“Fuck,” he hisses. “I’ll be ready when I can just do protection runs with whatever the cargo is in the eighteen-wheeler.”
“I hear that,” I grunt.
“Yeah, right,” he mutters.
I jerk my chin toward him and narrow my eyes in question. He doesn’t answer me right away. Instead, he looks at the empty stage, then back at me. “Like you’re going to give up a chance to see your woman on the stage. You get off on it, right?”
“What?”
His lips curve up into a grin. “The whole audience wishes they could take her home and fuck her, but you actually get to do that.”
I actually do like that. It’s a flex, and I do get off on it, but I won’t be doing that tonight. I also don’t tell him that. Instead, I push off the wall and flip him off as I head toward the back of the club.
MILLIE
“I see why you pined after him for a decade,” Heidi hisses. “That man is gorgeous, like beyond gorgeous. He’s also part of my dating pool…”
Tugging my hoodie on, I try to hide my smile. “He is. I also told you he was older than me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she mutters. “He’s hot, girl. I don’t know what you’re thinking. Is he bad in bed?” she asks, but before I answer, she lifts her hand, her palm facing me. “No, don’t answer that. I don’t think I could handle it.”
I burst out laughing. “You pined after him for ten years. He’s great in bed.”
He is.
But I don’t confirm or deny that. There is a knock on the door, and I halfway expect Anna to be on the other side to give me some kind of whacky warning. I only took one night off when she told me to take a week or two.
I don’t care.
The dirty looks she gave me all night long didn’t faze me at all. I couldn’t give a fuck. I’m here to make money and then bounce.
Bounce to where, I have no idea.
Maybe I’ll pack up and try my hand at a whole new life. Maybe I’ll go to school and learn a trade or something. I can’t dance forever. Even though I’ve saved a lot, I don’t have enough to retire on. But I definitely have enough to attend a community college somewhere.
Heidi walks toward the door and opens it. I hear her suck in a breath before she moves aside. I watch her, my lips curved up into a grin at the sight of her wide eyes. But when my gaze slides from Heidi to the door, my smile dies instantly.
Axton Colter.
“What are you doing here?” I grind out.
His lips twitch into a smirk, and I want to slap it off his face, then kiss him and fuck him. So that’s not good. Obviously, no closure was actually had, at least on my part.
“I’m walking you and… your friend? to your car, then I’m following you home. And I’m sleeping on the couch.”
“What?” I hiss. His smile only grows wider at my obvious distress. “You’re not sleeping on my sofa,” I snap.
Leaning against the doorjamb, he crosses his arms over his chest, his gaze searching mine. He thinks this is funny, and I want to slap the shit out of him. Nothing about this is funny. This is stressful—is what it is.
“I’m sleeping on your couch, Mill. I’m protecting you.”
“You can protect me from the hallway.”
He pushes off the wall and moves toward me, closing the distance between us. I stand my ground, my feet firmly on the floor. I’m not going to let him rattle me. When he’s close enough to touch me, my breath hitches as I anticipate his touch.
He doesn’t.
Much to my dismay.
