by Virna DePaul
“Hi,” he said.
Lucy smiled but her eyes were still on the two girls at the bar. “A little young for you, don’t you think?”
“A little young for anyone here. The blonde is wasted and trying to get Ryan to buy her more alcohol. I think she needs a warm glass of milk and a bedtime story instead.”
Lucy’s lips twitched.
“How are you, Luce?” he asked gently.
A shadow flickered in her gaze before she said, “I’m good. The funeral was really nice. I-I didn’t get to meet Milly, my niece, but I’m hoping that’ll change. That her aunt, Mason’s sister, will let me visit soon. I’ve called several times and asked to see her, but –”
Rick interrupted. “Great seeing you, Jamie,” he said. “Lucy, I’ll see you backstage in five.”
As the man walked away, Jamie asked, “Backstage?”
Lucy’s grin grew wider but it appeared strained. “Yep. Open Strip Night’s about to begin.”
And she was going to…what? Strip? “You can’t be serious.”
She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve never stripped for an audience before. I think it’ll be fun.”
Fuck, he thought, his fists clenching. He couldn’t deny the idea of Lucy stripping for him would be hot. But the idea of her stripping in public…especially tonight’s public…
“Is this some kind of joke? Did you know I’m here with my friends?”
“Melina mentioned it…”
“So are you doing this to prove a point?”
“What kind of point?”
“That I don’t have any hold on you.”
When her eyes flickered, Jamie sucked in a breath. She was doing it to make a point. Maybe it wasn’t her entire motivation, but it was at least part of it. So what the hell did that mean? That she had something to prove to him? Or to herself?
“We both know you don’t have any hold on me, Jamie. You’re just a friend who helped me out when I needed you. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Jamie wanted to grab her arm and drag her outside. Push her up against the wall and kiss her—no, fuck her—until she admitted she cared about him and was deliberately trying to push him away. Until she begged him for release and another chance to be in his life.
Instead, he watched her walk away.
* * *
Several minutes later, Lucy stood back stage with her heart pounding so hard and so loud she suspected everyone else in the room must be able to hear it as well.
A couple of years ago, she’d used an article from the Huffington Post to get her students started on a debate. The question posed by the article was whether or not stripping empowered women. Her class ended up divided on the issue, with about half believing it did empower women, while the other half felt it was degrading.
Lucy’s opinion was it could be either one. In situations where women were powerless or abused, of course it could be degrading. But here in her friend’s club, where Lucy was choosing to bare her body for a crowd of men out to have a good time…well, the thought of stripping definitely made her feel empowered.
Lucy didn’t have any problems with nudity. She worked hard at staying fit and she liked knowing that men enjoyed looking at her. Moreover, the idea of Jamie watching her as she stripped turned her on immensely. She actually got wet just thinking about it. And when she thought of him getting aroused while he watched her…and thought of him jerking off as he replayed the memory of her taking off her clothes…well, it was almost enough to make her orgasm right there on the spot.
The only thing that put a damper on her excitement—and it was a huge thing—was the fact Jamie so clearly didn’t want her to strip. Not in public. Certainly not in front of his friends. And despite her bravado when she’d talked to him just now, she wasn’t sure she could actually do it.
He was such a good man and he’d been so kind to her.
But she kept telling herself she needed to do this. Needed to push him away. Needed to do something so dramatic that they’d forever be stuck in the Friend Zone. Right where they belonged.
She thought about him all the time. Seeing him again had hit her even harder than she’d expected. She knew that if she had a few drinks and lowered her inhibitions, she’d be all over him in a flash.
Then where would she be?
In a whole heap of trouble, that was for sure.
She needed to prove to him and to herself that she was free to do whatever she wanted and that there was nothing between them to tie her down.
And she needed to do it right now.
* * *
“Hey man, meet Maggie.” Cole said, the brunette he’d approached earlier on his arm.
“Nice to meet you, Maggie,” Jamie said even as he glanced back at the stage, where a limber blonde was finishing up her striptease. One woman had already gone before her.
Would Lucy be next or was it possible she’d changed her mind?
Fuck, he needed to get out of here. Get his friends out of here.
As the blonde left the stage to enthusiastic applause, Jamie turned to Cole. “We need to leave.”
Cole frowned. “Why? What’s wrong?”
He didn’t have a chance to answer before the music went on again.
A metal pole rose on the stage just as Lucy stepped out.
She was in disguise, but he recognized her immediately.
She wore a long blond wig that fell to her waist, a pair of skintight black leather pants, and a white button-up blouse. On her feet she wore black stilettos with what appeared to be an eight-inch heel. It made his tiny Lucy look like she was six feet tall. Across her eyes she wore a black Lone Ranger mask. As he watched, she began to move her hips in time to the music. He was spellbound by the contrast between the deep red of her fingernails and the white of her blouse as she opened each button one at a time, slowly exposing a sensual trail of skin interrupted only by a tiny little white lace bra.
Jamie shuddered at the memory of what she had hidden under that bra and he felt a tickle of anticipation in the pit of his belly. It was the same tickle he’d felt every time he’d been about to touch her flesh or brush his lips or tongue across her hard nipples.
She thrust her hips as she slowly turned around, facing away from a gathering group at the front of the stage. Men screamed and whistled, begging her to “take it off.”
She complied, letting the blouse slip down slowly to her wrists. She slipped off one sleeve and then the other before tossing the shirt into the audience. Her hips didn’t stop moving the entire time and Jamie could feel the tightness in his chest as he watched her and tried to remember to breathe.
Now clad only in her skintight pants and a tiny bra, which couldn’t quite contain the swell of her breasts or disguise the dark rose of her areolas, she moved over to the pole and took it in one hand. She hiked up one leg and rested it against the pole as she spun around it. Jamie was so taken in by her performance that he almost forgot that others’ eyes were on her as well.
Almost.
Lucy backed away from the pole, and unbuttoned and unzipped her tight leather pants, then began to push them down her hips and luscious thighs.
Jamie’s cock pressed hard against his zipper. Many of the other men were in the same predicament. Some of them were actually rubbing themselves through their pants, and that immediately snapped him out of his own erotic haze. Anger and jealousy washed over him.
His gaze shot back to Lucy. She’d slipped off her shoes and had her pants pushed down to her ankles now. Once again, she turned her back to the audience and bent over as she extricated her feet from the bottom of the pants. She shook her ass the entire time, giving him and every other person in the room a glimpse of the red thong between her rounded ass cheeks.
He wondered if she was wet. He wanted to dip his fingers in her pussy and rub the juices across her full lips before he kissed her….
The shouts of the crowd once again tore him from his reverie. Men circled around the stage and some stood on
stools or even tables with their smartphones aimed at Lucy. All at once Jamie knew why she’d worn the wig and mask. She might not care if men saw her naked, but she was being smart about her little adventure— smart enough to think about the reaction the university might have if one of those videos got out.
Jamie looked back up at her. She’d once again wrapped her leg against the strip pole and appeared to be grinding against it. His cock felt like it was going to burst in his pants. God, what he’d give to be that pole right now, feeling her rubbing against him.
When she reached behind her to take off her bra, however, that was the final straw.
No way.
No way in hell were any of these people going to see the beautiful breasts he’d once had the pleasure of caressing, licking, and sucking.
Within seconds, Jamie had vaulted up on the stage and gathered a shocked Lucy up in his arms. He carried her backstage. When she began to struggle, he set her down on her feet.
“What the hell—” she began, just as one of the bouncers grabbed Jamie from behind.
“No! Wait, it’s okay,” Lucy said. “Tell Rick I’m sorry, and just stall them out there for a few minutes, okay?”
The man reluctantly let go of Jamie’s arms and left them alone.
“What the fuck was that?” she asked him even as she ripped off her wig and mask.
“You were about to take off your bra and flash my best friends.”
“And?”
“And you don’t have any problem with that? Sure, you can have all the fun you want tonight, but when you see me tomorrow at Max and Rhys’s show, will you really not care that you behaved like a—”
He immediately bit off his words, but it was too late.
“Like a what?” she hissed. “Like a slut?”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “I don’t think you’re a slut, Lucy.”
“No, you just think I dress and act like one.”
When he said nothing, she laughed loudly. “I thought we were friends. You were so kind after—after Gail…”
“Damn it, I don’t want to be your friend, Lucy. I never have.”
“Then we don’t have to be friends,” she said stiffly. “We don’t have to be anything.”
Jamie opened his mouth and then shut it again. He didn’t know what to say. What to do. He didn’t even know what he wanted.
He just knew he wanted her.
And he knew he couldn’t have her.
“Fine, Lucy. We won’t be anything to each other. Feel free to do whatever the hell you want,” he said.
He turned on his heel.
“Jamie…” she called out.
But he was already out the door.
CHAPTER FOUR
The next morning, Jamie ignored the multitude of texts from his friends, all asking what the hell had happened after he’d stormed the stage and stolen the entertainment. He’d stayed out all night, and by the time he’d returned to the suite he was sharing with Gabe and Eric, they’d been asleep. They’d stayed asleep while Jamie showered, made coffee, and dressed. By the time Jamie headed back out, no one, including Cole, Luke, and Ryan, who were sharing the suite next door, had so much as stirred, much less woken up.
Now Jamie sat across from Pete Hines, an executive at Whitcomb Enterprises, in a little bistro located inside the Bellagio. He shoved thoughts of Lucy’s undulating hips and his friend’s open mouths to the back of his mind. It was time to work, not analyze whether or not any of his friends realized he’d had a history with the woman stripping on stage the night before.
As they had coffee and croissants, Hines filled him in on the group of citizens attempting to block the opening of the manufacturing plant in Summitville.
Jamie wasn’t surprised that the group’s leader was Mayor Milton Hendrix, Sierra’s father. After all, the man believed Jamie was responsible for Sierra’s death. And Jamie couldn’t deny that one of the reasons he was pushing so hard to have the new manufacturing plant set up in Summitville was to assuage his own guilt.
But it wasn’t just that.
The town had meant something to Sierra, just like Sierra had meant something to him. He wanted to help the townspeople get back on their feet in a way that would be beneficial to everyone involved. Helping Summitville regain its former prosperity couldn’t completely heal the wounds of the past, but it could help.
“I’m sorry, Jamie. The group, spearheaded by Milton Hendrix, is seriously twisting the town council’s arm to reject Whitcomb Enterprises’s proposal. The council’s actually considering taking the discussion off its agenda altogether.”
“Has Hendrix mentioned my name during all his arm-twisting?”
“Well…um…”
His gut twisted. “It’s okay, Pete. I can take it.”
“He has. Numerous times. He says a man born with a silver spoon simply can’t have the needs of everyday citizens on his radar.”
“Right.” In other words, like Sierra and Lucy, Hendrix found Jamie untrustworthy based on the size of Jamie’s bank account. Of course, Jamie knew there was more to it than that, the same way he knew convincing Hendrix that Jamie and his family could relate to the average person just as well as anyone else was a lost cause.
Forget convincing Lucy of that. She’d made up her mind about him. And with her little stunt last night, she’d made it loud and clear what lengths she was willing to go to push him away. Well, she’d finally succeeded.
He was going to keep his distance from her this time. He didn’t like feeling jealous and judgmental. Hated feeling helpless and afraid that everything he said or did was going to be twisted out of context and he was somehow going to be made out to be the bad guy again.
“Jamie…you okay?”
Jamie’s head jerked as he realized Pete was talking to him.
“I’m sorry. What were you saying, Pete?”
Pete took the signed documents Jamie had given him, placed them in his briefcase, and with a chuckle said, “Seriously, Jamie, I’ve never seen you like this before. Did you get drunk and end up married last night, or something?”
He’d definitely done the first. After he’d left Lucy and his friends at the club, he’d gotten rip-roaring drunk then passed out. When he’d stumbled out of bed, gritty-eyed and nauseous, his friends had been dead to the world, so Jamie hadn’t talked to them before his meeting. And God, he wanted to put that off. Put off getting confirmation that each and every one of them had seen his Lucy completely naked…
“It’s Vegas,” Jamie said. “If I did, I don’t have to tell.” He gave Pete what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “So what’s next?”
“I’ve been hustling and blowing up the town council’s phones. I finally got them to agree to meet with you next week. They want to meet the head honcho behind this project in person before they allow you to take the floor at a town meeting.”
Jamie nodded. “Alright, then. Good job. Let’s make it happen.”
“Any idea what you’ll say to win them over?”
“I’ve come up with some great incentives, including the townspeople being given first priority for all of the jobs, even the executive ones, before they’re opened up to anyone else. Also, anyone who was laid off when the automotive plant closed down will automatically have a job.”
“That should be more than enough to get the council on board. The town has really suffered since the automotive plant slammed its doors shut. By reopening the factory to produce airplane parts, Whitcomb Enterprises is offering Summitville a huge opportunity to become economically sound again. They’d be crazy not to see that.”
Maybe, Jamie thought. But crazy or not, there were many in town that wouldn’t trust Whitcomb Enterprises because they didn’t trust him. Their actions gave new meaning to the expression cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.
“Well,” Pete said, “I wish you the best of luck. That’s all you and I need to do today. How was the bachelor party?”
Jamie’s mind reformed th
e image of a scantily dressed Lucy humping that metal pole on the stage while a bunch of horny men looked on. She’d looked so hot in her little white bra and thong, the long blond wig brushing softly across her chest and her hard nipples taunting him through the thin lace material of the bra. His cock twitched and his stomach churned all at the same time.
“It went well,” he said simply, because what else could he add? That his former girlfriend had stripped for his friends? That she’d shoved the fact that they were over in his face? That he hated that part of him for still wanting her?
“You headed back to California today?”
He shook his head. “I’m going to a grand opening tonight, to something I financially invested in and want to attend.”
“A nightclub?” Pete asked.
“No, something much more fun—a magic theater.”
“Magic? As in, David Copperfield?” Pete wore a puzzled expression.
“As in, mind-boggling illusion and sexual acrobatics all in one,” Jamie said. He was looking forward to seeing Rhys and Max’s plans come to fruition, but he wasn’t looking forward to running into Lucy.
For a moment, he pushed away his own hurt and jealousy, and forced himself to recall the hurt look on her face when she accused him of thinking she was a slut.
He hated the fact she’d stripped, but he didn’t think she was slut. He loved how sexually open and adventurous she was, but still, she’d crossed the line last night.
To give himself more time to think, Jamie left Pete and made his way around the Mile High Mall. At one point, thinking he’d pick up something for Brianne or his mother, he stopped in front of a little antique jewelry shop. There was a ring in the window that caught his attention. It was an Edwardian diamond and sapphire engagement ring, platinum with intricate designs of bows and flowers pierced into the sides. It had antique mill grain edging and it was set with one round five-carat diamond with a single blue sapphire on each side. It was beautiful and intricate and vibrant.
It reminded him of Lucy.