is up close and personal. I want her to tell me everything with her hair spread out on my pillow.”
“That sounds like the old you—I guess there’s hope for you yet. Maybe you should follow her around. Find out what she’s doing. James Bond stuff.”
Tyler turned and his eyes met Tina’s cool, assessing gaze as if there weren’t a room, a crowd, and a piece of glass between them. Then she dismissed him to look back at the stripper.
He knew he would never get to Tina by normal means: flowers, candy or romance, the things that all the other women in his life had wanted.
Not Tina. He’d tried everything from roses to orchids. He’d sent tickets for opera performances and basketball games. She’d even sent back the little lawyer bear he’d had made especially for her. For once in his life, something hadn’t fallen into place. She hadn’t gone out with him since the night she’d let him stay over at her place.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her. She was the one challenge he hadn’t mastered. She’d barely given him a chance. So what did he have to lose? Just his reputation and his pride. “It’s a crazy idea, me impersonating a stripper. Can you imagine what would happen if anyone ever found out?”
“You can’t be disbarred for fulfilling a sexual fantasy in the privacy of a hotel room.”
“She’ll laugh at me.”
“I don’t think she has your sense of humor. Either she’ll be intrigued, or angry.” Nelson put his hand on Tyler’s arm. “Look, she can’t afford to make it public that she intended to take a stripper to bed, any more than you can afford to be caught impersonating a stripper. She might kick you in the balls, but that won’t damage your career as a lawyer, though maybe your career as a stripper.” He chuckled.
Maybe Nelson was right, maybe it would take something wild and crazy to get her attention. And Tyler definitely wanted her attention—which was a new situation for him.
Tyler looked back into the room where another one of the women gave out a gasping scream as The Bandit grabbed and fondled her breast through her dress.
“Technically, he’s not supposed to touch them.”
“He’s definitely gonna touch her if you don’t do something about it. She has that predatory look.”
Tyler turned to Nelson. “Can you catch this guy when he goes to the bathroom? Offer him a thousand dollars for the getup.”
“A thousand? Man, are you crazy?”
Tyler just looked at him.
“Yeah, I guess you are, and at least you’re good for it.” Nelson put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “In the meantime, keep both Sheila and Peggy warm for me.”
Tyler grimaced. “I only agreed to come along with Sheila so I could get close to Tina. Guess that makes me a louse.”
Nelson smiled. “Makes you human, man, but it’s my guess Tina intends to take the stripper to her room tonight, and the only reason she’s sticking around is to flaunt what she’s got lined up for the evening. If you’re flaunting, too, it’s going to get very interesting.”
Tyler tightened his hand on the balcony rail, which felt very solid beneath his fingers, an anchor of sorts. “You know this is crazy, don’t you? I’ve never done anything this crazy, even in college.”
“You only live once, so a little crazy isn’t a bad thing.”
Tyler reluctantly let go of the rail, and then made his way back inside through the crush of people to Sheila, who immediately draped herself over him. Absently, he ran his hand down the silky smooth skin of her bare leg. If he’d been interested, the dress she had on would have made for excellent access, and because he was accustomed to taking advantage of such access, his fingers crept under the hem.
When he looked across the room Tina had moved in closer to the stripper. Her expression was hard, as if she’d caught his move on Sheila.
Could Nelson be right? Could Tina be just a little jealous? Tyler’s naughty fingers slid deeper under Sheila’s dress. For the first time in the evening he was aroused and Sheila obligingly rubbed up against him as she leaned in to whisper intimately in his ear.
Tyler didn’t have a clue as to what Sheila said to him. She was just like all the other women in his life. They’d take one look at him and his bank book and they’d trip all over themselves to get to him. It didn’t feel real, and it certainly wasn’t a challenge.
As far as he was concerned, Tina was the only woman in the room worth going for. Practically grinding his teeth, he watched her sliding bills in the stripper’s thong with bold, seductive moves, unabashedly stroking the man. And the stripper enjoyed her attention.
Why not? Tina’s tall figure might not be generous but she was perfectly proportioned, graceful and charismatic. Her straight hair complimented that narrow face, and she had those gorgeous changeable hazel eyes. When he’d made love to her, those eyes had gone a soft golden color that he desperately wanted to see again.
If he had any doubts about his plan to get Tina, now was the time to give them up. The Bandit was going to have Tina tonight over Tyler’s dead body. No one knew anything about the man. He might harm her, or worse, he might please her.
Tyler intended to touch and caress Tina until she begged, and then possess her fully, if only for one more night. He doubted Tina would ever commit to anyone—she’d come out and told him that she wasn’t interested. He wasn’t supposed to be hurt because she didn’t do relationships. It had been fun: the cruise, the fling afterward, a short-term romance. She’d laid it all out for him, explaining patiently that she didn’t want more. That she needed nothing from him or anyone else.
It only made him crazy wondering. Why was she so independent? And why, when he’d already scored with her, did he still dream about her? He hadn’t actually had sex with a woman since he’d been with Tina that last night at her home. She’d wound herself around him all night long, and then woken him up with a cup of coffee and a boot out the door. Later, she’d explained why she preferred not to see him again. Logically. Coolly.
It only made him burn.
So what would she think about a man crazy enough about her to do something really desperate? Tyler wondered bleakly. Would she be cool or could he make her burn?
“DOES OUR Bandit need a ride home?” The female voice drifted through the closed restroom door as Tyler awkwardly buckled the last piece of the loin plate into place.
“That’s probably Lindsay. She must have dropped almost a hundred trying to get a hold of my cock.” The stripper chuckled softly as he tucked his T-shirt into his jeans. Tyler thought he would probably be a huge disappointment to his audience if they could see him now. He looked just like a regular guy.
“I’ll be walking him out.”
This time it was Tina’s voice. She sounded as if she hired a stripper every night of the week, and it made Tyler wince as he adjusted his newly acquired faux fur.
“Good for you.”
Lindsay again, dripping venom.
The
