Page 1 of Tinsel & Chrome
Chaos
From the first moment Reese ‘Chaos’ Baxter saw Indiana Lawson, he knew she was going to be his. He could remember that moment like it was just yesterday, despite the fact it had been more than five years.
***
Chaos had heard about a new club that had opened up in Hartford; Club Elysium. His brother, Ox, had told him about it. He’d told him the club was like a strip joint, only classier, because they didn’t actually strip or take money from the clientele, they just danced in sexy outfits. According to Ox, the women were hot as fuck. Chaos was there to find out how true that was. What? He was a straight, red-blooded man in his prime.
He entered the club and was immediately taken in by the purple and silver decor with touches of black here and there. There were two- top and four-top tables scattered around the room and a long, gleaming bar directly across from the stage.
There was a performer on the stage, and he could agree she was pretty hot, but his gaze zeroed in on a petite redhead leaning against the bar. She wore black leather pants that hugged her curves with a purple tank top that clung to her luscious tits.
He made his way toward the bar and stopped beside her.
“Mind if I hold up this section of the bar with you?” he asked.
The redhead turned her head to look at him, and he watched her gaze take him in from head to toe. He knew he was built, he didn’t shy away from his daily workouts, and he enjoyed her perusal.
“Suit yourself,”
she finally said in a sultry voice that had his cock twitching in his jeans.
He leaned against the bar and ordered a glass of whiskey. Once he had it in hand, he took a sip and turned his attention to the stage.
“She’s good,”
he commented.
“Yeah, she is,”
the redhead replied.
He glanced at her and saw her watching him.
“People call me Chaos,”
he told her.
“And are you? Chaos?”
she asked.
“I can be,”
he replied with a chuckle.
She laughed softly, and it lit up her gray eyes.
“People call me Indi,”
she replied.
“Nice to meet you, Indi,”
he said, offering his hand. When she slipped her hand into his, he lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of it.
“Oh, being a gentleman are we?”
she teased.
“When I want to be,”
was his reply. Before he said anything else, a woman in one of the waitress uniforms approached.
“Hey, Indi, Jack asked me to tell you there’s a problem with the register. He thinks it’s the connection dropping, but it keeps lagging.”
“Damn. Okay, I’ll go reset things,”
she replied before turning to him.
“A boss’ job is never done. It was nice to meet you, Chaos. Enjoy the show,”
she said and walked off.
Chaos stopped the waitress before she could walk away.
“Is she the manager?”
“Indi? No, she’s the owner. Why?”
she replied.
“Just curious,”
he said and let her go. He didn’t get the chance to see her again before the club closed, but it was that very night that he’d decided Indi would be his.
***
Ah, December in Connecticut, when the average daytime high was 40 degrees, the nights dropped into the low 20s, and it sometimes gets cold enough to snow. Christmas decorations were going up everywhere he looked and in every store he ventured into, Christmas music filled the air.
He strode into Club Elysium and his eyes scanned the open space. Twinkling Christmas lights hung from the ceiling and decorations adorned the bar. In one corner, a massive tree was being decorated.
Chaos made his way over to where his woman stood untangling lights and wrapped his arms around her.
“Hey, Kitten,”
he said, kissing her cheek.
“Hey yourself, Hotstuff. What brings you by?”
she asked, setting the lights down so she could turn in his arms.
“Came to see if you were free for lunch, but I see you’re knee deep in Christmas shit,”
he replied.
She rolled her eyes at him.
“You are such a Scrooge sometimes,”
she said with a laugh.
“Bah humbug,”
he quipped with a grin.
She swatted his chest and shook her head.
“I could use a break. Where were you wanting to go?”
“I was thinking Fire X Forge,”
he replied.
“Oh, good choice. Hey guys take a break and grab some lunch. I’ll be back in a bit,”
she said to the employees who were helping her decorate.
Chaos escorted her out to his bike, handed her a lid, then put his own on and climbed on. Indi slid in behind him and he squeezed her hands where they wrapped around him.
He drove carefully through the streets of Hartford and found a place to park not far from the restaurant.
Chaos wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked.
“The club’s looking good. Real festive,”
he told her.
“That’s the point,”
she replied.
He swatted her ass.
“Cheeky woman,”
he growled playfully.
“And you wouldn’t want me any other way,”
she countered.
“You’ve got that right,”
he admitted. He held the door for her and followed her inside.
They were shown to a table and given menus. After looking everything over, Indi went with the spinach and cheese pupusas, which were griddled masa cake, spinach, cheese, pickled slaw, and salsa roja for her appetizer and the Tampa Bay Cubano, which came with smoked ham, pork pernil, genoa salami, swiss cheese, pickles, and dijonnaise on pressed cuban bread for her entrée served with the house chips.
Chaos decided on the wild mushroom empanadas made with wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, plant-based garlic herb spread, and came with truffle mayo dip for his appetizer and the FXF smash burger, which was two 3.5oz certified angus beef patties, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and special sauce on a potato brioche bun for his entrée and opted to pay extra for the fire fries.
While they waited for their food, Indi sipped her drink.
“So, I got a call from Lilian Weber, from Golden Angels Adoption Agency,”
she started.
“Oh? What did she have to say?”
Chaos asked.
“She needs to talk to us but she didn’t say why.”
“Maybe it’s good news,”
Chaos offered.
“I hope so. We’ve been wanting this for so long.”
Six years ago, Indi had learned that she was infertile, and there went all her dreams of being a mom. Or so she thought. Three years ago, she and Chaos had decided they wanted to adopt since they couldn’t have any children of their own. There were so many children in the system waiting for a safe, loving home, and they wanted to do their part to give at least one of them what they needed. Golden Angels Adoption Agency had great reviews, so they’d reached out and began the process.
“I know Kitten. It’ll happen,”
he promised. He reached across and gave her hand a squeeze.
Their food arrived and he let go of her hand.
“When does she want us to come by?” he asked.
“Tomorrow at 2,”
Indi told him.
“I’ll pick you up by 12:45 then,”
he told her since she would be at home and it was an hour drive to Hartford. They dug into their food and little groans of pleasure came from both of them.
“On a more positive note, I’ve enlisted the other old ladies to help decorate the clubhouse this year.”
He shook his head at her.
“You do love to recruit others to help you spread the holiday cheer,”
he chuckled.
“What can I say, it’s my favorite holiday,”
she replied.
“If I had my way, we’d celebrate year-round.”
She grinned at him, making him chuckle more.
“I know, Kitten. How are things at the club?”
He was so fucking proud of her owning her own business.
“Any more issues with those pricks who were protesting last week?”
Some religious assholes had started targeting businesses they called ‘dens of inequity’. That encompassed any business that was related to adult entertainment.
“Unfortunately, yes. They’ve come every night this week. So far it hasn’t really hurt business, but our proceeds have dropped a little,”
she confessed.
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Kitten. You want me to talk with Sinner about bringing some of the boys to act as a buffer?”
She laughed softly.
“That just might scare them off.”
“Then it’s settled. I’ll talk to Prez this afternoon,”
he told her.
“Okay. Other than that, things are going well at the club.”
“What is it? Something’s up. You looked away when you said that.”
He watched her and waited.
“Weeeellll. When I put out the ad for auditions after Sierra left, Sophia was one of the ones to audition. She was also the best one.”
“Shit. Tell me you didn’t, Kitten,”
he growled.
“What was I supposed to do, Babe? Tell her no when she was the best dancer to audition?”
she countered.
“Sinner is going to flip his shit when he finds out his little girl is dancing at Elysium.”
“I couldn’t tell her no, Chaos. She wanted it so badly,”
she replied.
“I’m just warning you so you’re prepared for his meltdown when he finds out,”
he countered.
“Duly noted.”
They finished their meal and he took her back to the club.
“See you later, Kitten,”
he said and kissed her before he let her go inside. He had to go talk to Sinner about getting the boys to protect the club.