Protective older brother vibe? Dante steps forward and pulls me from the bouncer before I can react.
“Hey.” I try to step away from him, but he’s too strong.
“Rules, gentlemen. Everyone who gets in gets checked.” The bouncer reaches for the radio at his hip.
If these guys ruin this for me, I swear I will ruin their day tomorrow. I don’t know how yet, but probably something with their coffee.
“She’s leaving.” Dante draws me toward the door. Oh, hell no.
“No, she isn’t.” I jerk my arm away. “I have every right to be here.”
His cold eyes tell me not to mess around, but fuck him. Just because we masturbated together doesn’t mean he owns me. I’m not taking orders anymore. Not outside of my job.
Walking over to stand in front of the bouncer, I say, “Go ahead and check me.”
I tip my head up as he pats down my sides. It’s quick and efficient. He doesn’t even touch my breasts. When he finishes, he nods toward a door.
“Ladies, have a good night.”
Linking my arm with Kayla’s, I ignore the guys.
We walk through the door into a whole different world. The club is decorated in reds and blacks. It’s dimly lit, but the stage is bright. The music is loud enough to make it difficult to hear conversations from the others, but I can hear the server as I pass by her. The servers have on short black dresses that barely cover their asses and show off a considerable amount of cleavage.
Kayla was right. Every woman here is gorgeous, in all shapes and sizes.
The tables are set apart from each other. The stage runs down the middle of the room. No one is throwing dollar bills or stuffing them into the women’s G-strings. The dancer performs her routine to the pulsating music without any interference from the audience. It’s as if she isn’t the main entertainment here.
The men all watch as they talk. Everyone is dressed in business suits or nice clothes. It’s a place to make deals and discuss strategy. Just with a veritable buffet of beautiful, barely clothed women walking around.
A woman in a dress that leaves nothing to the imagination walks over to a man sitting at a table and takes his hand. Her eyes sparkle as she leads him down a hallway.
Another woman leads another man back to one of the other doors in that hallway.
“What’s back there?” I ask Kayla softly.
“Private rooms.” She leads me to an unoccupied table in the corner and we sit down. “The guys pay for whatever the dancer is willing to do.”
Oh. I didn’t think about that. Isn’t that illegal? “So more than stripping happens here?”
“Not technically.” Kayla coughs and leans forward. “If those women choose to do more, that’s up to them, not the man. He can only pay for a dance with no touching. The charge for the room goes to the house, but the strippers keep whatever they make in there.”
Fascinated, I nod. The woman on stage takes off her top with a flourish before running her hands over her breasts and stomach. She’s attractive, and her body is toned and sculpted to perfection.
I swallow and glance back toward the door. Where did the guys go? Are they watching this? Is that what they want? Women like that? I’m not shy about my body. I take care of myself and work out, but even I’m not that well-constructed.
Seeing the guys here has me all flustered, but they haven’t come in yet. Maybe they won’t get in. That would make this all easier.
“Those guys were your three bosses?” Kayla presses against the table, eagerly.
I meet her green eyes. “Yup.”
“Who was the growling one?” Her eyes widen and her grin is huge.
Shivers race up my spine just thinking of that growl and the almost possessive tone of his voice. “Wyatt.”
“I see the appeal.” She leans back.
Maybe it wasn’t so much possessive but more protective older brother. That hopeful part of me sits back down, because every little inch Wyatt gives me makes me think this could be so much more. Until I waste my life waiting for a man that doesn’t want me that way.
