“Hello, could you tell me where I can find Ward McLaughlin?”

Betsy looked up from her computer, and her heart suddenly flip flopped.  The man who stood in front of her was a stud, and there just wasn’t any other way to put it.  She wasn’t sure exactly how tall he was, but he was well over six feet, and his body belonged on the cover of a muscle magazine.  His hair was thick, dark, and wavy, and his eyes were a brilliant, penetrating, cobalt blue. 

Betsy gave him her sweetest smile.  “I’m Betsy McLaughlin.  Maybe I could help you,” she suggested.

“I’m Kyle Alexander.  Mr. McLaughlin gave me a job.  I was supposed to report this morning.”

“Oh.” 

Kyle gave a brief, inward grimace.  His reputation had preceded him.  By now he expected nothing less, but it did sting to have the most attractive woman he’d ever seen dismiss him so completely and so contemptuously.

“Come with me, and I’ll take you to my daddy’s office.”

Kyle followed the girl past the cash registers at the front of the store, and he had to admit that the view was spectacular.  Betsy McLaughlin was tall and slender, and her trousers clung to her shapely behind like a second skin. Her hair was dark and smooth, and her eyes were a surprising shade of emerald green.  Kyle was reminded suddenly that it had been a long time since he enjoyed female companionship.
 
I’d have as good a chance of dating the president’s daughter as I would her, he thought somberly.  McLaughlin’s daughter had liked his looks, but the minute she found out who he was she lost interest fast.

The girl paused and knocked on a closed door, and Kyle heard a gruff voice call, “Come in.” 

Ward McLaughlin’s office was spacious and luxurious.  A thick green carpet covered the floor, and light gleamed from the polished surfaces of expensive mahogany furniture.  A leather sofa and several chairs occupied one side of the office, and a silver coffee service sat on a coffee table in front of the sofa.

Two men were seated on the sofa.  The younger man, who was tall with blond hair and blue eyes, rose at Betsy’s entrance.  “Hi, sweetie.  I haven’t seen you all morning.”

Betsy placed a light kiss on the man’s cheek.  “I meant to come and say good morning, Todd, but honestly I’ve been too busy to get down this way.” 

She turned around to Kyle and included him in the conversation.  “Kyle, this is Todd Warner.  He’s the assistant manager.”  She indicated the other man on sofa.  “This is my father, Ward McLaughlin.  “Daddy, this is Kyle Alexander.”

Ward took the man’s measure, and to his surprise Alexander wasn’t what he’d expected.  The furtive, cocky, angry expression that he’d thought he’d see was totally absent, but Alexander wasn’t impassive or expressionless either.  In fact, it looked to Ward as if the man was glad to have a job and wanted to make a good impression. 

However, he knew Alexander’s reputation all too well.  “Betsy, Todd, if you’ll excuse us for a minute I’d like to talk to Kyle in private.”

As the door closed behind Betsy and Todd, Ward saw a flash of apprehension cross Alexander’s handsome face.  Obviously, he thought that something was wrong.  I was right, Ward thought.  He does want the job.  He thought that it was to the man’s credit that he wanted to work.  Nevertheless, Alexander needed to know where he stood.

“I only gave you this job as a favor to a friend,” Ward said bluntly.  “You need to know that if you screw up just once you’re out.  You get the same benefits and salary as the other employees.  Do you have any questions?”

“No, sir.”

Ward got up and opened the door, and Kyle saw that Betsy and Todd were waiting patiently for the interview to be concluded.  “Betsy,” Ward called, “take him to your office and get all his paperwork filled out.”

“Alright, Daddy.”

Kyle followed McLaughlin’s daughter to her office, once more appreciating the view, and sat down in the chair that she indicated.  He handed her the envelope that Tommy Price had given him and waited quietly while she looked through the papers.

“Well, everything seems to be in order,” she finally said, “but I can’t make out this word.”

Hot blood rushed to Kyle’s face coloring it a dull bronze.  His education had been sketchy at best, and it had been a long time since he had done any writing.  “Ah, it says single,” he told her.

“If you aren’t married who would you like to put as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy?  We offer a five thousand dollar policy free of charge to all of the employees.”        

“Make it to Nikki Price.”

“Tommy’s wife?”

“Yes.”

Those pretty green eyes stared appraisingly at him.  “I don’t know if she’d want you to do that.”

“Well, you asked me, and she’s the only person I can think of.”

“Don’t you have any family?”

“Nobody close.”

“I don’t suppose it matters,” Betsy decided. 

She entered some things in the computer, and stood up.  “You’ll be working for Bill Wilson.  If you’ll follow me I’ll introduce you to him.”

Bill Wilson looked to be around thirty, and Kyle was pretty sure that he regretted having an ex-con working with him.  He didn’t say anything though.  He showed Kyle what to do, watched him operate the fork life, and then went about his own business. 

That was fine with Kyle.  The work was easy, the pay wasn’t bad, and he wasn’t in prison anymore.  If nobody wanted to be friendly, so be it.

***

“Betsy, don’t be such a wet blanket.  Honestly, sometimes you remind me of an eighty year old woman.  The Curley Cue is loads of fun.”  Jennifer Madison tossed her blonde hair and frowned at Betsy.  “You aren’t seeing Todd tonight so go with me.”

Betsy sighed.   Jennifer was her best friend, but she was so impulsive; she seldom took the time to think things through, and sometimes she got into trouble because of it.

“The Curley Cue is a rough place,” Betsy patiently explained.  “The people who hang out there aren’t the sort that we’re used to, Jennifer.  Let’s go to the movie instead.”
They got to The Curley Cue around eight.
 
“Wow, this place is packed,” Jennifer exclaimed.  “Do you want to play pool, or do you just want to get a drink and watch awhile?”

“Watch awhile.”

Jennifer ordered their drinks, and they sat down at a dirty table to watch the action.  The Curley Cue hadn’t been open long.  Originally, it was supposed to have been a family oriented establishment featuring pool tables, video games, miniature golf, darts, and a dance floor.   It hadn’t worked out that way, though.  The Curley Cue now belonged to the rowdier, rougher elements of the town, but since it was making such a huge profit, the owner, Charlie Mills, couldn’t care less.
 
“Will you just look at the guy at table two!”  Jennifer enthused.  “Is he hot or what?”

She might be engaged, but Betsy looked anyway, and she knew immediately who Jennifer meant.  Kyle Alexander was wearing a tight black tee shirt that threw the masculine planes of his chest into sharp relief.  His jeans were molded to his lean hips, and Betsy had to admit it: he was hot, but he still wasn’t the kind of man that she and Jennifer wanted to be involved with.

“That’s Kyle Alexander,” she flatly informed Jennifer.  “He’s a convicted felon, Jen, so leave him alone.”

Jennifer’s eyes widened.  “A felon?  What did he do?”

“Armed robbery.”

“How do you know that?”

“He works for Daddy.”

“My goodness.”
 
The girls fell silent as they inspected Kyle.  Both of them had been brought up by wealthy, devoted parents, and while they might flirt with some of the bad boys of the town, Kyle Alexander was far too hard core for them to be interested.

“Hello, pretty ladies.  Buy you a drink?”

The two guys who stood beside their table were very attractive, but they obviously weren’t in the same social class as the girls.  How Betsy knew this she couldn’t say, but know it she did.
 
“Why yes, that would be nice,” Jennifer answered with a smile, and the two young men sat down at the table with them.

At first Betsy enjoyed herself.  Their new friends, Frankie and Justin, were amusing, but somehow her eyes kept following Kyle Alexander.  He certainly seemed to be having a good time.  He’d won a couple of games of pool, and the girls were all flirting with him.  She lost track of his whereabouts when Justin put his arm around her shoulders.

Betsy shrugged, but Justin, who’d had one beer too many, didn’t take the hint.  He scooted even closer to Betsy and buried his face against her neck.  “Stop it!” Betsy demanded.  “I don’t like that, Justin.”

“Don’t be such a tease,” Justin retorted.  “We’ve been having a good time; don’t wreck it now.”  He pulled her against him, and Betsy started to panic.  She tried to push him away, but he had a firm grip on her, and her struggles were useless. 

“Frankie, do something,” Jennifer demanded in alarm, but Frankie just shook his head.  He wasn’t going to interfere.

“Hey, buddy, the lady doesn’t like you mauling her.”

Justin finally released her.  Betsy looked up, and her eyes locked with the cobalt blue eyes of Kyle Alexander.  “This is none of your business,” Justin said hotly. 

“She said no,” Kyle answered calmly.  “Now get lost.”

Justin wanted to protest, but everybody knew who Kyle Alexander was, and nobody wanted to mess with him.  “Come on, Frankie.”  Glaring at Kyle, Justin and Frankie stalked toward the bar.

Betsy stood on quivering legs to thank her rescuer.  “I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t come over.  I can’t tell you now much I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, well, you two don’t need to be here.  This place is way too rough.”

“You’re right,” Betsy quickly agreed.  “Jennifer, come on.  We’re leaving.”

Jennifer, cowed by what had happened, jumped up with alacrity.  “I’ll walk you to your car,” Kyle told Betsy.

“Okay.  Thanks.”

Betsy couldn’t help being impressed.  She hadn’t seen much of Kyle since he went to work at The Office Manager, and he was even sexier than she remembered.  Guiltily, she thought of Todd and wondered if he could’ve handled Justin the way Kyle did.