He looks at me as if I belong in his bed, she thought. And she wanted to be there. For one more week.
A short while later they rounded the bend in a two-lane country road and The Lost Kitten appeared. The two-story structure looked like every other restaurant in the middle of nowhere Oregon apart from the neon pink sign on the edge of the parking lot. Below the club’s name, the sign read: LOCAL, ORGANIC FARE. SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER.
“An organic menu at a strip club?” Kat glanced at the nondescript double doors.
“I’ve never been in. I’m not a fan of crowded indoor spaces,” Lena said, pulling up to the front door. “But I’ve heard the food is good.”
“If it takes a while to find Josh, maybe I’ll see if Brody wants to join me for lunch.”
Lena laughed as Kat climbed down from the truck. “Good luck.”
Inside, Kat scanned the space. She’d expected a dive, not a classy club serving local eggs and grass-fed bacon. A stage featuring three chrome poles and a long runway commanded the space. Tables with shiny black tops lined the dance floor. Three men sat at one, facing the stage, while a dancer wearing platform heels and a thong lay on top of their table. The woman helped herself to a home fry before turning her attention to the stage. The music shifted to a familiar upbeat song with a bump and grind rhythm. A pair of dancers appeared and began working the poles.
Kat glanced back at the men. Who went to a strip club for breakfast? And where was Brody if he wasn’t staring at the stage beside Josh?
A topless waitress brushed past, her breasts bouncing as she slid steaming plates of potatoes and eggs in front of a gentleman. The food smelled so good. Her stomach rumbled as she searched the dimly lit space for Brody and found him by the bar.
Heading over, she noted the way he kept his gaze fixed on the hardwood floor. The tall, broad-shouldered man who liked to lick her until she screamed refused to glance at the strippers.
“If you wanted a lap dance, you could have asked,” she said, moving to his side.
Brody looked up, his eyes widening in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Before she could explain, a twenty-something woman with long black hair approached. She wore a fitted black tank top with pink letters that read Naughty Kitty across her chest, jeans, and black cowboy boots. This was Kat’s first visit to a strip club, but nothing about the woman screamed, Put singles in my underwear.
“I’m Daphne, the owner,” the woman said, offering her hand. “One of the servers mentioned you were looking for someone?”
“Brody Summers.” He took her hand. “I’m here for my brother.”
Daphne placed her hands on her hips. “Is he underage?”
“He was in an accident,” Kat jumped in, explaining her role as Josh’s doctor and her concerns about his possible foray into sexual promiscuity.
The owner, who stood an inch or two shorter than Kat and barely reached Brody’s shoulder, laughed. “Josh is in the back.”
“In the back?” Brody said. She could feel the tension radiating off him. And right now she couldn’t blame him. A back room at a strip club suggested a very intimate dance.
“He’s having breakfast with Megan, one of the waitresses. Sweet guy. Drove out here just to keep her company before her shift. I’ll let him know you’re here.” The owner turned and headed for the double doors leading to the kitchen.
“Since you hired a topless waitress to care for your little brother, you shouldn’t be too surprised he’s sleeping with her,” Kat said, taking Brody’s hand.
“I didn’t know,” he ground out. “She’s a nursing student. I checked. She’s enrolled part-time. And she came highly recommended.”
She gave his hand a squeeze. “At least he didn’t come for the show.”
“If I’d realized sexual promiscuity was a common side effect of head injuries, I would have hired a different nurse. Maybe tried to find a guy.”
“It’s not your fault, Brody.” She glanced at the man who tried to shoulder the weight of everyone’s needs. And she realized it was time someone rescued him right back.
She moved in front of him. “You know, now that we’re here, I have to admit, I like the idea of giving you a lap dance.”
“No.” One arm wrapped around her waist, drawing her back against his chest. In the dimly lit, empty corner of the club, she arched, pressing into him. She felt his hand brushing her hair to one side. His lips touched her neck.
“Might be wild,” she said before he gave her a list of reasons why he shouldn’t accept a dance from her. “And a little naughty.”
She felt him suck in a deep breath, his free hand resting on her shoulder. “Dammit, I missed you. I’m glad you’re back.”
“Brody, what the fuck?” Josh stormed through the double doors leading to the kitchen, his hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans. “I left a note. You don’t need to follow me around like I’m a freaking child. I know my way home.”
Brody stepped to the side, crossing his arms on his chest. “Your note didn’t mention Megan. You said you were going to a strip club at nine in the morning on a Friday. I figured maybe you’d lost your common sense too.”
“I didn’t want you to judge Megan,” Josh shot back. “She’s trying to pay her school loans. College and nursing school aren’t free, and waiting tables here pays well. More than you’re paying her.”
“I’m not judging,” Brody said. “I was worried.”
“Well, you can stop. I’m fine,” Josh said, his voice rising with every word.
Kat saw a bouncer move in their direction and stepped forward, placing herself between the fuming, stubborn brothers. “Josh, we should sit down and talk.”
“You said you’d be around for another week or so, Doc. We have time.” He stepped back. “I’m going to finish my food. I’ll see you at home later.”
“Josh,” Brody snapped.
Kat turned to him, placing her hands on his biceps. “How about we stay for breakfast? I’m starving.”
“I’m not sitting down here. Not with you.”
“I have a feeling you’re not leaving without Josh, and seeing as how Lena dropped me off, you’re my ride.”
She took his arm and pulled him over to a table near the kitchen, away from the stage.
“I didn’t get a chance to finish my lunch yesterday. Dinner consisted of chips and animal crackers on the plane. And my flight was late. In another ten minutes I’ll be hungry enough to eat my potatoes off a dancer’s back like that guy up there.” She nodded to the table by the stage.
“What the heck?” He stole a peek before sinking into one of the wooden chairs. “Aren’t there rules about touching the dancers?”
“He’s not using his hands. Who knows, maybe he asked permission.” Kat claimed the seat beside Brody and selected two menus from the stack resting between the napkin holder and the salt. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the bouncer approach the table with the woman lying on top. Maybe there were rules about running your tongue over a stripper’s back.
But later, she thought, after they returned from their “rescue” mission and disappeared into Brody’s bedroom, there would be nothing stopping him from running his mouth over her.
“See if you can get the waitress’s attention,” Kat said, brushing his leg under the table. “Let’s order. And then you can describe your dream lap dance.”
Chapter 16
BRODY HAD SPENT the past twenty-four hours spinning a web of lies. His bed hadn’t felt empty without her. He didn’t miss her laughter, her smile, or that vulnerable look in her eyes when she revealed a part of her past. And he sure as hell wasn’t falling for the sexy, smart doctor.
But then Kat had waltzed in, defused the situation with Josh one moment and teased him with the promise of a lap dance the next. She made him face the fact that he
’d been lying to himself since she left. He wanted Kat in his life and in his bed. Falling for her wasn’t a question. He was already there at the bottom, hoping like hell she’d follow him.
Maybe it was the way she didn’t expect him to solve her problems, or how she rejected his pity, demanding that he feel anything but sorry for her. Either way, he had to make this work. He had to find a way to give her everything she deserved and still honor his commitments here.
One thing she didn’t need? A man who landed her in a strip club on a weekday morning. A man who was going out of his mind with desire while watching her eat eggs and potatoes.
Kat wrapped her lips around a forkful of scrambled eggs and closed her eyes. “I think I’m beginning to see the difference between free range eggs and the regular kind. These are amazing. And these home fries.”
She punctuated her sentence with a low moan.
Brody shifted in his chair. Hell, even watching her eat turned him on. “Are you sure that’s not the hunger talking?”
“No. It’s the potatoes.” She loaded her fork. “You must come back here. For the food. Though the dancers are talented too.”
“I wouldn’t know,” he said, pushing his full plate toward her. “I can’t take my eyes off you.”
“I already promised you a private dance.” She licked a smear of ketchup off her lower lip. “Now start talking. I want details. Does the no touching rule turn you on?”
“No.” With Kat sitting there, torturing him with every movement of her lips, every word, he didn’t want to entertain lies. “If anyone is going to be tied up, unable to touch, it’s you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You won’t hand over control even for a lap dance?”
“Not a chance.” He wanted to tie her up and make her his. He wanted to claim her. And he didn’t want to let go after a few orgasms. He didn’t want to come home needing her—her smile, her words, her comfort—and find out she’d slipped away again. And he sure as hell didn’t want the woman he cared deeply for returning to a lonely life.
“What’s in New York?” he asked. “Why did you need to go back?”
Her teasing smile faded. “Prior commitment.”
“Must have been pretty important if you took back-to-back red-eyes and ate animal crackers for dinner.”
She set her fork down and whipped her mouth with her napkin. “I joined a mentor program last year and I was matched with a young girl living in foster care. Twice a month I sit down with her for an hour at her elementary school. Eventually I was hoping to do some weekend day trips.”
He’d paged through the usual explanations while she was away—a patient who needed her, a doctor’s appointment, or the one that drove him to the brink of jealousy, a date. But he’d never pictured her sitting down to lunch with a child who was traveling down the same road she’d taken as a kid.
“Yesterday,” she continued, “Brianna opened up.”
“You’re going to get your weekend adventures?”
Kat smiled, not the teasing grin she used to so effortlessly seduce him or the professional expression she offered others, but a genuine look of joy mingled with excitement.
“Yes. And fingers crossed a lot more. God, I don’t want to say too much or I’m afraid I’ll jinx it. But Brianna asked if I’d consider adopting her. And I said yes.”
“That’s great, Kat.” But the weight of her words sank in, leaving him face-to-face with a complicated mess. How would they make this work if she had a family on the other side of the country and his needed him here?
“Brianna deserves to have something good happen for once,” Kat said.
“So do you.” And he wanted that something good in her life to be him. But Brody had a sinking feeling he was looking at the one person who didn’t need him—not nearly as much as he needed her.
“I’ve been very fortunate, Brody. After all, I went to Harvard,” she said, her tone changing to sarcasm.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it. You deserve happiness and family. Just like Brianna.”
She stabbed the last potatoes on her plate. “I think our conversation took a wrong turn toward serious. And I don’t think this is the place.”
“You’re right.” The Lost Kitten strip club wasn’t the place to tell her that he wanted to be a part of her future happiness. “But—”
His cell phone cut him off, vibrating against his thigh. Retrieving it, he glanced at the caller ID. Moore Timber. Great. With Eric away on his honeymoon, he couldn’t ignore the call.
He stood and headed for the door. “I need to take this. Outside.”
AS BRODY DISAPPEARED into the daylight beyond The Lost Kitten’s timeless interior, Kat helped herself to his potatoes.
“Your boyfriend hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you walked in.” Daphne, the owner with the long black hair, claimed Brody’s empty seat.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Kat said, the words quickly snapping the imaginary lines binding her to Brody. But saying those words for the second time since she’d landed back in Oregon this morning—they left her uneasy, as if she was lying.
Daphne’s eyebrows shot up. “He stared at your mouth as if he owned it. There were a few times that I swore he was going to push the dishes to the floor and take you here.”
“Those looks were your fault,” Kat said, reaching for humor. “The food was so good, I thought I’d have an orgasm just from eating the potatoes.”
Daphne leaned her head back and laughed. “Can I bring you back to the kitchen before you leave? I need you to repeat those words to my chef. He’s going to drop to one knee when he hears that and beg to marry you.”
“Sure. But fair warning, if he proposes, I might run for the door.”
Brody returned to the table, his intense brown eyes focusing briefly on the club owner before turning to her. He stopped beside her chair, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Everything OK?”
“Great.” Kat smiled up at him. “We were just talking potatoes.”
Pressing her palms flat against the table, Daphne stood. “I’d still like to steal her away to the kitchen to meet my chef before you leave.”
“I’ll send her back in a minute.” Brody looked down at her. “I need to head out. One of the trucks went off the road near a harvest site. Are you OK to catch a ride back with Josh?”
She placed her hand on his. “I’ll make sure your brother gets home.”
“Thanks.” He released her and withdrew his wallet.
“Breakfast is on me.” She stood and guided his hand holding his wallet back to his pocket. Once he’d returned the billfold, she gave his butt a squeeze. “I have an idea about how you can repay me later.” She rose up on her tiptoes and touched her lips to his cheek. “Let me dance for you.”
“Deal. But I get to touch.”
Brody turned and headed for the door, his phone pressed to his ear. She’d never met a man so willing to give—his time, his energy, his support, his everything. And tonight she wanted to give back. The labels might remain out of reach, but there was one place where she could deliver everything she had to give.
“Just you wait, Brody Summers,” she murmured as she headed toward the kitchen. “Tonight, you’re getting the lap dance to end all lap dances.”
Chapter 17
“YOU AND I need to talk,” Brody said as he closed the kitchen door and headed for the chairs lining the table. Sitting down, he began unlacing his work boots, his gaze fixed on his brother.
“Yeah, we do.” Josh leaned back against the kitchen counter, holding a beer in each hand. His spiral notebook stuck out of his back pocket, but Josh didn’t reach for it. “What the hell were you thinking, chasing me to The Lost Kitten?”
“Trying to keep you from doing something stupid,” Brody snapped as the first boot hit the floor. “Or getting hurt.”
“I’m cleared to drive. I have been for over a month. Just because I can’t always remember where I’m headed doesn’t mean I don’t know how to operate my truck. And Megan was with me.”
Brody shook his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me I’d hired a topless waitress to take care of you. Or hell, write it on a Post-it note.”
“I took it as a sign of love.” Josh raised one bottle to his lips and took a long drink. “And she’s not working for us anymore,” he added. “She’s quitting. We planned to tell you today, but you were working.”
“You’re still seeing her.” Brody set his second boot beside his first.
“She’s out in the studio apartment right now. I just came in for some refreshments.” He held up the bottles. “There’s more in the fridge. And you look like you could use one. Or you could just head upstairs. Katie is staying at Liam’s house tonight,” he added. “I called Chad and told him to clear out too. The place is all yours, and I believe the good doctor is waiting for you in your room.” Josh headed for the door. “Feel free to make all the noise you want.”
“We’re not done here.” Brody crossed his arms on his chest. Part of him wanted to race up the stairs, find Kat and lose himself in her. But first he needed to talk to his brother.
“We are for tonight,” Josh said, and grinned at him. “Did I mention Megan was waiting for me in the apartment?”
“Yeah, you did.”
His brow furrowed as he studied his brother. Something was different. Brody’s gaze drifted to the notebook, and the realization damn near knocked the wind out of him.
“You haven’t checked your notes once,” he said, arms falling to his sides.
Josh looked at the floor, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. “Yeah, about that. My memory has been coming back. Bit by bit.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone?”
“I told Kat. Or she figured it out.”
Your brother is on the road to recovery. He’d been meaning to ask her what she meant by those words.
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