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After Dark - A SINFUL CINDERELLA TALE
LACI PAIGE
ChapterOne
“No,” Izzie spoke firmly into the phone. She was irritated her friend called and disturbed her in the middle of her book. It was just getting spicy.
“What do you mean,no? It’s been ages since you’ve been out to the club,” Babs, Izzie’s closest friend, whined dramatically.
Izzie hesitated. “I’m sick of the same place, and the same damn people. I need something fresh and exciting.”
“I’m sick of it too, but it’s better than staying in.”
“Says you.” Izzie inspected her nails and began picking away at the chipped polish.
“Seriously? You’d rather sit at home?”
“Yep.” Izzie nodded as if her friend could see.
“When did you get old?”
“Twenty-nine isn’t old, going out just doesn’t do it for me anymore.”
“Yep, old.” There was a beat of silence. “Fine. Lunch tomorrow?”
“Only if you don’t lecture me on not going to the club tonight.”
“I can’t make that promise. Dane will be in attendance.” Dane was their third-wheel, flamboyant best friend.
“Whatever, I’ll be there. I assume ourusualplace, at theusualtime?”
“Yes,” Babs snapped. “Love you, see you tomorrow.”
“Love you, too.” Izzie disconnected the call and shook her head smiling, Babs was a spitfire.
Izzie retrieved her bag of nail polish and dug through looking for her favorite red. The color screamed hot and sexy, something she hadn’t felt in a long while.
Twenty minutes later, she admired her shiny manicure. “Looks good.” It was then she wished she was going out, inspired by her shiny nails.
Instead, she plopped on the couch and grabbed her book from the end table, and began to read. The plan was to be in bed no later than 3 AM. The book, however, was a good one, and she knew she’d be roped in and not sleep until she was finished.
Thankfully, she worked nights as a cocktail waitress for an elite restaurant that kept late hours. She took a few days off on top of her usual weekend for a mental health break. Things were getting stressful at work with the shortage of workers, and her boss found a temp so she could get a much-needed reset. She worked every day for the past three weeks. Burnout was real.
Two hours into her book, her phone chimed. She knew it would be Babs or Dane.
Before she could pick it up, there was a second chime.
“Shit, give me a minute.” She rolled off the couch and crawled across the room to remove her phone from the charger cord under the table.
The phone kept chiming; Babs and Dane. Izzie grinned. They must be together.
She opened Dane’s first and there was a bunch of cuss words and a blurry photo of a man in a dark suit. It was hard to tell with the lighting who it was. They must’ve been at the bar pregaming for the club. It was hard to tell by the quality of the photo.
Switching over to Babs's messages, there was the same guy, but the photo Babs sent was much clearer than the one from Dane, and they were in the club already.
She knew why they both sent her the photo. The guy was stunning. She was almost jealous that they were there without her, but that was her choice. Choosing to ignore the text, so her friends would think she was in bed already, she went back to her book, but not without taking another glance at the photo.
“That is one fine-looking man,” Izzie groaned. The leading man in her book had a new face in her mind’s eye. The man in the suit wasthatappealing.
