“Thanks a lot,” Gabe snorted.
Shit.
“No, I didn’t… I mean, I wasn’t…” Cole stammered, stumbling over his words, and then Gabe started laughing.
“I’m just fucking with you,” he choked. “Dane is fuckinggorgeous.I’m fine with my looks, but I’m nowhere near as handsome asthatguy.”
Cole cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t saynowherenear.”
His laughter tapering off, Gabe gazed at him. “Really?”
Cole shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, you’re…”
“I’m what?” Gabe grinned when Cole’s words failed him.
“You know,” Cole ducked his head, chuckling softly.
“No, I don’t know,” Gabe teased. “Tell me.”
Cole groaned, but couldn’t suppress a smile. “You’re… very good-looking.”
Scooching closer, Gabe murmured close to Cole’s ear, “Good-looking enough to compete with Dane?”
Cole frowned, leaned away, and met Gabe’s stare. “Compete? What do you mean?”
Gabe chuckled. “You were totallyawestruckby the guy—understandably so. It wouldn’t be the first time he stole a man’s attention away from me.”
He seemed to be teasing, but Cole sensed a slight seriousness in Gabe’s voice. Was he worried that Cole’s interest might shift to Dane? The man was remarkably handsome, but he wasn’t the one who demanded Cole’s attention.
“You seem pretty awestruck by him, too,” Cole countered. Fishing? Maybe.
“Oh, I am,” Gabe admitted with a grin. “Who wouldn’t be?”
“Have you and him…”
“Fucked?”
Cole laughed low, anxiously. “I was going to say,gone out, like, on a date… or something?”
“Or something?” Gabe smiled. “Like…fucked?”He shook his head. “No.”
Why did Cole feel sorelieved?
“Nah.” Gabe cleared his throat. “Dane’s a good friend, but nobenefitsin that friendship. He came here packing some serious baggage.”
Cole looked at him but felt it wasn’t his place to ask about thebaggage. If Dane had confided in Gabe, it was certainly in confidence.
“I don’t know what it is,” Gabe said as if reading his thoughts. “All he told me was that, just before coming here, he stripped in some seedy little club not nearly as classy as the Phoenix. And that… he lost his virginity to some stripper he worked with. He said what he liked most about the Phoenix is that it doesn’t make him feel scuzzy to dance here.” Gabe sighed. “Apparently, the other club was pretty sleazy.”
“Sounds that way,” Cole murmured.
“He’s only been here a couple of weeks, but he hasn’t shown interest or even attraction toward anyone. It’s like he goes into his own little world when he’s on stage. I’m not sure he’s even aware of the customers when he’s up there.”
“Does he do private dances?”
Gabe shook his head. “No. He seems uncomfortable gettingthatup close and personal with the customers. Max isn’t going to make him—or any of us—do anything he isn’t comfortable with.” He smiled. “What he does on stage is enough to practically burn down the club. He’s doing his part to satisfy customers.”
Cole wasn’t comfortable with the thought of private dances, either. If he took the job… maybe he could just do somestagedancing, too.
