of Gage’s scenarios. Then she frowned, too. What if Rudy’s little private party was the kind of thing that proved Gage right, that it really was only sex that mattered?
Nope, she told herself. Not going to think about that. Rudy was the pervy, have-sex-anywhere-and-everywhere-while-he-could-still-get-it-up kind of guy. This was probably just business as usual for him.
Still... Her frown deepened. It did count as one of Gage’s scenarios. And maybe a successful one, at that.
“So you come here often?” she asked, wanting to distract both of them from the image of that skinny, old, bald man and whatever he was doing in the room with the red light.
“Do I look like the kind of guy who spends a lot of time at a place called Pussy’s Galore?” he asked, looking a little insulted.
“Well, you don’t exactly seem like the kind of guy who had to do a lot of research to come up with what scenario you thought would best prove your point about sexy lingerie.” As if to echo Hailey’s words, a waitress wearing a tiny blue teddy, stockings and six-inch Lucite heels approached them with a pitcher and four glasses.
“Pussycat punch,” she said, setting the tray on the table between them, then poured them each a glass of the neon-pink liquid. “Your tasty treats will be out in just a second, Gage.”
“Thanks, Mona.”
Mona? Hailey pressed her lips together but couldn’t hold back her laugh. Eyes wide and trying to look innocent, she met Gage’s glare with a shrug.
“What? It’s not like the reserved sign meant that this is your very own special table or that the waitress, who knows you by name, asked about your family. I believe you when you say you don’t come here all the time. I really do.”
His scowl deepened.
“She just might ask that of everyone,” he muttered. He looked so abashed, if he’d been standing he’d have his toe scuffing the floor. Hailey told herself not to melt, but man, he was so cute.
“She’d ask about your family?” she clarified.
When he nodded, the giggles escaped like champagne bubbles. She couldn’t help it.
“Look, my brother is one of the investors in this club. He’s big on keeping on top of his investments and I’ve come in with him from time to time to check up on things.”
“Of course. That makes perfect sense.” Her thoughts putting an end to the laughter, Hailey put on a serious face and nodded. “I’m sure you only visit for the articles, view the women as hardworking employees and never, ever enjoy yourself.”
He shrugged.
“I did try to pole dance once.” He gave her a teasing look. “You do know what pole dancing is, right?”
He said it as if she were a complete innocent. What? Wasn’t it enough that she designed lingerie—a product that by its very nature demanded an awareness of sex? How did that get her a ticket to the purity princess hall of fame?
Hell, she’d just let him feel her up, and bring her down, in a restaurant on what was questionably their first date.
And he still looked at her as if she were a sweet little thing who’d run screaming at the sight of a fully erect penis.
Hailey’s shoulders stiffened and her chin lifted. Was it because she was a proponent of romance? Was that why he kept dismissing her sexual savvy?
She should ignore it. She didn’t have anything to prove.
But dammit, the man made her think silk scarves, whipped cream and doing it doggy style. She’d be damned if he’d dismiss her as unworthy of those thoughts.
“Let’s see, pole dancing,” she mused, tapping one finger on her lower lip. “Crazy gymnastic moves that require an incredible amount of upper body and core strength in order to climb a hard, phallic-shaped dance partner.”
She waited for that to sink in, then leaned closer. Close enough to breathe in the scent of his soap. Close enough to see his pupils dilate and his gaze fog as the image played through his mind.
“There’s something so empowering about grabbing hold of that big, hard pole and sliding yourself up and down its length.” Her gaze locked on his, she pulled her glass of pussycat punch toward her and wrapped her lips around the straw. She waited just a second, watching his pulse jump in his throat, then sucked. Hard.
And that’s how it’s done, she thought with a grin when Gage closed his eyes and gave a soft groan. That’d show him not to dismiss her as a naive good girl.
“You’ve pole danced?” he clarified when he opened his eyes again, looking at her as if he wanted to cement that visual in his brain. “In a skimpy outfit?”
Hailey’s lips twitched and she took another sip of the surprisingly delicious punch.
“All the way to the top. In short shorts and a cropped T-shirt,” she confirmed. He didn’t need to know it’d been in a gym with fourteen other women during an exercise class. Why ruin the romance or, to use his term, the image.
“They have poles in the back for customer use. Let’s go.” He was off his stool, his fingers around her wrist before Hailey could swallow her punch.
Freaked, she started to shake her head. It was one thing to claim she’d danced the pole. It was another to do it in front of him.
“I don’t think so,” she started to say.
Before she could launch her full protest—or even come up with how to do it without making him look at her like a Pollyanna again—their waitress returned with a tray covered with snack bowls. Hailey squinted. Was that cat food?
Before she could use it as a distraction to keep Gage from trying to introduce her to a dancing pole, Rudy came strutting across the room, weaving between people like a happy rooster. Hailey didn’t wonder at his smile, given that he was followed by a very disheveled Candy, who was hand in hand with another woman.
“Three of them?” she murmured, a little awed.
“Gotta hand it to the guy. He’s not shy about having a good time,” Gage muttered back, shaking his head.
Hailey wrinkled her nose.
“I’ll bet you think this proves your point.” It was all she could do not to slip right into a pout. Why couldn’t Cherry have felt well tonight? If she’d been here, Rudy wouldn’t have gone off to get off. He’d have stayed to woo his potential spokesmodel, giving Hailey plenty of opportunity to pitch charming point after charming point.
But nooooo. Instead, she’d said maybe a dozen words to the guy and paid a couple hundred dollars for dinner. With nothing to show for it but an orgasm.
Albeit a freaking awesome orgasm.
“I don’t know if it proves my point,” Gage mused. “But it definitely proves the old man has stamina.”
Yeah. That was what he had. Stamina.
And a contract that Hailey
