Flaunt It: Paolo's Playhouse by Natasha Moore Page B

“How’s it going with your new girl?”
    “It didn’t work out. As usual.” His friend’s short bark of laughter sounded harsh, especially in contrast to the music and laughter ringing around Ben.
    “Ah man, maybe the next one—”
    “No. I’m done looking. It’s not worth the trouble.”
    “Man, when did you become so jaded?” The song throbbed through the room. It seemed to build with Piper’s energy. Everyone was singing along.
    “I’m simply being realistic, my friend. Listen, I know you are busy. I didn’t call to complain about my lousy love life. I was calling to see if you were still interested in trying out the Playhouse gold room.”
    Ben narrowed his eyes as he watched Piper’s reflection as she shimmied in front of a booth full of college kids. “Yeah. I’m interested.”
    “A couple just reserved the blue room for tonight. Is that too short notice for you?”
    “No. No problem.” They worked out the time and then Ben made a couple of quick calls to get employees to cover for them tonight. All the while he wondered in the back of his mind how Piper would react to the plans he’d made.
    The song had finally ended and so did her dance. Guys all over the room were draining their drinks, calling to her for refills. Yeah, she was good for business. But hell on his heart. Shit, now he sounded like some old country song. Maybe he needed to join Paolo in Club Women-Aren’t-Worth-It.
    One look at Piper and Ben knew she was worth anything. Everything.
    He spent the next few minutes taking care of all the refills, grateful for something to take his mind off what he’d impulsively arranged for tonight. But once he got a break, it all came flooding back. He washed up some glasses as he wondered if he’d made a mistake. Would Piper be happy about it? Or hurt? Or angry?
    He ran his gaze over the room to find her. He saw her lean over to place napkins in front of a couple of kids barely old enough to drink. Neither one was looking at her pretty face. She laughed at whatever they said to her. Ben looked away and nodded at a guy with a black leather vest and tattoos who’d just taken a stool at the end of the bar. Scandals catered to a wide range of customers, a fact that normally pleased Ben. College kids, rednecks and leather-clad dudes shared space with some office geeks and even a few businessmen who stopped in to unwind after work.
    He didn’t kid himself, though. Most of them came in to see Piper as much as for the booze or the company.
    He poured the tattoo guy a whiskey and then looked for Piper again. It was second nature to him now. He caught sight of her in the middle of the room. The red lips tattooed on her right ass cheek seemed to blow him a kiss when she bent over to pick up a napkin off the floor. His breath caught in his throat, even though he’d often placed his own lips on that very spot.
    Instead of walking over to Ben, Piper headed for the new guy with the tats. Ben supposed women would think he was sexy with his long dark hair, a tribal tattoo spanning his massive biceps, and the diamond stud in his ear. Even though he already had his drink, she hung out at the end of the bar for much longer than Ben thought she needed to. She laughed at something the guy said then leaned into him and placed her hand on his muscular arm. The bastard reached out and brushed her soft hair back over the curve of her ear. Ben glared at them, but neither of them looked his way.
    How could he compete with these guys? He was just an average guy. No big muscles. No tats or piercings. He was pretty bland and boring compared to a lot of guys who came into the bar. Piper was anything but boring.
    Ben got Jake a refill and then made his way down to the end of the bar. He was about to ask the leather and diamond-stud guy if he wanted another whiskey when he heard him ask Piper what time she got off work. Ben froze when all he wanted to do was reach across the bar and rip the guy’s throat out. He waited to