Marco (The Men of Indecent Exposure #1)(26)

     



 

Before I could get there, my phone sounded off with a text message.  Justin, having absolutely no shame, picked it up from the table where I  left it.

"Who the hell's Elena?" he blurted, telling my business without hesitation.

I snatched my cell from him and checked the message: ‘I hope you don't  mind, but I'm in town handling a few things and I thought I'd come see  you tonight since I'm here.'

Ignoring the questioning stares of the guys, I responded. ‘Wow, I wish I could, but I'm working the club.'

Justin raised an eyebrow when I finally looked his way again. However,  before he could get the words out to get in my business again, Carlos  cut in.

"Hold up …  Elena," he said to himself, thinking. And then it hit him.  "Elena from The Ward? The one who used to live around the corner from  your parents' old house?"

It didn't surprise me that he remembered. He'd been there to witness  most of the incidents when I embarrassed myself trying to get with her.

I nodded, letting him know this was the same Elena. Right after that, my phone went off again when she responded.

‘I know,' she said first, adding, ‘My plan was to come there to check  you out. I'm bringing my girls. Unless this all makes you  uncomfortable.'

Typically, I didn't invite women here. It did unnerve me a bit, but only  because I wasn't really myself here. I had to disassociate myself from  Marco Rios and become someone else. That was always harder when someone I  knew popped up in the audience. Still, if I asked her not to come, she  wouldn't understand.

‘Sure. That's fine,' was all I said back.

Time passed pretty quickly after that. I put on the rest of my costume  after oiling up. Me and the guys made our way backstage in black slacks  and matching, brimmed hats. No shirts. We listened to the crowd as Ivy  hyped them up. They were particularly wild tonight, which meant one  thing-we'd be lining our pockets nicely after this.

"Ladies, are youuuuu readyyyyyyyy?"

The answer to Ivy's question was the clash of howls and screams that  filled the air. I leaned my neck to the side, cracking it as I loosened  up. Logan slapped his chest in usual fashion while Justin adjusted his  hat.

"I don't think the guys heard you," Ivy said loudly into the microphone,  inciting a deafening roar on the other side of the heavy, velvet  curtain.

"Fellas?" she called out next. "Get out here and give these ladies what they want!" That was our cue.

With me leading the pack, we stepped out on stage in formation. While,  yes, we came out here to dance, we were entertainers first and foremost.  The directions were to get on your post, keep your head down, no  smiling. The crowd went crazy as the red lights above moved over our  bodies, glinting off our skin as they passed over us. A dense fog crept  up on stage as the bassline dropped and at that exact second we each hit  our marks, in synch like one well-oiled machine. Tonight, me and the  guys did the same thing we do every night here at Indecent Exposure. We  did what we do best-

 … soaked every pair of panties in the damn room.

Mothers, wives, teachers, lawyers, cops …  we had fans from every walk of  life. The mixture of foreign and familiar faces became a blur as I  stepped outside myself, feeling the music, being whatever, and whoever,  these women needed me to be. Hands slipped down my chest and arms before  grasping at my waist, begging me to ‘Take it all off!'

Making them wait turns them into animals and experience taught me that  there's a sweet spot when women were most willing to come out of their  pockets. There's a point of vulnerability right after making eye  contact, right after making them feel like they're the only one you see.  The group of women off to my right were primed and ready to throw cash.  All they needed was a little coaxing.

In unison, me and they guys came out of our pants and tossed them into  the crowd. They loved that, too, feeling like they had a piece of us,  having a memento of the fantasy.

The women I spotted before became more keyed up as I stood over them,  staring down my chest with what they perceived to be lust in my eyes.  Among other things, I'm an actor.

Greedy hands groped my legs. The more aggressive one of the group  grabbed a little more than that, palming my crotch as she sucked her  bottom lip.

From the corner of my eye, I saw one of the security guys making his way  over, but I put my hand up, letting him know I could handle it. He  stopped, but stayed close and kept his eye on the rowdy one.

"How ‘bout you bring that big dick back over here," she crooned with  glassy eyes, making it obvious she'd gotten the party started early with  a few drinks before arriving tonight. I smiled at her request, but  moved downstage a couple feet to her friends.         

     



 

Crouching down, too many hands to count caressed my thighs and stomach.  While I had them there, in that place of lust and desperation, I singled  one out and looked into her, making her believe we connected. And like  clockwork, money was shoved into the waistband of my briefs. Her friends  followed her lead and the night had all the makings of a good show.

The hours bled into one another until I lost track of time. That was  usually the case. Before I knew it, the place had gone dark and the  screaming and hollering had been replaced by the low murmur of our  cleanup crew.

"Good show tonight, guys," Ivy said when Logan and I passed her in the  hall. She'd just gotten done doing the books in her office and we were  all pretty much set to go home. I grabbed my bag from my locker and  checked my phone.

"Waiting on a call from Elena?" Carlos said with a laugh as he got his things together.

It wasn't until he mentioned her name that I actually thought about her,  which was kind of messed up. The only thing on my mind was: did Brynn  call? I hadn't been able to get a hold of her since our text  conversation earlier in the day and it wasn't like her to not respond.  Something could've been wrong and I would have no way of knowing.

Elena hadn't shown up, so I assumed she changed her mind. It was just as  well, though. Granted, she already knew what I did for a living, but  that didn't necessarily mean I wanted her exposed to it. Seeing me up  there on stage can give a woman the wrong impression. We had to turn the  charm and flirting up to one-hundred in order to get paid, but very  rarely was it ever real.

This was the reason most of us had trouble maintaining relationships,  and those who did were rarely ever happy. There was always drama, always  jealousy, always an issue. These were all reasons I couldn't remember  the last time I tried to have anything solid with a woman.

"How'd you end up talking to her anyway?" Carlos asked, bringing my thoughts back to Elena. "Wasn't she living in Connecticut?"

"Colorado," I corrected.

"Same thing." His tone was dismissive as he closed his locker and  grabbed his keys. "She looked you up or something?" he asked next.

We left the room, headed for the back door when I responded. "I ran into  her at the grocery store some weeks back. I had to pick up something  for Ma's Sunday dinner and I ran into her when I was in line.  Apparently, she's moving back here soon."

Carlos nodded without speaking right away, but then he did and I wasn't  surprised by his question. "Does she know about your …  you know …  your  situation?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I didn't bother. We haven't even been out or  anything. And that's not the kind of thing you lead with, you know?"

He nodded, agreeing, but then became thoughtful again. I unlocked my door using the remote as we moved closer to it.

"That's gotta be rough," he started, "trying to still live your life  with a kid on the way. For you and her." I knew he was talking about  Brynn this time, not Elena.

I shrugged. "It is what it is. She's got some guy she was seeing before  all this happened-a friend or something. For all I know, they're kicking  it again."

The words left my mouth casually, but honestly? It was a strange  thought. The situation would only get even more awkward once our  daughter got here. The thought of some other guy being in my baby's  life, sharing moments with her that I wouldn't get to share because of  me and Brynn's situation.

"Marco," Carlos said low, nodding off to the left. I glanced that way and a pretty smile greeted me.

"I'mma take off," was Carlos's way of dismissing himself when Elena  approached. A tight, black dress hugged her curvy frame and I looked her  over from head to toe, being reminded of all the reasons I chased this  woman without hesitation years ago.

She flipped her gold-streaked hair behind her shoulder and stopped once she was right in front of me.

"Now she shows up," I teased. It was well after two in the morning so  the only reason I could imagine she was out here this late dressed like  that was that she and her friends had chosen to go to a different club  nearby.