Right Chest, Wrong Name by Colleen Collins

Author:Colleen Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-06-10T00:00:00+00:00

7

“DESTROY YOU?” Auntie repeated, the word you sliding into such a high range that Liz was certain dogs would come running.

Liz was accustomed to sometimes dealing with bawdy, drunken, unruly customers. She’d handled shattered windows, broken chairs and even a horse that a cop had backed through The Rose Tattoo’s front door to avoid a wayward RTD bus. She viewed these incidents as minor job hazards but never disasters.

Until Russell. Every single day since he’d entered her life, there had been one near disaster after another.

And yet another one was beginning.

She had to do something. Fast. Before Raven’s bouncer instincts kicked in.

Liz moved toward the front window and into the sunlight. Partially for warmth because she felt a sudden chill. And partially to divert Russell’s attention.

It worked.

As he followed her every move, the anger in his eyes dimmed for a moment. Replaced by a look that she recognized from that first night when they met. A look of yearning. Passion, maybe. Not slap-together-bodies passion but something else. Something he seemed to be desperately longing for.

But the fleeting look disappeared, and his gray eyes once again sparked with anger.

“Here to return the pants?” she asked cautiously, knowing that was probably the last thing on his mind. But from her past experiences dealing with irate customers, she knew it was important to remain calm. Cool.

She looked over at Auntie, whose face was drained of color except for two perfect circles of rouge on her cheeks.

Liz returned her gaze to Russell. He stared at her with a fury that rivaled that of the highway patrolman who had once clocked her going over a hundred up Highway 1. Too bad Russell couldn’t just give her a ticket and walk away.

“Forget the pants,” she added, shrugging. “I’ll buy George another pair.”

“This isn’t about pants,” he said, enunciating each word.

“Customers will be arriving soon. Whatever happened to upset you, maybe we can discuss it later,” she suggested.

“Whatever happened,” Russell said, as though that was the strangest thing he’d ever heard. “What-ev-erhappened.” He unfolded his arms and glanced from Auntie to Liz. “Let me guess.” He tapped his forefinger theatrically against his temple. “You two have no idea what happened.”

“Did that shirt vendor call you ‘babe’ too?” Auntie offered, seemingly eager to get to the heart of the matter.

Russell did a double take, then rocked back on his heels and lowered his head. “My life was normal before I met these people,” he mumbled to the floor.

“What people?” Auntie asked, leaning forward, staring at the same spot on the floor.

Russell looked up. Auntie didn’t.

“There’s no one on the floor, Auntie,” Liz said in a gentle aside.

Russell began pacing. It reminded her of that first morning-after on Hollywood Boulevard when he had carried on as though she hadn’t given him a tat but the mark of the devil.

“How did I inherit these people?” he demanded to no one in particular. “I was living a normal life, minding my own business, and suddenly I’m clan to the Beverly Hillbillies.”

Liz pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling.

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