DirtyBeautiful by Jodie Becker Page B

her. “You gossip about me?”
    Ramona’s assessing stare flicked between them. “Oh it was
all nice things she had to say.”
    Guilt flashed in her eyes. “Ramona asked about you and I—I—”
    Dylan chucked her chin and this time had to forcibly stop
himself from kissing her again. “Think nothing of it. I’m flattered. Really.”
    Something broke off inside his chest at the sight of her
relief and acute embarrassment. She was so transparent and utterly beautiful.
“Come on, I’ll win you a stuffed animal.”
    She brightened at the idea and he hooked his arm around
hers. “All right, but I have to be back here in an hour.”
    “Not a problem.”
    They strolled down the various aisles and eyed some wares up
for sale. Erica slowed at a stall with several beaded jewelry items on display.
She fingered one that had a number of tightly woven fine straps cinched into
the fixture at the back of the necklace. It had an orange, black and yellow
pendant perched within a polished brass casing that hung heavily from the
straps. After asking the price, she purchased it and put it on. “What do you
think?”
    The pendant sat snug between her breasts. His focus was
drawn downward and to the need to touch her again. His dick stirred to life and
fried his language neurons. He wanted to pull her into the darkness, spread her
legs and hear her moan like she did in the kitchen. Jesus, he never knew she’d
sound so God damn good.
    A little boy jostled between them as he ran after his
friend.
    “Sorry, Miss Bracken!” he said without missing a beat. “I
got a new dog!”
    “That’s wonderful, Cameron!”
    She laughed at his gleeful exuberance as he ran as fast as
his little legs could take him. “Why is everyone calling you Miss Bracken?”
    Erica wrapped her arm around his and tugged him along.
“Because I teach elementary school.”
    Oh crap. Now he knew he should definitely steer clear of
her. His stomach churned a little. “Is that right?”
    “Yeah, I just adore kids. And I get to make a difference in
their lives. It’s very rewarding. What did you do before coming here?”
    What did he do? Jesus, what didn’t he do? He did women
almost every way conceivable. “I… I, uh, was in the entertainment industry.”
    A mixture of curiosity and excitement animated her face.
Shit! Why couldn’t he have said waste management or public servant? The apples
of her cheeks flushed with color. “Really? Did you meet any famous actors?” She
sighed beatifically. “It must be so wonderful to see them at work. I’d been in
a few school plays before. I really enjoyed doing it. But I’m sure it’s not up
to the caliber you’re used to.”
    Dylan coughed into his fist. No one cared about the quality
of acting in the porn industry. All that mattered was if you could get it up
and keep it up. “I’m sure you’re wonderful.”
    Erica laughed, palming his forearm and sending sparks of
awareness through his body. “You haven’t seen me act. But it’s nice of you to
say. Maybe you can show me some of your work sometime?”
    “Oh I don’t know. Most of my stuff was B-grade films.
Probably hard to find.”
    “Oh,” she said, disappointment heavy in her tone.
    They wandered by a milk bottle game. The plastic bottles
piled up until they formed a triangle and the angler waved him forward. “Step
up, sir. A dollar for three throws. All you gotta do is knock down these pins
and you can win your lady a fine prize.”
    “All right.”
    Dylan paid the man and accepted the three baseballs. He
palmed them, the feel of the seams reminded him of his days spent on a baseball
field as a child. In pitcher mode, he eyed his target and noted the distance
and possible velocity for the best result. He wound up and threw the ball hard.
It clipped the side, the top bottle tumbled down along with the two supporting
it. Once the pyramid was set up again, he took aim. It hit dead center. The top
and middle tier tumbled free, but the bottom remained