heโd been hired to recover a missing model, one
whose legs had been insured for millions. Her agency wanted their money, but
since she hadnโt shown up dead, the insurance company was reluctant to pay out.
The designer sheโd signed with wasnโt pleased about losing the star of his ad
campaign. Claiming it had cost him a fortune, the guy had wanted
compensation.
Blake recovered the model. Only the legs that had made her famous
were no longer attached to her body. Heโd prayed sheโd been dead when sheโd been
mutilated. Shaking the gruesome image out of his head, he headed to the bar for
a drink. He took a seat and swiveled his chair, curious to see Maggieโs other
bridesmaids corner Rhonda.
There are some secrets even Las Vegas's 24/7 glitter can't hide. Lucy
Farago's dazzling new series ups the ante as a fiery stripper fights to protect
an elite detective from danger--and both their killer pasts.
Living in the red-hot now is how Rhonda Deagan survives. Onstage, this sexy Goth
stripper always stays on top, no matter how much her real-life dreams shatter.
So why not risk a scorching fling with a gorgeous groomsman after her best
friend's wedding? Too bad Blake Cameron is in someone's lethal sights. And
saving this cool-headed investigator's life just put Rhonda on the run with
him--and on his personal, oh-so-seductive hit list.
For Blake, figuring out who doesn't want him dead is easier than keeping his new
raven-haired friend safe. The only way he can buy time to out-think their
pursuers is to hide them both in the aristocratic world he thought he'd escaped.
But there's no escaping the incendiary attraction between him and Rhonda.
Walking the knife-edge between desire, lies, and naked truth may be their best
chance to live--if it doesn't cut too deep to survive.
Lucy Farago knows there is nothing like a happy sigh at the end of a
good book. With the encouragement of her loving husband, she wrote her first
manuscript. An unpublished historical, it sits in a file on her computer, there
to remind her how much fun she had learning the craft and becoming part of an
industry whose books make you believe anything is possible. A big fan of Agatha
Christie, she set out to write her first romantic suspense novel. Thrilled to be
a published author, Lucy also teaches yoga, enjoys cooking, and saying what
other people are thinking. In her fantasy world, her beautiful Siberian husky,
Loki, doesn't shed and her three kids clean up after themselves . Alas, that
fantasy will never see fruition.
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