Lucas Boudreux was bored and irritated and hiding out in the bar of one of hotels his family owned. Boudreux Worldwide had its fingers in many pies, not the least of which was twenty-three gold-star hotels throughout the world. Luke?s earlier plan to dine and reminisce with his two friends, Peter McAlvoy and Dave O?Milligan had backfired. Pete was out of town, and Dave was working a last minute headline.

Luke was in town on business and had felt the need of men, the uncomplicated, easy friendship he had with the two who?d shared memories and rooms at college and at war. He was sick of the scene, the glitz, the pomp, the pretense that went with his position of wealth and family.

The Boudreux Manhattan on Park was a quietly opulent hotel that had been shrewdly run by the same staff for the last fifteen years. For Luke, the hotel?s greatest asset at the moment was that no one there knew him. Johann Fenner, the manager, was the only other person who might have recognized him, and he was at a conference in Palm Springs with the other managers of the hotels.

Luke moodily sipped his Irish whiskey and stared again at one of the cocktail waitresses. For several minutes he?d been admiring her shapely figure and the speed in which she did her job. She seemed to move twice as fast as the two other waitresses. There was a tenseness, almost a desperation about her that intrigued him. The multitude of interesting things New York City could offer had no pull for him on this night, but the waitress was a welcome diversion.

He noticed that she counted her tip each time she picked one up. Sometimes she was pleased, other times she frowned and watched the backs of the people who left it. Money was important to the tall, shapely blonde, and while he admired her legs beneath the short, black skirt of her uniform, Luke couldn?t help himself but to smile and feel a curl of desire.

A few minutes later he finished his drink, threw some money on the bar, and walked slowly across the room to a booth he knew she tended. In less than a minute she was there standing beside him. ?Hello,? he said, smiling up at her. ?I was wondering if I could get something to eat.?

She nodded her head, her eyes sliding over his form, then to where he was at the bar.
?Weren?t you just at the bar??

Luke feigned being stunned and even smiled shyly. ?I was.?

She looked unsure for a moment then shrugged her shoulders.
?I suppose it?s not up to me where you sit.?
?True.? Now that she was close he could see her eyes were a bright turquoise, and despite her make up, that her skin had a flawless purity to it.

?The kitchen is still open,? she said, ?but not for much. I could get you a sandwich, maybe a salad. They even make a great burger. I?d be sure that it was all fresh, nothing left from the lunch rush. How?s that sound?? She was smiling then and he knew that she was closer to being hooked.

?Great,? he said.

?Coming right up.?

As she walked away, Luke had a very good view of her backside in the tight skirt. Conquering the golden blonde was becoming imperative.

That evening, Luke was sleeping peacefully, the woman stirred and rose from the bed. She walked around to his side of the bed, after getting hastily dressed. She paused in her movement when he snored lightly and rolled over away from her, then bent to pick up his wallet. Credit cards were too risky, no I.D. and two hundred dollars cash which found its way to her purse before she hurried out the door, leaving the key he?d left for her along with a sizable tip.

Luke looked at the door as it closed, then turned to look at his wallet, laying on top of his discarded jeans and boots.

?Two hundred was a little much,? he said as he pulled open the bedside drawer for his cigarettes. ?took a load off my mind though.? He reached under the edge of the mattress for a stack of cash and his driver?s license, before he picked up the phone to call the Corporate Offices getting the waitress? paperwork started for termination.