Page 20

Kenna

Saturdays at The Black Cat were busy. Day or night didn’t really matter except for the clientele. Our regulars packed the place during the day. But at night meant bachelor parties and younger guys.

Working a day shift with Dani left me plenty of time to weasel information for the MC. She’d be going to Miller’s after, because weekends were her busiest nights there. Weekends at The Black Cat weren’t her style. She’d outgrown the party boys and bachelor parties that frequented the club.

But the tips were too good to let this place go. Couldn’t say I blamed her.

I stopped at the bar and surveyed the late afternoon crowd. Our customers were mostly guys with nothing better to do…and men hiding from their wives. The latter tipped better.

The Black Cat was the cleanest strip club I’d ever been in. Considering how close we were to Vegas and the high-end places there, that was saying something. But the Soletsky’s had a strong thing going here and knew it.

The brothers spent most of their time in the city, on the casino construction. The gentleman’s club attached to it would open well before the resort itself. Val had hinted that if I wanted to, he’d hire me as a cocktail waitress there instead. I wouldn’t mind that change of scenery most days.

But then…whatever was happening with Puck and I happened. And I sort of wanted to see it through. Or at least actually bang him first. Since we’d done everything but.

Plus, I was good at this job and did well here. I didn’t mind leaving my ass and tits hanging half out or fending off the lewd few. Not when the tips ran this high. I’d never had a job that made this much.

And I hadn’t had to get naked and shake my ass to do it. Those bitches made more money than I did, for sure, and also had rhythm I didn’t.

“Two whiskey sours, a Maker’s Mark, and a drink for the dancer.” I called out over the music, standing on the foot rail under the bar so I could crane over and see Dani clearly.

A little shorter than me, much to her disappointment, Dani was as curvy as a back road through the mountains, with pouty lips and body adorned with expensive ink. I’d recognized Puck’s work on her back left thigh the first day I’d met her, and we’d become the best of friends at the club.

The stark lines of the steam punk cowboy wearing a crow mask looked like something out of a best-selling graphic novel and covered nearly the entirety of her back thigh. His top hat disappearing beneath the hem of her black mini shorts.

“Is it Charlie again? He should know better.” She rolled her eyes as she made the drinks, then squirted ginger-ale into a champagne glass for the dancer perched on Charlie’s lap.

I’d learned early on that the Soletsky’s were very clear…no drinking and no drugs on the job. But would charge seventy-five dollars a glass for their dancers to drink with a client. That money didn’t go back to the club; it would be split between the bartender and the server.

It was a way for the dancers to tip us on the clients’ dime. Was it moral? No. Did I care? Also no.

Dani looked mean but was a softy at heart. This practice wasn’t her favorite.

“He can afford it.” I balanced the drinks on my tray and gestured her closer. “Want some company at the bar tonight?”

“This have something to do with those two Kings who got the shit kicked out of them?”

I froze, shifted the tray, and frowned, trying to think of how to answer that.

Dani made an apologetic face. “Someone pulls something like that, it gets around. The MC guys are untouchable until they aren’t. People are talking.”

“What are they saying?”

“I think you should come hang out and see for yourself.” There was a lot she wasn’t saying, enough for me to read between the lines. “I’m not trying to get fired because of their shit, ya know?”

Dani tipped her head behind me, toward the back door. When I turned, a familiar form was there greeting Ky Soletsky.

If it weren’t for the dark beard, Dylan’s brother would be too pretty. Especially when his smile reached his cobalt eyes, as it did when he approached me. Merc leaned against the bar and grinned. There was a dimple beneath the fur. I poked where I knew it to be with my finger. “Good timing, loser.”

He snorted, smacked my hand a way, and turned the weight of that smile on Dani.

She wasn’t immune and popped a hand on her hip, wiping off the bar in front of her. “Nope. No way. Get out of here, Merc. I’m not getting involved.”

“What makes you think that’s what I’m here for?” He feigned innocence, ignoring her tirade as he turned toward the main stage.

The curvy blond with plump boobs I’d kill for, wrapped herself around the pool so seductively I had to blink and remember I liked men, a lot. Whitney was good at that. Like a lot of people in Dry Valley, I’d known her since high school and got to know her even more when Eli was born.

The gorgeous dancer with the intoxicating movements was Puck’s ex sister-in-law and Eli’s aunt. And one of the most sought after dancers other than the red-head, Sloane.

With a half laugh, I left them to it. I’d had better luck with the bartending badass than he would.

Whitney was a year younger than me and curvier than even Dani. The difference was she knew exactly how to wield those curves like a weapon. Which might explain why Merc couldn’t seem to keep his gaze off her no matter how hard he argued with Dani.

She hopped off the main stage after I’d deposited my drinks. Chit chatting with completely naked women had taken some getting used to…and I wasn’t a prude. Now I barely noticed her lack of covering when she fell in step beside me, clad only in a pair of giant red platforms.

“That’s Jace Merrick, isn’t it?”

It took me a minute to register her question, because I’d never heard anyone other than his sister call Merc by his real name. “Yeah.”

She made a strange sort of face but straightened the cash in her hand. It gave me an idea. When I glanced in his direction, he watched us through the mirror. Or rather, he watched her. I got the feeling it wasn’t because she was stark naked.

“Hey, when’s your shift over?”

“Whenever I want it to be. I was supposed to take this weekend off.”

I liked Whitney, always had. Of the dancers there, she was probably my favorite. Maybe because I’d known her before, maybe because we shared a love of a certain little boy.

“Want to go to Miller’s with me? Hang out with Dani, girls’ night sort of thing?”

Instantly, her face brightened. “I’d fucking love that.”

As she ducked off to the dressing room, I sidled up to Merc and bumped him with my hip. As cute as he was, he didn’t have the charm of Cam or Jester. Or maybe he’d just seen too much shit to bother with it. That thought left me sad and was probably the reason I had such a soft spot for him.

“She hasn’t told you shit, has she?” I half shouted over the music.

Dani chuckled and went back to the other end of the bar, talking to another server.

“I don’t think she likes me.”

“She doesn’t not like you, but you guys are sort of fucking intimidating. Women like Dani rebel against it.”

He held his arms out like, look where the fuck we are . Because the Soletskys weren’t exactly soft and cuddly. Then he glanced at where Whitney had disappeared down the hallway.

I laughed. “I’ve got a plan.”

Intrigued, he turned toward me and sipped from a clear beer bottle with a slice of lime floating in it. “I’m listening.”

“I’m going to hang out with Dani after work. Flirt, dance, see what I can find out. Y’all go barging in all biker badass and nobody is going to say shit.”

He nodded, grinning, and took a pull of his beer. “You’re going to be a popular topic of conversation at the next table…for so many fucking reasons.”

I thought of Puck, of Jester, and my cheeks burned.

He tossed his arm over my shoulder. “It’s not so bad, sort of happens when you do something for us like this.” Then he launched into what he wanted me to do, giving me his number. Promising to stick somewhere close.

Merc was the yin to his sister’s yang. One wild and passionate, the other contemplative and stoic. He’d been in that room that night, too. I could see him clearly, blowing hair from his face with blood on his lip. A mewling frat boy at his feet.

I would never forget it. Or live down the shame of it. Because there had only been a few of us in the room. I leaned into him a little, grateful more than ever for friendship and that he’d been there.

“Yeah, well, I owe you.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “Nah, but I appreciate it none the less. We take care of family.”

I stepped back from his embrace and tried to smile through the pain of the memory.

“You already have.”

***

The inside of Miller’s bar was a lot nicer than the outside. The bar top was clean and shiny, the floor wasn’t sticky, and the tables were all new. Even the felt on the pool tables looked competition worthy.

Dylan would love it. The girl could throw down on a game of pool. Me and my tiny self could barely lean over the table without a step stool. Which, coincidentally, was why I’d learned how to throw darts instead.

After my third bullseye, Whitney gave up with a laugh.

“Let’s get another drink.” She pulled me to the bar.

So far, we hadn’t paid for a single one.

The place wasn’t packed, but there was a small group of younger guys in their early twenties who seemed nice enough.

I still didn’t get close—them being there was eerily similar to the college assholes from Desert Lights.

Though, these all looked like hard working guys from a construction site, fresh dirt on their boots.

No preppy college boys here. Thank God.

“Hey, Dani, we need shots!” I called down the bar.

“Lemon drops?” she asked.

Whitney shimmied in a circle as Dani made the shots, slid them to us, then leaned over the bar to me. “Does all this score me an introduction to one of those tall, tattooed bad boys you are always snuggled up to?”

“You were chatting one up earlier.” Whitney threw back her shot and swallowed without a flinch. “And he’s pretty damn hot.”

“Merc?” I tilted my head to the side and thought about it. She wasn’t wrong, but there was an edge to him that scared me in a way even Jester didn’t. But the dark wavy hair and the striking blue eyes definitely worked.

Rumors that he made people disappear for enough zeroes freaked me out. Even if he was Dylan’s brother.

“I was more meaning the two she had eating out of her hand a couple of weeks back.” Dani waggled her eyebrows and laughed, the motion accentuating the piercing in her left cheek.

Jealousy made my stomach knot up. But only when I thought about Puck. Sure, Jester was hot, but…he didn’t make me feel the same way. Our messing around some hadn’t meant anything.

“It’s not like you’re handling them both at the same time.”

I blinked and felt the blood rush up from my chest to my cheeks, burning everything in between.

“No way.” Whitney slipped up on the barstool. “Girl, I need all the tea on this one.”

“At the same time?” Dani showed genuine interest, her face lighting up.

I didn’t answer, couldn’t. How did someone just admit to shit like that? Oh god . I dropped my head to the bar.

“Oh shit.” Dani whooped, hopped down from the box she stood on, slapped her towel on the bar, then hopped back up. “Did they, ya know—” She pressed the tips of her two index fingers together.

“What? No.” This time I laughed. I couldn’t imagine Puck ever doing something like that. Jester, it wouldn’t be a massive surprise.

“That’s a damn shame.” She shook her head sadly.

Whitney, looking equal parts shocked and impressed, couldn’t hide her smile. “Puck?”

I closed my eyes tight. For that split second, I forgot she was Eli’s aunt. “Oh shit. I’m sorry, Whitney. I forgot he’d been with Jessica. I’m not trying to—” I groaned.

She snorted. “So has half of Hayes County, including Merc.” Then she laughed and elbowed me. “He’s a great guy, though. Seriously.”

“I’m so jealous.” Dani sighed, leaning forward on her fists. “They are both so hot. I need to know all the deliciously deviant details.”

No. No, she didn’t. I pressed my cool fingers to my blazing hot cheeks. There were some sounds at the door, and I turned my head, doing a double take. Dani’s eyes tracked my gaze, and she went quiet.

We no longer talked about me boinking two Desert Kings, because two counterfeit ones walked in—complete with leather vests they hadn’t earned. Whitney glanced between us, catching on to the mood shift.

“What’s up?” she asked.

I glanced at Dani and shook my head no. She wiped the bar without a word.

I sent a text to Merc, like I’d said I would.

On the way. Keep them there.

Which is why I brought Whitney. “Let’s go flirt with the bikers.”

She glanced at them. “I hate to break it to you, but those aren’t the real deal—”

“Don’t hate me.” I took her by the hand, rambling on as I was known to do.

“You can sit right here and leave it all to me. I totally wanted to hang out—” I’d been having the best time I’d had in a while, minus the utter humiliation of a few minutes ago.

“—the two buffoons are why I’m here. I didn’t actually know if this would happen and wanted to have a good time if it didn’t. But Merc and the guys will be here—”

She lifted her eyebrows. “I don’t take much convincing. I’m all about having a great time and having hot bikers indebted to me.”

Dancers, especially from The Black Cat, were a different breed of woman. I envied them for that sort of tenacity.

My phone buzzed. I glanced to see Puck calling.

I answered, plugging one finger in my ear to hear him over the music from the digital jukebox in the corner. “Hello?”

“You’ve done enough. Get out of there. We can handle it from here.”

“I don’t mind,” I said easily, hearing but unable to place the emotion in his voice. “No big deal. I’m already here.”

“Kenna,” He breathed. “I don’t want them anywhere near you.”

It was a similar version of what I’d felt earlier. “Awe, big guy, you jealous?” I teased.

“Don’t be a brat.” The gruff accusation in his voice was so sexy, arousal sparked between my thighs and I rubbed them together.

“Oh, I intend to do that fully. See you soon.” I clicked the phone off and left it face down on the bar beside my empty shot glass.

“Let the games begin.”