“Liz,” he says, throwing up his arms. “What other woman would I be talking about?”
“You’re telling me Liz is in there stripping?” I ask through clenched teeth, thinking of her in there. On stage. Half-naked. With men looking at her. Now I’m seeing red.
“This is your f**king fault, T!” Cash shouts, as he pokes me in the chest.
“You tell me, how’s this my fault?”
“When she came to Mike for the job, Mike asked her what you were going to think about this; she said that you don’t get a say in what she does.” Well that shit burned. She was right. Technically, I didn’t have a say in what she did; but she was mine, and I wasn’t sharing her with anyone.
“Look, all I'm saying is be cool when you go in there. Ed’s on the door tonight and said that Liz has been working a bachelor party.”
“Jesus, this shit just keeps getting better and better,” I mumble, running my hands over my head.
“Alright, I'm going to talk to Ed. You go in there and pull her aside; do not cause a scene.”
Liz
Oh lord, I think to myself, no money in the world is worth dealing with men like this. For the last three hours, I have been blocking hands right and left. I lost track of how many times I’ve told the guys that are included in the bachelor party “no touching”. I swear, the next time one of them grabs my ass, I’m going to kick them. “Can I get two more bottles, Rex?” I sigh, looking around the bar. I see Ed, the new bouncer, near the door. I squint my eyes a little, trying to see who he’s talking to. Damn! It looks like Cash, but that would be crazy; why would he be here? Stupid mascara. I blink a few times and still can’t see clearly.
“Cash,” I hear whined from behind me, and my heart climbs up my throat. I look over my shoulder to see Skittles running in the direction of the door.
“Oh my God!” I whisper, while ducking my head. I turn and start walking back towards the private room. I think I’m about to get away, but my luck crumbles around me when Skittles plows me over, her giant fake boobs in my face.
“Sorry,” she says in her fake, whiney voice. She’s lifted off before I can die of suffocation. Once I'm free, I roll to my stomach and start crawling on my hands and knees towards the private room doors, hoping that Cash is not anywhere near me. I make it halfway there, when I see a pair of brown work boots in front of me.
“Excuse me,” I say without looking up. I start to crawl around the owner of the boots, when they block my way again. I blow my hair out of my face, becoming frustrated by the person in front of me. Can’t they see I'm trying to get away? The person squats down, and I see denim-covered knees; then fingers are under my chin, lifting my face. “Crap,” I whisper, when I see Trevor’s brown eyes looking into mine.
“We need to talk.” He says quietly, and I can see by the look in his eyes that he’s pissed.
“No, we don’t need to talk,” I say, trying to stand. Who knew that getting up off the ground when you’re in high heels was so much work? I fall forward, my hands landing on his chest, and his going to my waist, steadying me. “Thanks,” I mumble. Not the first time wishing I knew magic, so I could cast a spell to stop whatever power it is that he has over me. I hate that my body craves his touch; I hate even more the fact that I crave it, knowing that he’s a big jerk. As I steady myself, I don’t look at his face again as I take a step around him.
“We need to talk,” he repeats, and I pretend that I don’t hear him. I continue walking towards the private room, where I know kick-ass Bambi, the man-hater is. “I'm not going to tell you again, baby,” he says, coming up behind me, pulling my back to his front.
“Let me go, Trevor.” I say quietly, trying not to cause a scene. He doesn’t say anything, but wraps his arms around my waist, walking me with him down the hall towards Mike’s office. I start to struggle to get away, when I see the door getting closer. I don’t want to talk to him, and when I had wanted to talk to him, he didn’t want to listen. I squirm and almost make it free of him, when he gets Mike’s office door open, shoves me inside, and slams the door behind him. “Great. Just great,” I grumble to myself, as if I had a chance of winning that battle. I put my hand on my hips, ready to give him some major attitude, when he takes my breath away.
“Jesus, you look beautiful!” he says, walking towards me with a look of hunger in his eyes. I start walking backwards, caught off guard.
“Um…thanks,” I say, looking over my shoulder and noticing that I'm heading towards the couch. Knowing that I don’t want to be near any horizontal surfaces and Trevor at the same time, I start making my way towards the desk, hoping that I can put it between us. “Stop,” I say, holding out my hand when I see how close he is to me. He stops, and I roll the desk chair between us to block his way. “Okay,” I breathe; he raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms over his chest. I wish he wasn’t so good looking. His dark brown hair is cut low to his scalp; his brown eyes are made more beautiful with the long lashes that frame them. His jaw is square, and like always, it looks like he needs to shave; the dark growth around his mouth makes his full lips stand out even more.
He’s a lot taller than my five-five-and-a-half; even in the six-inch heels I'm wearing now, he towers over me.
His eyes rake over me, and his mouth goes into a flat line. “What are you doing, Liz?” I look around Mike’s office, avoiding his question. I notice that I'm not too far from the door; I might be able to make it there before him if I kick off my shoes. “Try it and I’ll spank you.” Okay, really? I’m ignoring that comment. I slide my foot out of one heel, but don’t put my foot down. I don’t want him to notice what I'm doing until the last possible second. “Talk to me,” he growls, and I glare at him. “You’re working at a f**king strip club for God’s sake; what the f**k is going on?” he roars, leaning towards me.