Emma snickered and said, “I’d recommend the practice. It’s amazing how tightly you can get a G-string wrapped around a pair of hooker heels.” Several more men in the group went quiet and began paying attention to the conversation. Some of them had evil intent in their grins as they watched their women.
Ethan Grant separated himself from the group and joined Dave in the DJ booth for a few minutes. While he was gone, Lucy Carter, Beck O’Malley, and Patrick Owen joined the group, making it necessary to pull another table over so they could all sit together. Luckily for them, Valentine’s Day had fallen on a weekday so the club wasn’t overly crowded.
Lucy looked tired and slightly peeved but relaxed a little as she joined in the discussion. She became animated as they spoke more about the striptease lessons. “I can’t wait to give her class a try. Whatever she can teach me has to be better than what I’m doing right now.”
Patrick Owen was standing behind Lucy at the time, and when he heard what she said, he arched his eyebrow and invited her onto the dance floor. As attractive as Lucy was, Gwen wondered at her lack of self-confidence.
Excusing herself from their table, Gwen walked to the restroom, cognizant of the breeze that constantly shifted under the short dress, caressing her bare ass cheeks. Worry raced through her when she saw Hatch Dunlap and his two buddies sitting at the table next to the hallway leading to the restrooms. There was no getting around him without being noticed. She didn’t return to her table. She had just as much right to be there as they did and she wasn’t hiding.
“Well, well, well,” Hatch said as he put his boot out to block her path and looked her up and down suggestively. “We got one more chair at our table if you wanna join us.”
Gwen glanced at the empty spot and noticed the hurricane glass with the hot-pink fruity-looking drink reaching its rim and the two empty glasses next to it. Chancing a guess at the occupant of the seat, she said, “I’ll bet Judith would disagree.”
Hatch waved a hand dismissively. “Ah, we’re just hanging out.” Gwen thought how alike they both were and that they deserved each other, all four of them. “There’s room for you in the group if you want. I reckon we have a little unfinished business from the other day saved up for you.”
We?
Her skin crawled at his insinuation. Three men and two women. No matter how desperate she ever became, that would never happen. And regarding any unfinished business he might be implying, she was about as finished as a woman could get with a misogynistic asshole. She glanced at his two friends and felt justifiable fear at the way they drilled her with their eyes.
“Not interested. I already have my hands full,” she quipped and side-skirted his dusty boot. She ignored Judith as she exited the restroom and was thankful when the woman failed to recognize her as she chattered to no one in particular, sounding more than a little inebriated. A few minutes later Gwen sailed past their table, relieved that it was empty. Either they’d left or they were all on the dance floor. She gladly put them out of her mind as she returned to her seat.
Grace kissed Ethan as he returned to the table and listened intently as he whispered to her. She bit her lip and giggled as she looked toward the DJ booth where Dave waved at her when he had her attention. He held a mike in his hand.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this classic song goes out to Grace, from the hearts she’s held captive for the last four years. Happy Valentine’s Day, Grace!”
Grace gasped when Dave started the familiar song and slipped from her chair. She was practically vibrating with happiness in her sexy hot pink wraparound dress as she threw her arms around each of her men in turn while the other girls clapped and cheered as they slipped from their chairs to go dance. Even Gwen was urged to join them by Julián and Chris as the vocals began for “Kiss You All Over” by Exile.
Her body throbbed with excitement as she moved to the sensual beat of the song. She couldn’t keep from smiling as she danced in the midst of her group of friends. Some of them were throwing down some seriously sexy moves and she considered looking into those striptease lessons while she was in the area. She might be able to swing a few Tuesday and Thursday afternoons here and there.
For all the drama and catty women that she was used to dealing with on the road, it was nice to be friends with women who weren’t constantly back-biting and plotting against each other. They each had their own men, none of them were jealous of the others, and they watched out for each other. Friends like that couldn’t be taken for granted. It wasn’t just her men that she would miss, come March.