Her Gentle Giant, Part 2: Remember to Dance (23 page)

Rachel knew that Eli’s bachelor party was not the typical bachelor party. They had not been turned loose in the strip club to sample the delights of all the women who made their living there. Charity had been along to raise the standard of conduct a little and help form a buffer around Eli.

The same basic privileges were afforded to her at the other club. Grace had Adam sit right next to Rachel, and though there were a number of dancers, none touched her inappropriately. Once she made the call and talked to Eli, giving him a green light to interact with the two dancers Charity had specifically hired for him, Adam did the same basic thing for Rachel and found two dancers who were conversational, charming, and willing to work within the same parameters.

No one touched the zippers on her skirt or anything under it, nor were they allowed to touch from the top of her cleavage down, ensuring her breasts were untouched. She had an interesting encounter with one of the two dancers Adam had hired to entertain her personally. He had agreed to the rules, and as he had danced for her, he lifted the silver heart to look at it since it rested well above her cleavage. When he saw a man’s name, he gently turned the tag, and she saw more than just the expected smiling reaction in the dancer’s eyes.

Later, he gestured to the silver tag on her collar. “For some people, that tag has a powerful message from your fiancé. I take it as an honor to be one of the dancers chosen to entertain you.” He sipped his drink and grinned up at Taylor, her other dancer, as he danced for Rachel from the stage she sat next to.

Rachel’s curiosity was piqued. “What does it mean to you? I’m sorry, that sounds rude. The collar was a shower gift, but the tag means something special to me. What does it mean to you?” She hoped she didn’t offend him with the blunt question.

“It means that you are precious and valuable to your fiancé. It’s a way of marking you and warning others off, obviously. It is also significant because you allowed him to display it on you openly like this. You must be deeply in love with him.”

Rachel’s cheeks tingled with heat, and she said simply, “Soul deep.” She missed Eli very much in that moment.

“I can see that.”

Grace and the others were blissfully ignorant of their conversation, busy cheering for Taylor and waving bills to get him to come dance for them. Even her mom was busy flirting and having fun. She smiled at Brandon and thanked him. The conversation was a strangely comfortable moment in the midst of in a sea of erotic and, at times, comical interaction between the women and the dancers.

“How’s your drink? Are you ready for another?” Brandon asked, once again playing the role of exotic dancer. She had him order another for both of them.

He peered at her and said, “You’re looking serious and contemplative. I’m sorry if I ruined the sexy bachelorette vibe you had going.”

“You didn’t, not at all. But you have given me some food for thought.”

“Well, Rachel, it has been more than a pleasure to serve you
and
your fiancé tonight. Make sure and tell Eli I was honored,” Brandon said as he rose from his seat. “How about I give you something more…
stereotypical
to think of for a little while. After all, you
are
in a strip club. Ready for another lap dance?” he asked with a devilish gleam in his pretty green eyes.

“Twist my arm, why don’t you?” She enjoyed the attentions of both Brandon and Taylor. They were sexy, sensual, and erotic in their moves and dances without carrying it too far. But she felt an unmistakable camaraderie with Brandon.

* * * *

Eli felt his cheeks flush with pleasure that refusing the lap dance meant that much to Rachel.

Charity grinned widely and continued. “Rachel wants you to have a good time. She wanted me to find two beautiful dancers that looked
nothing
like her who would work within her parameters but still show you a sexy, good time.”

“She did, did she? What limitations did she give?” he asked, looking at an impish Cami as she giggled behind her hand before answering him.

“Basically, we can touch you anywhere except for your hair and your crotch. Everything else is fair game. I like your fiancée. She’s got spunk!”

“You have
no
idea.” Eli found it ironic that Rachel’s
voice
on the phone had gotten him hard when the sexy little thing wearing nothing but a thong and those high heels hadn’t. Maybe the sight of them only affected him when Rachel wore them.

“Well, now you have no worries, right? You know me and Charlotta will be taking good care of you and that we will keep our hands out of your fiancée’s private territory. Charity said that you receive a lot of unwanted attention from women who come in the club and that Rachel is the jealous type. We know how that is. We both have boyfriends. At least our bouncers keep most of the customers from touching us. You kind of have to take it, don’t you, or lose their business?”

Eli shrugged. “It’s not as bad since Rachel and I got engaged. She handles it pretty well now and has even made some new friends that way. Most people are pretty decent that come in there.”

“I’m going to talk to Charlotta about visiting The Dancing Pony sometime. It would be nice to go out to a club and keep my shirt on while I dance with something besides a shiny pole,” she added, chuckling. “Enjoy your drink, and I hope you take me up on the offer of a lap dance. Charlotta is coming on now and then she’ll come sit with you again. You should let Char give you a lap dance. She’s smokin’ hot!” She patted his chest before leaving their group to mingle with the customers.

Charlotta did a slow, sexy striptease out of a sexy red satin evening gown and gloves to “Santa Baby” sung by Kellie Pickler. She paid special attention to Eli but danced for all the men seated at the stage. Later, she rejoined them at their table, clad in her red satin G-string and red tasseled pasties, thanking all the men as they handed her more folded bills.

Justin ordered Charlotta a drink, and she chatted with Eli, Justin, and Charity. “You’re fiancée sounds like a lot of fun, Eli. Are you ready for your lap dance?” The other men happened to hear her question and cheered him on, even Peter.

“Sure,” he said, meeting with shouted approval from all the men.

Charlotta rose from her chair and led him to a low bench-like seat located at the end of the stage. She sat him down on the edge. Placing her hands over his on the seat, she said, “Just keep your hands here and let me do the rest, Eli.”

She leapt onto his thighs, gracefully resting on her shins. Balancing perfectly, she rose up to press her perfumed breasts into his face and began to dance for him, gyrating to the loud music. She slid down onto only one of his thighs and continued to dance for him, sensual and sexy, but she was true to her promise to Rachel and Charity and never once touched his cock or his hair, even accidentally.

After the dance, she escorted him back to the table and sat in the seat Justin offered while Charity sat in Eli’s at his insistence. Charity saw to it that Charlotta had another drink and slipped her an extra tip for executing the dance without breaking the rules.

Cami’s next dance started, and they enjoyed watching her shake her tail feathers, this time in a little Christmas Elf costume. She danced to another Christmas song, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” sung by The Ronettes, and playfully slipped a red and white Santa hat on Eli’s head and kissed his cheek, Cami threw down her best moves for Eli and his table as the smiling men waved money for her to come and collect. She flirted with them enthusiastically before moving down the stage to entertain the other customers. Charlotta chatted with them a while longer then excused herself to go get ready for her last dance. They invited her back for one last drink afterward before it was time for them to go. She happily agreed and excused herself.

After finishing her dance, Cami returned immediately to their table, clad in her red and white candy-striped thong and stilettos. “Charlotta says we’re going to visit The Dancing Pony some night when we’re both off for the evening and our boyfriends can get away.”

Charity had a twinkle in her eye. “Cami, why don’t you call me and let me know what night, and I’ll make sure and let the girls know. I have a question for you. Have you ever been asked to give lessons in striptease?”

“All the time. Sometimes the customers bring in their wives, and if the wives are cool, they have a good time. It’s those wives that will ask if we give lessons in pole dancing or stripping. None of us are professional instructors, but we can teach what we know. Did you know you can buy your own pole online to use at home?”

“Yeah,” Justin said with a big wide smile. “I got her one for Christmas last year.”

Charity leaned into him and kissed him. “He sure did. He was very appreciative of my efforts, but I think I’d learn more from interacting with a teacher than I did from watching the video. I’d like to talk to you sometime about that. I’ll bet Rachel would fall all over herself signing up for those lessons, too.”

“Now see,
this
is what makes this job fun,” Cami said to Charity. “You girls get that we do this for a living and that we’re not hooker sleazebags trying to steal your husbands. Unfortunately, not all the women that come in with their husbands are cool with it. They want to prove something to themselves, and they get uncomfortable or self-conscious and wind up resenting us, their husbands, or themselves. This is entertainment, and I have no desire to run off with anyone’s man.”

“Does your boyfriend come in while you work? Is he okay with you doing your job?” Charity asked.

Cami replied, “We have a unique situation, not typical at all. He’s also a dancer. Contrary to popular opinion, male strippers are not all gay, nor are they self-obsessed. He stripped during his college days to help pay his tuition because he could make more doing that than waiting tables and had more time for studying. He’s working tonight at the club you told me your sister took Rachel to.” She patted Eli’s chest. “He may be giving her a lap dance right now!”

In an oddly bizarre way, Eli found that both amusing and acceptable. If he’d been questioned yesterday what he thought about
any
man giving Rachel a lap dance, he would have gone ballistic, but Charity was handling things well on this end, and he was confident that Adam was having similar good luck at the other club.

“Really!” Charity laughed at the irony. “What’s his name?”

“His stage name is Brandon, but his real name is Jacob. He prefers to not use his real name. A lot of us do that.”

“Is Cami your real name, if you don’t mind me asking?” Charity asked in a lower voice.

“Not at all. It’s short for Camilla. No one’s called me Cami since high school, except for here. I like things simple. So are you going to take me up on my earlier offer for a lap dance?” she asked cheekily as she stepped from her chair gracefully and crooked her finger at him. “I promise I’ll
mind my manners
. I’d be just as territorial as Rachel if you were my fiancé. Come with me, and I’ll make this as painless as possible for you.” She grinned wickedly, swinging her hips, her breasts bobbing like little ripe melons as she seated him on the low couch against the wall.

More cheering cat calls came from the men at his table, but he ignored them and grinned admiringly up at her as he sat on his hands. “I’m helpless. Do your worst.”

“You know that old expression, right? ‘When I’m good I’m really good—’”

He nodded and laughed. “‘But when I’m bad, I’m even better?’ Yeah, Rachel used it on me earlier this evening. You two
should
meet.”

“Your fiancée sounds so cool! Does she like to dance?” she asked as she slid down over his thighs, grinding on his knee.

“The first time I saw her, she was dancing. I was half in love by the time ‘Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy’ was finished playing.”

She looked surprised and said, “Shooey! That was a close call! It was a toss-up what to play for my last dance earlier, and I picked a holiday number over ‘Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy.’ I wouldn’t have wanted to mess that up for you.” She smiled sassily as she shook her breasts right in his face, careful to not touch his hair when she gripped his shoulders. “Tell me what she’s like,” she said, dancing for him but distracting him with questions about Rachel at the same time, bless her, because she was good.

“Tall, beautiful, brunette, voluptuous and perfect. She’s self-confident and sassy, like you. She works as a bookkeeper, but she is also a writer. She just finished her first book.”

Cami carefully turned in his lap and gave him an up close view of her tight little tush, saying cheekily, “Sorry, Eli, it’s not a lap dance if I don’t do that move at least once. I don’t want management to think you got cheated. What does she write?”

Eli chuckled, thinking she’d probably never had to explain
why
she used that move before. “She writes erotic romance.”

She turned to look at him in pleased surprise. “Hot damn! Good for her! I hope I get to read her book someday.”

“Me, too.”

“I’ll bet you’re her
muse
, aren’t you?” she asked as she shook her breasts in his face again. He smiled but must have looked doubtful because she added, “Trust me, Eli, you are
definitely
muse material.”

“Thanks, Cami. You’re a real sweetheart.”

“Back at ya! I’ve enjoyed getting to visit with you tonight. That Charity is a real hoot, too. Her sister sounds like a peach.”

She climbed from his lap, and he rose from the bench. “Grace and Rachel are close. She and my sister are the ones planning our wedding. She’s multi-talented.”

Charity cackled, looking at the screen on her phone as they returned to the table. “Shit a monkey! Look at this!”

Justin looked and frowned at Eli. “Dude, it’s a picture of Rachel getting a lap dance. You sure you wanna look?”

Eli scoffed and held out his hand for the phone. “Man, the woman trusts and loves me enough to arrange for me to have a couple of lap dances in a strip club, how can I object? Adam is right there with her. He probably interviewed and fingerprinted that dancer before he let him anywhere near Rachel.”

Cami held out her hand. “Can I see?” Charity handed her the phone first, and she grinned and laughed as she said, “Guess who that is dancing for her.” She turned the phone so he could see.

Eli looked at the picture on the screen. Rachel was sitting in a low, armless chair, her hands in her lap as a male stripper danced for her in a leather G-string. She was smiling and laughing gaily in the picture, looking like she was having a blast. Then he noticed her zippers. They were right where he had left them, zipped all the way down.

“Your boyfriend?”

“Yep! And oooh, Eli! She is hotter than hell in all that
leather
. You two make the perfect couple. Wanna take a picture to send back to her?”

She and Charlotta posed with Eli, and Charity sent the picture to Adam’s phone. A text came back a minute later.

Wow! They’re pretty!

Ask them if they give striptease lessons for me?

I love you, honey!

He chuckled when Charity showed him the message then showed it to Cami and Charlotta.

“Tell your fiancée we’ll
both
give her lessons. You, too, Charity,” Charlotta said.

“And Grace, too!” Cami added, giggling playfully when both Jack and Ethan perked up at that news.

“Hot damn!” Jack hollered.

“Hell yeah!” Ethan yelled. “Charity, text Adam back and let him know. Lessons for any of the ladies who want them are on me.”

The girls stayed for a little while longer, finishing their drinks. The men talked Brice into accepting the lap dance offered by the sexy little dancer with short, spiky, black hair. He behaved himself like a perfect gentleman, saying only appropriately complimentary things to her, and tipped her generously when she was finished.

The driver arrived at eleven, and the two dancers rose from their seats and thanked all the men for their generosity. They both gave Eli a light peck on the cheek and wished him and Rachel all the best and promised to get their boyfriends to bring them out to The Dancing Pony soon. They told Charity they’d let her know when, after she gave them her number. Charity texted Adam to let him know they were about to leave and return to The Pony and Adam texted back, saying all the girls were ready to return to the club, too.

Sounding a little nervous, Brice asked, “What are we gonna do when we get there and they smell other women’s perfume on us?” Eli had personally heard Corina assure Brice he should have a good time. She’d said she had a friend who was a stripper in college and that she trusted Brice. It was obvious the poor guy didn’t want to screw up with his sweet little girlfriend.