Page 75 of The Spy Ring

The crowd, along with Aria, Morgana, Mrs. Austin, and Annette, shouted that they were indeed ready for the men to strip all their clothes off.

“Welcome to the stage . . .” There was a muffled sound where the announcer was asking for the guys’ names. “I don’t care if you’re not really from New York. What are your names?”

Everyone at the table looked at each other in confusion.

The curtain swung open and I thought my mouth was going to hit the table.

“Welcome to the stage Alex, Edgar, Henrik, and Jagger!”

Mrs. Austin and Annette jumped to their feet and began waving dollar bills at the men. I glanced at Aria, Morgana, and Evaleen as they seemed to be in shock at seeing their men up on stage.

“Is this part of the surprise?” Morgana asked.

“No,” Evaleen and Aria said at the same time.

The men stood in the middle of the stage, gazing out into the crowd wearing nothing but their jeans. Jagger was the only one who’s head moved as his eyes drifted over the crowd.

“Help these guys feel welcome, ladies,” the announcer said.

The crowd roared and Annette stopped jumping. Slowly, she sat back down as she must have recognized her future son-in-law.

“Don’t we have a bride-to-be in the crowd? Let’s get her up here so these men can take care of her.” I could hear the frustration in the announcer’s voice as the men didn’t move.

Our waiter showed up and offered Morgana a hand. Still a bit stunned, she got up and let the waiter guide her to the stairs. Once on stage, Morgana sat on a single white chair in the middle of the stage.

“Okay, guys!” The announcer’s voice was laced with irritation. “Show the lady a good time.”

The men started to move toward Morgana, but Henrik widened his arms, stopping them in their tracks. It was like a car wreck. I knew what would unfold would be horrible, well, horribly embarrassing but I couldn’t look away. And as I had a quick glance around the table, neither could any of the other ladies.

Henrik shifted his feet from side to side like he was line dancing.

“Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick,” Evaleen mumbled beside me.

There were insults from the crowd. One woman shouted if he’s going to dance that badly the least he could do was show everyone his dick.

“Come on, ladies, we have to save them.” I finally came to my senses.

“You’re right. Morgana can take care of her own man, but I’ll be damned if these savages will be ogling Edgar.” Evaleen stood and began to move in the direction of the three steps that led to the stairs.

“Aria? Are you going to let Alex strip for everyone?” I asked as I stood.

“Fine. I guess not,” Aria said more disappointed than mad.

As we approached the stage, a large bald man with a black T-shirt that said security in big white letters on the front, stopped us.

“Where do you three think you’re going?”

“Those are our boyfriends up there. There has been some sort of mistake,” Evaleen said folding her arms over her chest.

“Lucky, you. The only way on to the stage is if you are a dancer or you paid for a dance,” he said.

Evaleen leaned forward until she was whispering into the man’s ear. His eyes widened after a few moments as she reached into her pocket, pulled something out, and showed it to him. He quickly moved to the side to let us pass.

“What did you say to him?” I asked Evaleen.

“Just that I could make one phone call and have this entire venue raided. I had a feeling there were a few things that weren’t necessarily up to code. And I was right,” Evaleen said.

I wanted to ask why he would believe her, as any woman could make that claim. I had a feeling it was what she showed him that had him changing his mind.

---