Damon [The Texas Senator's Sons 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (12 page)

Damon brushed a stray hair out of her face. “You look radiant when you blush.”

“You, cowboy, are marvelous with your mouth and hands. I can’t wait until later, but we really need to get out of here,” she said, her hand inching up his waist, loving the way he quivered at her touch.

They walked to the door, and Damon stopped and let out a small groan, holding up his finger for her to wait.

“What’s wrong?” Worry shot through her as her eyes looked him over.

He grimaced. “Just a little painful, that’s all.”

Regan was confused at first but let out a loud, “Oh!”

* * * *

Damon paced for a minute, trying to get his mind off everything. He ran any and every thought through his mind that was a pure mood killer. Politics, baseball…
whew,
football, a plumber’s crack. He paused then began again. Mom’s cleavage…
terrible thought
. He shook his head but it was working.

Regan stood at his side, worry written on her face. “I hear the new speed limit is eighty-five. Just think how fast our commutes will be!”

Damon chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged softly. “Let’s go.”

When they opened the door, Damon dropped his hand. No touching, right, he needed to remember that part. He loved Regan’s concern and loving nature. The sexual stripper deviant she was currently portraying was an added bonus. She turned and flashed him a smile while they walked to the stairs and melted his heart. Regan was deep. Inside was a person he wanted to know so much more about.

Damon worked to clear his head of fuzzy feelings and how much he wanted tangle under the sheets with her. He suspected it would be an unforgettable event. How time was against him right now, he thought, looking at his watch. Two hours until her shift ended.

That meant for the next two hours he’d have to watch other men hit on her. That sucked, but he knew that her eyes were for him, and that was a wonderful feeling. But the thought of her performing a lap dance for one of the jokers in the club sent his blood to boiling and his fists clenching up.
Stop
.

He reminded himself that they had a plan and tried to concentrate on the bigger picture. Already from what he had witnessed firsthand, Miss Shay was a royal bitch, and that was being polite about it. But he had to remember that this place was where she worked and likely she had to be tough or get run over. Whatever, she was still a bitch, he thought.

At the bottom of the stairs Regan stopped and smiled. “I hate that I have to go, but I need to keep up my image as a dancer if I plan to stay employed long enough to see this through.”

“I know, damn I know,” Damon said as he looked around the club with a solemn look on his face. “Two hours, surely two hours won’t kill us.”

“No, and since Shay seems stuck in the chair next to your brother, maybe you can find out more about her!”

“I don’t like her, what else do I need to know?” he asked.

Regan laughed and patted his arm. “Just because she is…well because…” She paused. “Okay, she’s not a nice person, and I don’t like her either, but that doesn’t mean she is a
bad
person.”

“You’re right.” Damon threw his hands up in defeat.

“See you in a little bit, cowboy!” Regan winked and strolled away.

In two hours Damon figured out what hell was. Hell wasn’t a place where sinners went when they died. No, hell was the state of mind one wound up in when their cock was hard as steel and the woman they wanted to pleasure with said cock was required to perform lap dances for men that looked like they stepped out of a rock video.

He couldn’t blame the guy for blowing off the other dancers that approached him and requesting Regan, or rather American Pie, at all. But he still wanted to mess up his perfect hair and teeth with some good old-fashioned ass kicking.

On more than once occasion, Damon tried to get engaged in conversation with Drew only to be disrupted when the she-devil with blazing red hair popped by. He had her number all right. She had two faces, one she showed Drew and one she revealed to everyone else. What was her angle? No one could be that hateful and cold one minute and loving the next. No, she was up to something, and he was sure of it, all the more reason for him to get a check on his hormones and strange possessive streak. Regan didn’t belong to him. He hired her, or to be more truthful, he begged her. It didn’t matter. She signed up to help him, and the way to thank her was not by becoming a major jackass in the process.

“Dude, why the long face? Didn’t you have fun in the VIP room with that hottie, American Pie?” Drew broke the silence.

Damon smiled and held back a laugh, but didn’t cover it. “Yeah, I had a good time.” He grinned casually and sipped his drink.

“Man, she was awesome!” Drew said then looked at Shay. “Of course, not as hot as you, baby!”

Shay raised a brow and fought to smile. “You’re sweet, trying to cheer up your brother. I understand.” She got up then leaned down and kissed him. “You cheer him up while I go scare up some more money.”

Drew slapped her on the ass as she walked away. “Great, isn’t she?”

Damon just nodded. Here he sat in hell wondering if this was how monks felt from time to time. He shuddered at the thought of never having sex again—that would definitely be hell. Really though, he knew he should be enjoying his brother’s company. They really hadn’t seen each other much lately.

“So, is Shay planning on dancing after y’all get married?” Damon thought it a logical question.

Drew shrugged. “Whatever she wants to do.”

Okay, not good. It was not good on many levels, mainly because their father was the senator of Texas, for starters. He just looked at Drew blankly, thinking he must have lost his damn mind.

“What gives, why are you looking at me like that, Damon?” Drew tipped up his beer.

“Gee, I don’t know, maybe because our father is running for re-election!” Damon barked out.

“Why should my life be disrupted by his?” Drew commented.

It was a good point. He’d give him that. “I know that our family is restricted, and yeah, it sucks in a lot of ways, but really, wouldn’t you get tired of her being pawed by these men?” Damon held his hands out, looking around the room. “Besides, I thought you said she was finishing up college.”

“Like I said, whatever she wants to do I’ll back her, it’s that simple.” Drew’s expression was stern and unwavering.

Damon looked at his watch.
Bring on the fire and brimstone, and stoke up the heat a little more!

* * * *

Regan felt the time tick by slowly. At every table she tried to see the time on every watch. She could tell by looking that Damon was having as much fun as she was…which was none at all. She excused herself to go to the ladies’ room to buy an extra five minutes of alone time away from ogling eyes. There was no line here,
ha!
She was sure there was one next door on the men’s side.

When she came out at the back of the club, she caught Shay walking down the hall with the owner of the club, Randy, and giggling with each step. They entered a room and closed the door behind them.
Huh.
Regan looked over her shoulder and tiptoed down the hall, checking every few seconds to make sure no one was coming. At the door, she leaned close to listen for voices.

From the room, she caught a few muffled voices but couldn’t make out any words. She strained to hear and placed her head directly on the door. She made out a couple of names, their names, conversing…was that conversing?

A loud
thump
and a
rattle
came from the other side. Regan tried to make out what was going on then another
thump
and the screech of a desk against the floor.
Thump, thump.
Then a loud moan echoed.

Regan clasped her hand across her mouth tightly. Afraid it would give her away from the surprise her brain was registering. She inched back away from the door and hurried down the hall, trying not to click her heels on the tile.

When she made it out into the main area of the club where the music was loud, she let profanity roll off her tongue to get it out of her system.
That was a shocker, well, considering the source not so much but,
“Oh, my god!” she muttered as she walked at a fast pace toward Damon’s table at the other side of the club.

Damon saw her coming and smiled.

Regan straightened her posture and tried to put on a lustful, mischievous smile for the customers who watched. She had to keep up the ruse even though what she’d just heard was the ultimate deal breaker, so to speak.

She slid into the chair next to Damon. “Hi again…lonely?” She laid on the charm for Drew’s benefit.

“Mmm, not anymore,” Damon said, purring with a smile tugging at his lips.

Regan motioned with her finger for him to lean closer. When he did, with Drew’s eyes watching, she tried to whisper with a seductive look on her face.

Damon’s eyes furrowed trying to understand her. “Fuck what?” he whispered.

Regan closed her eyes with her hands on her face and shook her head. Leave it to a man with one thing on his mind to only hear the F-word in that sentence.

Drew choked on his beer when he heard Damon sputter out the word. “Y’all need a room?” he teased.

“What, sorry, I didn’t catch what you said. That word coming off your lips got my mind rolling again.” Damon looked at Regan with a goofy expression.

She dropped her hands to her lap and motioned for him again. “I said…” She paused. “Shay is boinking the owner in his office right now!” she whispered with her lips touching his ear.

Damon’s eyes grew wide, and he leaned back and looked at Regan seriously. “You sure?”

Regan nodded and noted how furious he looked.

Damon leaned over and whispered to Drew, and his eyes lit up. “Sure, buddy!” Drew said and slid out of his chair, heading directly to the men’s room.

“What did you say?” Regan arched a brow.

“I asked him to go get some condoms out of the machine in the men’s room!” He laughed.

* * * *

Drew strolled in his easy gait with a smile as big as Texas on his face. The night was shaping up, as far as he was concerned. When he rounded the corner, he noticed Shay exiting the office with the owner. His smile fell while he considered the possibilities.

Shay looked up, startled, but lit her face with a wide grin as she walked toward him. “Hi, baby, I was heading to the table to see you!”

Drew’s mouth fell into a tight line as the owner shuffled by, leaving them alone. “What’s up with the office call?”

Shay patted him on the shoulder, “Just business, baby! He doesn’t know how best to schedule all the dancers, so I do it. I thought I told you that?” she asked, smiling sweetly.

Drew straightened and felt like a jackass. “I’m really sorry, I…I,”

Shay threw her arms around his neck, engaging him in a kiss, and rubbed her body against his. She ended their kiss and smiled up at him. “Jealous, I like it!”

Drew just shook his head, feeling like a Class-A jerk. “I need to use the men’s room. I’ll be back.”

While he rinsed his hands, he couldn’t shake his feelings. He knew that marrying Shay would be complicated, but here he was only engaged to her and already he was becoming a jealous jackass. That bothered him. He knew she was the one for him and decided to get a handle on his possessive trait.
If you want to run her off, keep it up, buddy.

* * * *

Regan sat nervously jiggling her leg under the table. Damon slid his hand on top of her knee and tried to still it. “Nervous?” He had to smile. It was too cute to watch her shifting in her seat and feel the vibrations from her leg.

“A little,” she sighed. “I feel bad for your brother mostly.”

When Drew walked up and sat down with a smile, they knew the plan had failed.

Drew slid the condoms into Damon’s hand under the table with a boyish grin on his face. Damon smiled back and mouthed “thanks” to him.

Well this just royally sucks! Damon had had that thought run through his head a half a dozen times so far. But really, he couldn’t just tell Drew that Regan, rather American Pie, had heard it. He would think it nothing more than a ploy between two obviously rival dancers trying to sink one another. Yeah, damn it, that wouldn’t work. He guessed that it was on to plan B.

Shay bounced up with a smile that quickly deflated when she noticed Regan sitting down. Damon wanted to laugh, but would rather call her out and just spill what he knew. He watched Regan smirk, knowing she must be glad the tables were turned. He wasn’t sure, but could swear he witnessed molten lava swirl in Shay’s eyes. Yep, she didn’t like this at all, which made it even more enjoyable.

“Sweetie, my shift is over…but if you come back tomorrow night, I start at six.” Regan laid on the charm thick. “We could go up to the VIP room again,” she said, winking and teased her lips with her tongue. “I’ll dance for you again…just like you want it!” Breathless now, like a woman coming off an orgasm, she flirted.