She tilted her head in appreciation as she watched his Wrangler-clad butt.
She turned to face the customers and found Vance sitting on his tall chair, elbow braced on the bar, resting his chin in his hand. He grinned at her. “You have no idea how gorgeous you are, do you, Cami?”
Camilla cleared her throat as she stepped up on the ledge Ethan Grant and Jack Warner had installed to make it easier for her to reach the bar. In addition to being married to her friend Grace
Warner, Jack was also a building contractor. Ethan had asked him to build the narrow footrail for her since, at five feet one inch she was a bit “height-challenged.” At eye level with Vance, she wiped the bar down with a towel as she smiled at him. Vance was a nice guy, if a bit of a horndog.
“You know I go by Camilla now, Vance.”
He pouted, and Camilla mentally tallied his beers. “I know, but I have such fond memories of Cami.”
Camilla snorted as she cleared his empty bottle and nodded at his signal for another one. “You make it sound like we had something going, Vance. Heck, you never laid a hand on me.”
Vance sighed melodramatically as he took a sip of his fresh beer. “I know. But in my fantasies we did. You always turn me down, but I’m gonna keep asking—”
Here we go again.
Camilla had to laugh as she cut him off. “No, Vance. You cannot ‘motorboat’ my breasts for fifty bucks. But thank you for the offer.” He asked to nuzzle her every time he came in, with his naughty cowboy grin and his twinkly eyes. Mostly, his requests just amused her. He opened his mouth, probably about to teasingly haggle with her when Quinten reappeared from the storage cooler. Camilla caught the way Vance immediately clammed up and tried unsuccessfully to look innocent.
Turning to Quinten, words stuck in her throat when she saw the glare he cast at Vance. She wondered if he’d overheard their conversation, and also wondered why it would bother him. It was certainly par for the course with Vance and all the women in the club. She placed Vance’s beer in front of him and then moved down the bar closer to Quinten. “Hey, I thought I was going to have to rescue you from there before you froze to death. You okay?” He’d sounded like he was in pain when he’d retreated a few minutes before.
He nodded at her, and her heart lightened a little as good humor returned to his bright-blue eyes. If he’d been sullen before, he must’ve gotten over it. “I’m keeping plenty warm.” His gaze flicked over her outfit, but he made no comment about it as he added, “You got it under control out here?” It was time for him to go home since the stocking was all done for a Wednesday night at The Dancing Pony.
“Yup,” Camilla replied with a nod. She reached out and stroked a curling lock of his dark-blond hair and then glanced at Ben as he returned behind the bar. “You both have paint in your hair. What’ve you been up to?” As far as she knew, there was no work going on in the club.
“We’re doing some renovations.”
Something about Ben’s brief reply made her curious. She was about to ask when, from down at the end of the bar, a gritty voice called out, “Can we get some service please?”
“Yeah, we’re thirsty,” another voice said, in silky contrast to the first one.
“And lonely!” came another deeper demand, laced with humor.
Camilla’s jaw dropped as she turned and squealed. “Well look who the cat dragged in!”
The three biggest, baddest bouncers she’d ever known stood clustered at the end of the bar. Cody, Heath, and Spencer, her coworkers from her days at the Dollhouse in Morehead. She hadn’t seen them since leaving Jake’s employ a few years before.
Turning back to Ben, she said, “I’ll be right back. I need to greet some old friends.” She made a beeline for the end of the bar and skirted it, opening her arms for hugs from her three giantlike friends.
Chapter Two
Possessiveness swept through Quinten like a wildfire as Camilla hugged each of the hulking, leather-clad giants standing at the end of the bar. To his recollection, only Eli Wolf and possibly Adam Davis and Richard Warner would dwarf any of those men in height. In sheer bulk, those three strangers would clearly come out the winners. They grinned with obvious pleasure as she hugged each of them in turn.
Drawn to her, and wanting to know what they were talking about, Quinten carried a case to the cooler at the end of the bar near where she stood. She chatted happily with the men, who all gazed at her with open affection, he noted with ill humor.
When Camilla noticed his presence, she beckoned and called out, “Quinten, I want to introduce you.”