Read One More Night with You for Free Online

wasn’t going to ramble on about a blind date to a man who might not have a fresh change of clothes or a real bed. “Give me a potato chip, por favor ? I’ll pay you for it.”
    He frowned, confused, but opened the bag and shook out a few into a grimy hand. The unsanitary transaction made the food inedible, but she fished cash from her crossbody pocketbook and took the chips, anyway.
    When he noticed Benjamin Franklin’s face on the bill, he gasped. “Oh—no, miss—”
    â€œKeep it,” she insisted, getting up. “Take care.”
    â€œYou, too, my friend.”
    The library appeared busier than she’d seen it on a Saturday afternoon. Joey entered the building, and gratefulness for the air-conditioning outweighed the strands of angst that were as sticky as the loose curls clinging to the nape of her neck. Born in Mexico and bred in Texas, she was accustomed to warmer temps, but this summer’s humidity seemed to amplify everything—the sizzle of the sun, the heat in the atmosphere, her anxiety.
    Without a makeup arsenal, her best attempt at freshening up was to wash her hands and adjust the silver heirloom combs that held her hair from her face.
    A frowning face. She worked her jaw to wiggle loose some of the tension, tried on a smile but it felt too artificial. Giving up, she backed away from the restroom mirror and made her way to the lobby art gallery.
    Patrons and staff zigzagged across the floor, crowded the lobby. By force of habit Joey logged the faces, stored every unique feature in her memory bank. None of them triggered suspicion, but a dull sense of apprehension built as she neared her destination—as though the spirit of someone as intimate as a lover and as dangerous as an enemy had draped an arm over her shoulders.
    At the gallery she stopped short, recognizing a nosy, stubborn, ebony-haired friend. “Charlotte, what the hell?” She hadn’t meant to growl, but stress had been all but choking her. “I told you I could do this without backup.”
    The woman had the actual nerve to look befuddled as she turned around. “Sometimes I forget how talented you are at putting the ass in assumption . Who says I’m not here to get at look at CCL’s collections?”
    â€œAre you?”
    â€œAll right, no, I’m not. I came to watch out for you.” Charlotte, in leggings and a Las Vegas Slayers polo shirt, had clearly driven straight over from the team’s training camp facility in Mount Charleston. “It’s what friends do. You would do the same, and, actually, you have.”
    â€œAnd I recall you didn’t appreciate it all that much.” It was a careful reference to how affronted Charlotte had been when she’d discovered Joey had used FBI connections to excavate Nate Franco’s past—because Charlotte’s history with men wasn’t exactly glowing.
    â€œTurns out, it was for the best.”
    Yeah, if for the best meant stumbling upon a sophisticated illegal gambling ring that had yet to lead an almighty kingpin to justice. But she wouldn’t harp on that now. “Charlotte, this is a date in a library. I’ve engaged in riskier hookups than this. So far I’m underwhelmed, but I’ll be fine.”
    â€œUnderwhelmed?”
    â€œJust a feeling I have that my life won’t change a damn iota once I meet mystery guy. And to think I waxed it bald for this.”
    â€œWaxed it bald.” Charlotte’s mouth twisted in a smirk.
    â€œWell, I’m an optimist.”
    â€œAbout the location. You told me it was his idea to meet here. A library’s probably one of the least romantic spots in this city.”
    â€œBeg to differ there. The brain’s the absolute sexiest organ. Get that stimulated and...wow.”
    Charlotte blinked. “The brain? Aren’t you all about the cock?”
    Joey’s laughter attracted a few unappreciative glares from the