end of the stage? Guy’s been sitting there alone for a while, and I haven’t had a chance to get to him.”
“Sure. Which side?”
“On the left, facing the stage.” Jessie jerked her thumb over her shoulder as she scurried to the bar.
Britt peered over her tray of drinks at a single man reclining in his chair—long legs stretched out in front of him, head tipped back, watching the woman on the pole. She mumbled under her breath, “Great—a weirdo by himself.”
She scurried among her tables, delivering drinks and picking up a few tips. On her way to the lone guy up front, Britt stopped at a few tables along the way, scribbling drink orders on her pad. When she reached his table, she flicked a cocktail napkin down. “What can I get you?”
The man turned his head and pinned her with a gaze from a pair of the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. “Two shots of vodka and a glass of water, please.”
“Hope you weren’t waiting too long. The waitress at this station is really busy tonight, and she asked me to take care of you.” Britt bit the inside of her cheek. She had no idea why she’d engaged this weirdo—maybe so she could stare into his eyes a minute or two longer.
He shrugged, his black leather jacket creaking with the movement. “I didn’t notice.”
Of course he didn’t notice. He’d been too preoccupied ogling the topless dancer, who was still trying to get a tip out of him.
Without breaking eye contact with Britt, he reached into his front pocket, withdrew a bill and tucked it into the dancer’s G-string.
Britt felt a hot flush creeping up her throat and spun around before a customer could wonder why a cocktail waitress at a topless revue would be embarrassed by a common method of tipping.
She hightailed it back to the bar and smacked her order on the top. “I’m up, Jerome.”
The antics of the dancers and the customers hadn’t bothered her at all. As a therapist, she’d heard all kinds of stories from her clients and had learned to keep a straight face through all of it.
There had just been something so personal about what that particular customer had done—as if he wanted Britt to witness him touching the dancer in that intimate way.
She pushed her hair back from her face and fanned it with a napkin. She’d imagined it. The guy’s appearance had just taken her by surprise, since she’d expected some dweeby loser to be going to topless bars by himself. That man still may be a dweeby loser, but he was one hot dweeb.
Jerome’s dark face broke into a smile. “It does heat up in here pretty fast, and I’m not just talking about the girls.”
“Busy place.”
He tapped the last order on her list. “Is this a specific vodka on this order?”
“I forgot to ask, and he didn’t say.” She’d been too mesmerized by his eyes.
“Okay, I’ll pour him the house brand. Ask next time, since Sergei stocks all the best vodkas. Even the house brand is decent.”
“Will do. Thanks, Jerome.” She picked up her tray and waded back into the mayhem. She delivered the drinks and then returned to her loner, still sprawled in his seat as if he hadn’t moved one muscle.
She dipped beside his table. “Sorry I didn’t ask you before, but is the house vodka okay?”
“It’s fine.” He shifted his body away from the stage, making a slight turn toward her. “How much?”
“Do you want to run a tab?”
“No.” His long fingers were already peeling bills from a wad of cash.
“That’s twelve dollars. The water’s free.” She giggled.
His lips, too lush for his lean face, quirked up at one corner, and he handed her a folded twenty. “Thanks.”
As she reached for his change, he held up a hand. “Keep it...for the added comedy.”
“Thanks.” She backed away from his table and then spun around, nearly colliding with Jessie.
“Whoa.” Jessie raised her tray of drinks above her shoulder.
“Sorry, just looking after your customer. He paid for his order already.”
“Thanks, sweetie. Although from the looks of him, I’m sure you didn’t mind waiting on him. I wouldn’t.” Jessie winked and squeezed past her.
Okay, so her reaction to the loner hadn’t been completely out of left field—and Jessie hadn’t even experienced his magnetism up close and personal.
She let Jessie handle him the rest of the night, although she tried to catch glimpses of him on her drink runs until he left. She had more important issues to deal with than men hitting up topless clubs on their own. The guy probably had a wife and three kids at home waiting for him.
After making two trips to the supply room, Britt figured out a plan for the evening. She could slip into the supply area instead of leaving for the night, wait for everyone else to take off and then search Sergei’s office.
She’d already shoved a wad of chewing gum into the lock on the doorjamb of Sergei’s office. Of course, if someone discovered that the door wouldn’t latch completely, she’d have to figure out another way to get into his office. The plan sounded easy in her head until closing time approached and she got an attack of butterflies.
All the waitresses had to participate in closing down the bar. Irina had left at midnight, leaving Jerome in charge, which soothed Britt’s nerves a little. If Jerome discovered her in the supply room, he might not even tell Sergei—it didn’t seem like Jerome had much loyalty to Sergei.
After wiping her last table, Britt saw her opportunity. She tossed her dishcloth into a basket of dirty ones behind the bar. “Anything else, Jerome?”
“You can leave. You had a great first night.”
“Thanks.” Britt waved to a couple of the waitresses gossiping near the stage and turned down the hallway to the back of the club. She clocked out and then shoved open the back door. Before it closed, she tiptoed past the dressing room, where a few of the women were still chatting, and backed into the supply room. She crouched behind a stack of boxes.
About fifteen minutes later, the door to the supply room opened, and Britt held her breath. She didn’t move one eyelash as the stacking and shuffling noises moved closer to her hiding place. It had to be Jerome finishing up, but even Jerome finding her hiding out would most likely end badly.
When the light went out and the door closed, Britt finally let out a long breath. She waited several more minutes until she heard that back door close for the last time.
Her muscles aching, Britt unfolded her body and peeked around the boxes. She crept forward and pressed her ear against the door. After the noise of the voices and the music, the silence pulsed against her eardrum.
Swallowing hard, she turned the door handle and stepped into the dark hallway. A few low
