by Lilly Avalon
“Trouble is my middle name.”
Pressing my lips together to stifle my giggle, I clear my throat. “What’s your first name?”
“Aiden.”
“I’m Carlie.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Carlie,” he says, extending a hand to shake mine. The touch sends tingles up my arm. Wow. “What makes you think the party will get out of hand? It seems to be okay, aside from a few tipsy women.”
“There’s supposed to be strippers coming soon,” I answer with a sigh. “I have no idea what to expect once they arrive. My sister is already getting restless. She even made me go ask for better wine to be served.”
“Right,” he says with a nod. “The obligatory strippers. No bachelor or bachelorette party could be complete without at least one.”
Sighing, I say, “I don’t see why it couldn’t be complete without them.”
“You don’t like strippers?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
Shrugging, I say, “It’s not that. Right now I’m mostly concerned with the aftermath of everything. Strippers are okay. It’s the women I worry about. They’re going to go crazy.” Dollar bills flying everywhere, screams and whistles… I’m not looking forward to it. And I’m not even sure I’m going to enjoy the show.
Aiden chuckles. “Women like that are the reason why strippers are able to do their thing.”
“I suppose that’s true,” I reply with a light laugh. “I’m just not sure what to expect and I wish I could go off to my room upstairs to hide until it’s over.”
He chuckles again. “Don’t be afraid of the craziness that will ensue. It’s all part of the tradition. Embrace it.”
“I know. I don’t think I’m going to like it, though.”
Smirking, Aiden places a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe tonight you’ll change your mind.” After a quick wink, he walks past me to drop off his tray.
I scrunch my eyebrows together, then shake my head as I absently touch the spot where he placed his hand just a moment ago. Letting out yet another sigh, I resign myself to my fate tonight and slowly make my way back to the party. It’s Valerie’s night, not mine, so I'd better put on a smile and let her have the party she wants.
Chapter Three
I spend most of the next hour as a wallflower taking in my surroundings. I watch as all the women in the room wander around, talking about their jobs and their latest dating escapade as they snack on the hors d'oeuvres between sips of wine.
I also find myself staring at Aiden every time he enters the room. For some reason I can’t look away, and it seems to be the same for him when it comes to me. His eyes always find mine, and he smiles when he sees I’m watching him, too.
At one point, even Goldie notices. “That waiter is checking you out.”
I flush, but play it off. “Really? I don’t think so.” I hope she doesn’t notice the red in my cheeks because I don’t want to make a big deal out of Aiden. Even though it does appear that he’s interested.
Would it really be a bad thing if he was?
While I don’t necessarily want to abandon the party when the strippers arrive, I remain close to the potential exit. If I’m able to slip away unnoticed, I can escape the madness if need be. I keep expecting to hear the doorbell again, but nobody has arrived since the last guest over an hour ago. Maybe when it does ring and it’s the strippers, everyone will be so distracted I won’t even have to worry about a covert escape.
Myra lifts her hands and claps a few times, her curly auburn hair bouncing as she steps over to Valerie. “Okay, ladies. It’s time to celebrate this lovely lady.” She places her hands on Valerie’s shoulders. “So if you would all please place your wineglasses on the trays coming through, then pick up a glass of champagne, we can have a toast to our bachelorette and bride-to-be, Valerie!”
Three of the waiters come through, trading glasses with all of us. Once we all have a glass of champagne, everyone in the room prepares for the toast.
“To Valerie,” Myra says with a grin. “May your life with Isaac be beautiful and full of wonderful adventures! You deserve it all.”
All the women raise their glasses and we clink them together before drinking. My stepsister seems so happy standing there next to Myra. I’m glad we were able to do this for her, even if it’s bigger than I anticipated and she doesn’t always show the appreciation she should.
Then Aiden and another waiter enter the room carrying a tray with a shiny pale pink present with a rose-gold ribbon around it. They kneel in front of Valerie, holding it up to her like she’s a queen.
Myra says, “This is my present to you, Val. I truly hope you like what I got you. Go on and open it.”
“Ooh,” Valerie says, setting her glass down to clap excitedly. “I wonder what it is.” She lifts it, giving it a light shake before she unwraps the ribbon and opens it. Her eyes widen and she pulls out…
A giant roll of one-dollar bills.
“Ladies...” Myra declares, holding up her glass. “It’s time!”
The melodic classical music that was playing in the room stops suddenly and is replaced by a pop song with deep bass. The two waiters set the tray aside and all the women squeal, stepping back. One by one, each man tosses aside his suit jacket…
Including Aiden.
My mouth falls open. Holy shit. My hot waiter friend isn’t a waiter at all.
He’s a stripper.
Well, I sure as hell didn’t see that one coming.
The music builds up, and each of them begins removing articles of clothing. My eyes aren’t on the man with gray-blue eyes and blond curly locks or the man with brown eyes and black hair.
They’re on Aiden.
He takes everything off slowly. After ripping off the shirt, he slides it off his shoulders and down his arms in the most sensual tease over his biceps. Tossing it at Valerie, he moves on to the pants. Unbutton. Unzip. He glances in my direction long enough to throw me another wink. I clutch at my heart, completely captivated by this man. He rips off the pants in one quick maneuver, eliciting a round of squeals from the women in the room.
The other three waiters come into the room and the cycle repeats. All the women are going nuts and grinding up against the men. I would feel bad for them if it didn’t seem like they were enjoying it as much as the ladies.
My eyes fall on Aiden and I watch as he approaches me. He wants me to react. He wants me to dance with him. But I’m frozen in place, unable to respond in any way except to bite my lip. He notices, his eyes darkening. I gaze over his body, appreciating his toned pecs and abs, as well as the bulge pressing against the fabric of his silky black underwear.
I want to touch him.
I want to dance with our bodies pressing together.
I want him. Desperately.
But I’m too scared to reach out, to come skin to skin with Aiden.
And I think he knows this, based on the curious look he’s giving me. It must be the intuition he mentioned earlier. A spike of adrenaline courses through me, giving me this strange sensation of wanting to simultaneously dive at his gorgeous body and run out of the room.
But I do neither of these things.
Instead of moving toward the other end of the room, Aiden inches forward, his hand reaching up to tuck a loose hair behind my ear. His fingers don’t leave my skin until he grazes down my jawline to my chin. My heart nearly stops beating at his touch.
And he doesn’t stop there.
He comes closer, raising his eyebrows to ask for consent. None of the other strippers bothered with that because the women were all over them without hesitation. Aiden wants me to say yes before he does anything more. I nod and he shoots me a smile before bringing his body inches away from me.
Leaning forward, he whispers into my ear, “Dance with me.”
So I do.
I sway to the music, aligning my body with his. The two of us move together with the beat, almost touching but not touching. His scent, pure vanilla and citrus, overwhelms me. It’
s the most sensual thing I’ve ever done, and it’s all accomplished with absolutely no contact.
How the hell does Aiden do it?
The dance ends much quicker than I would like, but I know he can’t stay on one person for long. It isn’t my party. It’s Valerie’s. And there’s twenty other women in this room. With a wistful glance back at me, he moves on to the next girl.
While it’s part of his job, I wish he didn’t have to. His attention to me is almost more than I can handle and I wonder what it all means. That brief dance made me long for more.
Much more.
-----
The party manages to continue until almost midnight, though some of the women leave before then to get home to their spouses and boyfriends. Only a few remain, with Lydia on the couch sleeping it off, a couple snacking on the remainder of the appetizers on the kitchen counter, and Myra upstairs with my sister hugging the toilet in her bathroom as I predicted.
I toe off my high heels in the entryway, letting out a relieved sigh for my feet, and go into the sitting room to assess the damage. It isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but it’s still a disaster. Empty and partially filled glasses everywhere, crumbs on the floor…
Well, no better time than the present to get as much of this cleaned up and put back together before bed. While Valerie made sure to get a catering company, she likely didn’t schedule a cleaning service for the aftermath.
Catering Limited took care of all their own dishes, leaving the leftover food on a tray covered in plastic wrap. The two ladies who were snacking say goodnight and head out, leaving the tray on the counter instead of putting it away. Letting out a groan, I place it where it belongs in the refrigerator and get back to the task at hand.
While a few people from the catering company clean up the remainder of their mess in the kitchen, I start bringing all the glasses from the sitting room to the sink. I thank them for their hard work and making tonight a success. A couple of the "waiters" are still lingering in the kitchen, but Aiden isn't one of them.
I wonder where he went. There’s only about half of the staff from the company still here. Did he leave already? Part of me hopes he's still here somewhere, while the other part of me is nervous that he is. That moment we shared was intense, and it made me question whether it was part of the act.
Or something more.
It doesn't take long for the caterers to finish up, so pretty soon I find myself alone in the kitchen. Relief washes over me that this madness is finally done with. I head back into the sitting room to check on Lydia, who's still fast asleep. I pull out a throw blanket from a linen closet and place it over her. She's probably out for the night and won't be leaving until morning.
I grab the last of the wine and champagne glasses and walk back to the kitchen. As I’m placing them next to the overflowing sink, I hear footsteps coming this way. It’s probably Myra wanting to get some coffee for my sister to help sober her up.
When I turn to see what she wants, I’m greeted with the one person I’ve been anxiously thinking about.
“I was hoping to find you here.”
Chapter Four
I nearly drop the wineglass I’m holding onto the floor, but catch it with my other hand. “Holy shit.” The words fly out of my mouth before I can stop them.
Aiden smirks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Likely story. “Uh...” Setting the glass safely down, I ask, “What are you still doing here?”
“I was wondering if you needed any help. I believe you were correct in your concern earlier.” He points behind him to the sitting room. “It’s quite a mess.”
What a gentleman. Not that I want him to be a gentleman with me right now, but… wait, did I just think that? I push aside my risqué thoughts to focus on the task at hand, which is cleaning up. “I appreciate the offer, but there’s only so much I can do with Lydia still sleeping in that room.”
He walks over, fully dressed again in his tearaway suit. I can’t help but wonder how easy it is to…
I have to stop thinking about these things.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” he asks, his voice just above a whisper.
Swallowing, I say, “You don’t have to leave?”
Shaking his head, he replies, “Not yet. The guy who came with me went home with one of the girls from the party.”
Leave it to one of Valerie’s friends to hook up with a stripper. “Ah, I see.” My eyes glance around the room, trying to find something for him to do to keep him here just a little bit longer. “Let’s go to the other room and see what we can take care of quietly.”
He follows me in there and we both look around the room for anything out of place. As I’m reaching under one of the chairs, I pull out a crisp dollar bill.
“Um...” I stand up and turn to Aiden to whisper, “I think this probably belongs to you.” I hold the money out toward him.
Just then, Lydia groans from the couch. “Oh my God, did I seriously fall asleep?” She stretches and pulls the blanket off as she sits up. “Hey, Carlie.” Her eyes fall on Aiden and widen. “Mmm… you handsome hunk of a man. It’s nice to wake up to you.” She lifts herself and takes the dollar bill from my hand. After folding it in half, she places it in the front chest pocket of his dress shirt. “This is for you.”
“Thank you,” he says with a sultry smile and a wink.
A flash of jealousy flows through me as I clench my jaw. I can’t be mad at Lydia, though, so I take a breath and ask her, “Will you be okay getting home?”
“I should be just fine.” She awkwardly takes each of her strappy stilettos off, holding them over her shoulder. “It appears I’m the last lady standing, so I’m willing to bet my ride left without me. I’ll just call myself a cab.” She blows a kiss at Aiden, then leaves.
I look at Aiden and say, “I guess since she’s no longer here we can probably move the furniture back.”
He nods. “Sure. Just tell me what to do.”
For the next half hour, the two of us move everything back where it belongs. I even get all the breakables back out on their respective shelves and end tables. It goes by much faster with somebody helping.
When I place the last piece on the mantel, I say, “There. I expected to have to do all this tomorrow morning. Now I can sleep in.” I turn to Aiden. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Anything for you.” He takes my hand and places a kiss on top. The feel of his lips on my skin causes tingles to spread over my whole arm. “I almost forgot to ask you—what did you think of the show?”
His question throws me. “I, uh, it was,” I stammer, “it was great. Unexpected. You know, the way you guys did the… whole thing. I didn’t see any of it coming.” Wow. I internally chastise myself for my inability to formulate words into sentences.
Aiden’s lips curve into a smile. “Yeah, we like to catch people off guard. It keeps them on their toes and makes it all the more exciting. If it were a typical show, it wouldn’t get everyone going as much.”
They sure got tonight’s group going. Not to mention gave me some thrills.
Okay, okay. Many thrills.
“You’re right. The show was...”
All the words describing how it made me feel inside run through my mind all at once. Tantalizing, enchanting, amazing. I can’t narrow it down to one word. All I can do is imagine my hands running over his smooth chest, my tongue gliding over his…
Clearing my throat, I say, “Anyway, thanks again for all your help. Excuse me.” I pick up the last remaining piece of trash I left on the table and scramble to the kitchen. Shit. What am I doing? What am I thinking? Tossing the trash into the garbage, I rub the back of my hand over my face, questioning the last bit of my sanity. Look, you’re attracted to him. So what? Is there something wrong with being attracted to—
“Carlie?”
I nearly jump, even though I had a feeling Aiden would follow me here. “Yes, Aiden?”
He cautiously walk
s closer to me. “Are you… embarrassed about earlier?”
I shake my head quickly in response, but I have a feeling I’ve already made it clear how seeing him made me feel. Not to mention that moment we shared together. “No, not embarrassed at all.”
“Hmm...” He’s a couple of feet in front of me now. “Did I make you feel uncomfortable?”
“Of course not.”
“Do you not approve of stripping, or...”
“Oh no! That’s not it.”
“Or...” Aiden closes the gap between us. “Did you enjoy it?”
“I, uh...” The words I need to reply to him aren’t coming to me, and I’m completely giving the truth away to him. Although, I doubt he needed me to confirm that I enjoyed it. He knows I did. My cheeks say so. I respond with a quick nod.
“Then you did enjoy it. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I know there isn’t.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s… it’s you.”
Shit, shit, double shit. Did I say that out loud? Really?
Aiden’s eyes widen as he takes in a sharp breath. “Are you attracted to me?”
I gulp. Damn it all. I stand there, silent, trying to control my breathing.
He comes even closer, his hand caressing my cheek. “Because I’m attracted to you.”
Oh my… I involuntarily lean into his touch. “Aiden, I...”
“Carlie.” The way he whispers my name… it’s sensual and with so much feeling that when he leans in, I let him. When his lips brush against mine, I let him.
Deep down, however, there’s a part of me that is afraid. This can’t happen. It shouldn't. I hardly know him. We barely spent a few hours in the same vicinity. Barely spent an hour speaking. And let’s not forget I saw him practically naked within an hour after running into him. This is utterly ridiculous. Crazy. Insane.
But I want him so bad.
What is it about him that makes me want him? Is it because he’s sexy? Because he’s sweet? Or because I have this undying urge to throw myself at him despite all the reasons I shouldn’t? Maybe if I knew I could understand this intense infatuation between us.
