Chapter 11
Surprise Audit
Sara
The drive across the city doesn’t take long and we’re let out at a nice-looking building. No one mills around outside. There’s nothing obvious that says this is a strip bar or even a happening nightclub. The only thing is the logo from the napkin on the door.
Kayla takes my hand and threads our fingers together. “Okay, just follow my lead.”
I arch an eyebrow. “I’m sure I can handle myself in a strip club, Kayla.”
“This isn’t a dive bar, honey. This is a classy joint with a lot of high rollers.” She grins and looks me over before nodding. “Just play along and we won’t attract a bunch of old dudes trying to get in our pants.”
“Play along with what?”
She doesn’t answer, just leads me to the door and knocks three times.
A guy in a black suit opens the door. “You lost, ladies?”
He eyes us like he’s taking our measure. Straightening, I wish I had on something sexier. I’m glad I put on my red lipstick at least.
“Not lost. We’re on the list. Kayla Wagner plus one.” Kayla wraps her arm around my waist and draws me against her. She’s soft and warm, but a lot different from Finn, Dante, and Drew. Definitely not any sparks, but I lean into her because she said go with it.
Which means I guess we’re a couple tonight to keep creepy guys from hitting either of us up. But what happens if a creepy guy wants to join in? Or just watch? I don’t think she thought this through.
The bouncer looks at his phone, scrolling with his finger.
Nodding, he opens the door for us and Kayla leads me into the space. There’s a small entryway with black tile and black walls. The guy closes the door and gestures to Kayla who releases me and holds her arms out.
The guy pats her down. Oh. I swallow. No one’s ever patted me down before. He didn’t touch Kayla inappropriately, that I could tell. Is this why she wanted us to be a couple? To make sure he kept his hands in appropriate spots only?
He turns to me and gestures with his head for me to assume the position. Okay, I can do this. I spread my arms out.
Someone knocks on the door before he touches me.
“Stay there,” he says before he goes to the door and opens it.
“You didn’t mention a pat down,” I whisper yell at Kayla. It’s not like I have anything illegal on my body for him to find. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to get felt up this evening. And definitely not by a strange man.
Shrugging, she leans into me to say, “It’s the best part.”
“How did you get on the list?” I ask with one eye on the bouncer.
“My friend. I texted her and she got us in.” Kayla acts like it’s no big deal to get into an exclusive club in this city. Maybe it isn’t for her. I’m actually impressed.
“Flower.”
My shoulders tighten at his voice. I turn and watch them come through the door. Finn grins, Dante cocks an eyebrow with a disapproving look, and Wyatt... His dark eyes narrow on me.
“Wait here,” the bouncer tells them before approaching me. He nods and I reassume the position.
“Don’t touch her,” Wyatt growls. My blood heats as my gaze jumps to him. “She’s with us.”
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.
A waitress stops by and takes our drink orders. When she walks away, I lean into Kayla. I need to get this back on task. We’re here to figure out what Tom’s gotten into.
“Okay, we’re looking for someone who can’t add very well. Like really bad.”
“It seems like we’re on the same mission.” Finn drops into the seat next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. I tense, wondering what fresh hell they’ll create for me. “Crazy to see you here, flower.”
Kayla’s eyes widen as Dante sits on my other side and Wyatt leans against the wall in front of me. His gaze is on the center stage though.
“Finn, and you are?” Finn holds out his other hand to Kayla.
“Kayla Wagner.” Her gaze takes him all in. “Aren’t you a gorgeous piece of man candy?”
“I like her.” Finn grins. “Don’t you have other friends as well?”
“They couldn’t come.” I resist the urge to push his arm off my shoulders. While it would work on the other guys, Finn just comes back stronger with every little rejection. I turn to face him. “You knew what the logo was when I showed it to you, didn’t you?”
Finn laughs. “Do I know the best gentlemen’s club in the city? Of course, I do, flower. Don’t worry, I only come here for the articles.”
Kayla chuckles. When I arch my eyebrow, she shrugs. “What? It was funny.”
“You shouldn’t be here, pip.” Dante leans down, so he’s speaking directly into my ear. Little shivers course through my veins.
“Last time I checked, you guys don’t control my hours after work.” I straighten because this is the hill I’ll die on.
Dante’s hand slides over my knee and squeezes. I press my knees together at the ache that spirals up between my thighs. Quietly so only I can hear him, he says, “You and I had an arrangement, pip.”
I turn so that my face and his are only a hair’s breadth away from each other. My eyes search his pale blue ones. We shared a moment, but we barely touched. His exhale fans my lips and that ache increases.
“You wanted me to call if I needed anything.” I wet my lips and glance down at his hand on my knee before returning my gaze to his. “I don’t need anything, Dante.”
Heat rages in his eyes as he narrows them. His fingers clench my thigh. My breath catches wondering if he’ll do more. If he’ll finally claim my lips with his.
The server stops and sets our drinks down, breaking the tension between us. The guys’ attention shifts off me as they give her their drink orders and replace my card with Wyatt’s. I draw in a relieved breath.
I lift my gaze to Wyatt’s. His head is cocked as he studies me. His eyes remain as distant as ever, but there’s a curiosity that hasn’t been there before. Maybe he’s wondering if I’ve really moved on.
The server comes back and holds the card out to Wyatt. “Drinks are on the house. The owner would like to see all of you in his office.”
She sets down the guys’ drinks and tells Wyatt how to get to the owner’s office.
“That’s weird, right?” I ask Kayla. “Why would the owner want to talk to us?”
“Weird.” She nods but her gaze remains on the stripper on stage. She sips her drink. The brunette is tall and leggy. Her brown eyes are locked with Kayla’s as she removes her lingerie to reveal her breasts.
“Come on.” Dante stands and takes my hand but I stay seated.
“Kayla.” When I tap her arm, she turns. I gesture for her to come with us.
She nods and heads for the stage instead. I stand with Dante as the stripper leans down to listen to Kayla with a cocky grin. Kayla winks at the woman before coming back over to us.
“I have a private dance later. I’ll make sure to ask about Tom and his stripper.” Kayla bumps into me and I smirk.
“Do I get to go into the room with you?” I’m curious what that would look like.
I’m not sheltered per se, but I don’t usually get to do anything like this.
My high school friends wouldn’t have wanted to and the few people I know in college are acquaintances at best. I live off campus at home, so I don’t have many friends.
“No.” Dante wraps his hand around my hip and pulls me in against him. Fire lights beneath my skin as I glance up at him and swallow. He shakes his head. “No going into private rooms, pipsqueak.”
Now I really want to go into that room with her and the stripper. Unless she’s paying for extra, then maybe I shouldn’t get in the way. Kayla winks at me as she links arms with Finn.
“You know, you could join me and Amethyst in the private room.” She bats her dark eyelashes at him. “She wouldn’t mind and I’m always game.”
Finn smirks. “Maybe if Sara comes too.”
When my gaze jerks toward him, he wets his lips. As I remember that tongue between my legs, my panties grow even wetter.
Kayla chuckles as I turn to face front. Wyatt leads the way through the club and down a darkened hallway. At the end is a wooden door. He knocks and we all wait.
“This seems a little sketch.” Kayla leans into Finn.
I was just going to say that.
He pats her hand. “We’ll be fine. Maybe they know where Tom is. Maybe this is the client that Tom was worried about.”
My eyes widen. What if we’re walking into a trap? “Maybe we should—”
The door opens. Drew stands there with a huge grin. “I never figured you’d all end up at my club, but come in.”