Trouble (12 page)

He moaned, tearing his mouth away from hers to bury it in her neck. He nibbled and licked at the taut, exposed skin and reached for the hem of her T-shirt.

“Can I join in?”

Samair tensed in his arms and his movements stalled.

“Hey, Joey,” Samair said huskily, looking over Val’s shoulder with heavy-lidded eyes.

He couldn’t see the newcomer, but he could feel her presence close behind him, and the look in Samair’s eyes wasn’t telling him anything. Was she into threesomes? Shit, was she into women? He’d seen the two girls dance together, but women teased and taunted on the dance floor all the time so he’d thought nothing of it.

There was a rustling noise behind him. Joey.

“Val?” Samair said softly.

He gave a small shake of his head and smacked her on the ass. “This was supposed to be a business stop only. If I’m going to take you to the Dungeon tonight, I have to go do some work now. Maybe another time.”

She slid off his lap and he stood to leave. He’d had a few threesomes before, and they weren’t that great. Sure it was hot to watch two women make out, but when naked, he preferred one woman, focused completely on him.

 

 

S
amair watched Val say good-bye to Joey and saunter out the door. The minute the door closed Joey turned to her with a giggle. “Who’d have thought the offer for a threesome would scare that man away?”

Samair waved her hand. She didn’t think the idea of a threesome scared Val. She didn’t think the idea of
anything
scared Val. He’d come by with a business proposition, and that was what had happened.

“Oh, oh! Guess why he was here.”

Joey wiped the corner of her mouth with a fingertip. “Sorry, gotta wipe the drool off. You two were so fucking hot, I’m on fire from just watching you.”

Samair fought a blush, which was silly because it wasn’t like Joey had never seen her have sex before. A threesome in college was what had started their own short-lived affair. She waved away the thoughts of sex . “He asked me to put on a lingerie show at Risqué!”

Joey’s jaw dropped.

Samair grabbed her by the arms and started jumping up and down. She couldn’t contain herself any longer.

“A show, Joey. In the club. He said it’ll be a private event, like an auction. He’ll do all the promotions and bring in the buyers. All I have to do is supply the lingerie and the models.” She stopped dead. “You’ll model for me, right? You and Tara and Kelly? Will Jason and Rob be into it, too? I might need a couple more, too, the five of you might not be enough. I have to get busy. I need more outfits.”

Her brain was zipping along at a mile a minute. So much to think about, so much to do.

“Of course we’ll model for you. This is gonna be awesome. Trouble will rock the club!”

Samair spun around on her heel. “I need to raid your closet. Have you ever heard of the Dungeon? I’m supposed to go there tonight with Val.”

“the Dungeon?” Joey followed her into the bed area. “Sammie, honey, that’s a sex club.”

Clothing thoughts fled and images of couples in all sorts of positions filled her head. Her tummy clenched and her sex throbbed. “Really?”

“Yeah. I never knew you were so into kink. Although that certainly explains the dangerous air around Valentine. And why there’s never any gossip about him and women around the club.” She tilted her head a little, her eyes wide with laughter and intrigue. “Why didn’t you tell me he was a fetish freak? What’s your fetish? Sammie, you
have
changed.”

Samair smacked her on the arm and laughed. “I don’t have any fetishes. Shit, I barely even know what fetishes are.” Panic hit. “Joey. Talk to me. I don’t want to look like a complete innocent tonight.”

“Honey, a complete innocent doesn’t bend over and let a guy she barely knows fuck her in the back room of a nightclub.”

She wouldn’t blindfold him and search out all his erogenous zones either. She’d been living by the seat of her pants for almost two weeks, and she’d never been so happy. Things were going well. She just needed to keep moving forward.

No fear.

 

 

 

 

A
fter going through her closet with Sammie and napping for a few hours, Joey was full of energy. She was also determined to get laid. She’d interrupted Val and Sammie twice now, and the pheromones the couple exuded whenever they were close more than reminded her just how long it’d been since she’d had any action.

“If I don’t come home tonight, don’t worry, okay?” Joey said as she stepped out of the cab.

Sammie shut the cab door and turned to her. She gestured to her long black pencil skirt and short PVC coat that was belted to hide the boned leather corset she’d borrowed. Sammie’s boobs were a cup size bigger than Joey’s, and she was feeling a bit shy about the way she spilled over the top, but she was trying to hide her nerves. “Looking like this, I’m thinking I might not make it home tonight, myself.”

They high-fived and sashayed past the line outside the club. When Joey saw the big blond just inside the door, her pulse jumped and something fluttered in her stomach.

“Hi, Mike.” Playing the part, Joey trailed her fingertip across the bouncer’s muscled chest. “Is it going to be a good night?”

Mike Davis was a fairly new addition to the security staff at the club, and had been her secret crush for the past six months. The first time she’d seen him was the first time she’d ever been speechless in front of a man.

He was a constant flirt. His close-cropped blond hair and baby face gave him a boy-next-door look, but the twinkle in his green eyes said he had a bit of the devil in him. The right kind of devil.

“It’s always a good night when you’re dancing, Joey,” he said with a wink.

“You gonna put that boy out of his misery tonight?” Sammie asked after they were inside the club.

They stopped for a minute at the rail overlooking the lower floor. Joey tried not to stare at Mike where he stood twenty feet away. The dark suit jacket he wore over his T-shirt fell smoothly from his broad shoulders and looked real nice, but it hid his butt. She wanted to see that butt, amongst other things. “Yeah, I think it’s time to go for it.”

“I don’t get why you haven’t gone for it before,” Samair said.

She shrugged.

“Uh-uh.” Sammie stepped in front of her and looked her in the eye. “You don’t get to just shrug it off with me. Spill it, Joey.”

“Spill what?”

But there was no fooling her. “You’re never shy with guys, so what’s so special about him?”

“He’s so . . . God, it sounds so stupid.” She realized she was twisting her ring around on her finger, a sure sign of nerves. “He’s just so
nice
.”

Sammie laughed. “Nice is a good thing, Joey.”

Heat crept up her neck and she cursed the gene that gave her red hair and fair skin. “I know nice is good, but I don’t have much experience with nice guys. And as much as he flirts with me, he’s never asked me out. Shit, I’ve never seen him take any girl home from work. Maybe he’s gay.”

Sammie turned and looked him over again. “He doesn’t look gay to me.”

She didn’t really believe he was gay either. Nope, no way was that man gay. He had way too much testosterone. However, there was no denying he was a nice guy . . . and she’d always been a bad girl. He’d probably never be interested in a girl like her—a dancer. But he was a man, and there were few men who would turn her down if she offered them a no-strings night of lovin’. She’d wanted him since she first saw him, and she was going to have him.

“I’ll go flirt with him later. I’d better get down on the floor first.”

“Joey.”

“What?” She met Sammie’s gaze and felt her blush return. She couldn’t hide anything!
Damn it!

“Don’t be a chicken shit. Go talk to him now. Make a date for after work.”

“I have to teach tomorrow. Maybe tonight isn’t a good night after all.”

Samair frowned. “Joey.”

Jesus! What was wrong with her? She’d been hot for Mike for six months and she wanted to get laid. What was the big deal? “Fine. Whatever. I’ll go talk to him now.”

Her heart pounded in her ears and her palms started to sweat as she strolled back to the front door.

Mike saw her coming and turned to face her head on. His mouth shaped a smile and his eyes twinkled. “Hey, Joey. What’s up?”

For her, life was an all or nothing type of thing. If she was going to do something, she didn’t hold back. So she sucked in her stomach, stuck out her chest, and tossed her hair. “Nothing much. I was just standing over there watching you, and I couldn’t help but wonder what you were doing after work tonight.”

His smile widened. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
All or nothing.
“I’m asking you to take me home with you.”

A bark of laughter jumped from his lips and Joey’s stomach dropped. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.” She waved a hand and turned away. Before she went two steps, a large hand gripped her elbow and stopped her.

“Joey, wait!” He stepped in front of her, blocking her exit. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. You just surprised me.”

She held her head up. “It’s okay, sugar. It was just a passing thought.”

“Really? Because I don’t like to be a passing thought, but I do like you.” He crossed his arms over his massive chest and gazed at her steadily.

The next move was hers.

She cocked her hip and flashed him a flirty smile. “Then why don’t we hook up after work and talk about this some more?”

He smiled and her heart skipped a beat. “I’d like that.”

 

 

 

 

S
amair was watching Joey work her wiles on the big doorman when she felt a solid presence behind her. Her nipples hardened and saliva pooled in her mouth. Val.

A hand touched her shoulder and his lips brushed against her ear when he spoke. “What’s so interesting over there?”

She turned and faced him. “Joey’s hitting on your bouncer.”

“Hmm, they’d make an interesting couple. Beauty and the beast.”

While Mike was no beast, she could see where the comparison came from. He pretty much dwarfed anyone who stood next him.

“Enough about them. You’re early.”

“I shared a cab with Joey. Figured I’d have a drink first and take a good look around so I can start imagining the show. I want to be able to use the stairs and everything, not just the stage.” She looked at him. “Would that be okay?”

“Whatever you want,” he murmured, his eyes liquid as his hands reached for the sash on her coat. “What are you hiding under here tonight?”

She let him undo the sash and hold the coat open. His eyes ran the length of her body, heating her insides to a melting point. Her insides clenched and her juices started to flow south. “Good enough?”

“Very, very bad,” he muttered. “But in a very good way.”

He pulled her coat closed. “Give me five minutes and we can go.” He planted a fast and hard kiss on her lips and strode back into his office.

Arms wrapped around her from behind and a soft kiss was pressed to Samair’s cheek. “Have fun tonight, okay? And stick close to Val. Don’t wander off in the Dungeon without him.”

Samair turned and smiled at Joey. “Yes, Mom. How’d it go with Mike?”

She blushed and her shoulders lifted in a delicate shrug. “We’re going to talk more after work.”

“Talk, huh?” Samair waggled her eyebrows.

Joey giggled like a little schoolgirl and they said good-bye.

Val came out of his office then, still dressed in dark dress slacks and button-down silk shirt, but his suit jacket was replaced with a leather one. Not his biker one from earlier that afternoon, but a different, stylized one that reeked of expensive taste. They were stopped three times by staff members on the way out the door and Samair wondered who managed the club when Val wasn’t there.

“I don’t have a second-in-command, but each area has a supervisor. Head bartender, head waitress, head of security. They all do their part and close up together if I’m not back.” They exited through the back door of the club and stopped next to a gleaming black and chrome Harley. “Besides, I’ve got my cell phone if they need me.”

He lifted one of the helmets from the seat of the bike and turned to Samair. “Ever been on one of these before?”

She looked at the helmet, the bike, her skirt, then finally into Val’s face. “Can’t we take a cab?”

“You’ll love it. I promise.”

He fitted the helmet onto her head while she practiced deep breathing and tried to calm her racing heart. Motorcycles were sexy when someone else was on them, but they scared the living shit out of her. There was no protection from an accident on those things; they were called death traps for a reason.