by Lucy Quinn
“I’m thinking we can use the money. Have you forgotten we’re both out of jobs now? If we’re careful, a hundred bucks will go a long way toward keeping the fridge full.”
Dora closed her eyes and let out a barely audible groan.
Evie patted Sunshine’s head as she added, “You know how to shake it. Remember the moves we made up to Beyoncé’s “Naughty Girl”?”
“Yes,” Dora said, her tone hesitant.
“Just draw on those and you’ll be great.” Evie gave her a little shove. “I’ll be right here if Ken doll gets handsy.”
“A hundred bucks,” Dora said under her breath as if she was trying to talk herself into it.
“You got this.” Evie pulled her back over to the man and grinned. “Have fun. Sunshine and I will be right here watching.” She leaned in closer to the man. “Remember, no touching.”
“What if I pay extra?” he asked Evie.
She patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry man. That’s against the rules. Take it or leave it.”
He glanced at Dora again, his eyes glittering with anticipation. “All right. Let’s do this, honey.”
“This way,” Dora said, boldly taking him by the hand and leading him over to an unoccupied chair.
“There she goes, Sunshine,” Evie said to her pup. “Look at her. She’s swaying her hips and flipping her hair like an expert. She even managed to flip her skirt just enough so that he got a peek of her backside.”
Sunshine squirmed in her arms as if straining to see Dora.
“Oh, wow. She just gently pushed him down into the chair and straddled him, completely taking charge.” Evie glanced down at Sunshine. “Can you believe that? I think our Dora might have missed her calling as a dominatrix. Who knew?”
Sunshine turned big brown eyes on Evie, giving her a look.
Evie laughed. “I know. You’re right. She does have that no-nonsense attitude. If I didn’t know her so well, I’d start to wonder if she had a collection of BDSM toys hiding in her closet.”
A small crowd of business men moved, blocking Evie’s view of Dora. But soon enough, Dora’s head started to bob up and down in time to the slow beat of the music playing over the sound system. Evie giggled. She couldn’t help it. Two days ago, the idea of Dora giving anyone a lap dance would’ve been the craziest thing she’d ever heard. That type of thing was definitely more Evie’s scene. But after today, seeing her poor mailman get abducted and knowing what had happened back at Dora’s office, this was nothing in comparison.
“Look at her sticking her butt out, Sunshine.” Evie craned her neck, to get a better view. “And the way she’s putting her rack right in his face without even touching him. Jeez. She’s a freakin’ natural.”
Sunshine let out a small whimper and covered her eyes with a paw.
Evie shook her head. “Giving a good lap dance is nothing to be embarrassed about, Sunny. Workin’ it with the right person can lead to a hot night in the bedroom.”
“You know it,” a stocky man said from right behind Evie just before his large hand landed on her barely clad butt cheek.
“Hey! Hands off the goods,” Evie said, jumping back and putting plenty of space between them. “That’s not how this works.”
“You were the one who said good lap dances lead to something better. I was just giving you what you asked for, baby.” He moved forward, his hand out as if he was going to grab her again.
Sunshine lifted her head and growled, baring her teeth.
“Whoa!” He took a few steps back and blinked as if he didn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “Who let that prissy little beast in?”
“She’s with me,” Dora said, appearing right behind Evie.
“Gooood,” the man said, drawing out the word and making Evie’s skin crawl. “I always did like a two-for-one special.”
Dora narrowed her eyes at the guy. “Back off, buddy, or I’m going to let this sweet little dog go for her favorite body part.” She lowered her gaze, letting it linger just below the belt.
The man’s face paled. And without saying another word, he took off, disappearing into the crowd.
“Thanks,” Evie said, grinning at her friend. “You have a multitude of skills I didn’t realize you possessed. Seriously, Dor, that lap dance? It was pro level.”
Dora frowned at her.
“Uh-oh. What happened? What’d he do?” Evie’s ire rose, and her entire body heated with irritation as she craned her neck looking for the man who’d just been ogling Dora’s assets.
“He gave me a tip.” Dora produced a twenty but was still frowning.
“Excellent.” Relief rushed through Evie as she grabbed the bill and shoved it into her bra with the hundred. “But why the sourpuss face? Cash is good.”
“Evie,” Dora hissed. “You were supposed to be looking for Billy, not watching me degrade myself for cash!”
Oops. Evie grimaced. Dora had a point. “All right. Sunshine and I are on it. There’s Dirk.” She pointed to a tall guy with dark hair who was standing near the door to the back room.
Dirk had his hand on a wall and was leaning over a girl in glasses and a plaid skirt. She turned around and stuck her butt out and he shoved money in her G-string, making her giggle as she walked away.
“Hey, Dor-a.” Evie sang out. “Looks like our friend Dirk has a thing for the uptight librarian.
“Oh no.” Dora shook her head. “I already took one for the team. It’s your turn. Remember the plan? You were going to audition.” She started to reach for Sunshine, but Evie took a step back as she shook her head.
“Nope. My Jessica Rabbit look isn’t going to work. You’re rocking what Dirk wants in a big way. Just give me three minutes. That’s all I need to search the back.” Evie gave her a bright smile. “Once you’ve enthralled him with your glorious cleavage, Sunshine and I will be quick like bunnies and find out if there’s any sign of Billy.
Dora’s jaw tightened. “I really hate you sometimes, you know that?”
“You love me.” Evie winked at her. “Go on. As soon as you distract him with that great rack, Sunshine and I will get our search on.”
Dora took a deep breath. And just like a pro, she strutted her way over to Dirk to put her assets to work.
Evie didn’t hesitate. She weaved through the club and slipped through the door that led to the back. A dancer strode by, apparently unfazed by a new girl holding a small dog. She just nodded and waited in the wings for her turn on the stage.
Interesting, Evie thought. She’d expected to be questioned, but either the place had a lot of dancer turnover or no one cared enough to wonder what she was doing there. The place wasn’t all that big. She poked her head into the three small offices. All of them were empty.
Unless the girls had Billy tied up in their dressing room, the place had turned out to be a dead end. Just to make sure, she pushed the door open to the dressing room and spied three women in various states of dress—or undress. No Billy. Before they could question her, she ran back into the club just as Dora shook her rump for the last time.
Dora’s eyes locked on her friend’s as Evie gave a tiny shake of her head. Evie watched as Dora stopped and said something to Dirk. He frowned after her as she hurried over to Evie. “Nothing?”
“Nothing.” Evie scanned Dora’s body with her gaze and licked her lips dramatically. “Unless you want a new career. Looks like Dirk was interested.”
“Oh my god,” Dora hissed. “You are so not funny.”
“Fine. Fine.” Evie laughed as Dora shoved her out the door of the club.
11
“I’m not going in there like this,” Dora insisted. It was one thing to strut around in stripper clothes in a strip bar, but she wasn’t showing her face in Dildos R Us wearing an eleven-inch skirt that did almost nothing to cover her backside.
“But you’ll wear a white button-down shirt that shows off your nips?” Evie said with a snicker.
“What?” Dora glanced down at her chest and groa
ned. “Those pasties would’ve really come in handy.”
“Want mine?” Evie asked, already reaching into her shirt as if to peel them right off herself.
“No! Forget it.” Dora felt her face go hot. She wasn’t that desperate that she was going to share pasties with her bestie. “I’ll just toss this sweatshirt on,” she said, digging around in a duffle bag of workout clothes. “And these running tights.”
“Suit yourself.” Evie patted Sunshine’s head, making no move to change her own outfit.
“I definitely will, thank you very much.” Dora awkwardly changed in the passenger’s seat, grateful it was dark out as she hastily shrugged out of the white shirt and tugged the sweatshirt on. After she’d switched her skirt for the workout pants, she looked down at her high heels and groaned. “These don’t exactly go, do they?”
Evie giggled. “That’s one way to class up your outfit.”
Dora opened the car door and let out a heavy sigh. “Come on. At least I can use one as a weapon if we run into Marco or any of his minions.”
“Now you’re thinking.” Evie followed her out of the car, but just as they got to the front door, she tugged on Dora’s sleeve.
Dora glanced back at her, noting she was clutching Sunshine so tightly that the little dog had started to pant and squirm to get out of her mother’s arm. “It’s okay, Sunshine,” Dora said, gently pulling her from Evie’s grip. “She didn’t mean to squeeze the stuffing out of you.” She looked at her friend. “What’s wrong?”
Evie ran a nervous hand through her hair. “It’s just that I started to think about what you’d said about running into trouble. Do you really think Marco might be out looking for you at these places?”
Dora shrugged, trying to ignore the unease in her gut. “If Billy’s here, there’s a strong possibility, don’t you think?”
“Right. Obviously. I guess I was just so caught up in our ruse at the strip club, I hadn’t even thought about it.” She bit her bottom lip and then reached into the tiny handbag she had slung across her shoulder. “He likely won’t recognize me, but you…” She shoved a dark pair of sunglasses at Dora. “Put those on. With your hair and makeup all done up like that, the glasses will help.”
Dora didn’t see how wearing sunglasses, at night no less, along with workout gear and high heels, was going to do anything to help her maintain any sort of cover, but she put them on anyway. If she didn’t, Evie was likely to have a meltdown right there in the seedy parking lot.
Evie blew out a breath. “Okay. Let’s go find Billy.”
Still clutching Sunshine, Dora held the door open for Evie and followed her in. “Your turn to distract the cashier. I’ll check out the back this time.”
“Sure, Dora. But let’s just take a look around the store first, let him eye the goods a bit before I dazzle him with my sparkling personality.”
Considering a sex shop was more Evie’s comfort zone than hers, Dora said, “Whatever you say.” She watched as her friend waved at the twenty-something cashier behind the counter and then sashayed down the aisle toward an impressive selection of dildos.
Dora went the opposite direction, scoping out the entrance to the back room. The door behind the counter that was marked Employees Only was propped open, and light spilled out into the store. Once she heard Evie charming the clerk into helping her pick out the best vibrator in the store, Dora could just slip—
“Dora? Is that you?”
She froze, knowing that voice anywhere. This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not—
“Nice shoes. Very sexy,” Luke Landucci said in a low rumble of a voice.
A ripple of pleasure rolled through her at the compliment, and she turned around. Her face had heated to almost unbearable levels, and she could barely look him in the eye when she blurted, “Bachelorette party.”
“What?” he asked, his lips curved in amusement.
Dora took a moment to take in his sapphire blue eyes, sandy blond hair that was just a little too long and hanging in his eyes, and his long and lean frame with broad shoulders. She was willing to bet he was all muscle under the T-shirt he wore. Hadn’t Lindy from work once told her she saw him at the gym working out every Tuesday and Thursday?
“Dora?” Luke prompted, pulling her out of her infatuation haze.
“Sorry.” She shook her head as if clearing cobwebs. “We’re here to find something for a bachelorette party. Our friend is getting married for the third time, and we figured we’d better up our game if we’re going to top the last party we threw for her.” Dora knew she was rambling. Luke Landucci, head chef of Sandbar, Pensacola’s hottest new seafood restaurant, just did something to her. Every time she’d ever spoken to him, her insides melted and her lady parts tingled. This night was no different.
Luke’s lips spread into a grin. “Imagine that. I’m here to pick up something for a bachelor party. What do you think? Edibles? Everything else seems… way too personal.”
“Those boobie pops might work,” Dora said, staring at the penis pops, edible undies, and flavored lubes while trying to fight the blush that was already heating her cheeks.
He chuckled. “Yeah. It’s an obvious choice, but it might work.”
“Dora! Did you see this?” Evie said, appearing from another aisle holding a large sparkling purple penis. “Look. It’s the new version of the pink Rabbit you got last year. Remember?” Sunshine let out a little bark of agreement. Evie smiled and continued, “I talked you into buying it after—”
“We were invited to a different bachelorette party,” Dora quickly finished for her. Evie had actually talked Dora into buying that Rabbit after a particularly long dry spell, followed by a horrible blind date where the guy had called his mother no less than seven times during dinner to get advice on everything from what kind of wine to order to how long he should wait to ask Dora out again. Needless to say, Dora told him they weren’t a match and promptly took Evie’s advice on the battery-operated purchase.
“Riiiight,” Evie said, nodding. “Bachelorette party. The bride kept goosing everyone with it. I remember because Trace had been out of town and it was the most action I’d had in weeks.” She winked at Luke and then glanced back and forth between the two of them. “Hey, Dora? Why haven’t you and Luke ever gotten together? I bet he’s a lot more fun than any Rabbit.”
“Evie!” Dora hissed, ready for the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Her face burned, and she was certain she’d turned beet-red.
“That’s a really good question,” Luke said, his eyes sparkling with interest. “What do you say, Dora? Shall we move past appetizers?” He was referring to the way she’d sit at the bar in his restaurant before the dinner rush and he’d bring her samples of new recipes to try. She’d thought they’d been flirting, but she wasn’t sure if it was only her.
He asked, “Are you busy tomorrow night?”
“I—um,” Dora stammered, completely taken off guard. What if he was just teasing because of what Evie had said?
“We could go to Crabs and take a walk on the beach afterward.”
Seriously? Why was Luke finally asking her out now when she couldn’t go? Of course, she couldn’t explain why, so she said, “I’m sorry. Evie and I have a thing.” Regret pulsed through her veins. If she wasn’t desperate to clear her name, she’d have jumped at the chance. Heck, she’d probably have jumped right into his arms considering her level of chill was nonexistent. “Raincheck?”
He blinked, and the mischief vanished from his gorgeous gaze. Was that disappointment that just flashed in his eyes? He blinked again and gave her an easy smile. “Sure. Next time. I’ll call you.”
“Okay,” Dora said, her heart sinking as she watched him walk over to the counter and purchase a handful of boobie pops. As he left the store with his shopping bag in hand, Dora let out a sigh.
“I can’t believe you turned him down,” Evie said incredulously. “Are you crazy? We don’t have a thing tomorrow. Why didn’t you take him
up on dinner?”
“I can’t,” Dora said in a hushed whisper. “I’m supposed to be laying low, remember? Weren’t you just the one who said I might have someone following me? Bringing Luke into this mess is just wrong. Once we clear my name, then we’ll see.”
“We’ll see,” Evie mimicked and frowned at her friend. “You’ve got a good reason for turning him down this time, but you and I both know that you’ll never go out with him unless he tracks you down and asks you again. I saw the way he looked when you shot him down. Want to bet how likely it is he’ll try again?”
“He said he’d call me,” Dora said, staring at the sparkly purple rabbit, but even she knew he wouldn’t.
“Uh-huh. Sure, Dora. Once a man tastes a tiny bit of rejection, they retreat. You’re going to have to make the first move if you want a little cookin’ in your kitchen.”
Dora swallowed. “I know you’re probably right, but I can’t do that. If he really wants a date with me, he’ll ask again.” She said the words, but she didn’t believe them. It wasn’t as if Dora was asked out every day. She wasn’t Evie for goodness sake.
“And you say I’m the one who’s scared?” Evie tsked, balling her hands into fists and holding them at her waist. “At least I’m not too scared to have a relationship. You know, one of these days you’re going to have to finally get over your college boyfriend. That ass. He never deserved you.”
“Stop. I know this is coming from a place of love, but you do know that I’m perfectly fine on my own, right?” Dora asked.
“Sure. As long as you have Mr. Sparkly here,” Evie said, waving the purple dildo.
Dora held her hands up, frustrated because she would have said yes to Luke, and now her chance with him was gone. “Stop! I can’t deal with this right now. Can we please remember why we came here?”
Evie glanced around and then shrugged. “Sure. We were getting to that.” She cut her gaze to the clerk and chuckled. “Lucky for us the cutie behind the counter is totally into me after our vibrator conversation,” she said under her breath. “Let me go find out what he thinks of Mr. Sparkly here. I’ll get him over to the display of these bad boys. You check and see if Billy’s hiding out.”