STRIPPED

by Tarrah Anders

  I stand and grab my coat, then reach around the redhead and grab Beck’s cardigan. I steer Beck to the front of the restaurant, leaving our intruder alone without another word. After settling the bill, we start walking down the street until we come to a bench where Beck sits down and puts her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. I sit beside her and put my arm around her.

  “I’m sorry, love. Are you okay?” I ask quietly.

  “Do you know how often I have to deal with situations like that? All the girls at work, all the looks I see women give you when you’re just minding your own business, everywhere we go!” she sobs.

  “You know that none of them matter, right?”

  “I hear the girls at work talk daily about how, even though you have a girlfriend, that won’t stop them from making a move on you. All the time. I hear it almost daily!”

  “I wouldn’t let any of that happen,” I say quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

  She sniffles but doesn’t respond to me for several long moments. She looks up at me, her cheeks rosy, her eyes red and wet. She wipes her sleeve along her nose. I lift my hand and wipe off some tears on her cheek.

  “I just want to go home.” She sniffs again.

  “Babe, let’s just go back to the hotel room and I’ll get you a bath started,” I say, as she shakes her head.

  “I want to go home,” she says firmly.

  “No. We are going back to the hotel room and we’re going to talk. We’re not ending our trip because of some chick interrupting our dinner,” I say with an edge to my voice.

  “Some chick? Some chick? Mal, this isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with women who try to stake claims on you. How are you not understanding this?” she cries.

  “I understand it, babe, I do. But not a single one of these women mean a damn thing to me. The only woman who means anything to me is you. You are the one I love, the one I want. No one else.” I start to raise my voice.

  “Just take me back to the hotel, please,” she replies.

  ***

  The rest of the night is quiet. When we get back to the room, Beck goes straight into the bathroom, runs herself a bath and locks herself in there for an hour. When she comes out, I am sitting on the bed, my back against the headboard with my tablet in my hands. I set it aside as she approaches her side of the bed and silently keeps her back to me as she slides under the covers.

  “Beck?” I start.

  “Not now, Mal. Not now,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

  I lean over to her and kiss her bare shoulder. “I love you, Beck,” I say and lean back. I look at her for a moment before removing my shirt, turning off the light and then climbing under the covers as well.

  Chapter 15

  Rebeckha

  It wasn’t fair, shutting out Malcolm. He didn’t do anything wrong, but I couldn’t help it. My insecurities were revealed and I’m ashamed of it. I cried my eyes out last night, on the bench near the restaurant, as well as in the bathtub after we got back to the room. I know this morning, as I wake with puffy eyes, that I’d rather just avoid any conversation about what happened. As I roll over and stretch my sore limbs, I look over to Mal’s side of the bed and he’s not there. I feel his side and it’s cold. After sitting up, I see that I’m alone in the room. A note rests on the table in the sitting area of the suite.

  Beck -

  Gone to grab us some coffee and breakfast. Please don’t leave.

  I love you.

  -Mal

  “He thinks that I’m going to leave,” I say out loud. I shake my head and pad into the bathroom. I brush my teeth and then rummage through my luggage for something to change into.

  I sit on the bed and wait patiently for Malcolm to return. When he does, he has his arms full: flowers, a bag of bagels, and a drink tray with two coffees. I rush to his side and help relieve him.

  “I didn’t think this through. I thought I could carry everything, but I overestimated how many arms I actually have,” he says sheepishly.

  “Mal. You didn’t need to get me flowers.”

  “Flowers help make apologies better.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. I over-reacted and let my jealousy get the best of me.”

  “It’s a human reaction. But I still owe you flowers.”

  “Thank you for the flowers and for saying what you said last night.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, the male dancers wanted to ask you out and I growled at them.”

  “You growled?”

  “I think they know that either I have a thing for you or that we’re together.” He shrugs.

  “Are you okay with that?”

  “I wanted the news of us being a thing to be more organic and not some caveman type of claim, but yeah, I’m completely okay with it.”

  “So does that mean I can get territorial?”

  “Babe, you can piss on me if you want. Better yet, don’t. That’s pretty gross!” he says laughing while dodging my hand as it reaches up to playfully smack him.

  ***

  The rest of the week in San Diego goes a lot smoother than our first night there. We talk over my insecurities and he assures me over and over again that he isn’t the kind of guy some of the girls were predicting he is. I’m not ready to head back home, but I know that next week we have our grand opening and I am likely just as nervous as Mal is.

  This club has become my project too, at least the parts I’m involved with. I have watched Jacks and Malcolm work tirelessly from the start to now. They are dedicated and eager. I have watched them rehearse with some of the dancers, listen intently to the new staff and I have brought them endless supplies for those late nights as they sit around the bar.

  The night of the opening, I find Mal pacing in his bedroom.

  “You okay?” I ask, standing in the doorway.

  “I am, just nerves.”

  “Tonight is going to be great. We have a lot of publicity for tonight, a red carpet with some of the elite of Vegas, and some great sponsorships. And you have me.”

  “I do. And that’s the most important of all.” He stops pacing, walks to stand in front of me and grabs both my hands.

  “Can I get you anything? A drink to take the edge off, a blow job or maybe a massage?”

  He laughs lightly. “That is quite the offer. But surprisingly, I’m going to decline all of them.” He smiles, releases one of my hands and then lowers himself down to one knee.

  “What are you doing down there?” I ask, and then it suddenly hits me.

  “Rebeckha, you and I met in an unconventional way and you’ve learned to accept me for who I am, you’ve helped me make my dream come true, and you’ve made me the happiest guy in the world.”

  “The world?” I ask, laughing, only halfway serious.

  “My world. I love you with every fiber of my being, and I want to start tonight off with a bang. I want to walk into our club tonight with you on my arm as my soon-to-be wife, the future Mrs. Jane.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that your last name is very feminine?”

  “I just asked you to marry me and you’re making fun of my last name?” he scoffs playfully.

  “A last name that I would be honored to share with you. Yes! Yes, of course I’ll marry you!”

  Malcolm

  It came straight out of left field. I wasn’t planning on asking Beck to marry me tonight but, when I thought about what would make tonight perfect, her agreeing to marrying me was top of the list. I had been planning on asking her soon but then tonight became the night.

  I’ve been carrying around this ring with me everywhere I’ve gone for the past several weeks in my inner jacket pocket. As I reach in, my fist closes around the box, then I open it as I present it to her. Her hand covers her mouth, her eyes go wide, and her head nods. No sound is coming from her, but I can tell she’s overcome with emotion.

  I slip the ring on her finger, hold her hand in mine and stand.

  “I love you,
” I say to her, both my hands cradling her face.

  “Ditto,” she replies, leaning into me.

  ***

  Opening night was a huge success.

  We had a packed house and everyone received the shows with open arms. Drinks flowed, guests laughed, and audiences were wowed. We had several members of Exposed Men come tonight, as well as performers from other clubs in the area, which made me feel like we had succeeded. Beck stood by my side all evening, her arm in mine, the diamond on her finger blinding everyone we came in contact with. At the end of the night, the entire staff sat together at the table and chairs on the floor, while Beck, Jacks and I sat on the edge of the stage.

  “I know everyone is tired – it’s been a crazy night – but I just want to say, on behalf of myself and management, that we couldn’t have done it without you guys. You all helped tonight become a real thing, and I can’t put into words how happy I am that each and every single one of you helped create a terrific and lasting impression on our guests. Both sets of shows were equally talked about and praised by some of the top figures in the industry. Let’s do it again tomorrow night and the night after that and so on. Now I want to have a celebratory shot with everyone and then you are all free to go.”

  “I think that the celebrating that we need to do around here is for your engagement,” Jacks says, holding up a glass, shocking everyone. “If you didn’t see the sizable rock on Beck’s finger, then you’re blind as a bat. These two fuckers got engaged earlier tonight. So along with the celebration of the opening of the club, let’s toast to the couple.” Jacks says, as half of the female staff drops their jaws. “Oh, and if you all didn’t know about them before, surprise!”

  THE END

  Readers,,

  Thank you so much for your support. If you enjoyed this book, please sign up for my newsletters so you can be in the know when a new book comes out, or if you just want to hear me ramble about nonsense.

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  Please check out my website at: WWW.TARRAHANDERS.COM

  I hope that in some shape or form you felt connected to my characters. I strive to have my stories be as relatable as possible, and not too outrageous. The sole purpose for me to bring my friends these stories is to feel like that too can be you.

  That being said, I write to make you happy. I wouldn’t be able to do so without your feedback. Whether you leave a review on Goodreads & Amazon (Please do, that would be spectacular!) or if you feel like shooting me a message at: tarrah.anders@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.

  All my best with Smooches and Huggles,

  TARRAH

  Acknowledgements

  First and foremost, thank YOU to the readers, the bloggers, THE people. I write to entertain you for however long you deem to let my words into your mind. Thank you for picking up this little ditty and giving me a chance.

  I want to give a hefty thank you to my husband, who while even though he had no clue that I was writing for the first two years, he took the news with grace and only mildly teases me and offers me his support and is always willing to help with ‘research.’ As well as comb through some chapters of the manuscript.

  To Javier of the UK, for helping me out with my random questions about the profession, for answering so honestly and for all your inst-stories.

  To Daniel of Los Angeles, for your descriptions of the job, the late nights and your honesty. “Interviewing” you guys was one of my favorite parts of writing this story.

  More thanks go to my ride or die chicks, my sistas from other mistas, my loving friends and confidents of Indies Ink. Thank you for letting me in and for accepting my antics, being a sounding board and for entertaining my perverted mind.

  To Tarrah’s Teases, my street team: Thank you for pimping me out on social media, for reading and reviewing and your overall support.

  To Lizzy Black of Elizabeth B. Promotions, for pimping me and for being so kind to me with all your beautiful words that make my heart pitter patter.

  To my betas, Pamela, Mackenzie and Tamera. Thank you for the gushing, the critique and the overall awesomeness that you guys are!

  To Laura, of Red Pen Princess & Indies Ink. Your amazing editing skills are top notch. Thank you for editing, reading and loving me.

  And to my PA’s Amanda & Angela. You two crazy ladies, while most of the time it’s almost as I’m talking to one person, I’m so grateful for your expertise, organization and thoughts.

  I went to Vegas with my aunt and surprised her with a male revue show, and from that show I was overly inspired to write my own story with this background. I sat at a bar on Evernote on my phone brainstorming, putting random ideas into play and jotting down a rough outline. Thank you Las Vegas for having the balls to be an awesome playground for the creative and free.

  To Channing Tatum, for Magic Mike, the movies and the Live Show.

  To Thunder Down Under’s Beau, Andrew & Alex for…. Bringing that fantastic show to stage. Making my mouth water and for being fantasies.

  Discover these other titles by

  TARRAH ANDERS:

  THE ZONE SERIES

  The Friends Zone

  The Crash Zone

  The Office Zone

  THE MELTED SERIES

  Frozen Over

  FROZE

  Freezing (Coming Soon)

  Novellas

  New Year, New You

  STRIPPED

  Coming Soon:

  Hahahaha Just kidding! You need to subscribe to my newsletter for the coming soons!

  www.tarrahanders.com to subscribe

  About Me:

  I’ve been writing since I was in middle school and throughout college. While it was a passion, I kept it under wraps and never vocalized or followed through with my desire to be a writer, until I read a horrible book and thought: ‘I could do better than that!’ I kept my writing romance from my husband for nearly two years, but finally told him because… royalties and taxes. When he immediately tried to skip forward to any steamy scenes, then referred to the moment as in Lethal Weapon 4.

  I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but living in beautiful San Diego with my own little family while working during the day as a social worker working with the homeless. I am hardcore San Francisco Giants fan and anything dealing with cupcakes and Zombies.

  My writing style is that I try to keep on earth. I try my best to not be too unrealistic with my characters, what they do and how they live. I want my books to be relatable and not to create too many eye rolls, when a character starts calling his love interest baby after knowing her for 5 minutes.

  I’ve written and self-published 4 books and one novella (this one not included). They’re all dual point of view aside from the novella. Thematically, the novels are friends to lovers, second chances and office romances mixed with a whole lot of fun in the middle.

  I am currently working on the third book in The Melted Series, a few pieces for some anthologies and maybe some other stories.

  Social Media:

  Insta & Twitter: @tarrahanders

  Facebook Reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TarrahsDPrintPolice/

  Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/tarrah.anders.5

  Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/tarrahanders

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Tarrah_Anders

  Amazon: amazon.com/author/tarrahanders

  Email: tarrah.anders@gmail.com

  Website: www.tarrahanders.com

  Table of Contents

  About

  Readers,,

  Acknowledgements

  Discover these other titles by

  TARRAH ANDERS:

 

 

 
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