Once he and Zach were in the car driving back to Tori’s house, Seth said, “How would you feel about hanging out at my house with Caleb, Ian and Addie?”
“Yeah!” Zach answered excitedly.
“Well, we need to go by your house first so you can say hi to your Aunt Kara and then we can pack up some things for you to play with while you’re at my place,” Seth replied.
When they reached the house, Tori opened the door for them. She was wrapped in a thick white robe. Her hair was wet and the glasses were gone. Thinking back over the past couple of days, he realized she hadn’t been wearing the glasses for days now. Fresh from the shower, Tori was also a visual he didn’t need. If not for the worry in her eyes, he would have been completely distracted by how close to naked she was.
“Why don’t you run upstairs and pack pajamas, a few books and some toys in your book bag while I talk to your mom?” he said to Zach.
When Zach was at the top of the stairs and out of hearing range, Seth turned to Tori. “It’s all taken care of. Addie will watch him until she has to leave for a date, then Caleb will keep an eye on him for about a half an hour until Ian can get there. Don’t worry. Caleb insisted on helping out with this in exchange for your help in his job search.”
“Oh God, Seth, I am so sorry. Kara doesn’t visit often, but when she does… She’s not so bad really. She’s just used to a different lifestyle that’s all.”
He liked how his name on Tori’s lips sounded like a husky whisper. With a goofy grin he couldn’t force away, he said, “You are going to owe me big after this one.”
Her worried expression was replaced with a look that made him want to kiss her. It was all he could do to keep his hands off her. Grasping at something to take his mind off the fact that he could hear his heartbeat in his ears, he remembered the reading test.
“By the way, Zach’s teacher set up a reading test for him next Friday morning. From the sounds of it, this is extremely important,” he said. “Nine AM.”
Sighing, Tori said, “Yeah. I can’t thank you enough for the letter sound song and all the help with his reading these past couple of weeks. Without it, he probably wouldn’t have even been given this chance.”
“I think I may have a way to help him actually pass the test,” he said, stepping closer to her and lowering his voice so Zach wouldn’t overhear. Her gaze shot to his mouth and again he wanted to kiss her fears away. Instead he said, “I asked the teacher if I could bring Sergeant Buck, since Zach likes to read to the dog whenever we go to the gym. She said that would be fine. Hopefully that will be the last bit of support he needs to get him through this test.”
Tori looked at him oddly. Her expression spoke of gratitude, respect and something softer. Reaching up, she touched his cheek gently with her small fingers. “You can be so sweet sometimes. Thank you for that and for tonight, too. Seriously, Seth, you have no idea how much this means to me. Anything I can do for you in return, just ask. You and Caleb have done so much for us…just know we really do appreciate it and that you’re both welcome here anytime.”
His heart felt like it was taking flight right out of his chest. Unfortunately, hearing Zach slam his closet door shut made her jump back from him. Taking a deep breath to calm the fire in his belly, he turned away from her. She headed upstairs to help Zach finish getting his things together.
Zach managed to be ready only a few minutes later and they were back out the door again before Seth had to deal with Kara. He wished he could rescue Tori from her sister, too. It felt like he was leaving one of the men in his unit behind. Especially now that they had finally jumped the hurdle his senseless comments had put in the path of their friendship.
About halfway back to his apartment, Seth realized he was still firmly lodged in the friend category. He actually laughed out loud, which earned him a strange look from Zach.
All the years Seth had spent avoiding anything more than one night stands with women for fear they might have a child or expect him to be responsible, and here he was dealing with both a child and real responsibilities without the benefit of sex. All Tori offered him was friendship. As much as he wanted to kiss those soft pink lips of hers, he craved her so bad that he would take whatever she gave him.
He was like a duck at the community pond chasing after scraps of bread. It had been nearly a month since he’d gotten laid, not from lack of opportunity, but because he was scrambling for anything Tori threw him. That needed to change. After this favor for her tonight, he would get back into the game. He didn’t owe her monogamy—they weren’t even in a relationship! She’d made it clear she wasn’t interested while he’d blown off women who didn’t care if there were others in his life or not.
At the apartment he fixed himself, Caleb and Zach some dinner and helped the little guy with reading even though it wasn’t required on the weekends. The boy obviously enjoyed the attention he got from both Seth and Caleb. After reading not one, but two books, Zach and Caleb hooked up the gaming system and began playing a racecar game while Seth showered and got ready for work.
When Addie arrived, Seth made Zach promise to be good for her, Caleb and Ian. Then, after throwing his bag in the back seat of his car, he headed for the club. It was only eight and the show didn’t start until nine so he headed to the back to find a place to stash his stuff. Having been dancing again for a few months now, he was starting to get to know some of the other dancers. Those that were in it for the money, like him, were often the most trustworthy.
It was hard to keep track of tip money and dance at the same time, especially when doing a costume change. So seeing Eddie was a relief. Eddie was a single father who said that his dick was what got him into trouble, so he would use his dick to get himself out of it. Seth and Eddie often looked out for each other. He would keep an eye on Eddie’s tips and vice versa. Occasionally, tips would come up missing so he and Eddie had recently started stuffing some of their money in large wine glasses they set behind the bar. Seth nodded at the man as he entered and Eddie walked over.
“Hey, I already got the heads up on three birthdays, two bachelorettes and a divorcée club so tonight should be a good one,” Eddie said with a smile.
“That is the best news I’ve had all day,” Seth replied.
“How’s your brother?” Eddie asked.
“He is a little bit better every day. He’s actually been trying to find a job that might allow him to work from the apartment. My new boss is helping him out and he might actually have something.”
“So she’s done hating on you then?” Eddie asked.
“I think we’ve at least come to an understanding now. She has stopped beating me about the head and neck for my fat mouth and I try not to provide her the opportunity.” He smiled.
By nine o’clock, Seth was in costume, loosened up and ready to get this night over with. The announcer, a guy named Jimmy, who Seth had worked with before, made his announcement and the show was on. Eddie was right. The crowd was pumped and he was grateful for security when a couple of the ladies at a front table got pretty grabby with one of the other dancers. Seth hit the stage in the overalls he’d had a local seamstress modify, a hard hat and a sledge hammer and did his working man routine, which pumped up the crowd even more.
He and Eddie were obviously the most seasoned dancers in the lineup for the night and the ladies knew it. Once he was done with his opening dance, a woman who was part of a bachelorette party yelled at him and then waved a fifty dollar bill over the head of the woman sitting next to her, who wore a veil. He made his way to the table and pulled the bride up on stage by carrying her seat and then pushing her down into it.
The woman squealed and tried to hide her flaming pink cheeks behind her hands so he removed her hands and placed one on each of his ass cheeks. By the time he was done dancing for the woman, the crowd was on their feet dancing and cheering him on and waving money around. He hit up a few more women at the wedding party table and then began working the crowd.
; Unlike most of the other dancers, he wasn’t afraid to wander toward the back of the room where the wallflowers sat. Those ladies were shyer and sometimes would tip just to get him to go away. It took him more than twenty minutes and four or five songs to make it to the back. Tips were rolling in. He was relaxed and going with it, working the crowd—until he heard a woman’s voice say, “Oh, my God, Tori! Isn’t that your housekeeper?”
Chapter Seven
She shouldn’t be looking at him, but she couldn’t make herself stop. This was Seth! Her Seth! The thought came and went as her mind tried to comprehend what she was seeing. The image of him shirtless and mowing the grass had stuck with her for days afterwards, but this…this display would be etched in her mind for all eternity. She would be ninety and still be able to remember him like this. Good God! She was staring at his junk!
She should have left the minute she recognized him on stage, regardless of what Kara might have wanted. That opportunity had come and gone and now he was a few feet away doing things to another woman that had the entire table of women screaming and hollering. Why, oh why, had she allowed Kara to drag her into a bar—this bar, this male stripper bar—where Seth was next to naked?
“Tori,” Kara nearly yelled in an attempt to get her sister’s attention. Yes, that was Tori’s housekeeper dancing and allowing strange women to stuff money in his…She was still looking!
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he turned from the woman whose face was level with his crotch and his eyes met Tori’s. As shocked as she was, his ability to communicate with mere facial expressions screamed out his own shock, embarrassment and guilt over being…caught. He abruptly quit dancing with the woman and paused to stare at the floor as if making a decision about how to handle the situation.
Then his eyes met hers again and before she could exhale, he was standing in front of her. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of her chair. In one smooth move, he picked her up, wrapped her legs around his waist and backed her against the wall. Unlike the playful grin he had worn for the women at the other table, his face held no humor now.
His eyes met and held hers as he invaded every inch of space around her. There was nowhere for her hands to go so she laid them on his bare shoulders. He cupped her bottom and hips, holding her still as he moved against her. The expression on his face was one of pleading…for understanding, forgiveness or help. Which of those, she wasn’t sure. Perhaps a combination of all three.
“I’m sorry, Tori. I do like working for you, but I need money for Caleb so I work this job, too. Don’t go back to hating me,” he said, leaning in close so that she could hear him over the music, noise and women yelling.
He pressed himself as close to her as he could. The scent of his aftershave and the feel of his hands on her bottom and his chest pinning her to the wall was an assault on her senses. His eyes changed from a look of regret and guilt to liquid pools of heat as he stared her down while grinding her against the wall. His gaze finally left hers only to stare at her mouth before returning to her eyes to tell her what he was thinking.
The atmosphere between them shifted when his breathing changed. She could feel him harden where his body bumped against her own. As much as she might regret not taking advantage of this heat, she would regret it even more if she allowed herself to be played again…especially by Seth. Her heart preferred the safety of his friendship, even above his muscular arms and shoulders and the rhythm of his thrusts. It would cut her for him to leave here with someone else, for him to be with someone else, but she would survive it. Enjoying his body after two weeks of an unexpected friendship she hadn’t known she needed, just for him to walk away afterwards, would kill her.
He must have seen the denial in her face because he sighed in frustration just before she leaned in and said, “Put me down, Seth. You do not have to do this to get money from me.”
A look of pain crossed his face. “I can’t take it back, Tori. I said it okay? I said those things about you and I am sorry for it, but I can’t take it back. Maybe…I never really meant those things in the first place. Maybe I like the way you look after all, including your breasts. Maybe I like the way you feel in my arms. You are right, I don’t have to do this…but maybe I want to be in between your legs right now.”
He was serious! She could see it on his face, plain as day. He shifted her in his arms to better align their bodies and stepped back from the wall while her back remained propped against it. The gap between them meant their only connection, other than her legs around his waist and his hands holding her hips, was…Oh, God!
If bumping against her before was inappropriate, now it bordered on voyeurism for those in the audience cheering them on. Before she could pay attention to anyone other than him, he captured her gaze with his own and held it for a moment before looking down at where their bodies joined. His expression was so intent that when he looked back at her, she feared he had forgotten where they were. Launching herself off the wall, she wrapped her arms around his thick neck and then put her mouth against his ear.
“No, Seth. Not like this… I don’t want this,” she whispered.
He stopped, released her legs and allowed her body to slide down his own. Once her feet were back on the floor, he stepped away. The look of pain on his face stole her breath. Just as she was going to say something to him, he turned away and began dancing with two other women. She’d known it would hurt, but she hadn’t expected it to draw blood. Her chest ached with the effort to draw a breath and swallow the pain.
After a moment or two, she finally turned to where Kara sat with her mouth hanging open. “We need to leave. It’s late and I need to pick up Zach.”
She heard Kara ask who exactly was watching Zach since Seth was here dancing, but Tori was already making her way through the crowd of women so providing an answer was impossible. It took all of her willpower to continue on to her car instead of turning around and going back inside to drag Seth away from the women now pawing him. It wasn’t jealousy, but rather like abandoning him, leaving him behind to fend for himself.
Seth was right. He probably did need the money, but she hated that he had to perform to get it. Yes, he was absolutely stunning so the gig suited him well. What those women at the club didn’t know was that he was more than just a hot guy to fantasize about. He was creative, fun, hardworking and generous to a fault.
The ride to his apartment to pick up Zach was a quiet affair because, for once in her life, Kara remained silent. Parking in front of his building, Tori assured Kara that she would be right back and was out of the car before hearing Kara’s response.
Ian opened the door to her knock. Seeing his powerful build standing in the doorway of the apartment in nothing but a long pair of shorts snapped her out of her sulking. It was late, really late, and in her emotional state she’d just shown up and started pounding on the door like a crazy woman.
Oblivious to the size difference between them and the fact that she was basically eye level to his navel, Ian cringed back from her. “Don’t hit me. I would have told you about Pole, if you’d asked. He and Caleb are the only liars and guilty ones up in here.”
“Pole?” she asked. Then deciding she didn’t want to know asked, “Where is Zach?”
“He fell asleep on the couch so I put him in Seth’s room,” Ian supplied, still curved in on himself as though he expected her to punch him at any moment.
“Will you stop?” she asked. “I am not going to hit you. I just need to get Zach and I will be out of your hair.”
He relaxed and then led her into the living room where she found Caleb looking at her nervously. His face spoke of his guilt. Seth must have called and warned them. She wasn’t mad at any of them, it wasn’t like she and Seth were dating and he’d been caught with another woman. The whole situation just made her feel bad. He was working night and day to take care of his brother while the women he danced for only saw a handsome face, broad shoulders, and a nice ass.
Those women didn’t see a man
willing to cover for her in front of her sister to save her the embarrassment. The same sister who was content to only see him as Seth the exotic dancer, not Seth the man willing to decorate Tori’s house because she’d asked him. The two men who stood before her now with guilty expressions knew Seth, the good friend…the man she’d thought she knew prior to tonight. Why hadn’t he told her what his other job was?
“Now you see why I feel like I won’t ever be able to repay him,” Caleb said. “I’m injured, Tori, not stupid. I know he’s been paying my bills while I’ve been recovering. Whenever I ask, he tells me not to worry about it. To just focus on getting better, but I’m pretty sure he wiped out his entire savings account, money he was going to use for a down payment on a house, to pay my bills.”
Knowing what she knew of Caleb’s hospital stay, whatever Seth had paid hadn’t been nearly enough. She understood how Caleb felt. She wanted to help, too, but wasn’t sure how. Kayla had told Tori that she was already paying Seth more for working part-time than Kayla had paid Ronnie. The most painful part for Tori was that Seth didn’t consider her a good enough friend to confide in, at least not about the parts of his life where he danced—mostly naked—for other women.
“Look, this is a lot for me to handle in one night…and my sister is waiting in the car. I need to get Zach home, but mostly I just need a minute to think,” she said.
“I’ll carry the little guy down for you,” Ian offered and left the room to go and get Zach.
“Seth likes working for you and he really likes Zach. He is a good man. Don’t let what he does for living sway your opinion of him,” Caleb said.
By the time she got Zach home and in his own bed, she was exhausted, physically and mentally. Kara had again been quiet during the ride home and had gone straight to bed, which was unusual. Whatever it was that prevented Tori’s half-sister from taking this opportunity to degrade her, she was thankful for it as she crawled into her bed. Kara would never voluntarily work a job, especially as a stripper, to help Tori out in any way, shape or form. Seth might be broke from all Caleb’s medical bills, but both of the brothers were wealthy in ways they didn’t even realize.
Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 2: Maid to CraveAll I HaveThe Last First DateLight My Fire Page 9