Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Bohannon, Hipsy

  "Penny Lane, I really wish that you would just let me help you," He rasped looking desperate.

  "I know you do. God love you for it too Cole Conners," She smirked, dipping her head to kiss his cheek before pushing herself out of the booth.

  Neither bothered to say goodbye, not even a goodnight or a farewell. They never did. He just watched her walk away from him the same way he always did. Heavy heart in hand.

  Chapter 2

  T he lights in the main room, were all shutdown, bar wiped clean, the stage now sat empty. Penny found herself sitting alone in the dressing room. All the other dancers had gone home, or wherever it was that strippers went when the music played no more, and all the money had finally dried up.

  That left just her, Sam the bouncer, and Ace, who was still somewhere around. Probably up in his office, counting out the night's profits. Penny found the silence uncomfortable. A strip club was an eerie place, once you removed the cheesy music and painted up women. It had the hairs on her arms standing on edge for some reason, as she slipped on her worn black combat boots.

  She was too damn tired to even wanna change, so she stayed in her barely there dress, pulling on her comfy, oversized zip up hoodie over the top of it. After throwing her hair up into a messy bun, she slipped her bag out of her locker, before finally making her way out of the changing room.

  The lights in the hall flickered, making her roll her eyes, wondering why Ace hadn't just paid to have the bulbs replaced or the wiring fixed. She guessed it was because Ace was a cheap son of a bitch, and the only people who used this hallway were the dancers. Beside the door at the end of the hall, there was a buzzer that would inform Sam the bouncer that it was time to walk her out to her car. It was club policy, put into effect to try to protect the girls from any lurkers who might be waiting for them in the parking lot after their shifts. Penny had been happy to have Sam by her side more than a time or two, that was for damned sure.

  "Shit! You stupid, stupid woman!" She cursed herself, just now remembering, that she had forgotten to call a cab. It was no real surprise though, considering her brain was running on nothing but fumes. Fumbling, she pulled her phone out of her purse, scrolling until she found the cabs companies contact. Tapping her foot she waited for an answer, her eyes steady, looking up and down the creepy hallway.

  "Northside cabs!" Called out a very foreign voice.

  "Yes, hi, I need a cab at ninety six, Delaware Street."

  "It's gonna be, at least, an hour."

  "Fuck… never mind, I'll try someone else."

  “Suit yourself, lady.” The cabbie tossed in, before she could end the call.

  She let out a deep breath, knowing that, all the cabs in town would be backed up at this hour. It was Saturday night and the bars had all just closed. Penny nibbled her lip, hating that she was gonna have to do this… again. She scrolled through her contacts until she landed on Cole’s info. It didn't take her long. Truth was, she only had about twenty contacts in her phone, belonging to cab companies, delivery places, her son's school, and Ace here at the club. She really didn't have anyone else to call. She didn't have any girlfriends and her family hadn't spoken to her in over, twelve years. Even if they were on speaking terms, they wouldn’t be of any help. They were all the way back in Texas and she was all the way out here in Cali, ya know, living the dream. She gave a sick laugh at the thought.

  She hated living in California, but then again, she had hated living in Texas, as well. Sometimes, when she was driving, she would be hit with the worst urge, to just keep driving, drive out of the city, out of the state. She daydreamed of making her escape. She wasn’t really sure, where, she would go but she thought Wyoming had a nice ring to it. Anywhere that had mountains and open fields. Go somewhere, where the air is clean and the people are real. That, was a dream, Cali on the other hand, not so much. The only thing she didn’t regret about living here, was her reason for moving here in the first place, she could never regret that.

  “Fuck my life!” She sighed, hitting send as she began to pace. The phone rang and rang, and for a moment, she thought she really might be on her own this time.

  "Miss me, my love?" Cole breathed into the phone in a tone that had her going a bit knock-kneed. Damn him, damn him all to hell. He was using his, born and bred, southern drawl. He had all but lost it years ago or pretended to have, anyway. Sometimes, though, it would come back out to play, and every time it did, it left Penny’s panties in a wet mess.

  "Sometimes, but that’s not why I'm calling." She admitted, walking aimlessly down the hall.

  "Let me guess, calling a cab, slipped that pretty little head of yours, didn’t it?"

  Damn him, he knew her way too well.

  "Maybe….," she let the word linger as she smirked into the phone.

  "A sexy damsel in distress, I’m on it, Superman to the rescue!" He announced, in way too excited of a tone.

  “Dear Lord,” she giggled, ending the call with the shake of her head. The prick was loving this. He liked nothing more than to play hero. He didn’t just do it with her, no he did it with everyone around him. He liked taking care of people, liked making them feel safe. It was no secret that Cole Conners got off on being needed. He was a Superman, he really was. But even Superman had his kryptonite and so did Cole. Penny knew that all too well, which is why she always had to remember herself around him. It wasn’t just a boys club, she had her own kryptonite and he went by the name of Cole Conners.

  "Did someone order a cab?"

  Cole’s voice, right behind her, had Penny spinning around fast, a shriek escaping her lips. The sexy bastard had scared the living shit out of her, as he stepped out of a door, just to the left of her.

  "How in the hell?" She questioned, trying to calm her breaths. He had about given her a damned heart attack.

  "I knew you would need me, just like you always do, and here I am, just like I always am.” Cole purred in his best, ‘I swear I’m not a fuck boy’, tone.

  He sounded way too happy about the situation, at hand. Leaving Penny to eye him suspiciously. Cole was a sneaky little fuck when he wanted to be. Sometimes, he could make situations happen. Money gives you power like that. Penny just wished that it didn’t give him the power to turn her life upside down on a daily basis.

  “Never mind, you’re enjoying this way too much.” She scoffed, turning to head back down the hall.

  “Oh come on, I think I should be allowed to enjoy it, just a little. I mean, after all, I did lose two hundred bucks waiting around here for your sexy little ass.” He informed, grabbing her hand, and spinning her back around to face him.

  “Cole, I really don’t wanna hear about the money you forked over for lap dances. You, wanting some whore to grind on your cock, has nothing to do with you waiting around here to give me a ride.” Penny pointed out with the role of her eyes.

  “Why do they gotta be whores?”

  “They’re strippers Cole, come on.” Penny answered quick, giving him, her best, ‘duh’, look.

  “Um… you’re a stripper,” Cole reminded with the raise of his brow.

  “Hey, watch yourself!”

  “You said it love, and besides, I didn’t pay anyone to, ‘grind on my cock’, as you so elegantly put it. And might I just add, dear Lord woman, you have a filthy mouth, I love it!” Cole teased with a playful smirk.

  “Okay, so if that really isn’t the case, then how did you lose two bills? You better not be too drunk to drive me home. I hate driving a standard!” She pouted as she eyed him over. He didn’t look drunk. His eyes were crystal green and clear, his breath, sweet, not boozy. She knew because he was standing that close. Cole never was too good with the concept of personal space. Ever since the first day she had met him, he had been getting all up in hers.

  “Sober as a jay bird, my love. Well, I mean I had a couple with Ace but I’m good now. We watched the fight up in his office. That’s how the old bastard got me for two-hundred bucks."

  "I wasn't aware
that you and Ace were on betting terms. I thought you said ‘never again’ after he got you for a grand, last football season. "

  "Yeah well, there's a lot you don’t know Miss Penny Lane." Cole smiled, stepping even closer as she took a step back.

  "Alright then, answer me this. What would you have done if I hadn’t forgotten to call the cab? I wouldn't have needed you then?" She challenged, taking yet another step back as he took one forward.

  "Well, I suppose, I would have lost another fifty to the cab driver." He shrugged with a cocky grin.

  "Paying off cab drivers to leave a poor, helpless girl, all alone at a seedy strip club; there is just no depth you won't go to, is there Mister Conners?”

  "Nope, not a damn one," he rasped, his eyes locked on hers as Penny’s back hit the wall, making her let out a sexy little gasp.

  “I just tucked a grand into your bag, take it, and go get Bertha fixed. Someday, I won’t be around to play this little game of ours. I wanna know your safe when that day comes.”

  “Cole, I can’t…” Penny shook her head.

  The sneaky bastard had such quick hands. A childhood, obsessed with magic, had taught him the skill. She hadn’t even seen his hands move from his sides, or felt him tug on her purse as he slipped the cash inside, yet she knew, without a doubt, that it was in there. Cole would have made a great pickpocket if the whole acting thing hadn’t panned out for him. Not that he was ever trying to pick Penny’s pockets, more like he was always doing the reverse, and trying to shove things into them that she had no interest in, like his money or his penis. Okay, well, her pocket wasn’t where he was trying to shove that but you get the drift.

  “Can and you will, not for you but for T.J.. You really want him stranded right along with you? Why, just because you wanna be bull-headed and not take the money because it’s me who’s offering it? That’s pretty childish of you don’t you think?”

  What a dick, he had to go and pull the T.J. card, it was his favorite card to pull. And, why wouldn’t it be, it always seemed to work.

  “Fine, but I’m paying you back.” Penny sighed, knowing she was beat.

  “If you insist, we can take it out in trade if you like?” Cole offered with the wag of his brows.

  “Pretty sure, you just called me a prostitute.” Penny smirked, glancing down the hall.

  “All I just heard is that you wanna role play, that’s cool, I’ll be your John, how much more to let me stick it in your butt?”

  “You, are awful!” She informed, swatting him on the chest.

  “Okay, fine, you can pay me back twenty bucks a year.”

  “That would take me until I’m eighty to pay it off, I don’t wanna still be seeing your face at eighty Cole.” Penny teased.

  “Too bad, you owe me money, you’re stuck with me. Besides, I bet you’re gonna be super sexy with gray hair and don’t even get me started on all those wrinkles.” Cole smirked a playful little grin.

  “All caused by you, I swear Cole, sometimes you are just too much.” Penny laughed.

  “Ya, but sometimes, I’m just enough.” He purred the words, leaning his toned body into hers.

  Penny’s eyes, darted to the strap on her purse as he slipped it off her shoulder. She had watched it fall, yet she still jumped a bit in her skin as it touched down, making a loud bang.

  "Is that the kitchen sink in there?" Cole questioned, cocking his brow.

  "No, just a brick. This old guy, told me to carry one just in case I needed to use it as a weapon, ya know, to defend myself."

  Penny found that her voice was dropping with each word she spoke as Cole’s fingers found the zipper of her hoodie and started tugging it down.

  "Old my ass, I mean…, he, sounds like a brilliant man. You should listen to him more often."

  Cole’s cocky grin sent a shiver up Penny’s spine. She hated that she loved that grin as much as she did. Hated that she loved every kind of smile the man had, well, except for one. She didn’t like the fake one, the one she often caught him giving the rest of the world. That one sucked.

  "He's a bit too conceded for that." She whispered, her hazel eyes locking with his as he finally managed to drag her zipper all the way to its end.

  "Not conceded my love, confident, is the word you’re lookin’ for."

  Penny sucked in a breath, just as both of Coles' hands slipped inside her jacket, well his jacket if we were being honest.

  "I still want this back," he informed, running his hands up and down her body, with just the right amount of pressure, to have her skin tingling, in all the right places.

  "It's been twelve years Cole, that’s never gonna happen. Finders keepers and all that." She said with a coy grin.

  "You didn't so much find it, as you stole it out of my closet." He corrected, pressing his body flat against hers.

  "Same thing," she countered in a breathy tone as his hand slid down her thigh then back up again, sliding up her flimsy dress right along with it.

  "Cole… we can't do this." She spoke the words, wishing she had the strength to push him away. His lips on her neck had her feeling more than weak, and in way more ways, than just one. He was nipping at the spot that only he had ever been able to find. The one that made her entire body twitch and her core throb.

  "I think, we’re completely capable.” He mumbled into the spot as one of his hands slipped up her tummy to cup her breast.

  “Don’t argue semantics with me, we shouldn’t do this. Cole.” She corrected or more like pleaded.

  “God damn, I love the way you say my name, say it again.”

  "Cole… we shouldn't,"

  Penny whimpered out, trying to come up with a valid reason as to why this shouldn’t, and couldn’t happen, again. She knew she had a long list of them. A list that she had spent years making. One she usually used to make sure that what was happening right now, didn’t. But damn, did his mouth feel good on her neck and didn't his touch feel needed, wanted even.

  She hadn't been touched, in what seemed like forever. And even then, it had been Cole’s hand’s that had done the touching. Then again, who else’s would they be? She never dated anyone long enough to get to that base and she had never been the type of woman to indulge in a one night stand. They just seemed all wrong to her. The thought of letting a stranger touch her in that way, just seemed icky and not at all sexy. Thank goodness, she had never found herself that desperate. Cole made sure of that.

  When she did find that she had an itch, that she just couldn’t seem to scratch herself, he could always be found lingering around. It was as if he could smell her need in the air, and whenever he did, he always came running. Penny wasn’t proud of these little moments of weakness but she was, only just, a woman. A woman that still had wants and needs for physical contact, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she didn’t.

  No doubt, it would be a lot easier to deny those pesky needs if Cole’s hands didn’t feel so right on her body every time they landed there. His touch was so damn familiar that it was almost heartbreaking.

  "I missed you while I was gone." He confessed into her chest as he dipped his head down to press his lips against her nipple, soaking the fabric of her dress with his warm, wet, mouth. Causing Penny to hiss, as he flicked his tongue back and forth on her now rock hard nipple.

  "Cole, please….”

  “I love hearing you beg for me.” He interrupted.

  “Please don’t…,” she couldn't finish her protest as his hand slipped under her dress. His able fingers starting to rub the silky fabric of her lace panties.

  "I can’t help it, it’s been so damn long. I need it, I need you." Cole pleaded, in a tone that would have had Mother Teresa hiking up her robes. If Cole’s desperate words didn’t get to the saintly woman, then surely his sultry gaze would have done her in.

  Penny’s traitorous mouth, made the perfect "O" shape as Cole slipped his fingers inside her panties, pressing them into her sex. The simple touch had a shiver running from
the tips of her toes right to the very core of her womanhood.

  Cole took his chance, capturing Penny’s lips. He knew that if he could just get her to kiss him back, that she would be his tonight, or at least for the next few minutes, anyway. That's how it had always been. Just one kiss and he could have her again, if only for a moment.

  He worked her box over until she was dripping with need. It didn't take long, he knew all her special spots. Hell, he’d been the one to show her that they existed in the first place, back before she even knew for herself. He stayed assaulted her mouth with his, lapping up her heavenly taste. He had missed the texture of her tongue, the way it wrestled with his but always let him win in the end. Really, though, he had missed every damned thing about her.

  Logical thought was no longer an option for Penny. She was running on pure feeling now. The feel of Cole’s Texas-sized belt buckle as she fumbled to get it undone. The feel of his warm skin as she slid her hand inside his jeans, and last but not least, the feel of his rock hard cock as she gripped him in her palm. Pulling him free, she stroked his shaft with long slow jerks that had him sucking in labored breaths.

  "Cole,"

  It was his name, but the word took on a new meaning with the way she breathed it out. It was her way of saying yes, of saying please even. It was said in a tone that rang into Cole’s ears as ‘I need you’. Pulling his fingers free of her dripping wet center, he let his hands slide down her thighs until with, one fast jerk, he had her feet off the floor and her back sliding up the wall, positioning her right where he needed her to be.

  The pair both let out a strained moan as her tight walls wrapped around his thick shaft. They clutched at each others bodies, both trying to get that much closer. Penny’s nails digging into his back, the same way Cole’s fingers were digging into her firm, little ass cheeks.

  He couldn't take it slow, not that she would have wanted him to, anyway. She was way too far gone for that. Not to mention, at any moment someone could come along and catch them in the act. Ace and Sam were still somewhere in the building. Not knowing where was just an added shot of adrenaline for each of them.