Putting that out of my mind, I think about how grateful I am for technology. The online ad alerted somebody. Fast. Somebody my father thinks can help. And, judging by the short, gruff text, he’s probably not the type of person most people would call a “pleasant” association. But, that’s the nature of the business my father was in. I’ve known it for a long time. I just never expected it to have such a profound and intimate impact on my life.
Pulling out the books for the club, I work on some accounting, hoping that will help me get through the next three hours. I can’t really go out and mingle in the club—I can’t keep my eyes off Olivia— so that leaves me stuck back here. Waiting.
Just over an hour later, something that’s been niggling at the back of my mind rushes to the front. It’s got its unpleasant aspects, which is probably why I haven’t given it my full attention before now. It makes it seem like I don’t trust my father. Which I do. But I guess I don’t trust anyone one hundred percent, especially not with Olivia’s safety hanging in the balance.
I pick up my phone and dial the one person I feel like I can trust with anything and would do whatever he could to help me out in a pinch. In the absence of my real brother, he’s stepped in to fill the void. He’s the closest thing to family I have on the outside.
“Damn you’re needy!” comes the familiar voice of Gavin Gibson, my part-time bar manager and friend. His words still carry a little bit of a lilt from his childhood in Australia.
“This isn’t about work, Gav. It’s something else. I need your help.”
There’s a pause. When Gavin speaks again, all teasing is gone from his voice.
“Anything. You know that.”
“Can you come to the club for a couple hours?”
“Uh, yeah,” he says uncertainly. “Just let me take care of a couple things and I’ll be right over. Give me forty-five minutes?”
“Sure. See you then.”
After I hang up, I realize this was a good decision. I feel better about the situation already. I need my own people, people I can trust, people I know. Going into this alone would be crazy and irresponsible, even though my father’s directing the traffic. Still, I need to cover all my bases. And Gavin can be the ace up my sleeve.
CHAPTER NINE
Olivia
Plastering on a smile, I’m fighting to keep my disposition light for my customers. I hear what sounds like a battle cry from the other end of the bar and I glance down to see Taryn happily celebrating…something. When she turns to change the music, I know by the first few notes what’s going on. Someone is getting a body shot.
Most of the crowd is familiar enough with Dual to know what the song means and what a body shot is, so they quickly scramble to Taryn’s end of the bar to watch the entertainment. I think the only more effective way to clear out space in the room would be to start screaming, “Fight!” and point toward the door. The place would empty in four seconds flat.
The girl who will be receiving the body shot looks like the type that volunteers for them. A lot. I would be willing to bet she is made of eighty percent recyclable materials and that her clothes belong to her much smaller sister. The mass of white-blond hair atop her head completes the picture of a bimbo.
She wiggles and jiggles before she lies back onto the bar. I find it amusing that no one has to adjust her clothing at all for the shot. An ample amount of her stomach is already exposed by her outfit.
Taryn limes and salts her belly, and goes one step further by pouring the tequila into her navel, which only works for people with a fairly deep one.
Oh boy! Some guy is gonna love sucking that out!
I look into the drooling crowd for salivating idiot number one. He’s easy to spot. He’s all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the thought of licking something off this girl’s body. All his friends are clapping him on the back and he’s actually rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Try to hold it together there, quick shooter.
I giggle at my thoughts. He’s not so bad, but some of his friends look like they could be poster children for premature ejaculation. My bet is that a couple of them run off to the restrooms after they watch this little show.
Ack!
Since my customers are otherwise occupied, I use the time to wipe down my station, doing anything and everything I can to keep my mind on work. Periodically, I glance down at the commotion on Taryn’s end. The crowd goes wild when the guy starts licking the salt off the girl’s stomach. I shake my head and smile. It really doesn’t take much to get this group fired up.
Just as my eyes are moving back to the task at hand, I see a shadow move in the sliver of light coming from Cash’s office. My senses are attuned to that corner of the room, no matter what I’m doing or how hard I try to ignore it.
Cash is leaning up against the door jamb, watching me. Even across the distance, I see the heat in his eyes. I feel it. He doesn’t have to tell me what he’s thinking. I know it as certainly as I can see it in the back of my mind. He’s remembering the night this music played for us.
Like instant replay, the scene—the smells, the sights, the sounds, the feelings—unfolds in my mind with perfect clarity. A slow burn starts low in my belly as I think of Cash draped over me. It spreads like fire as I relive his lips and tongue traveling over my stomach, dipping into my navel and teasing the edge of my shirt.
I feel my pulse pick up when I remember the look in his eyes when he took the lime from my mouth. It’s the same look I’ve seen there more than a dozen times since then. That’s the way they look when he watches me come. It’s the way they look when he’s watching me undress. It’s the way they look now. It’s a hungry look that says he wants me. Right this minute, with nothing between us but hot breath and damp skin, he wants me. Now.
And there’s no denying that I want him, too. Just as badly.
The crowd between us cheers, but I don’t look to see what’s happening. I can’t tear my eyes away from Cash. He’s like the sun that my world revolves around—no matter how much I try to gravitate away from him, to set my heart and my body free of him, he draws me. Compellingly. Inexplicably. Undeniably.