Free Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers by Tawny Weber, Opal Carew, Sharon Hamilton, Lisa Hughey, Denise A. Agnew, Caridad Pineiro, Gennita Low, Karen Fenech Page B

for his show. He returned phone calls and checked his email and Facebook accounts. There was a message from Blondie.
    Sorry I missed you. I’d like to be part of your plans for this evening if you’re available. No worries, if not. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.
    She signed her name, Karen .
    He was happy she didn’t show her claws, or accuse him of standing her up. It was wise she didn’t mention it and let him know her interest was, if anything, stronger. That was always so attractive in a woman.
     
     
    The crowd was even larger this evening. One of his band members had been stopped and tagged with a DUI so a newbie base guitarist was brought in. The kid looked hardly eighteen, but he was obviously a virtuoso. Jameson knew that most of the guys in his group were talented enough to go out on their own some day. But for now, they were the club band, working with artists who didn’t have their own entourage. They were there to make him look good and make the customers stay longer to buy more drinks.
    Making hay while I can.
    The music business was fluid. Back-up singers and musicians would one day become huge country stars. It was random and rigged. There were lots of things one had to pay attention to, but the break-out was still sheer luck. Lady Luck was usually on Jameson’s side these days, a luscious broad of a gal so generous with her assets and her gifts. So while he was waiting, kneeling at the altar of her fair smile and golden touch, the ride was real fun. Better than he deserved.
    He saw Blondie front and center, and when their eyes connected, she made her way back to the bar. Thomas was there on his usual perch. He’d not been Jameson’s warm-up tonight because the club owner was trying to promote a new girl group. Sipping on his third drink, or more, he sidled up to Blondie, and Jameson noticed she gave him the cold shoulder.
    At the end of the first set before break, he gave the crowd one of the songs they’d come to hear, his new anthem,
    Hope you find what you’re looking for
    Maybe this time you won’t come up short…
    He studied her swing on the stool, her impossibly long legs and tight blue jeans flaring out at the thighs and hips as she crossed and uncrossed her legs. Her red boots matched her lipstick. She’d gone for a siren look, when he preferred the innocence of the night before better, but it didn’t matter. She was appearing hotter on the stool as he sang, and that was always a good thing. The more heat she radiated back to Jameson, the drunker Thomas acted. His old musician friend was sitting next to someone he’d never have a shot at in a million years. It was just the luck of his hand. When he was young, he didn’t spend his years wisely. Now that he was older, he couldn’t reclaim those days or repurchase his dignity. It was all gone.
    Jameson made a mental note to spend some time with his old friend, whose hair was allowed to grow longer and whose eyes were looking wilder.
    At the break, Jameson wasn’t surprised when Arlen poked his head in.
    “You up for the little fan-girl moment, boss?”
    “Red boots?”
    “Just like you like ‘em. Red boots, blonde hair. Nice chest. The works, I’d say.” Arlen gave him a wink of admiration. “You certainly know how to get ‘em. I think she’s the one from last night, but I wasn’t lookin’.”
    Jameson tossed back his drink and set his guitar down, but didn’t stand. “Sure you weren’t,” he winked at his former Marine bodyguard. “Send her in.”
    She was obviously working hard tonight not to be forgotten. Everything was exaggerated. Her shirt was unbuttoned dangerously deep. Her cheeks blushed bright reddish pink, her lips full and bright red. Even her nail polish was red. She leaned against the dressing room door and looked like the perfect kind of eye candy he needed for the night. He’d be hard again for the entire second set, for the second night in a row.
    “Missed you last night, darlin’.” It was