Read Online Shameless by Tori Carrington - Free Book Online

“It’s just as well. I’ve got another date with Harold.” She smiled as she clicked her purse closed. “ Doctor Zhivago is playing today.”
    Nina fought a groan.
    What did it say about you when your seventy-year-old grandmother had a more interesting sex life than you did?
    Then again, that wasn’t entirely true. Not anymore.
    The problem lay in that Nina wanted it to continue.
    And that the two men involved wanted to make sure it didn’t.
    Which made her think of another deal.
    What if…She wondered. What if she asked them if she could have one more night?

9
    L ATER THAT NIGHT , Nina sat in the corner of the old neighborhood bar, an umbrella drink untouched on the small table in front of her. The table was meant for two but she was alone. Although she hoped she wasn’t going to be that way for long.
    She’d arrived fifteen minutes before the band was due to take the stage. The Fantasy Band was mostly made up of local talent, both of the temporary and longstanding kind. The temporary member being Gauge, who was sitting in for the lead guitarist while he was off on his honeymoon with his new wife.
    Nina caught movement on the small stage situated beyond the slightly larger dance floor in front of it. The tables were packed, and she craned her neck to see through the crowd. There was Gauge now, putting his guitar strap over his shoulder. He was wearing his usual jeans and dark T-shirt, this one bearing Aerosmith’s winged logo. His dark hair was tousled and he smiled at someone in the audience as he gave his instrument a final tuning.
    Okay, there was one….
    Nina sipped at the sweet concoction in her glass and looked in the other direction, seeking out Kevin. She knew he was coming. Gauge had invited them both earlier in the day. Kevin hadn’t committed until after Nina had said she couldn’t make it, but had immediately said he’d be there when he’d learned she wouldn’t be going.
    All part of her strategy.
    There. There he was. Near the end of the bar wearing his telltale denim shirt over a white T-shirt, one hiking boot on top of the footrest as he accepted a draught beer from the bartender.
    Nina smiled. The men were good about banding together at work and providing a united front whenever she approached them. So good, in fact, that she’d given up. Or at least pretended to. She thought that maybe she stood a better chance after they’d both had a beer or two in them…and were away from each other.
    Yes, she’d considered going to each of their places alone late at night. Had even driven to Kevin’s once…only to be disappointed to find him not home. She’d sat outside his late parents’ old Victorian house and waited for a while, but had finally given up without driving by Gauge’s apartment building on the outskirts of town.
    But tonight…
    She caught herself sipping her drink again and pushed it slightly away, already beginning to feel the effects of the disguised alcohol. She grimaced. It wouldn’t do her any good at all to get drunk herself. She needed her wits about her if she was going to figure this one out.
    “Good evening, everyone,” the lead singer of the band said into the mike, indicating that the first set was about to begin.
    Nina turned back to face the stage.
    “Sitting in for Preston tonight is Patrick Gauge on lead. And he’s going to kick things off….”
    There was a smattering of applause, but mostly the patrons seemed more interested in getting their buzz on first.
    Nina propped her elbow onto the table and rested her chin on the shelf of her hand as the band led into an old rock tune.
    Oh, sure, she’d heard Gauge sing before. While he’d never been a lead singer, he could croon a tune along with the best of them. The sexier and bluesier the better. She sighed as he launched into the first line, earning a few hoots and hollers from the single women in the room.
    Nina sighed, watching as he came to life under the dim spotlight, his eyes seeming to rest on