There was only one way he could.
“Get me the costume, Carlo. I’ve got a spare pair of shorts in my truck.” He’d started carrying them after the first time he’d had to fill in. Dancing was one thing, sharing jock space with a guy an entirely different one. He’d worn a condom and a sock that first time and after that, had kept his own emergency pair in his truck. It’d saved his ass—and his dick—more than a few times.
He ran out to the truck as Tanner was being loaded into the ambulance and glanced over at Lara’s table. She was busy with a group of guests. Hopefully they’d keep her that way through the performance. If he’d known he was going to have to dance, he wouldn’t have had Gina hire her. Private lap dances were one thing, but publicly? This was going to be too personal.
Ten minutes later, he had Tanner’s costume on and was sweating bullets backstage.
He shook out his arms, rolled his neck. This was ridiculous. He never had stage fright. He’d done this dance dozens of times. Had performed hundreds. Maybe thousands. He’d just have to do what he’d always done. Pick out one woman in the crowd and dance for her.
Lara was in the crowd.
That became an issue when his cock realized it, too.
Shit.
The music started and he smacked Carlo in the arm. “Break a leg.”
“You, too.”
He’d like to break his third one because it was becoming way too interested in the fact that Lara would be watching. When he’d proposed the lap dance bet, it’d been with the idea that it would be just the two of them. A rise in his pants wouldn’t have been a problem—it would have been the solution, actually, if one thing had led to another, but now? He was going to have to pick out a grandmother to focus on.
Even that thought didn’t shrink him. Great.
His cue came and Gage sucked in a deep breath, focused on pumping up his pecs, and gyrated onto the stage.
***
Lara looked up when the music started. The back patio had been ringed with BeefCake, Inc.’s black velvet panels hung from PVC frames, with their logo banner across the front. The blown-up pictures of the guys weren’t there, but then, what was the point when the audience was getting the real thing?
The two dancers came out and—
One was Gage.
Oh my.
He wore a black vest, a bow tie, and a tight pair of black pants that left nothing to her imagination.
And then he started gyrating—which really left nothing to her imagination.
Wow, the guy could move. What a shame she’d missed out on those moves by passing out in his bed.
He did a couple of pelvic thrusts and his six pack—no, eight-pack—contracted in mouth-watering hotness. His partner was doing it, too, but, well, he wasn’t doing for her what Gage was.
The crowd loved it. The catcalls started and women worked their way up to the stage.
Their boyfriends worked their way to her table. She totally got why.
Gage raised his arms and put them behind his neck, his pecs dancing in time to the heavy downbeat that thudded through her veins down to one spot in particular. He flexed his biceps with the rhythm, first one, then the other, then he spun around and—holy hell—shook his ass in triple time.
Those nylon shorts he’d worn earlier should be burned because they did absolutely nothing for his assets like those pants did. The black leather molded the tightest glutes she’d seen in a long time—well, since the Morning After in his hotel room.
“Uh, miss?” Some guy snapped his fingers in her face. “You have any red velvet cupcakes? They’re my girlfriend’s favorite.”
Lara shook her head, wrenching her gaze off Gage. Business first.
“Um, yes. I do. They’re… Let me see…” Damn, she was all flustered. Business, Lara.
Right. Get her head in the game. And out of Gage’s pants.
It was really freaking hot this evening.
She handed the guy the cupcake.
“Thanks. Let’s see if this works,” he muttered before heading into the throng of dancing women.
“What about chocolate?” asked another guy. “With chocolate icing? And in the middle? The more chocolate the better.”
Lara handed him her Devil’s Delight Special that had all three.
Another guy wanted strawberry shortcake, another cheesecake, all of them carrying the cupcakes back into the gyrating crowd, probably to tempt their girlfriends’ attention elsewhere.
Good luck with that. Her cupcakes were good, but nothing was going to compare to the sheer perfection of the male form pelvic-thrusting to the sultry, sexy downbeat of the music up there on that stage. This show was a feast for all the senses and sugar was not the taste those women wanted. Gage and Bryan had certainly known what they were doing when they put their business plan together and—whew!—they certainly knew how to work a crowd.
The women were practically screaming. Someone actually tossed a bra on stage. Gage’s partner picked it up and winked at a woman in the front row.
Totally irrationally, a tide of green rose up inside Lara, threatening to choke her.
Actually, Lara would like to choke that woman. She hadn’t come on to Gage, but what if he’d been on that side of the stage? He must be so used to stuff like that happening. Hell, look how she’d thrown herself at him at the bachelorette party and he hadn’t even had his clothes half off. God only knew what she would have done if he had.
What could Gage possibly see in her? The man was sheer physical perfection—more so than Jeff had ever been and he’d left her.
Cara’s words reverberated in her mind. Gage wants you. Be adventurous.
Easy to say; Gage was a huge risk to her fragile ego.
Luckily, she had a steady stream of jealous, cupcake-searching boyfriends to keep her mind off of him, but every so often she’d glance up and… yeah, that tingling would swirl again low in her belly.
The vest came off. He was twirling it over his head like a lasso when she looked up and her mouth went dry as a bone.
Okay, not a good word choice because it sent her gaze right to his crotch, and oh yeah, there was nothing left to her imagination. Even from back here she could tell the man had no issues in that department.
Then he ripped the pants off.
Holy mother of— She reached for the water bottle she kept beneath the table and squirted some down her shirt.
It did nothing to cool her off.
He wore tight little black shorts on those gyrating hips, with way too many bump-and-grinds for her liking—well, no, that wasn’t true. She liked; she just didn’t want other women to like as well.
And then the dollar bills came out. Of course, in the span of about thirty seconds, Gage was sporting a mint’s worth.
She was jealous. She had no right to be, really, but he’d kissed her when she arrived. Granted, it hadn’t been as involved as the one a few days ago, but they did have plans afterwards. Those women needed to keep their fingers and their dollar bills to themselves.
In a perfect world, that would happen, but this was what Gage did for a living. He played to the fantasies of those women. He let them shove their grubby little fingers inside his pants. Maybe some of them would go farther, who knew? Did he often take them up on their offers? After all, he had with her.
Lara sat down on a stool. God, she hadn’t thought about it that way. She’d been there that night, more than willing, and he’d taken advantage of it.
Well, no, he hadn’t taken advantage of her, just her offer. He’d actually been an incredible gentleman about it, but still. It couldn’t have been the first time he’d picked up a woman and taken her to his room—would he want it to be the last?
Lara did not share.
She blotted the back of her neck with a dish towel. She was being ridiculous. Cara would smack her if she could hear her. Be adventurous. He wants you.
But for how long?
That was the question. She couldn’t go through getting d
umped again. It hurt too much. Was too demeaning. Debilitating. Love just wasn’t worth it—and who was to say love was even on the table? Maybe this was just good ol’ fashioned lust. That, for whatever reason, Gage found something interesting in her, but a couple of turns in the sack and it’d be over with.
Then where would she be?
He and his partner were making a killing up there on that stage. He could really dance. And didn’t they say that the way a man danced was directly related to the way he—
“Not bad, huh?” Gina walked up to the table.
Lara shot back to her feet. “Um, yes. You’ve had a great turnout for this event. Thanks, again, for using Cavallo’s Cups & Cakes.”
“I was talking about Gage.” Gina nodded to the stage where Gage was now teasing the crowd by feathering the dollars along the waistband of his shorts.
If he took those off, she’d melt into a big pile of goo right here.
“Um, yeah, nice. He and Bryan have a good business model.”
She so wanted to bury her face in the sheet cake when Gina smirked.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard it put quite that way, but okay.” Gina picked up a Tasty Temptations cupcake. “So Gage tells me this is a new business for you.”
Business. Thank God. That was the perfect thing to get her mind off Gage’s abs—and ass and thighs and arms. “It’s not new. My cousin and I have been in business for seven months now. We have many satisfied customers and orders are coming in every day.” She handed Gina one of the brochures, trying not to stare over her shoulder at Gage’s rippling abs, but oh, was it hard not to. “Here are some testimonials and I can get you phone numbers if you’d like to talk to them directly.”
Gina took the brochure. “Relax. I hired you on Gage’s word, and if you’re good enough for him, you’re good enough for me.” Gina took a bite of the cupcake. “Just make sure you are good for him.”
She was talking about cupcakes, right?
Lara was pondering her response to that when, all of a sudden, there was a huge commotion up at the performance as a woman dove onto the stage. Like, seriously, dove. Launched from her girlfriends’ impromptu springboard made of their crossed hands—and they’d tossed her right at Gage.
“Oh hell. Are you kidding me?” Gina dropped the cupcake onto the table and took off running.
Lara could only stare as Gage staggered under the impact, but somehow managed to stay on his feet with the woman wrapped around him like blanket. Kissing him.
Oh, God. Lara closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch it. Sure, he hadn’t instigated it, but geez, he didn’t need to with women literally throwing themselves at him.
She couldn’t go through this again.
The music shut off amid the cheering crowd. Great. Poor Gage was getting assaulted and people were cheering the clinging vine on. Lara opened her eyes and saw Gina and a couple of guys from the crowd trying to pry the woman off him, a scene so similar to when she’d seen the blonde wrapped around Jeff at the Schmitts’ barbecue. Jeff had extricated himself and told her it hadn’t been his fault—that she’d come on to him—but the damage had been done. His ego had been stroked—probably not the only thing—and he’d started looking around. Started finding things wrong with her. Criticizing, demeaning, demoralizing.
Finally, they pried the leech off of Gage, and wouldn’t you know? He looked out over the crowd, across the expanse of the backyard, his gaze seeking her like a heat-guided missile.
The apology she saw there hit her every bit as hard.
She needed to find a nice, non-descript-looking guy. Forget about someone hot and sexy; all women wanted that. She needed to find someone she could trust; someone who’d want to settle down with her for the rest of their lives and be content to not look elsewhere. The passion might not be what she felt with Gage, but at least she’d be able to count on forever.
Chapter 17
Gage took the fastest—and coldest—shower known to mankind after the performance, threw on his tank and shorts, and went off in search of Lara.
He’d seen the look on her face when the woman had ambushed him. If he hadn’t been concentrating so hard on not looking at Lara, he would’ve seen what had been happening right in front of him before it’d gotten to the point it’d gotten to. But he hadn’t and the look on Lara’s face worried the hell out of him.
Leslie had proven just how big an issue jealousy could become. Not that it should have. When he was with someone, he was with her and her alone. But it would take a very secure woman to put up with his moonlighting career. He knew that. Until he’d seen the stricken look on Lara’s face from the stage, he’d hoped she’d be that woman.
She ought to be, dammit, regardless of what that prick of an ex-husband had done or said to her. She was beautiful, she was kind, she was fun, and she was successful at what she did—not to mention, sexy as hell. How could she not be secure?
That’s what he wanted to find out. To get to the bottom of. To convince her that what happened tonight was nothing. It had no impact on what they were starting.
But hell—the idea that they were starting something terrified him almost as much as seeing that look on her face again.
He got waylaid by a couple of the single women and did his best to extricate himself without being rude. It was part of the job and he couldn’t afford to be unprofessional with all this potential business around. But he had to get to Lara.
“Gage!” Gina grabbed his arm. “I’m really sorry about that. I don’t know what got into Megan and her crew. Sure, they’re rowdy, but to do that….” Gina shook her head.
“It is what it is, Geen. Can’t say it’s never happened before.” And it probably would again. If only he didn’t need the money that these gigs brought in.
“Lara seems nice.” Gina handed him a beer and walked with him toward the cupcake table. “Not your usual type, though.”
He took a good long cool guzzle. “Didn’t know I had a type.”
“Gorgeous, blonde, and bitchy. Last five of your girlfriends treated me like I was the help.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“If you say so.”
“But Lara’s gorgeous.”
Gina cocked her head. “Not bombshell, though.”
“You know, Geen, at some point a guy does grow up. Starts thinking with the head on his shoulders instead of the one in his pants.” He took another swig, not wanting to think about that.
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to know she’s the logical choice and not the one you want to jump all over.”
He choked on the beer. “What’s with you tonight? You’re not usually so in my face about my love life.”
She exhaled. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that you surprised me with her. I’d never expected you to want someone like her.”
“What do you mean, someone like her?”
“Nice. Down to earth. Real.”
“Oh.” He looked at her. “Have the others really been that bad?”
“Not bad so much as not anyone I could see you sticking with. Her? Yeah, I can see you sticking with her.” She clinked the neck of her bottle with his. “I gotta go cut the cake. Good luck, Gage.”
He watched her head over to the other table. Stick with her. Gina was getting a little ahead of herself. He couldn’t think long term. Not now while Connor and Missy and Jayna needed him. There were too many things to do and never enough time to do them. Look at how he and Lara hadn’t been able to connect all week. A few texts—not even a phone call—weren’t the basis for a relationship.
Plus, they were both too busy building their businesses. She’d come off a bad marriage, and he… well, he didn’t know when he’d be ready for forever. Right now, day-to-day was a challenge. And after tonight’s debacle, he was facing yet another one.
“Nice show,” said a woman who got in line behind him for the cupcakes.
“Thanks.”
“Do you do private parties?”
> Gage gave her the slow smile that made them melt, while giving him the time to assess the situation. He’d been propositioned hundreds of times. Had taken a few up on their offers in the past, but, these days, was no longer interested.
“Parties of four are the smallest we do and they require a two-dancer minimum.” He and Bry had set up that guideline right off the bat, both of them having had too many encounters that could have gone the wrong way back in their prime.
He watched the dollar signs scroll through the woman’s brain. Saw her take out a mental scale and weigh that amount against the possibility she’d come out on the lucky end of that bargain. He’d love to tell her that percentage was zero—no one slept with paying customers on company time, which was why he’d had to wait until the show was over to leave with Lara that first night.
“Do you have a card?”
He pulled one from his shorts pocket. “Sure do. Give us a call tomorrow. We’ll put you on the schedule and I can round up a couple of the guys.”
“Oh, but you could do it. I mean…” Her blush was a complete affectation. “You did it so well up there.”
Yes, just what he thought. There would be no party. Or if there were, she’d try to make it end up being a party of one—er, three.
“Tonight was a special occasion. I don’t dance anymore. I own the company.”
Her eyebrows went up and she moved a little closer. “Is there any way I can change your mind?”
He dropped the smile. No need to reel her in. She’d either hire him or she wouldn’t, but he wasn’t selling his soul for a couple hundred bucks. Bad enough he was selling his body.
“Sorry, afraid not. Like I said, tonight was a special occasion.”
“It certainly was.” She licked her lips.
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