Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
It’s still overcast, but not as cold as it looked from inside. I’m wearing a sweater over my dress and am comfortable — or as comfortable as I can be in the presence of these men, who have every inch of my body on high alert.
There’s a seating area in front of the building where customers often enjoy their breakfast, or tourists stop for a snack when they’re biking around the island in the summer, but currently no one else is around. Chase leads me to one of the two larger tables and brushes a couple of fallen leaves from a chair before holding it out for me.
Gentlemen, indeed.
5
Private show
Dodge pulls a chair over from another table, so that there’ll be seating for five at ours. Chase and Maddox sit on either side of me, the twins across the table, and I have to blink at the surreality of the situation. This time yesterday, I’d never laid eyes on these men, and now here they are, having lunch with me. How am I about to eat my turkey sandwich and carrots surrounded by the most sinfully attractive men I’ve ever seen?
As they bite into their croissants, I close my eyes for a quick moment and remind myself to relax. Even though this doesn’t seem like it could possibly be my real life, there’s no reason I can’t participate in a pleasant conversation, enjoy my lunch, and behave like a normal person.
“Do you live on the island?” Dodge asks as I’m unwrapping my sandwich.
“I’ve lived here since right before high school,” I say. “How about you? Where are you from?”
I know they’re not from Four Points; I’d have seen them before. Also, I vaguely recall my parents saying that the club owners were from elsewhere, but I hadn’t paid much attention at the time.
“Richmond,” Diesel says.
“And are you … brothers?” I ask, tearing off a piece of bread and popping it into my mouth.
Chase nods. “How about you? Any siblings?”
After I finish chewing, I say, “No, just me. Spoiled only child.”
Diesel cocks his head, looking at me. “Of course, we’re just getting to know you, but I’d be willing to bet money you’re not spoiled.”
“Do you have any other siblings, besides the four of you?” I ask, ignoring the way Diesel continues to assess me.
Maddox shakes his head, grinning. “No, we were plenty for our poor mom.”
“I’ll bet,” I say. He doesn’t mention a dad, and I wonder if there’s one in the picture, but I feel odd asking about that when I’ve just met them. Instead, a braver, more personal question comes out before I can censor it. “What does your mom think about your line of work?”
Maddox’s smile turns into a laugh. “That’s a tricky question. Would she rather we were doing something else? Probably. But she’s proud of our success.”
“Definitely,” Diesel adds.
“Part of the reason we moved to Four Points is so our mom’s friends and coworkers wouldn’t be able to come to our shows,” Dodge says in a playful tone.
“Not without a long car ride,” Diesel says with a laugh.
“A couple of them were hardcore cougars and really seemed to have a thing for Dodge and Diesel,” Chase says.
“Are those stage names?” I ask before taking another bite of my sandwich.
“Nope, they’re real,” Dodge says. “It’s as if we were destined to be dancers.”
I notice that he doesn’t refer to himself as a stripper, and I’m curious. I have a lot of questions, actually, but I’m not ready to go down that path. “What made you choose Four Points for your club?”
As I ask the question, I try to open my stainless steel water bottle, but the lid is stuck. Maddox sees me struggling and takes the bottle from me, easily unscrewing the top. When he hands it back, his fingers linger on mine, generating more sparks.
“Thanks,” I tell him. “I have a habit of over tightening it.”
“We came here on vacation when we were kids,” Chase explains.
“Then again for a weekend after Chase graduated from college,” Dodge adds.
“We’ve always liked the area, and with the growth here, we suspected it would be a good spot to open the club,” Chase says.
“You seem young to run your own strip club,” I say after taking a drink of my water. I’m twenty-five, and Maddox seems pretty close to my age. Maybe the others are a little older?
“It must be our skin care regimen that keeps us young,” Maddox says, rubbing his face in a vain gesture and clearly joking.
“It’s actually not a strip club,” Dodge says. “We’re a male revue.”
“What’s the difference?” I ask.
“We do choreographed routines, and we don’t do full nudity. We put on a show versus just taking our clothes off.”
I have to admit he makes it sound intriguing.
“And yes, we are young to be the owners,” Chase adds, “but we’ve worked hard to get to this point. What about you? How long have you worked here?” He tips his head toward the building behind us.