There were chairs open on either side of Perin, but I didn't want to sit down and start a conversation. I didn't want him to feel singled out. If he was nervous the direct approach might be too obvious. So I walked toward him, rummaging in my bag, looking absorbed in finding whatever. And just as I reached his stool I faked a stumble. Not enough to go down to the ground, but enough to knock into him, clutching at his sleeve for support.
'Omigod,' I said. 'I'm so sorry. This is so embarrassing. I wasn't watching where I was going and . . .' I looked down. 'It's these shoes! I'm just not a high-heel person.'
'What kind of a person are you?' Perin asked.
I gave him the million-dollar smile. 'I think maybe I'm a barefoot person.' I slid onto the stool next to him and signaled the bartender. 'Boy, I really need a drink. It's been one of those days.'
'Tell me about it,' he said. 'What do you do?'
'I'm a lingerie buyer.' Used to be, anyway, before I started bounty-huntering.
His eyes dropped to my cleavage. 'No shit?'
I hoped they loaded that car on fast. This guy had a head start on the drinky poos, and was going to be on me like white on rice. I could feel it coming.
'My name's Ryan Perin,' he said, extending his hand.
'Stephanie.'
He kept hold of my hand. 'Stephanie the lingerie buyer. That's very sexy.'
Yuk. I hate holding hands with strange men. Damn Ranger and his horizons. 'Well, you know . . . it's a job.'
'I bet you have a lot of great lingerie.'
'Sure. I have everything. You name it, I've got it.'
The bartender looked at me expectantly.
'I'll have one of those,' I said, pointing to Perin's drink. 'And could you hurry?'
'So tell me about your lingerie,' Perin said. 'You have any garter belts?'
'Oh, yeah. I wear garter belts all the time-red, black, purple.'
'How about thong panties?'
'Yeah, thong panties.' Every time I feel like flossing my ass.
The alarm went off on his watch.
'What's that?' I asked.
'It's a reminder to check on my car.'
Damn! Don't panic. Don't panic. 'What's wrong with your car?'
'This isn't such a great neighborhood at this time of night. I had a radio ripped off last week. So once in a while I just look out and make sure no one's messing with anything.'
'Don't you have an alarm system?'
'Well, yeah.'
'Then you don't have to worry.'
'I guess you're right. Still . . .' He looked toward the door. 'Maybe I should check just to be safe.'
'You're not one of those obsessive-compulsive types, are you?' I asked. 'I don't like those types. They're always so uptight. They never want to try anything new like, um . . . group sex.'
That got his attention back.
Some spittle collected at the corner of his mouth. 'You like group sex?'
'Well, I don't like to do it with too many men, but I have a couple girlfriends . . .' My drink came. I knocked it back and went into a coughing fit. When I stopped coughing, my eyeballs got hot and watery. 'What
'Bombay Sapphire.'
'I'm not much of a drinker.'
Perin slid a hand up my leg to just inside my skirt hem. 'Tell me more about the group sex.'
Stick a fork in me, I thought. Because I'm done. If Ranger didn't get here soon I was gonna be in big trouble. I was unloading everything I had, and I didn't know where to go from here. I didn't have a whole lot of experience at this sort of thing. And what I knew about group sex was zero. Which was already more than I
'How about another drink?' Perin asked.
No sooner had he gotten the words out of his mouth than he was off his bar stool, flying through the air. He crash-landed on a table, the table collapsed, and Perin lay still as a stone, spread-eagled on the floor, eyes wide, mouth open, like a big, dead beached fish.
I gasped and turned and was nose-to-nose with Benito Ramirez. 'You shouldn't be whoring like this, Stephanie,' Ramirez said, soft-voiced and crazy-eyed. 'The champ don't like when he sees you with other men. Sees them handling you. You need to save yourself for the champ.' He managed a small, sick smile. 'The champ's
