Free See Jane Love by DEBBY CONRAD Page B

ever get a high five for seducing a man and scoring with him? It just didn’t happen, at least not in this century.
    Wrapping her arms around her middle, she continued to pace and think. Thank God Gabe had picked up all the junk that had been lying around or she would have tripped by now.
    So, where did she go from here? she wondered. She still had to find a man to solve her little problem. Gabe Montero was no longer a contender. Hubert Epstein was a throwback. And Rob Strauss was a cheating loser.
    “So now what?” she mumbled. If she didn’t sell another book soon, her career would be down the toilet. She supposed she could always try to write science fiction instead of romance. Robots and aliens didn’t have to engage in hot, steamy sex in order for the book sales to do well.
    Hearing the phone ring, she headed for the kitchen and grabbed the cordless from the counter. “Hello?”
    “Hi, Janie?”
    “Yes. Who’s this?”
    “This is Brad Carpenter. We met at the beach today.”
    Brad. The cute lifeguard. He was a little young, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was inexperienced.
    “Yes, I remember,” she said, smiling.
    “I was wondering if you might like to meet me for a drink tomorrow night.”
    Her mood improved suddenly. “I’d love to. Just tell me where and when.”
    They made plans to meet at Rudy’s, a local country-western bar, at eight o’clock the next evening. Brad seemed like a nice guy, and she was looking forward to her date with him. “Gabe Montero, eat your heart out.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    Janie had only been to Rudy’s once before, for a bachelorette party. She and her friends had nicknamed the place ‘The Pick-up Haven’ because of all the guys who had hit on them that night. But Janie didn’t need to worry about things like that anymore, now that she was in the market to be hit on. By the right man, of course.
    The smoke-filled bar was packed. A twangy tune--a female vocalist singing about her cheating lover--blasted from the juke box on the far side of the room. At the back of the room, band members were busy setting up their equipment to play.
    Spotting an empty stool at the bar, Janie made her way through the crowd and claimed it. She ordered a berry wine cooler and sipped at it while she waited for Brad. She’d been twenty minutes early, which surprised her. She’d never been early for anything in her life. Which just went to show that she was excited about seeing Brad, and that had to mean she must be over Gabe.
    Not that she’d been hooked on him or anything like that. But at least she wouldn’t be thinking about him all evening. Out of sight, out of mind. Instead, she’d be thinking about the cute lifeguard.
    “Do you want to dance?” the skinny man with greasy hair to her right asked. His arms and neck were covered with tattoos and one of his front teeth was missing.
    “No, thanks,” she said. “I don’t really care for country western music.”
    He leaned closer and blew smoke and beer tainted breath in her face. “So?”
    Oh, brother. “So,” she said slowly, “I don’t want to dance to it.” Or with you.
    “Okay. You wanna go to my place and get it on? My name is Bardolf. Barf for short.”
    Barf? Well, the name certainly suited him. “Thanks for the . . . tempting offer, Barf, but if you don’t mind I’m waiting for someone.”
    “Well, hell, I don’t mind sharin’. But the dude’ll have to wait his turn cuz I saw you first. Unless you wanna do one of them menageries. That’s French for three-some.”
    Janie stared at the man, opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. Gathering her purse and drink, she slid off the stool and found a table for two in the corner.
    She kept one eye on the front door for Brad and the other on Barf the Barbarian. Hopefully, the man could take a hint and he wouldn’t push himself where he wasn’t wanted. She’d never had much patience with men like him. Didn’t they understand the word ‘no’?