The dancer pulls away, but Bryce shoots to his feet and hooks a finger in the waistband of his jeans, pulling him back.
The dancer stumbles back into him, his eyes wide. Bryce’s hand slides down to grip the guy’s ass tightly. “I thought we talked about you teasing me.”
I don’t even remember standing, but suddenly I am. The idea of Bryce putting his hands anywhere near this dancer has every protective instinct in me roaring to life.
“Let go of him.”
Bryce’s gaze shifts to me, his eyes narrowing. “Dalton, this is what he does for a living. He was just up on a stage with his balls hanging out of a thong, for fuck’s sake.”
The blush on the dancer darkens, but he doesn’t pull away from Bryce. I think he might be afraid to.
“I told you to let him go.” I barely recognize my own voice. It rarely sounds this angry. But Bryce is stepping into something he’s not man enough to do without an audience. If they were alone, not in the dancer’s place of work, I’m pretty sure this Romeo would knee Bryce in the balls so hard, he wouldn’t remember his own name.
I take a step closer to Bryce, staring him down. “I said to let him go. If you make me say it again, you’re going to regret it.”
Two
Sam
I can’t believe this is happening. I’m already on thin ice with Vinnie after what I did last week. If he finds out about this, he’s going to fire me.
“Relax,” Bryce tells the guy who’s stood up from the table. His fingers are still on my ass, digging into my cheek like he owns me. “I’m a repeat customer. Romeo gives me lap dances all the time.”
My face burns, and I look anywhere but at the stranger watching us. Of course I’m thankful to have a job of any kind, but I wish I could do more than this. Something that didn’t require me to strip my clothes off every hour.
“You’re not supposed to touch them.” The stranger’s voice is low and dark. Anger lances through every word.
Bryce laughs. “You can touch them in the private rooms, right, Romeo?”
“We’re not in the fucking private room.” The stranger shoves Bryce’s chest, making Bryce finally loosen his hold on me.
“What the fuck?” Bryce shoves the stranger back. At least, he tries to. The guy doesn’t move an inch. I think he’s about to take a swing, so I get between them before anything can escalate.
“It’s fine,” I say.
“He grabbed you,” the stranger says, staring down at me. He’s about five inches taller than me, and he feels twice as big. Maybe it’s his anger. Or the fact that he’s dressed like he just stepped out of a Richest Most Eligible Bachelor article.
“Everything is fine,” I try again, but it’s too late. The security guy, Rico, is already too close.
“There a problem?” Rico asks, but he’s not looking at either of the guys. He’s staring at me because he knows I’m the one who’s about to get into trouble. Neither Bryce nor this stranger will be kicked out or even banned from coming back in the future. Vinnie pleases customers. It doesn’t matter if something happens to his dancers.
“No,” I mumble. “It’s all fine, Rico.”
“Then why are you bothering these gentlemen?”
The stranger’s mouth opens, but I shoot him a look that keeps him quiet. I’m already in enough trouble. I don’t want him pissing Rico off.
I turn to Bryce. “I’m very sorry for the misunderstanding. I hope to see you at our usual time on Friday.”
I don’t wait for a response from either of them. I turn away from them, but Rico doesn’t let me get far. He wraps his fingers around my bicep and leads me to the back of the building.
“I said I was sorry.”
“Vinnie wants to talk to anyone who causes trouble, you know that.” There’s the tiniest bit of sympathy in his voice, but it’s not like it matters. Rico won’t stand up for me or tell Vinnie what really happened. This will be my fault.
My throat’s tight as Rico stops in front of Vinnie’s office and raps his knuckles on the open door.
Vinnie glances up, his eyes narrowing when he sees me. “What did you do?”
