She shakes her head and takes a sip of beer. “Spicier than I’d normally eat, but I like it.” She grins and dabs her mouth with a napkin. “Different is good.”
I glance at the stage where the mulleted guy is doing a quick sound check. I turn back to Lisa. “So, you’ve never done karaoke before?”
She shakes her head and reaches for another wing. “Nope.”
“Because it’s scary?”
“Terrifying.” Her gaze locks with mine, and I can tell she knows where I’m going with this.
“But maybe a little exciting, too?” I keep my voice low, ready to back off if she tells me to.
But her eyes flash with intrigue as she takes a cool sip of beer and dabs her mouth with a napkin. “Maybe.”
“Okay then,” I say. “Time for your next stage of The Test.”
Chapter 11
Lisa
My legs are like jelly as I take a deep breath and brace myself.
“Ready?”
I nod in response to Dax’s voice behind me, but I’m not sure I’m ready at all. I’m terrified.
And a little excited, but mostly scared spitless.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen,” the guy says into the mike. “Our next performer is Miss Lisa Michaels singing ‘Bootylicious’ with a little help from Destiny’s Child.”
There’s a tepid round of applause, and a few leers from the biker guys at the bar. A few feet away, Dax gives me an encouraging smile. Though he offered to do this with me, I had something else in mind.
Something that scares the ever-lovin’ hell out of me right now.
“You got this,” Dax mouths.
It’s not the words but the mouth that sends a bolt of courage through me. Or maybe it’s the memory of where that mouth has been, and where I’d like it to be again. The opening notes blast through the speakers on either side of me, a riff on Stevie Nicks’s “Edge of Seventeen,” and I’m inspired to do my own riff on the opening lines.
“Cassie, can you handle this?” I sing, my voice cracking as I channel my sexually liberated younger sister.
I clear my throat as the beat pulses, and I try not to choke on my own spit. “Missy, can you handle this?”
Okay, so my older sister would be mortified to see me strutting across the stage like a hoochie right now, but isn’t that the point? Feeling eyes on me, I attempt a small, sexy wiggle, stumbling when my heel catches on a cord.
My palms sweat buckets as I watch the lyrics scroll past on a flickering screen. I belt out the next few lines, voice warbling as I try to recall how the tune goes.
Tender thang?
Ready for this jelly?
What the hell does this song even mean?
My eyes flick to Dax, and I catch his hungry gaze on my ass. I give a little wiggle and remember why I picked this song.
I belt out the next few lines, gaining confidence as Dax’s eyes follow me across the stage. I sound more like an injured cat than a sexy R&B singer, but I’m doing this, dammit. I’m up here with the spotlight making my skin sizzle, or maybe that’s all Dax. I lock eyes with him as I sing the next words.
“Baby, can you handle this?”
I sway my hips, attempting another booty shake. I’m amazed when I remain upright, and even more amazed when I spin back around to see Dax has moved to the edge of the bench seat. His eyes are feral, hungry, and when I glance at his lap, there’s a telltale bulge.
