Page 72 of Slumming It

Was all of this planned?

Had Reese Murdock set me up?

It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. He had delivered me here on a silver platter – and then abandoned me just before the appearance of Morgan and Nikki. The timing couldn't be an accident.

Could it?

Desperately, I searched for another explanation.Maybe Morgan was lying.Maybe the woman outside was misinformed. Maybe the bouncer had misspoke.

I gave a mental groan.Sure, and maybe monkeys would fly out of my butt.

Damn it.It was definitely time for me to leave. The thought had barely crossed my mind when two burly bouncers appeared from God-knows-where and sidled up to Morgan, looking grim and determined, as if preparing to head off trouble.

The larger of the two turned to her and asked, "Miss Fairfax, is there a problem here?"

She smiled sweetly up at him. "Yes, Brad. Thereis, in fact." She hitched a thumb in my direction. "She needs to leave.Now."

I spoke up. "Fine. I was going anyway." It wasn't even a lie. By now, it was beyond obvious that Reese Murdock had ditched me just as I'd feared. Whether he'd set it up with Morgan or not, the result was exactly the same.

Total humiliation for me.

Suddenly, I was wishing that I'd been turned away at the door. Sure, that would've been mortifying, but nothing compared to this.

All around us, people were openly staring, including a few of them who had raised their cell phones to record the townie in ragged jeans getting tossed out on her ass.

But I refused to let that happen.I would leave on my own, thank you very much.I was just starting to edge my way toward the gap in the booth when Morgan – still blocking my exit – told the bouncers, "Don't just stand there. Grab her arms and legs."

What the hell?

They both looked at me. The larger one asked, "What, you want us to carry her?"

She sighed. "Well,I'mnot gonna do it."

Nikki gave a sigh of her own. "Yeah, me neither."

The smaller of the two bouncers spoke up. "But the policy says—"

"I don't care what the policy says!" Morgan practically spat. "My family owns this place, and I’m telling you to do it,now!"

The bouncers exchanged a look, but still made no move – which was goodandbad. It was good, because I didn't want to be carried off like a criminal. But it was bad because the circular booth had only one way in or out – a narrow gap that Morgan and her cronies were effectively blocking.

Sure, I couldclimbout by crawling over the back of the rounded bench-seat, but that's probably exactly what Morgan wanted, especially with so many phones trained in my direction.

I gave her a defiant look. "Just move, and I'll go, alright?"

Ignoring me, she turned to glare at the bouncers. "Don't just stand there. At least flip her table or something."

The larger bouncer – Brad, apparently – gave the table a concerned glance. "You mean it?"

Morgan's eyes narrowed. "Do Ilooklike I'm joking?"

"No, but…" He lowered his voice. "I don't wanna get in trouble."

"Trust me," she growled. "You'll get in bigger trouble if you don't."

The two bouncers exchanged another long look before Brad stepped forward, reached over the back of the booth, and slid his meaty hands under the table's flat surface. He lifted the table hard and fast, upending it over the booth's other side.

With a thud, the table landed sideways next to the nearby railing, the one that kept drunk patrons from plummeting down onto the dance floor below.