Page 36 of Native Hawk
“Do you mind?” Drew finally bit out.
The two men glared at him and then exchanged an annoyed look.
The man shifted his cigar to the other side of his mouth. “What’s gotyourchaps in a bunch?”
“Nothin’. It just ain’t proper conversation.”
“Proper conversation?” The cigar man laughed. “You know we’re in a brothel, right?”
“Hey,” the mustached man said. “You’re him, ain’t you? You’re the one who paid the twenty dollars.”
There was no point in denying it. “That’s right.”
“Holy shit.” The man took the cigar out of his mouth and leaned forward in confidence. “So what’d she do for you? Was she worth it?”
“Nothin’.” Drew set his coffee cup on the table. “And every penny.”
“Nothin’? What do you mean, nothin’?” asked the mustached man.
“I just paid to be in the room with her.” He added, “You want any more than that, it’ll cost you fifty.” Somehow, the lie just rolled off his tongue like butter.
“Fifty!” boomed the cigar man.
“In fact,” Drew added, “she won’t even let you leave the lights on unless you give her a hundred.”
“What?”
“Jiminy Christmas.”
That was an out-and-out fabrication. But Drew couldn’t stand the idea of either of these foul-mouthed sons of bitches going up to Cat’s room.
In fact, he didn’t wantanyonegoing up to Cat’s room.
It wasn’t like he was sweet on her or anything. He just didn’t think she should have her virginity taken from her by a random stranger.
How he was going to prevent that, he didn’t know. But for the time being, he’d stay in the salon and try to shoo away any interested parties.
It was just as well. He didn’t really have anywhere to go. He had to wait for Chase to return from whatever misadventure he’d had. Besides, there was a storm brewing outside. He didn’t much feel like getting soaked. He hoped his brother had the sense to get out of the rain.
Eventually, he asked the madam for a poker deck and started up a game of five-card draw.
Even after three hours, the gossip in The Parlor persisted. And like a flaming carriage hooked up to a runaway horse, it spread to the entire town. Men kept coming out of the rain and into the salon, wondering where the twenty-dollar fancy woman was.
The madam wasn’t quite as ruthless as Drew had first thought. She didn’t mean to sell off Catalina to the highest bidder. But she was clever. Whenever the men would ask after the twenty-dollar hooker, she told them Catalina was all booked up, but they could have one of the other girls for just ten dollars. Drew was pretty sure the prevailing rate in a town like Paradise was no more than two or three dollars. Miss Hattie was making a killing on her fishing scheme, using Cat as bait.
But he didn’t expect she’d protect Catalina all day. As soon as Cat finished her chores, Drew was sure the madam would find a gentleman caller for her to entertain for the evening.
That thought left a sour taste in his mouth.
In fact, it affected his poker playing.
He’d lost the last three hands. If he didn’t start paying more attention to the game, he’d end up broke, with no place to sleep for the night.
He didn’t see Catalina all day, but it didn’t surprise him that she’d lie low for a while. He hoped she’d take his advice to heart and change her mind about joining the ranks of Miss Hattie’s sporting girls.
Of course, the fact that he’d paid so much for her last night didn’t help matters. She might have gotten the notion this was an easy way to make a quick fortune.
He knew otherwise. The ladies who worked in the trade were sometimes mistreated by drunks, ended up in the family way, and were put out to pasture when they lost their looks.
What the hell! Had he just thrown away three of a kind?
He watched as the man across from him happily scraped Drew’s money into his pile.
Hehadto concentrate. It didn’t look like Chase was coming back any time soon, so Drew might have to fend for himself. It was time to stop daydreaming about that pretty Italian lady and start winning his room for the night.
