“You’re obviously a gambling man, aren’t you Sam?”
“I’ve been known to make a wager or two, why? What do you have in mind?” Sam replied intrigued.
“I say we give the girls oh, about three hours, and then go check up on them. I’m willing to bet a grand you may see a side of them you never knew existed.”
“You’re on, John,” Sam replied. “And you could be right; I just hope Erica’s the only one who surprises us.”
Marcus smiled. “Don’t count on it friend. I was against this from the beginning but was out voted. There’s not much Susan could do that would surprise me and I’m wise enough to realize it. The rest of you suckers are probably in for quite a night.”
It turned out Marcus wasn’t quite as immune to surprises as he’d thought. When the allure of high-stakes poker faded away, the men decided it was time to recover their women. After checking out several hot spots, they finally located them in two different clubs. Brandy, Kelsey, Johanna and Elena had opted for an all-male dance review. Although the very large bouncer at the entrance wouldn’t let them in, Ty could see Kelsey on stage. She was sitting on the shoulder of a nearly naked man as the crowd cheered on the bride to be.
Elena was stuffing money, or trying to, into the G-string of a gyrating young man who in Jeff’s opinion was dancing obscenely close to their table. She had one hand over her eyes as she felt her way down his body, attempting to locate the proper area. Brandy and Johanna gave her verbal directions of left and right,up and down, laughing hysterically each time she missed her mark and ended up caressing the delighted young man with her silky fingers.
A waitress came around with another tray of shooters and the men groaned as the girls all took one and tossed them back.
“Look buddy,” Ty addressed the doorman, “I realize this is a women only affair, but I really need to retrieve my future bride.”
“Sorry, no can do,” the man replied.
“What happened to the other women who were with them?” John asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a roll of bills.
“The little redhead and the cool brunette?” the man answered, eyeing the wad of money.
“Yes, they were supposed to all stay together.”
“Those two left a while ago. I think they headed over to Desperado’s. Go down that hall on the left and check out that club. I wouldn’t waste any time if I were you; that club makes this place look like a daycare.”
“Great,” Marcus sighed.
“Look, my name’s Joe,” the big man said. “This show lets out in about ten minutes and things always get worse from there. I’ll let you in just before the final dance and you can retrieve your women, but don’t waste any time. These women are drunk and crazy most nights. I wouldn’t want you to end up getting your clothes ripped off.”
“Thanks,” Sam said shaking his head. Slipping a substantial tip into Joe’s hand Sam signaled to John to put his money away. “We’ll be in and out before they know what hit them.”
“Okay,” Joe laughed, pocketing the money, “but you better be. You have no idea how rough it can get.”
“Marcus, we better hang around until they get out of there in one piece,” John suggested. “Then we’ll go find Sue and Erica.”
“I think you may be right,” Marcus agreed, checking his watch impatiently, “but I hope they hurry.”
At the bouncers signal, Sam, Mike, Jeff and Ty all entered the club. Moving swiftly Ty headed to the stage as the others swarmed the table their women were at. In a matter of minutes Elena, Jo and Brandy were being escorted toward the entrance, barely keeping up with the long strides and fast pace their men set. As Ty approached the stage, Kelsey spotted him and began bouncing up and down on her dancers shoulder, waving and calling out to him, a huge grin on her face. The crowd began chanting “Here comes the groom” and the band picked up the music giving it a sultry beat as the women went wild.
Stepping up on stage, Ty held out his arms and Kelsey leapt into them, throwing her arms around his neck as he held her close.
“You are a very bad girl,” he whispered into her hair as he held her far from the floor.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss,” the crowd chanted, pounding their glasses on the tables.
With a groan, Ty set Kelsey on her feet and tipped her chin up with his finger before sweeping her into a bowed embrace and claiming her lips passionately to the delight of the audience. The whoops and whistles were deafening as the onlookers roared their approval. Many wished they could change places with the beautiful girl on the stage, but could not help noticing that the handsome groom clearly adored his bride to be.
By the time Ty released her, Kelsey was standing on wobbly knees that had nothing to do with how much alcohol she’d consumed. Her hands were gripping his suit jacket tightly. He swept her off the floor and into his arms, carrying her off the stage to thunderous applause.
Hiding her face in his neck she recalled his words when she flew into his arms. He’d called her ‘a very bad girl’ and she couldn’t suppress the shiver that raced through her tiny frame.
“Ty,” she said, lifting her head and speaking into his ear. “Am I a bad girl?”
“You know you are,” he replied, moving swiftly to the exit as stray hands caressed any part of him they could reach.
“But sometimes bad can be good, right?” she smiled.
