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“And that’s what you want to do?” Beck balked at that. “Work in a club for the rest of your life?”
“I wanted to pay off the farm debt,” she said tightly. Her goals and dreams were on hold. One day she would go back to college. For now, she had to work as hard as she could to save her home.
“Lindsey, I’m not one to judge. We all do things to protect those we love and the things we cherish most, but when you went to Bonzo Maldeni, you went to the wrong damn man for a job.”
Beck was right and she couldn’t argue her case when she already realized she’d made a mistake. “I screwed up. A friend told me that Bonzo didn’t care about experience. I thought as long I could mix up a good drink and keep the pace, he would hire me.”
“How’d that work out for you?” Seth asked.
“Clearly you know what happened.”
“Yeah, buddy,” Beck muttered. “Why would Bonzo hire someone who looks like you and stick her behind a bar with her clothes on? Uh-huh, baby. Bonzo doesn’t roll that way.”
She’d gathered that much right after she’d met Bonzo. Their interview had consisted of a lot of questions. He’d wanted to know where she lived, how many relatives she had in town, and what hours she could work. He’d asked for a list of past boyfriends and had wanted to know if they would present future problems. Then, he’d asked the question that had set off all sorts of alarms—would anyone potentially prohibit her from doing a good job at the club?
The Stallard brothers had immediately come to mind.
“I didn’t take the job,” she quickly assured them, shaking off the fear that Bonzo had instilled.
“That’s not the word on the street,” Beck said.
“I don’t care about gossip. I’m not working there. And that’s all I have to say on the matter.” She turned to Seth. “Thanks again for the hospitality. If you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna turn in for the night.”
“Not yet.” Beck leaned over and turned on the clock radio. He then tilted his chin up in a come-hither kind of gesture. “Dance for us.”
Seth looked surprised. “Beck, don’t be a jackass.”
“I don’t like it when someone lies to me,” Beck said stubbornly. “Bonzo was boasting about the new girl and she’s gonna need practice if she’s planning to strut across his stage. Half-a-million dollars is owed on her place. That’s a lot of pole sliding and lap dances.”
Lindsey wanted to run and hide. On second thought, she wanted to dive off a cliff just to make sure she hit head-first. She needed some sense knocked into her.
“Go on, baby,” Beck said. “Show me what you’ve got.”
“You’ll be lucky if I don’t punch your lights out.” She had every intention of fleeing, every right to run. The men she’d admired for most of her life now knew what desperate measures she’d taken. They also knew how much money she owed, how much it would take to save her home. Still, that’s not what bothered her most.
Beck undoubtedly thought she would do anything necessary to save the farm, even strip off for a bunch of heathens. How did she tell him that the guys who frequented that club were nothing more than whoremongers? She had no intentions of taking her clothes off for them. That hadn’t been her goal when she’d asked Bonzo for a job. Once she realized the trickery in play, she’d even told Bonzo that she wouldn’t show up for work.
With tears in her eyes, she bolted across the room and grabbed her overnight bag. “This was a bad idea.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Beck said, stepping in front of the doorway. “You’re not going anywhere.”
In that moment, she prepared to face her greatest fears, ignoring her racing pulse that made her feel so alive. She’d long since recognized Beck and Seth Stallard as two men with the potential to really screw up a woman’s life plans.
Aware of what kind of man she’d drawn out, Lindsey said, “You have a reputation for taking what you want.” Beck never budged. She wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. Clearly he cherished his MO. “But right now, you’re no match for me.”
“Is that right?” He seemed amused. “I think you may have that backwards, sweet thing.”
“Beck, she’s had a long day,” Seth said. “Move.”
“Not this time,” he grated out. “Imagine my surprise, Linds, when I stopped in at The Beer Well and was told that my pretty little neighbor had applied for a job.” He rested his hands on those low-riding jeans. His taut veins stretched as he flexed his arms. And at that moment, the bare-chested cowboy looked more like a god than a man.
“Where I work is none of your business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Lindsey. See, you are my business. You have been since the first day your momma brought you over here and asked me to teach you how to ride a damn pony.” He wrapped one of her natural blonde curls around his index finger. Giving it a tight pull, he grinned and she winced. “I had no way of knowing it then, but I understand everything now. I taught you to ride so that one day—now as an example—you’d know exactly how to tame an unreasonable stud.”
Chapter Four
Beck had always feared it would one day come down to this. He’d avoided time alone with her out of self-preservation.
