Thinking of Joel, she cast a glance over her shoulder to where he'd settled himself at a small table located in a darkened corner of the bar. He'd shown up without any of his buddies, and she wasn't sure what to make of him spending his evenings at The Electric Blue just to watch her work when he no doubt had better things to do with his time. But she secretly found his nightly appearance romantic and charming, not that she'd ever tell Joel that.

From across the room, their gazes met, and a corner of his mouth kicked up in a slow, sexy smile that warmed her from the inside out. She replied with a flirtatious grin of her own, then returned her attention back to her drink order. Since their encounter the previous night, he seemed less uptight and more relaxed, and she hoped he remained that way.

Sydney set an Armaretto sour on the bar, a sly smile on her lips. "Judging by that flush on your face, your 'damn close' must have been very satisfying."

Lora laughed and didn't bother being modest with her best friend. "Oh, it was," she admitted, but kept the more intimate details of just how amazing Joel's hands and mouth were to herself. "And look at you with your new admirer sitting at the other end of the bar." Lora subtly nodded her head in that direction, where Daniel Barnett had taken up residence on a bar stool and was nursing a Jack and coke while watching Sydney mix drinks.

Sydney poured triple sec and vodka into two shot glasses and topped the kamikazes off with a splash of lime juice. "He was here last night, too."

So, it appeared that Sydney had a suitor, and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, too. "It's very sweet," she said, as she placed both shots on her tray.

"Well, if Daniel is expecting sweet in return, he's going to be very disappointed." A naughty light glimmered in Sydney's eyes, a sure sign that she had something mischievous on her mind. "Our date isn't until next week, but if he insists on being here every night until then, I'm going to give him something to look forward to. I think I'll be doing some dirty dancing on the bar tonight." She winked at Lora.

Her friend's shameless suggestion was enough to tell Lora that Daniel was in for a whole lotta trouble where Sydney was concerned. The kind that was going to leave him hot and bothered by the end of the evening. "You are so bad."

Sydney shrugged indifferently as she uncapped a Corona and added the bottle of beer to Lora's order. "He might as well know right up front what he's getting into with me. Then again, guys don't ask me out for my sparkling, witty conversation, now do they?"

No, Sydney believed that they dated her expecting something else entirely, and talking wasn't a requirement. Lora knew that her friend was jaded for good reason, but she hated that Sydney judged all men the same. And especially Cassie's math teacher, who, in Lora's estimation, held so much potential-if Sydney didn't scare him off before their first real date.

"Maybe Daniel isn't like every other guy you've gone out with," Lora suggested as she topped the Corona off with a wedge of lime.

Sydney let out an indelicate snort and reached for a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. "He has a penis, Lora," she said wryly. "Trust me, getting laid is a priority. Lucky for him, I'm not one to play hard to get. It's been a long dry spell, and I'm more than willing to accommodate him."

"Okay. Fine," Lora conceded, not wanting to end up in an argument with Sydney about how she never gave the opposite sex a fair chance. It was a discussion they'd had many times before and the end result was always the same: emotional barriers went up, and nothing changed.

Lora picked up her drink-laden tray and balanced it in one hand, unable to stop herself from issuing one last parting remark. "I just wish you'd give yourself more credit, Syd. Maybe if you expected more than just sex from men, then they'd treat you with the same respect in return."

"Thanks for the advice, Dr. Marshall," Sydney replied with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. Then she leveled a look at Lora as she cleared dirty drink glasses off of the bar. "Now go and deliver your order before I write you up for insubordination."

"Yeah, yeah," Lora drawled, not at all bothered by her friend's intimidation tactics. The throwaway threat was Sydney's playful way of saying "discussion over," and Lora knew better than to say anything more.

She went back to work and spent the next few hours taking orders and delivering drinks to the increasing deluge of customers flowing into The Electric Blue. When she had a few spare moments, she'd cruise by Joel's table and flirt with him, until she was just too busy with drink orders and bar dancing to pay him anything more than a quick passing visit.

Before long, the place was absolutely packed with their normal patrons, and plenty of new ones, too. Over the next few hours, the crush of people in the bar got thicker, the music amplified to a throbbing beat, and the crowd grew loud and boisterous from too much liquor and a whole lot of fun. It was all Lora could do to squeeze her way from one end of the establishment to the other.

Just as Lora had taken a huge drink order for a table of six, Sydney rang the cowbell behind the bar, generating a frenzy of cheers, whistling, and overall excitement for the entertainment about to begin. Strobe lights pulsed and flashed overhead, the music changed to a raucous song with a sexy beat, and employees abandoned their posts to give the customers what they'd come to expect at The Electric Blue.

Lora groaned. Exhaustion was settling in after working two shifts in one day, and she just didn't have the energy to put on another performance for the crowd. She decided to skip this round, and instead of letting orders pile up while Sydney, her backup bartender, and all the other waiters and waitresses strutted their stuff on the bar and stage, she'd mix her own drinks and at least she'd stay ahead of the crowd's demands. She was certain she wouldn't be missed, since the other staff were riling up the throng of customers just fine.

Lora navigated her way through the crush of bodies, and grinned when she caught sight of Sydney up on the main bar, dancing right in front of where Daniel was sitting. True to her word, Sydney was executing some of her best dirty dancing moves-gyrating her hips to the beat of the music, hands brazenly tracing her alluring curves, fingers stroking across the bare, flat expanse of her belly exposed by her tight, cropped T-shirt. As if that weren't enough to make a guy hard, she grabbed the brass pole at the end of the bar and spun around it, all long legs, voluptuous breasts, and smooth, provocative moves she'd perfected during her days as a stripper.

Dozens of guys crammed against the bar, whistling, cheering, and overall encouraging Sydney as she slid up and down the pole, but Lora knew that her tempting, teasing performance, and the hot promise in her eyes, was all for Daniel. But unlike the frat boys making fools of themselves, Daniel played it cool, refusing to outwardly react to Sydney's attempt at seducing him. Instead, he sat casually on the barstool, watching her with an appreciative male smile as she ran her hands through her long, wavy hair and swayed her hips in time to the music.

Lora had to give Daniel credit for maintaining his composure so well when every other guy in the place was clamoring to get her attention with the hopes of getting their own private performance. The fact that Daniel wasn't responding to Sydney's sexual overtures made Lora hopeful that he'd be the one guy who could get past Sydney's bold and brash personality to the softer, sweeter woman beneath all that bravado.

Once she finally stepped behind the bar, the disarray of liquor bottles, dirty glasses in the sink, and nearly overflowing garbage made Lora realize that she'd be far more helpful if she washed up the glasses and restored some order for Sydney and her backup bartender before they returned to fill drink orders again. In fact, she figured she could at least take the two bags of trash out to the Dumpster and be back before the song was done, which would give them more room to move around behind the bar.

Setting her tray down, Lora grabbed both bags of trash and made her way down the hallway that led to the men's and women's restrooms and the employee exit that connected to a back alley and the Dumpster they used. Like she'd done a dozen times before, she pushed the door open and twisted the bolt lock so that the metal bar kept the door from closing and locking behind her.

Cold, damp wind assaulted her as she stepped out under the small four-by-four awning protecting her from the rain that had begun to fall sometime during the past few hours. Unfortunately, the Dumpster was across the alley, and she cursed beneath her breath as she ducked her head against the rain and sprinted toward the garbage bin.

Of course, Mother Nature chose that moment to open up a thunder cloud and let it pour. Lora lifted the metal lid and quickly tossed the bags of trash inside, just as she heard the employee exit door open, then shut securely behind her with a solid click.

Panicked, she whirled around to find two big men pulling ski masks over their faces as they strode purposefully toward her from the door she'd just walked out of. She stood there, frozen to the spot, a foreboding chill racing up her spine that had nothing to do with the fact that she was nearly soaked to the skin by the ice cold rain and wind.

Before she had the chance to react to the imminent threat, and before she could draw the breath to scream for help, one of the men grabbed her, spinning her around, and clamped a strong hand over her mouth. He pulled her head back so it butted against his shoulder and he could hold her immobile. She caught the flash of something long and shiny right before she felt the sharp prick of a blade against her neck.