“Sure.”
“We talk later, mi amigo.”
He nodded one last time. “See you around, Cachi.” His hand slid off my knee.
“Si.” I turned and opened the door before looking back. “See you around.”
He finally smiled and then nodded slightly as I got out of the car. I stood there until he’d pulled away, wondering where my funny, light-hearted friend had gone.
Thirty minutes later, I wound my way through the busy club to the back hallway, anxious to get to work since I was almost an hour late. Though I had high hopes of avoiding Larry, Dance Hall Boys’ manager, he was hanging around in the hallway right outside the dressing room. I wasn’t a fan of the older man. He frequently hung around the dressing rooms, strolling in whenever he wanted, staring at the go-go boys when we changedclothes. I hated being leered at, especially by someone who repulsed me, so it was very unfortunate that he was right here as soon as I got to work.
He looked up from the paperwork in his hands when he saw me and frowned, pointedly glancing at his watch and then looking up again. “You were supposed to be here an hour ago, Cachi.”
“Si, Larry, and I tell you I am late. Sorry.” I reached out to punch the keypad to unlock the dressing room door, but he grabbed my shoulder, yanking me around to face him.
“All of you guys think you can get away with whatever you want,” he shouted.
I took a step back from him. I didn’t like being yelled at and after everything that had happened in the last couple of days starting with being assaulted in the parking lot at this very club, I was filled with anxiety. “I never late, Larry. This is only first time,” I said, hating how my English was always worse when I was stressed out.
“I should fire you, Cachi.” He cocked his head and openly leered at me. My stomach did a slow roll as he reached for my face, running fingers down my cheek to my lips. “But you can keep your job if you’re nice to me.”
I instinctively ducked, pulling my face away from his hand, hating the way goose bumps had risen all over my skin at the unwelcome touch. He made me feel like I needed a shower. I shook my head. “I no interested, Larry. I only working.”
Larry dropped the paperwork he was holding and forcefully pushed me. My back hit the far wall, startling an oomph out of me before he was suddenly right there in front of me, pressing his big belly against my middle as he frantically looked side to side, checking the corridor. He turned back to me and reachedup, curling one fist into my hair and grabbing my chin with the other.
“You’d better be nice to me, Cachi, or you’ll lose this job.” I opened my mouth to shout but his mouth was suddenly there, pressing against mine, forcing my lips open, trying to push his tongue inside. I instinctively bit down on his lip and at the same time, kneed him in the groin as hard as I could.
Larry let out an inhuman cry of pain as he suddenly let go. In an instant his weight was gone, and he’d doubled over in front of me. I took those precious seconds to turn and run back the way I’d come. I didn’t look back, charging through the club, dodging patrons and servers as I ran all the way to the door.
Slamming through the door, I was suddenly outside in the fresh air. I charged across the parking lot to my car, feeling like I was being chased by hellhounds. I unlocked it with shaking hands and climbed in, locking the door behind me. Sliding my key into the ignition, I started the Thunderbird with a roar. I started to back out of my parking spot but slammed on the brake when I realized someone was walking right behind the car. I got several curses for that but ignored them, throwing the car into gear, and tearing out of the lot as fast as I could.
It was only when I was out on Santa Monica that I felt tears streaming down my face. I’d assaulted the club’s manager after arriving over an hour late to work and now, I knew there was no way I could go back. If, by some miracle, Larry decided not to call the police to tell them what I’d done, there was no way he’d let me keep the job that paid so well. Mamá and I would be in dire straits without that income, and I’d just flushed it all down the drain in one stupid move. I didn’t know what to do, but I did know this, I was screwed.
Big time.
Chapter Twelve
REX
I went through my day with a smile on my face, even when it came time to climb into the BearCat to be driven out to the beach for ocean training. Swimming two miles with fins in eighty minutes while fighting heavy ocean currents was one of my least favorite things to do. We all disliked the specialized training, everyone aside from Napoleon who was a Navy SEAL. My teammate adored this type of training, but then again, he spent half his life in the water, so it was natural that he would find this kind of rigorous training a literal “day at the beach.” We also practiced combat fighting underwater as we held our breath. Though Navy SEALs were accustomed to holding their breath for as long as three minutes, my endurance was nowhere near that.
We swam, ran in the sand, and stopped to lift weights that had been set up to test our limits, right there on the beach. It was thoroughly exhausting, and by the time we’d finished up and were driven back to the office by Mars, I was ready to shower and fall face first into bed. Ocean training always exhausted me.
Tonight however, I had a date with my beautiful Puerto Rican hottie. I showered with the rest of the guys, dressed quickly, and walked out to the car with Nash, Alain, and Patsy. We said our good nights and I climbed behind the wheel of my Hornet. The engine roared to life and by the time I finally pulled out onto Olympic Boulevard, I was champing at the bit to see Cachi.
I really hoped he was hungry because I was starving. I’d worked up a fierce appetite after a long day training in cold water. I pulled into the parking lot of Dance Hall Boys just after nine and jumped out of the car. I walked through the bar to the back hall where I knew the dressing rooms for dancers were, after taking note that he wasn’t in any of the cages. The corridor was empty and when I tried the door marked dressing room, I wasn’t surprised to find it locked. The keypad which probably unlocked it was of no use to me, so I knocked.
When the door opened, I smiled broadly, only to feel my greeting fall away as I came face to face with a gorgeous ginger wearing deep black kohl eyeliner and not much else. His lithe body, dressed only in a shiny gold lamé thong of some kind was slender like Cachi’s but unlike my Puerto Rican, his skin was heavily freckled. His mouth instantly turned up at the corners as he lifted an arm, sliding it sensually up the doorframe and stuck out his hip, doing a pose.
“Well…hi there, tall, dark, and gorgeous,” he purred.
I ignored his greeting and looked over his head to see into the interior of the room lined with makeup stations surrounded by bright lights. When I noticed the room was empty except for one other dark-haired guy clad in much the same attire, seated at one of the dressing tables, my heart squeezed just a little. He stood up and smiled, sauntering over in bare feet, the light gleaming from the oil on his skin as he grinned at me.
“Move over, Kurt,” the newcomer said. “He’s obviously here to see me.” He pushed the ginger aside and stepped up to me, reaching up to run both hands over my chest. “Wow, look at how well built you are.” His hand slid lower, and I instinctively took a step back. He stuck out a pouty lower lip. “Don’t be shy, honey. I just wanted to see if you were built that hard all over.”
“Yeah, no,” I said, intercepting his hand which made another grab toward my crotch. “Not interested.”
“See? I told you, Todd,” the ginger said, elbowing the dark-haired man in the side as he switched places. “He’s here for me.”
