by L. Wilder
I reached down and clutched a handful of his shirt, twisting it into a knot as I pulled him towards me. “Time for you and your buddies to move on.”
“Why? We’re just having a good time.”
“Too good of a fucking time.” I leaned in closer and growled, “No one, and I mean no one, touches one of my girls. You got that?”
“Yeah, man.” The guy sank back in his chair, and sounding almost sorry, he muttered, “I got it.”
“Good.” I released my hold on him and pointed over to the door. “Now get the hell out.”
“Wait... Do we really gotta go? He didn’t mean nothing by it. He was only messing around,” one of his buddies chimed in. “It’s Hank’s bachelor party, and we let things get out of hand.”
I didn’t immediately answer. I needed a second to collect myself, so I inhaled a deep breath and then looked over to Aubrey to make sure she was okay. Her face was blood red, and her hands were trembling as she brushed the strands of hair from her face. It seemed like she was on the brink of tears, and I had to say, I was a little thrown by the fact that she looked so rattled by what had taken place. This couldn’t have been the only time some guy had gotten too friendly with her, not when she was so fucking hot, but it was clear the encounter had gotten to her—which enraged me even more. I didn’t want to scare her any further, so I swallowed back my anger as I placed my hand on her arm and asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“You sure?”
She nodded as she muttered, “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“See! She’s cool with us staying.”
I briefly turned my attention back to the assholes at the table. “I said to get the fuck out!”
The entire crew grumbled and moaned as they got up and made their way out the front door. When I turned back to Aubrey, she was gone. I looked around, and there was no sign of her. Fuck. I headed back over to the guys and asked, “Did you see where she went?”
“Out back.” Rafe motioned his head over to the door. “Marlowe just ran out to check on her.”
“Yeah, you might not have to worry about looking into her after all.” Country cocked his eyebrow as he taunted, “She looked pretty upset. Might not be back...”
I didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. Instead, I walked around the table and out the back door. I’d barely made it to the parking lot when I spotted Marlowe talking with Aubrey. As I started towards them, I heard Marlowe say, “You don’t have to worry about guys like that. The brothers won’t let anything happen to you.”
“But—”
“You’re in good hands here, Aubrey. I wouldn’t be working for them if I thought otherwise.”
“Menace called me one of his girls.”
“Yeah, well... Menace is Menace. He takes his job seriously.”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I like the idea of being one of ‘his girls.’”
Marlowe was about to respond but stopped the second she spotted me coming their way. As soon as I reached them, Marlowe smiled and said, “I’ll give you two a minute.”
With that, Marlowe slipped by me and went back into the club, leaving Aubrey and me alone in the parking lot. We both stood there for several minutes, just staring each other down until Aubrey broke our silence. “I guess this is where I’m supposed to say I’m sorry for being a complete nutcase back there.”
“No one’s asking you to apologize. I just came out here to see if you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?” I motioned my head over to the bar. “’Cause back there, you looked pretty shaken up.”
“Why are you doing all this?”
“Not sure I’m following.”
“The job. The apartment. Those guys back there … And now you coming out here to make sure I’m okay.” Her eyes narrowed as she said, “You don’t know me. I could be a psycho ax murderer, and yet here you stand, still doing what you can to help me, and I have no idea why.”
I didn’t respond. Hell, I didn’t know how. I had no clue why I’d gone out on such a limb for her. Clearly frustrated by my silence, she shook her head and said, “Just forget I asked. I need to get back to work.”
Without saying anything more, she turned and headed back inside, leaving me standing outside alone with my thoughts. I was tempted to go after her and try to explain myself but decided against it. She’d already been through enough for one night. There was no reason to add more bullshit to her plate, so I let her be and went to my office to get some work done.
Unfortunately, my mind kept drifting to Aubrey, which made it impossible to focus long enough to get anything done. I thought about my earlier conversation with Rafe and how he’d urged me to talk to Lynch. Knowing he was right, I sent Lynch a message and told him to come see me. A short time later, he stepped into my office and asked, “What’s up?”
“I have something I need to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” He sat down in the chair in front of my desk. “Whatcha got on your mind.”
“I wanted to talk to you about your grandparents. Specifically, your grandfather.”
“What about him?”
“He ever mention a girl named Aubrey Cash?”
“Not that I can I remember. Why?”
“Apparently, he has a connection with our new waitress, Aubrey. I don’t know what that connection is, but she knew your grandfather. Said he told her to come here if she ever needed a job.”
“Why the hell would he send her all the way here when they lived in fucking Colorado?”
“No idea. I was hoping you might be able to help me out with that.”
“Sorry, brother. I don’t have a fucking clue.” His brows furrowed as he asked, “She say how long it’s been since he told her that?”
“Apparently, it’s been awhile. She said she worked for them before going off to college, but I’m not sure I believe her.”
“Then, call her ass in here, and let’s find out what the hell she’s all about.”
“I don’t think that’s the best way to handle this, brother. There’s something going on with this girl. I can feel it. I think it’s best to just hold on and see how things play out.”
“But she came in here and talked about my family. She knew them. She could know something about what happened to them that day. How the hell am I supposed to just sit on that?”
“Just give me some time to build her trust. I’ll find out what her deal is, and we can go from there.”
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it one fucking bit, but you’re the boss here. I’ll do whatever you think needs to be done.”
“Appreciate it, brother, and I promise you’ll be the first to know when I figure this thing out.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.” Lynch stood up and took a few steps, but before he walked out of the room, he turned back to me and said, “My grandparents were good people, Menace. Really good people. They didn’t deserve what happened to them.”
“I know. I hate that shit happened to them.”
“If my grandfather sent her here, he’d want us to look out for her.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“Then, I’ll do the same.”
Lynch didn’t say anything more. He simply walked out of the office and went back to work. If it had been anyone else, I might’ve worried that he’d go interrogate Aubrey, but Lynch was a man of his word. I knew I didn’t have to worry about him, but at the same time, I also knew he’d hold me to my word and expect me to find out whatever I could about Aubrey. That wasn’t going to be a problem because I intended to find out everything I could about her.
The following day, I had some shit to take care of, so I got to the club later than usual. Mazie was on one stage while Brandy was on the other, and from all the hootin’ and hollerin’, it was clear that folks were enjoying the show. I made my rounds, and when I saw that things were rolling like they should, I went over to the bar to grab myself a drink. After
I gave Lisa my order, I turned to watch the crowd, pleased that everyone seemed to be having a good time. Lisa placed my beer on the counter and said, “Here ya go. Let me know if you need anything else.”
I gave her a wink, then picked up my beer and took a slug. I’d just placed it back down on the counter when I spotted Aubrey out of the corner of my eye. She was over by the front door, talking to some dude I’d never seen before, and he was eyeing her like she was his next big conquest. The longer I watched them banter back and forth, the angrier I became. I knew my reaction wasn’t justified, but that didn’t stop me from getting up and marching in their direction. Aubrey’s eyes widened as soon as she noticed me coming. My tone was harsher than I intended when I asked, “Everything okay over here?”
“Yep,” Aubrey answered. “Everything’s fine.”
“Yeah, buddy.” The guy snickered. “We’re just fine.”
“I’m not your fucking buddy, and I think it’s time for you to go.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” I motioned my head towards the door. “Time to call it a night.”
“But I just got here, and—”
“Apparently, you didn’t hear me.” I took a step closer to him as I growled, “I said it’s time for you to call it a night.”
“Fine.” He threw up his hands. “I’ll go. Damn.”
As soon as he walked through the door, Aubrey crossed her arms and asked, “What was that about?”
“That dickhead needs to learn you don’t come in here fucking around with one of my girls.”
“He wasn’t fucking around with me,” she argued. “He was asking about doing a bachelor party for one of his friends.”
“Well, he should’ve been talking to me about that shit, not you.”
“Ooh-kay,” she sassed. “You’re the boss.”
“Best you remember that.”
“Oh, I will. You can count on it.”
With that, she stormed off and went back to work. I’d fucked up. She knew it, and I knew. I just had no fucking clue what I was going to do about it. I went back over to the bar to finish off my beer and hadn’t been sitting there long when Aubrey came over to put in her order. She didn’t say a word, nor did she look in my direction. I couldn’t blame her, considering I’d been acting like a fucking ass. I’d hoped, in time, she’d get over it, but as the night went on, the silence continued. Every time she’d come up to the counter to put in an order, she’d do her best to pretend I wasn’t sitting two feet away from her, and I had no idea why. I could’ve simply ignored the fact that she was avoiding me like the plague, but my curiosity got the best of me.
When I spotted her going outside for her break, I decided to follow and found her leaning up against the back wall of the building, and she wasn’t looking too happy. Her expression was even less happy when she noticed me heading in her direction. She crossed her arms and asked, “Is there something I can help you with?”
“You could tell me what’s got you so riled up?”
“Oh, like you don’t know.”
“Why don’t you fill me in, and then we’ll both be on the same page.”
“Okay, if I must.” She pursed her lips and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, then inhaled a quick breath before saying, “I’m not one of your girls.”
“Excuse me?”
“Last night.” She motioned her hand towards the club. “With those guys who were acting like assholes. You said ‘no one puts their hands on one of my girls,’ and earlier tonight, you said it again.”
“Yeah, and?”
“I’m sure you have many, many girls you screw around with, but I’m not one of them. In fact, I’m nobody’s girl.”
The terrified woman from the night before was gone, and the woman with fire in her eyes had returned. It was this woman who’d come into my office and asked for a job. It was this woman who’d had the strength and determination to pretend she was someone she wasn’t—this woman who was currently making my cock rise to fucking attention. I held her glare as I took a step over to her and growled, “Maybe you missed it, but you work in a fucking strip club... a strip club I run with my brothers. It’s my job and theirs to make sure the women who work here are safe from assholes who don’t know how to keep their fucking hands to themselves—like the assholes who were fucking with you last night and the guy who was fucking with you earlier tonight.”
“Okay. Understood.”
“I certainly hope so.” Those baby blues were focused solely on me as I took a step closer and said, “But just to be sure...You should know there’s a big difference between being one of the girls who work in my club and one of the girls in my bed. Maybe one day, you’ll get the chance to know the difference.”
I watched as a spark of interest flashed through Aubrey’s eyes. I couldn’t begin to count the number of times I’d thought about having her in my bed, and from the way she was standing there looking at me, she’d thought about it too. A light blush swept across her face as she snapped, “What makes you think I’d ever want to know the difference.”
“Oh, you can deny it all you want, but we both know that you do.”
She rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh and muttered, “You are so full of yourself.”
“Only because I know I’m right.”
She glared at me for a moment, then brushed past me and headed towards the door. “Sorry to break it to you, but I won’t be around long enough for that to happen.”
Before I could say anything more, she disappeared back into the club, letting the door slam behind her. She clearly wanted this conversation to be over, but that wasn’t going to happen—not if I had anything to say about it. I charged into the club, and when I spotted her at the bar, I strode over to her and said, “I wasn’t done talking to—”
That’s all I got out of my mouth before she whipped around and slammed her drink tray right into the middle of my chest, sending a spray of various liquors all over me. Aubrey’s mouth dropped as she inhaled a surprised breath. That surprised look slowly evolved into a gratified smirk. Sarcasm dripped from her words as she snickered. “Oh, um...I’m so sorry.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Seriously. You startled me.”
She knelt down and started picking up the broken glass. “We have someone who’ll take care of that.”
“I made the mess. I’ll clean it up.”
I was tempted to ask her if the same held true for the mess she’d made of me, but I kept that thought to myself and simply walked away, leaving her and her little fucking smirk to finish cleaning up the mess on her own. I headed to my office and grabbed some clean clothes, then made my way into the bathroom. I could’ve just changed shirts, but I hoped a quick shower might improve my embittered mood. I quickly removed my soaked clothing, then turned on the shower. Without waiting for it to warm, I stepped inside, letting the frigid temperature cascade down my head and shoulders. I’d barely closed my eyes when she came crashing through my thoughts.
I didn’t know what it was about that woman, but she had me all tangled up. I thought back to our latest encounter and that sexy little smirk on her face, which led to the memory of her undressing in my office and how badly I wanted to fuck her—something I had no business thinking about. Not now. Not ever. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to get her out of my mind. One minute I was imagining Aubrey in her white lace blouse, how it embodied her innocence, and then the next, in that fucking uniform, how each and every one of her curves were accentuated by the thin black fabric.
Damn, I felt like I was coming apart at the seams. I had to get her out of my system and fast. Hoping it would knock the edge off, I turned the water to hot and took my throbbing dick in hand, fisting my fingers tightly around my pulsing shaft.
I started stroking my thick cock, envisioning Aubrey in my bed with my hand trailing across her perfect, round breast. I could almost feel her soft, smooth skin and imagined reaching for her erect nipple, twist
ing it gently between my fingertips. My breath quickened as I thought of her writhing against the soft cotton sheets as I touched her body—her skin blushing, thighs clenching, and toes curling while her little whimpers echoed through the room. With each image, my hand moved faster, gripping tighter, and every stroke had me closer to the edge. My dick pulsed in my hand when I imagined the expression on her face as I raked my tongue against her clit, tasting her, tormenting her until the moment when her back arched off of the bed as her orgasm surged through her body. Fuck. I stroked harder, faster, and just as I was reaching the point of no return, an unexpected movement drew my attention to the doorway. It was Aubrey. She was standing there watching me jacking off like there was no tomorrow.
I would’ve thought the sight might’ve had a woman like her running for the hills.
It didn’t.
Aubrey remained standing in the doorway, watching with lust-filled eyes as I moved my hand up and down my rigid cock. She could try to deny it, but she was much more interested in me than I’d even realized. And I liked it. I liked it a fucking lot. My hand never stopped moving as our eyes met; she gasped, and a bright red blush swept over Aubrey’s beautiful face, and then she was gone.
Damn.
Getting her out of my system was going to be harder than I thought.
Parker
I’d gone to his office to apologize for spilling drinks all over him, but I never got the chance. My innocent gesture turned into something completely different the second I spotted him in the shower. My brain short-circuited and turned me into a wanton peeping Tom. I couldn’t believe it. After months and months of living in constant fear and anguish, I felt something good—really good, and I didn’t want it to end. I let myself have the moment. It wasn’t like I had a choice. I was sucked in by all the steam, the hot water trickling down his bulging muscles, his unbelievable ass, which was absolute perfection—and his incredibly large hand stroking his incredibly large member. I was a goner.
