Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I giggle. “It’s Bianca. And you are…?”
“He’s leaving,” Chet says. “Dr. O’Rourke here is not a member of Aces, nor is he here as a member’s guest.”
Doctor?
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily imply a medical license. He could have a doctorate in any number of disciplines.
But if he is a doctor?
I can’t wait for my next checkup.
“Doctor?” I ask. “Do you work at a hospital nearby?”
His eyes flicker. “I do. St. Charles, not too far from here, actually.”
There it is. He’s a medical doctor. A healer.
A healer who hasn’t taken his eyes off my boobs since I shook his hand.
“Do you have a first name?” I ask. “Or should we keep things professional?”
He grins. “Harrison. Harrison O’Rourke.”
Harrison O’Rourke.
What a name.
It rolls off the tongue in an almost musical way, but it’s got a certain masculinity to it as well. It must be the R’s, and the hard K sound at the end.
Suffice it to say I’m leaning in.
“Pleasure to meet you, Harrison.”
He kisses my hand. “The pleasure is all mine, Bianca.”
Chet cuts between us. “Yes, and it is just luscious to see a new friendship blossoming. But you’ll have to take it outside. Although, Miss Bianca”—he checks his watch, which hangs off his skinny wrist—“you’ll have to keep it brief. Your first curtain is in ten minutes.”
Harrison cocks his head. “Your first curtain?”
I gesture to the door that leads to the mirrored staircase. “I’m the singer here.”
Harrison shoots his eyebrows up. “I thought you looked familiar. You have a lovely voice.”
Warmth rushes to my cheeks. “Thank you. It’s a living, I suppose.”
“I have great respect for singers,” Harrison continues. “I love to go to the theater when I can, catch a musical, sometimes even an opera. I have no idea how you guys do it.”
I shrug. “It’s all in the technique. Like going to the gym, only the muscles you’re honing are much smaller than the ones in your arms and shoulders.”
He chuckles at that. “You’re very kind.”
“If it’s a singer you’re looking for,” Chet interrupts, “you are welcome to scout Michigan Avenue for one, Dr. O’Rourke. But I really must insist that you leave now.”
And I feel it.
The little twitch over my left eyebrow.
Normally it warns me that something terrible is about to happen.
But this time… I think it’s trying to tell me something.
That this man, this beautiful Dr. Harrison O’Rourke, needs to come to Aces tonight.
Is it just because I’m horny as all hell for him?
Possibly.
But he needs to be here.
I close in on Chet’s desk, leaving very little space between me and Harrison. I feel the heat coming off his chest in waves, inhale the seductive scent of his cologne.
“Chet,” I say. “I would like to invite Dr. O’Rourke to the club as my guest.”
Chet scrunches his forehead. “Miss Bianca, you are not a member of Aces. You are its employee. You are not allowed to bring a guest inside.”
I roll my eyes. “Those rules apply to the cards. Not to me.”
Chet drags a yellow fingernail over the pages of his book, flipping to a section near the front outlining the Aces Underground Rules and Regulations. “Full-time employees are allowed on the club premises during working hours only and may bring no guests.” He widens his grin. “There it is, black and white. Read all over.” He chuckles.
I clasp my hands. “There you have it, Chet. I’m not a full-time employee. I’m engaged with Aces as a contractor. Rouge doesn’t take taxes out, and I’m not granted options like sick leave.”
“But that still doesn’t mean—”
I hold up a hand. “Two people are allowed downstairs, am I correct? Members and full-time employees, correct?”
He furrows his pink eyebrows. “Correct.”
“And I’ve just explained to you that I’m not a full-time employee. Ergo, I’m a member.”
“Miss Bianca, that doesn’t quite—”
I lean onto Chet’s desk. “And I do have one more ace up my sleeve that no other employee has here, Chester.” I grin. “None of them are the sister of Rouge Montrose.”
Harrison drops his jaw. “I’m sorry, you’re Rouge’s sister?”
I smirk. “Guilty as charged, Doctor.”
He squints at me. “Forgive me, but you look nothing like her.”
“The Montroses have a wide gene pool to work with.” I turn back to Chet. “Are you really going to deny me this request, Chet, or do I have to get my sister involved?”
“Rouge isn’t even here tonight, Miss Bianca.”
“Yes. She’s at the Jade Sanctum.” I gaze at Chet’s watch. “And now her star singer is about to go on in five minutes. Do you want to explain why you held her up in the foyer when she was just trying to grab something from her car? Something she needs for her set?”
“Miss Bianca—”
“Or”—I sit down on the edge of the desk, running my fingers up his arm—“you can scratch my back tonight, Chet. And next time you need a favor, I’ll be at your beck and call.”