SWNOVELS STRIPTEASED: Chapter 21
I had just finished making my hair look casually tousled when Denver came into the dressing room we referred to as The Hell Hole. He’d probably been talking to the spotlight operators. For some reason, he was acting like the debut of our new routine tonight was like a big Broadway premiere. But these kinds of things made him happy.
“Don’t put on your costume yet,” he said.
“Why not?” We had about fifteen minutes before we were up, but we usually got into our costumes as soon as we could. You never knew what might happen. One time, the guy right before us slipped and fell onto a table of middle-aged middle school teachers, and we had to go on early. Other times, the manager decided that the drink orders were down and bumped some of the other acts for ours. That always made the other guys grumble, but it wasn’t our fault.
“There’s a published author in the audience tonight.”
It took me a moment to realize he meant Emma. One day last week, she, Ronnie, and Knox had spent an entire afternoon huddled around a laptop. The next day, Emma proudly showed us that her eBook was for sale online. “She’s here? Why?”
“Came in with her curly-haired friend to see the new routine.” He checked his watch. “We’ve got time to visit for a few.”
I followed him out of the dank and dusty little room.
We strode past the stage and made our way through the Friday night crowd. A guy turned without looking and nearly crashed into Denver. I grabbed my brother’s arm and jerked him out of the way. It never ceased to amaze me how many men came to the club. I supposed some were here to enjoy the show, but most seemed inclined to watch the women in the audience, not us.
Speaking of audience members… “What’s Emma’s friend’s name again?”
“Megan? Maggie?” Clearly Denver didn’t know, either. So much for him being the responsible twin.
We passed by the bar. Tonio was taking about twelve drink orders at once, but when he saw us, he jerked his head toward a spot midway along the wall on the far side of the room.
I’d just made out Emma’s shining mane of hair when someone grabbed my arm. “Hey Denver, can I buy you a drink?” Being called by my brother’s name barely fazed me—it came with the territory for identical twins.
The woman clinging to me had platinum-blonde hair and a dress so low-cut that from this angle, I could see both nipples and pretty much everything else. Christ, why even bother wearing clothes? But my job was to make customers happy, so I shook my head as if regretful. “Sorry, babe, but I’ve got to be up on stage soon.”
“Ah come on, Denver, you can be surrounded by my mountains anytime.” She rubbed her tits against my forearm.
“I’m not Denver, but good one.” With a little more force than I intended, I yanked my arm out of her grasp.
The real Denver was already talking to Emma and her friend when I arrived. “Good evening, ladies.” God, Emma looked hot. She had on a short gold skirt, a little black top with spaghetti straps, and high-heeled sandals at the ends of her delectable legs. She didn’t usually wear sexy clothes like that, and it pleased me to think that she’d worn them for me—well, for us.
“Did you make a new friend?” Denver was clearly amused. Over the young women’s heads, I gave him a look that clearly meant, ‘Fuck off.’ He smiled, obviously knowing what I wanted to say—and that I didn’t mean it.
Emma tugged on my shirt. “This is Maddie.” Maddie was a brunette and therefore not as prone to blushing as a strawberry blonde, but right now she was doing a pretty good job of it. Playing my role, I dipped my head, picked up her hand, and kissed the back of it. I winked at Emma as I straightened up. Emma giggled but her friend looked as if she’d been hit by a stun gun.
Emma said something, but I couldn’t hear, so I crouched down between the girls. “Look what came today!” she repeated. She pulled a paperback book out of her bag. It was jarring to see Tonio on the cover, but otherwise, it looked like a real book.
“Congratulations!” I gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and the brunette’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. I was beginning to wonder if she knew how to speak. “Did you buy your copy yet?”
Finally, her mouth opened. “Of what? Oh! No. I mean, yes. I bought the eBook the first day.”
I tried not to grin. Emma had been thrilled when she’d sold nearly ten dollars’ worth of eBooks right after it went live, but I’d been pretty sure those sales had come from the four of us, Ronnie, and this girl here.
Denver looked at his watch. “We’ve got to get going.”
I stood, one hand on the back of each woman’s chair. Maddie—or was it Maggie?—stared at me like she was trying to memorize me.
Emma was staring in a different way. Like she was glad to see us and excited about our act. “Good luck with your new routine.”
I smirked. “We’re too good to need luck. Plus, Denver did a great job on the choreography.”
“True. He’s the best.” She beamed up at him, but Denver was studying the stage, no doubt mentally rehearsing.
“Gotta go,” I said loudly enough to jolt him from his reverie. “Enjoy the show, ladies.”
I made a beeline for the bar, with Denver at my heels. Once I pushed through the crowd, I motioned Tonio over. “Emma doesn’t pay for drinks tonight.”
“Of course not.”
“But don’t let her drink too much,” Denver added.
“Of course not,” Tonio repeated, sounding a tad exasperated.
“Send them some appetizers so she’s not drinking on an empty stomach,” I said.
Tonio rolled his eyes. “If you two are going to keep acting like mama bears, maybe we should see if there are any breakaway bear costumes you can wear on stage.”
I shook my head and tried to catch Denver’s eye, but he was looking at the stage again, his mind clearly on our upcoming act.
“See you after,” I said to Tonio.
Things were simpler up on stage. The music blared. The lights blinded. But it was simple. I preened—the women screamed. I teased, tempted, and tantalized… and they went crazy and threw money my way. All in all, there were far worse jobs.
I couldn’t see Denver since he was on the other side of the stage, but I knew we were in sync. Judging by the noise level, the crowd loved the new act. I liked all the flips, leaps, and other acrobatic shit Denver had included just for me.
I ran to the front of the stage and fell to my knees, sliding past a row of women all reaching for me. Then I hopped up and met Denver in the center of the stage for our signature move. Couldn’t do an act without that, and we’d be doing it again near the end of the routine—only we’d be wearing a lot less then.
The women in the audience went crazy—all except two. Somehow, despite the noise, Emma was talking to her friend. The next sequence in the routine brought me to the part of the stage nearest her, and I was glad her table was on my side of the large room.
The increased screams as I ripped off my shirt finally caused Emma to look up. She caught my eye and beamed. From that moment on, I was dancing for her. Just for her.
Denver and I met in the middle of the stage again. I stood behind him and reached around to undo the top button of his breakaway jeans. Then he bent at the waist and I rolled over his back, like an action hero rolling over the hood of a car. Once I was in front, he reached around to undo my top button. I’d much rather have had Emma’s hands there, but the ladies seemed to enjoy our moves.
When I got back to Emma’s side of the stage, I scanned quickly for her shining hazel eyes and was astonished to see them pointed at another man. Some guy had pulled his chair next to hers and was talking to her.
Where’d she find him? He was older, with a comb-over. I tore my gaze away to twist, turn, and then drop to my knees, gyrating my hips. I was at least a half-beat late, and I could practically hear Denver’s annoyance. Hmm… maybe there was something to the twin telepathy everyone accused us of having.
We passed by each other, and he mouthed, ‘What the fuck?’
I matched his movements and put my all into the routine, but I couldn’t take my mind off Emma. Why did she want to talk to a guy like that?
The next time I was on her side of the room, I saw the answer: she didn’t. I could see it now. The hunch of her shoulders. The rigidity of her posture. I’d spent a long time studying her delectable curves, so it was easy to see when her body language revealed that something was off.
I scanned the room, expecting to see a familiar-looking giant stationed by the door, but Knox wasn’t there. I missed another few steps of the routine as I scanned for him. Then I spotted him, breaking up a fight at a back table. Perfect.
Strutting along the line of women reaching for me, I kept my eyes on Emma. She’d scooted her chair closer to her friend, but the guy had moved his chair, too. He put his hand on her arm, and she shook him off.
Where the fuck was Knox? But he was still dealing with the fight, which seemed to be between two screaming, surprisingly combative women.
Worried now, I looked over at Tonio, to see if he’d noticed Emma’s plight, but there were so many people crowded around the bar I doubted he could even see her.
I looked around right in time to see that creep try again. He reached out and put his hand on her bare thigh, running his fingers up her leg.
That’s when I saw red.