“Are you all right?” His voice heavily laced with an Irish accent.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Are you two here alone?” he asked both of them but didn’t take his gaze from Nicole’s.
Nicole needed to think. He had asked her a question, and it would be rude not to reply. Her mind wouldn’t let her think.
Mandy came to her rescue. “It’s only the two of us. Kind of hard to get laid if we brought our boyfriends with us,” she jokingly told him laughing at herself.
“She’s lying. We don’t have boyfriends.” What the hell is wrong with her? Here she was, standing this close to a good-looking man and she says something as stupid as that?
The rest of his mouth turned up into a full smile, showing off beautiful, white teeth. “That’s good to know. Be more careful who you pick fights with. I might not be here next time to save you.” He turned and headed in the same direction the other man had went.
“Who the hell was that?” Nicole looked at her friend, who stood speechless from the encounter.
“I’m not too sure who Mister Chiseled Jaw is. I only know the other one. He’s a…friend from the past.”
Nicole bet her ass he was more than just a friend from her past. She’d known all of Mandy’s friends since the fourth grade. She’d never seen her friend react that way to anyone before. She definitely needed to find out more about this friend of hers. She also wouldn’t mind finding out more about the other hot guy while she was at it.
Another guy walked up in front of them wearing the bar’s Big Dogs T-shirt. “Let’s go, ladies. I can’t allow you to stay tonight after all that fuss.”
“What the hell? We didn’t start that. Those assholes did.” Mandy crossed her arms over her chest. She looked ready to stand her ground and fight again if she had to.
“Sorry, ladies. It’s Hunter’s decision, and I can’t go against him.”
At the sound of the man’s name, Mandy lost her firm stance, and her shoulders dropped in defeat. “Fine, we don’t want to stay here, anyway. Our night’s ruined thanks to those assholes.”
So that’s the linebacker’s name? Hunter? He says no and Mandy, of all people, simply says okay? What the hell was going on with her and that guy?
The man crooked two fingers at them waiting for them to follow him out of the crowded room and through the bar. There had been no sign of either of the bulky men until they reached the narrow hallway leading outside. The doors outside were suddenly blocked off by a massive wall of muscle. The same two man who had saved them only moments ago, stood in their way with their arms crossed over their chests, staring down at them. “Tomorrow, Trouble. You will be here tomorrow to get your punishment.”
Mandy slowly nodded her head. She wouldn’t look up at him.
“I can’t hear you.”
She hadn’t said anything. “Yes…Sir.”
He nodded his head and stepped out of their way. Nicole looked up toward the other man. She couldn’t read the emotionless expression on his face. “Thanks for stepping in back there. Mandy can kind of attract bad attention no matter where she goes.” It was weird, but Nicole had a strange need to talk to him. She inched closer as if a magnet pulled at her. Mr. Blue eyes didn’t respond at all, not even a smile.
He kept his gaze locked on hers. “I’m going make sure you make it to your car okay. I want you two to stop starting fights with guys like that,” he informed them as if they were children.
There’s no way Nicole was going to let them tell her what to do. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words stopped short of her mouth. She stepped around her friend to take the lead out of the bar. She pulled Mandy out of the bar and across the street to her Jeep, letting her slide behind the wheel before turning to her friend, snapping out of the stunned state she had fallen into.
“Okay, I’ll tell you about Hunter, but I need coffee first,” Mandy said.
Nicole wanted to know why she hadn’t heard until now about this man who seemed to hold so much control over her friend.
****
“They better have my damn purse. My ID and credit cards are in there.” Nicole complained to Mandy as they walked into the bar they were kicked out of last night. At three in the afternoon, the place looked like a ghost town. The employees were restocking the bar, washing glasses, and mopping the floors getting ready for tonight’s business.
“You mean the credit cards that are frozen? It’s not like they could get any money off them if they were stolen, but I know what you mean. I’m sure they found your purse when they closed last night.”
The two headed into the main portion of the bar as a small group of people hurried out of the backroom.
Nicole turned her attention to the two women behind the bar.
“What can I get for you, honey?” the older of the two women asked as she dried a glass with a white dish towel.
“I’m looking for the manager or the person in charge.”
“That would be Lou.” the female bartender said.
“Is Lou here today?” Mandy asked
“Go fuck yourself, Lou, I quit.” A female voice yelled from somewhere behind them. They turned at the sound and watched a woman and a man enter from a backroom. The man receiving the verbal beating looked like he could be the man in charge. Older, in his mid-fifties if she had to guess. He stood not much taller than she did, and he had about a hundred and fifty pounds to her own hundred and twenty, and it all looked to be in his stomach.
The man had a way about him that made her feel oddly at ease despite the fact he looked like he should have the lead role in a mob movie. His graying hair was brushed back from his face, and his fingers, decked out in gold rings, wrapped tightly around a glass that looked like it may be whiskey.
“Come on, Sam, you can’t quit. Your show opens in four hours. Where the hell am I going to find a replacement in four hours?”
The woman turned on her four-inch heels, flipping her long, brown hair over her shoulder as she glared at the older man who trailed behind her. “I don’t give a flying fuck unless you want to change your mind and fire the little cunt?”
Lou glanced away and shook his head. “Don’t ask me to do that, Sam. I have no grounds to fire her.”
“Like hell you don’t. That little bitch tried to trip me on the stage last night. I could’ve fallen and broke my arm or some shit, and then I would have sued your fat ass.”
The lady sounded like a real bitch. Nicole and Mandy stayed close to the bar and out of firing range.
“She fell, Sam. She didn’t do it to you intentionally. It was an accident.”
The brunette shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms. “It’s her or me. You decide, because I’m out of here in three seconds.”
“I’m not firing the girl for fucking up once. You fuck up all the time, and I kept your ass around.”
“Fuck you. I’m the best damn dancer you have. No one brings in the customers like I do. You will never find another like me. So kiss my ass. I’m out.” She spun on her stilettos and waltzed to the door and out of sight.
“Shit. Give me another,” Lou demanded of the bartenders as he took a seat at the bar.
“Sorry, Lou,” a soft voice said from the other end of the bar. Nicole turned toward the shy voice to see a petite blonde girl, unsure of herself, standing there. This must be the girl in question.
“Its fine, Bridge. She’ll be back.”
“Damn, I hope not. I say good riddance,” one of the female bartenders said from behind the bar.
“Yeah, well, it could be that easy if I wasn’t missing my main dancer on stage tonight. Bridgette, go call all the girls in and tell them I want them in two hours early. We’re going to rearrange time spots. Some of the girls are going to dance more than twice tonight.”
Bridgette hustled to her boss’s side. “Um, we’re short girls already, Lou. Ginger is out sick since she got that procedure done yesterday. You know, the boob job. And Bethany is on vacation. Remember, she
headed for Cali to see her mom? So without Sam, we’re three girls down anyway. That leaves me and Angel.”
“Excuse me, Lou?” Nicole’s voice sounded quieter than she had meant it to be.
Lou glanced at her from over his shoulder and a sly smile curled over his lips. “What can I help you with?” he asked turning his attention back to the drink in front of him as he swallowed half of it back in one gulp.
Before she had a chance to ask if anyone had found her purse last night, the man lost interest in her, swinging back to face the bar counter. “Do they have dancers in the yellow pages?” His question directed to the bar staff.
Nicole felt an elbow jam into her ribs, forcing her to turn toward Mandy who had caused her pain. “What?”
“You’re a dancer. And you need a job.”
Nicole turned stunned eyes toward her friend. “Um…are you crazy? They’re strippers, Em.”
She shrugged her shoulders “It’s only skin, Nikki. Besides, you’ve been looking for a job. Looks like it’s either this or go back home and marry Mr. Wonderful.”
“I don’t think I could take my clothes off in front of strangers. It’s weird and perverted.”
“No, some men are perverted. The women make bank. Do you have any idea how much money people spend on porn and things like strippers every year? Millions, probably billions. Besides, I’ve never seen any of these women go totally bare vagina here. I don’t think it’s allowed. You might have to go as far as a small G-string or something. We’ll work out all the no visible vagina later. You love to dance, Nikki. Does it actually matter where you do it?”
Nicole’s gaze darted around the room and fought the internal battle that raged inside. Mandy was right. She needed a job, and she wasn’t any good at anything besides shopping and dancing. Dancing had been her entire life, leaving no time to learn any other skills.
Before she had a chance to fully make her mind up, Mandy made it for her. “Lou, I think I have a dancer for you.”
He turned toward her and ran his gaze over her body, no doubt taking in her pricey outfit and shoes. She never thought of herself as a person who would dance on a stage in front of men for money. Nicole’s eyes locked on her friend as she remained speechless.
Lou turned fully on his barstool, giving them his full attention as he looked between the two of them. “Oh yeah? Are you a dancer?”
Mandy laughed and shook her head. “Trust me, if I danced up there, your customers would demand their money back. But my friend here is professionally trained.”
“They teach stripping professionally?”
“Well, not really. But she is a trained dancer, and if you can dance to one type of music you can pretty much dance to them all, right?”
His gaze turned toward Nicole before eyeing her head to toe. “Okay. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Excuse me?” Nicole shook her head and waved her hands back and forth in front of her, telling him no way she would be doing that.
Mandy pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned back to face her friend. “Look, I know you can dance like this because I’ve seen you do it. Get up there and dance as sexy as you can. Close your eyes and pretend no one is watching you.”
“You know that never works.”
“Then imagine you’re dancing for a fine-ass man.”
Nicole rolled her eyes.
“How about this. Picture this in your mind as an audition. When you get up on that stage, your role is to play a stripper, and they don’t think you can be sexy enough for the part.”
That got her attention. The truth hit closer to home than her friend could have known. Every time she had gone for an audition she had been told she didn’t get the part because she wasn’t what they were searching for in some form or fashion. Lack of roles always got chalked up to the fact she wasn’t good enough. Too short, too tall, too thin, too fat, or her favorite…she didn’t look good in the wig needed for the show. Every time she had been turned away from a part, the urge to give up grew stronger until it weighed her down with thoughts that maybe she should give it all up.
What would it actually hurt to give this a try? “I can try, but if he doesn’t like it…”
“Trust me. Once he sees you dance, you’ll be hired in no time.” Mandy slid her thumb around her phone’s screen looking through her music playlist to find the perfect song. Smiling, she looked up at Nicole. “Got it. Get your ass on the stage and make all these men want to fuck you.” Before Nicole could reply to her friend, Mandy turned toward Lou. “She’s a little shy with all these people watching, give her a minute.”
“I don’t have a minute, sweetheart. I need a dancer now.”
Mandy held up a finger signaling him to hold on then ran over to the empty DJ booth to plug in her phone. She quickly set up, before waving Nicole on, telling her to get in place.
She nervously climbed the stairs of the stage and peered out among the people who were paying attention to her instead of the jobs they were supposed to be doing. Her gaze darted back to Mandy who remained inside the DJ booth giving her a thumbs up as the music began.
The loud bass bump of the smooth song rang out as she thought about her steps. She had used this song before when preparing for an audition; in that number she used a chair. She held her hand up to signal a stop and the music obeyed. She walked to the edge of the stage and nodded to the guy who had been in front mopping the floor.
“Could you hand me that chair please?” The guy dropped the handle to the mop and lifted a chair to the stage so she could drag it to the middle. She took a deep breath as she thought her dance moves over in her head. It’s just another audition. She was good enough. The words played in her mind.
She waved her hand in the air, and the music started over. She rounded to the back of the chair so she could face toward the bar. Her head snapped up as another group of bystanders entered the bar from the back and headed to stand with Lou. She refused to look at them; she didn’t want her nerves to leave her. The loud base hit once, twice, and then a third time signaling her to start.
Squatting down behind the chair she moved her closed pressed knees together moving them side to side and her arms stretched out gripping the back of the chair. Once the words to the song started, she bounced to her feet spreading her legs wide and straight locking her knees as she bent at the waist swinging her ass from side to side. She flipped her hair away from her face giving her a complete view of the audience.
She had perfected this dance as a sexy, burlesque audition number. She spent many hours in front of a mirror watching her body as she moved, learning what she thought others would find hot and sexy. She swung one leg up and over the back of the chair, thankful she had put on shorts instead of a skirt this morning. Tuning out the crowd, she concentrated on her moves as she maneuvered around the chair using the prop to her benefit. To make the dance believable, she needed to pretend she had a man to dance for. In her mind, this man had to be the sexiest sex god alive, and he was here for her dance only.
An image of the toned Irishman from last night entered her mind, and she actually found it comforting. She let her fears slip away as her hips swayed side to side at the familiar beat. Moving around the chair, as if it were his lap she’d climbed on to, she perched on the seat pushing her butt in the air, giving the crowd a little more of a show than she first intended to, losing herself in the music.
Music and rhythm were as much a part of her being as breathing. She craved it. Needed it. Music and dancing had always been her comfort when her father became too much to handle. Starting at a young age, she could escape the yelling and fighting of her parents, by locking herself in her room with her headphones on and practice in front of her mirror for hours. She would wipe the outside world completely away until the only things left were her and her music. She forced her mind to wipe out the entire room of people until all that remained was the man she danced for.
Nicole whipped her hair out and rolled her shoulders, showing off the
curve of her breasts. She thrust her hips as if she were going through a mating call dance that would bring her the love of her life. The dance made her feel alive, made her feel like the sexiest woman alive.
“All right, enough, cut the music,” Lou hollered, pulling Nicole out of her trance. What the hell? She only made it half-way through her audition. That’s never a good sign when they pulled the plug early in an audition. If she wasn’t good enough for even this job, then she to come to terms that it might be time to hang up any career possibilities in the future?
“I’m sorry…wasn’t that what you wanted?” she asked turning back toward the bar. Her eyes touched on a man who hadn’t been there moments ago but now stood next to Lou leaning back against the bar, watching her. It was the guy from last night.
At the sight of him her breath became lost in her throat.
“What the hell? You didn’t let her finish?” Mandy said leaving the DJ booth heading toward the stage.
“I stopped her because that’s all I need to see. The jobs yours, sweetheart. I’ve been hiring girls for twenty years, and I’ve never seen a new girl move like that. What’s your name and where have you danced before?”
“Nicole, and I went to a school for music and arts, but I’ve never danced in a club or bar before.” Her gaze moved from Lou’s over to the gorgeous guy next to him. It felt like a pull, drawing her to him. She’d been trying hard to care less what other people thought about her. But for some reason, with this man, it mattered what he thought.
“Trouble, god damn it, woman. What the hell are you doing here?” A deep voice cut them all off as the giant man from last night, Hunter, stepped into the room.
“Shit,” Mandy grumbled under her breath.
Mandy filled Nicole in on nearly everything about Hunter over cups of coffee and a few slices of pie last night. Nicole now knew Hunter had been Mandy’s crush for the last two years. Even though she would throw herself at him given half a chance, the guy would never touch her since she was an innocent in his world of dominance. Mandy confided in her that she had the desire to play in the D/s world, but for Hunter, being a dominant was a lifestyle, not a weekend trip. She’d wanted Hunter to train and collar her since the day she had met him, but he never would take her up on her offer. Except, tonight was the night, she was finally going to get a taste of his world.
Shiver Page 3
