by Anthology
“So what’s next?” Jared asked, tapping two straws on the table like they were his drumsticks. “It’s not even ten yet.”
Lex smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Well, I figured since we need to get some songs written, we should do something for inspiration.”
Sean examined his reflection in the window next to their table, touching the tips of his blond spikes. “Like what?”
“I’ve got a few ideas,” Lex said, slowly peeling the label off his beer. “I was thinking we’d go old school.”
Jared gave him a knowing nod. “Gotcha, I’m in.”
“Aubrey, how ‘bout you?” Lex asked.
She gave him a pointed look and tucked her notebook into her purse. “As long as it’s legal, I’m up for whatever.”
He attempted his most angelic smile. “Of course we wouldn’t ask you to do anything illegal.”
CHAPTER 4
Aubrey tried to keep her face impassive as she strolled up to their next destination. Music blared from the open doorway and a short, stocky man called out to people as they passed. “Beautiful ladies for you! Only twenty-dollar cover! Totally topless! Come on in and experience Bourbon Street the right way!”
Lex scooted between her and Jared, placing his hand on the small of her back in a possessive gesture. She ignored the uptick in her heartbeat when the heat of his palm bled through to her skin. “Have you been here before?”
She gave him a you-gotta-be-kidding-me look, and he laughed.
“Yeah, it’s my first time, too. I have a buddy who lives down here, and he said the girls here are the best. Vegas quality.”
“Super. I’d hate to be subjected to crappy strippers.”
His smile was wry “Hey, if you want to go home, I can have the limo take you.”
Oh, so that’s what he wanted. He was trying to get her to leave. Good luck with that. “No, I’m great. Let’s go stuff dollar bills in G-strings.”
His self-assured expression faded a bit. He lowered his hand, dug a few bills out of his wallet, and then handed them to the doorman. The guy gave her a head to toe evaluation. “You too, cher?”
Lex threw an arm over her shoulder. “Yeah, she’s with us. She loves the ladies.”
Aubrey shot Lex an eat-shit-and-die look.
The man grinned and nodded. “Ah, nice.”
As soon as they stepped into the club, Aubrey jabbed her elbow into Lex’s ribs. He dropped his arm from her shoulders and grabbed his side. “Hey!”
Jared walked by and clapped him on the back. “You deserved that one, dude.”
She straightened her shoulders and flounced past Lex to catch up with Jared. She prided herself on being an independent woman, but a seedy strip club filled with mostly drunk, definitely horny guys was not the place to wave her feminist flag.
Jared slowed his step, allowing her to catch up with him.
“Thanks,” she said over the music as she fell into pace beside him.
His expression was impossible to read in the dim pulsing lights of the club, but she sensed he was amused. “No problem. Lex was just being an ass.”
She nodded. “He’s good at it.”
He chuckled and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “You could say that.”
The others caught up to them, and Aubrey put her energy into ignoring Lex. Being a Saturday night, the club was already swarming with customers. She fielded a few curious glances, but most eyes were focused on the stage where a girl crawled toward the crowd wearing Mardi Gras beads and not much else. The stage was an inverted T-shape, like a fashion runway, only with poles and without fashion. Unless sequins and G-strings were your thing.
The band commandeered a large table near the edge of the stage. And despite her best efforts for avoidance, Lex managed to snag the spot next to her. He leaned over until his lips were right next to her ear. “You look right at home here. The girls are going to love you.”
She smoothed her lip-gloss, determined to not let him push her buttons. “So how exactly is this song-writing inspiration?”
He reclined in his chair and spread his hands wide. “This is perfect for inspiration. Naked girls, good music, overpriced liquor. What more could you ask for? This is a classic inspirational spot.”
She rolled her eyes. “Classic? What great songs have been inspired by a strip club?”
He scoffed. “Like half of Mötley Crüe’s catalog.”
“Hey boys, can I get you something to drink?” The cocktail waitress bent over and put her hands on the table letting the guys get a full view of her inflated cleavage. Sean started rattling off the order, but the girl’s eyes locked on Lex’s. They got wider and wider until Aubrey worried they were going to pop right out of the woman’s head.
“Oh. My. God. Are you Lex Logan?” The waitress turned and examined the rest of them, her mouth forming a silent o. “Holy shit. You’re Wanderlust! I was at your show last night.”
Lex’s lip curled into an arrogant smile. “We are, but we’re kind of playing it low key tonight, so can you not mention it to anyone else?”
She grinned and bobbed her head like an eager puppy. “Right, sure, no problem. Can I get an autograph, though? I tried to get back stage last night, but they wouldn’t let me in.”
“A travesty.” Lex waved her over, and she handed him her pen. He signed the cocktail napkin and passed it to the rest of the guys. When Sean gave it back to her, she pulled her halter top down a few inches, exposing everything and tucked the napkin inside her transparent bra.
“Oh my god, I cannot believe y’all are actually here. You’re even hotter up close.” She stared at Lex like she wanted to eat him.
“So…Bridgette,” Aubrey said, reading the girl’s nametag. “How ‘bout them drinks? Think you can take care of that?”
The girl straightened and glared at her. “Right, four beers and a Sprite. Let me go get those.”
Lex coughed over his laugh. “Wow, not a fan of Bridgette’s, huh?”
“She was about to pounce on the table and attack you. I just saved you from a mauling,” she said dryly.
“Maybe I don’t want to be saved. She could serve as great inspiration.” The corner of his mouth kicked up into a challenging grin.
“Yeah, you could call the new song ‘Manwhore’,” she offered. “Or maybe ‘Cheap and Easy’.”
He threw his head back and let out a loud laugh. The other guys threw curious glances his way, but then turned their heads back to the stage.
“That has a nice ring to it. And Ms. Bordelon, if I didn’t know better, I would say you’re acting a little jealous.” He smiled and tilted his chair until it rested on its two back legs.
“Jealous? Yeah, okay. You go ahead and tell yourself that.” But she could feel her face going hot and hoped that the dark lights would conceal her reaction. She was acting jealous, like an over-protective girlfriend. What the hell was wrong with her? If Lex wanted to bed the whole wait staff, why should she care?
Lex let his chair drop back to the floor with a thud and leaned forward until he was inches from her. His eyes went multi-hued in the blinking lights—dangerous temptation dancing there. “Maybe you want to volunteer to be my inspiration?”
The dark suggestion in his voice slipped over her skin like warm milk. A vision of him perched above her naked flashed through her mind—sweat glazing that tattooed skin and those eyes that made her want to lose herself. She cleared her throat. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He chuckled.
Bridgette dropped off drinks and then positioned herself on Sean’s lap, apparently assuming Lex was taken and going for the next available band member. Aubrey resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead stirred her soda while she scanned the room. Men of every shape, size, and age filled the cheap velour seats. There was one other woman customer besides her across the room. She was smiling, watching her date get a lap dance from a pixie-sized redhead. Aubrey shook her head. To each her own, but she didn’t get it. She wasn�
�t into sharing.
She sipped her soda and blanched. Blech. She touched Lex’s arm. “Hey, I’ll be right back. My drink’s flat, and our waitress seems a little preoccupied.”
He nodded absently, and she headed toward the bar. The thick crowd of testosterone around the counter made room for her as soon as they noticed she was female. When she finally squeezed through, she was standing in front of a familiar blonde.
“Hey!” Candace said, her face lighting up. “I know you. What are you doing here?”
Aubrey peeked back at the table she’d left. “It’s a long story, but I’m working.”
Candace stood on her tiptoes following Aubrey’s line of sight, and her mouth fell open. “Holy shit! You’re here with the band?”
“So it seems.”
Candace dipped her head and tipped an imaginary hat. “Girl, I didn’t give you enough credit. That’s impressive. Damn.”
“Thanks. So how’d it go for you last night?” Aubrey hated herself for being curious, but she was dying to know.
She frowned and gave a shrug. “Lex totally shut both me and this other girl down. He was nice and all, but kind of a drag. So we partied for a while with Sean and that drummer from Darkfall—Pike. Sean was too wasted to be much company, but Pike ended up being a lot of fun.”
Aubrey tried to ignore the relief that went through her at knowing Lex had turned the women down. Stupid. “Guess it turned out okay for you then.”
“Yep.” Candace said with a little wave of her hand. “I was just out for a fun night anyway. I’m not one of those starry-eyed women who’s deluded enough to think she’s going to be the one for guys like that. You just gotta enjoy it for what it is. Ya know?”
“Right,” Aubrey agreed, though the words were knocking around in her head, holding some silent warning she couldn’t quite grab onto at the moment.
“Can I get you something to drink? Ladies drink free.”
“Just water with lemon.”
Candace grinned. “Sure you don’t want any vodka mixed in that?”
“Nah, not drinking tonight.” Or ever. She traded her flat soda for the water and headed back to the table.
A half-dressed girl with jet-black hair was rubbing Lex’s shoulder and leaning over him with her boobs basically in his face by the time Aubrey got back. Aubrey had the brief urge to shove the girl out of the way, some weird flash of possessiveness flipping her bitch switch. But she managed to resist and slid back into her seat, pretending not to notice her.
Lex sent the girl a bored look.
“Don’t you want a lap dance, baby?” the stripper purred. “I’d make it worth your while. I’d even let you touch a little if you’re a good boy and don’t tell.”
Lex sipped his beer, not even looking at her. “Maybe some other time.” Then he glanced around her, noticing Aubrey’s return. “Hey, maybe my friend here wants one. Aubrey? My treat?”
The girl turned her catlike eyes on Aubrey and gave her a seductive smile.
Aubrey quickly dug in her purse and pulled out a twenty. “I’m good, but thanks for keeping him entertained while I was gone.”
The girl snapped the bill from Aubrey’s fingertips, her expression turning businesslike, and tucked it into the band of her boy shorts. “No problem, sweetie. Anytime.”
“You should have taken the dance,” Lex said, after the girl prowled over to another table. “Maybe it would’ve loosened you up a little.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure you are. You’re as taut as a guitar string. Never saw a naked girl before?”
She sniffed. Her tension had nothing to do with topless girls. “I just feel like I’m not getting any work done. I’ve barely been able to ask any of you anything.”
He gave a resigned sigh. “What do you want to know?”
The music was blaring so loud she could barely hear him, hardly a good environment for a proper interview, but she’d have to take what she could get. “Okay, how is the second album coming along? How does it compare musically to the first?”
He crossed his arms in front of him on the table. “I bet you don’t even know anything about our first album.”
“Not true,” she bluffed.
“Okay. Then what was our biggest hit?” He laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back in his chair—all smugness and spread knees.
She forced her gaze not to travel the length of him, the blatant male posture beckoning her to look. “I don’t have to prove myself to you.”
“Heh, well, maybe I don’t want someone writing a story about me when she doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.”
“It was the song you closed with the other night,” she said, jutting out her chin, trying to appear confident. “Bring the Night.”
“You guessed.”
She totally had. But she hadn’t been able to get the song or his voice out of her head all day. “I know enough, Lex. I may be a food writer, but at one time in my life, I was really into music. It’s just been a while.”
“Prove it.”
She huffed. “How am I supposed to do that?”
He stuck three fingers in the air. “If you can name the next three out of four songs, artist and title, I’ll believe you.”
Jared spun in his chair to face us. “Are you making a bet?”
“Eavesdrop much?” Lex asked him.
Jared’s grin was unapologetic. “I love bets. That’s how I ended up with my Harley. That idiot drummer from Absinthe thought I would never pierce my—“
Aubrey’s palm shot upward. “TMI, Jared. Even reporters don’t want to know everything.”
He snorted. “Fine, your loss. So, what are the stakes?”
The calculating look on Lex’s face caused her stomach to turn over. He steepled his fingers in front of his chin like a dictator contemplating world domination. “You lose, you give me a lap dance, right here at the table.”
Immediate protests bubbled to her lips.
He held a finger up, halting her. “If you win, I promise a few solid hours with me tomorrow for a serious interview. No bullshit.”
Jared interrupted. “No, your part is too easy. I say if she wins, you do that plus give her a lap dance. That’s more fair.”
Lex grinned with full confidence. “No problem. I’ve got this locked down anyway.”
Aubrey opened her mouth to decline, but then bit her tongue as an idea popped into her head. It was a risk but could work. She put her hand on the table. “Fine, I’m in. Let me get another drink first and then we’ll start.”
“Right on,” Jared said and began tapping the other guys to let them know what was going on.
When she returned to the table, she had a refilled water and a knowing smile. “Let’s do this.”
Lex stared at her for a moment, as if questioning her sudden eagerness, but nodded finally. “All right, this song is almost over. We’ll start on the next.”
The other three band members ignored the pole abuse on stage, ready to watch the bet play out. She wondered what would entertain them more—her humiliation or Lex’s.
The first song started and Lex groused. “This one’s too easy.”
She smiled. She didn’t need any help on this song. “You didn’t make any rules about easy. ‘Hot For Teacher’ by Van Halen.”
“That’s one,” Jared said.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Lex replied, shooting him a quelling look.
They all watched the girl on stage finish her naughty teacher routine and then waited for the next song. When it began, Aubrey didn’t recognize it. She frowned and tapped her fingernails against the table, feigning thought. With her other hand she unfolded the cocktail napkin in her lap and glanced down briefly at the cheat sheet Candace had given her. As Aubrey had hoped when she raced back to the bar, the routines were pre-scheduled, which meant the songs were, too. She wet her lips as if she was nervous, enjoying the little ruse a bit too much. Lex turned predatory. “Come on Ms. Music, this wa
s a big song by a big band.”
She listened to the song for a few seconds. The lyrics were graphic, and she wondered how a song like that even made it on the radio. Two girls writhed on the stage in some leather and whip routine that brought catcalls from the audience.
Her gaze slid to Lex. “Um, is it ‘Closer’ by Nine Inch Nails?”
The title didn’t make any sense based on the words of the song, but that’s what was on the napkin.
“That’s it!” Jared declared, smacking the table with his open palm. “Lex, I hope you wore your good panties.”
Lex showed Jared the backside of his middle finger and then eyed Aubrey suspiciously.
By the time the third song filtered through the speakers, Lex’s forehead was creased with frustration, and she was the cat chewing on proverbial canary feathers. She felt a smidge guilty about cheating—it wasn’t her style—but Lex totally deserved it. She sipped her drink casually then met his gaze. “This one is ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, Def Lepard.”
Jared whooped and slapped high fives with the other two guys.
Lex groaned and let his head fall back. “Unbelievable.”
Aubrey hurriedly shoved the napkin into her purse and grinned triumphantly, beyond thrilled that she’d won her interview time. “Look, you don’t need to do the dance part. The interview time is more than enough.”
The last thing she needed was Lex dancing and stripping his clothes off in front of her. She could barely tolerate sharing air with him without thinking dirty thoughts. If he gave her a lap dance…well, a girl could only handle so much.
***
Lex narrowed his eyes at Aubrey, still stunned that she had won. He could accept that maybe she knew Van Halen—who didn’t? But, there was no way this chick listened to old school Nine Inch Nails or eighties hair metal. He’d bet all his money on that.
She lifted her hair off her neck and piled it on top of her head to fan herself before letting it fall back around her in a dark flood. Lex flexed his fingers, wondering what it’d be like to run his fingers through it—or wrap it around his hand when he… He shook the image from his head before his blood flowed too far south.