One Night Only

Excerpt from: One Night Only

I knew from the first time I laid eyes on him, he was the one. Not for marriage, not my one and only true love—no, he was the one made to rock my world. One night only, that’s all we’d need and that’s all I wanted.

He sipped his drink at the bar, looking only half interested in his surroundings. It was very rare to come to a strip joint and not see a room full of stiff dicks occupying the vacant space. But this guy stared at his daiquiri and barely glanced at the stage.

Now was my chance, I supposed. As bartender of Loose, I tend to see more than the average man looking for a good time. I don’t consider myself overly sexy in black dress pants and a white button-down shirt, but I guess guys tend to have an imagination, and boy, the things they wanted to do.

Charlie saw me observing the crowd and smiled when my eyes met his. A fellow bartender, he knew what I was in store for and warned of things that could arise. We had a system and most nights it worked.

I slid through the swinging door that kept the crowd from coming behind the bar and pecked a kiss on Charlie’s cheek as he filled two draughts for paying customers. He wasn’t what I’d consider a boyfriend, but we had shared sinful pleasures sometime ago on a very distressing night. Charlie was always there for me, and I couldn’t do anything but reciprocate the favour.

“Hey, hot stuff. I seen you scoping the crowd. It’s not too busy tonight, but it should pick up.” He finished pouring the drinks and, with one in each hand, turned and pressed his lips against mine in greeting.

I smiled when he pulled away and left me to attend to the customers. In another lifetime, maybe, Charlie and I would work out. But this lifetime was the one we lived in and for us to be involved, in anything other than sex, was preposterous. We worked together, and were friends as a result.

I grabbed an apron, just as one of my favourite songs came on over the sound system. I couldn’t help swaying my hips to the rhythmic beat as it pulsed through my body. I didn’t pay the customers any mind until everything was set and in place. Already five men had locked their gazes on my breasts and no telling how many on my ass.

But one man, sitting with his fruit drink in front of him, stared at my eyes. So I chose him first, not only because he had the decency to pay a little respect to a working girl, but because he was the one guy I’d been staring at ever since I saw him from across the room. The one guy I wanted to fuck me.

“What can I get for ya?” I asked, putting on my killer smile and bubbly personality.

“A name and number would be nice.” He downed the last of his drink. “Or a room, whichever you may prefer.”

I should have been offended, and if it had been any other guy, I would have told him what he could do with himself. But the slight slant of his lips in the sexiest of smiles held my gut reaction back.

“Sorry. My expertise is in drinks, not whoring.” I grabbed his empty glass, biting my bottom lip to keep from leaning across the counter and kissing his. He looked delicious in his stupid business suit, enough to make a girl’s wildest imaginings work overtime. “What can I get you from the bar?”

His grin widened to show perfect white teeth—something I hadn’t seen outside of dentist advertisements on TV. A dark shadow of stubble added to the rugged sexy look, and my mind drifted to how the stubble abrasion would feel between my thighs and along my breasts and stomach.

“I think I like you.” His eyes were dark as midnight with the bad lighting in the room. “What’s your name?”

“Virgin Mary,” I replied. I tried to hold back the grin, but it slipped through my best efforts and he saw it.

“Wow. A virgin in a place like this?” He shook his head, tsking. His eyes met and held mine before he continued the playful bantering. “How’d you like someone to relieve you of that status? Make you feel really good all night long?”

Usually guys hit on me, and I literally hit them back with a solid right hook. Charlie did his best to keep my temper reigned in but a few got past the barriers and my anger was unleashed. This guy was something else. Talking alone, he had my body heated to dangerous degrees. My thighs clenched when he mentioned the whole ‘feel good all night long’ part of his speech, and I found my breath and heart rate increasing. I wanted this guy, but I wasn’t stupid enough to leave the premises with him. I wasn’t even stupid enough to show interest.

“I can make myself feel good all night long. Last time, can I get you anything from the bar?”

My hands curled around the counter as I stared at him, waiting for his answer. I didn’t dream on being so horny tonight; I could think of nothing going on around me but him. The way his eyes looked. The way his smile teased and dared. The way his body would feel, if I ever got the chance to rub my hands over the contours and plains. Oh, how I’d love to kiss and taste him.

“I just bet you can. Sex is more fun with a partner, though.” He totally ignored my question so I treated him to my famous eye-roll and turned to walk away.

“Wait.” His hand covered mine and electricity shot up my arm, hitting every nerve connected to my spine. “I enjoy talking to you. You aren’t just going to leave me alone, are you?”