Page 78 of Dirty Dancer

Cathy rolled her hips in invitation as she led the way toward the doors that would take us into the back where the business office and kitchens as well as storage were kept. Three steps into the back and she pushed right into me. The weight of her breasts on my chest, not to mention the tight grip of her hands on my shirt were a total turnoff.

I scowled down at her, but she misread it entirely and rubbed her body against me as she pressed her lips to mine.

Yeah.

No.

Hands on her hips, I took care not to throw her as I peeled her off me and set her on her feet.

“Liam?” Her lower lip jutted out in what I was certain she thought was a playful pout. Unimpressed, I fixed her with a look.

“I don’t fuck the staff,” I told her bluntly. “The flirting was fine, but this crosses a line.”

Shock rippled over her face.

“Try that again and I’ll send your ass packing so fast, you won’t know what hit you. Understood?”

Anger flashed in her eyes. Enough to tell me she was more insulted than she was hurt. When she folded her arms to hide her breasts from me, I didn’t take the bait and drop my gaze. Finally, she sighed. “Can’t blame a girl for trying…”

“I sure as fuck can,” I said, taking a step toward her and her pouting fled even as she blanched. “If you’re using this place to turn tricks, it stops. You try to fuck with anyone else on the staff, you’re out. You put a hand on me again without my express invitation and you’re out.”

Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Repeat it back to me. Word for word.”

The shock in her eyes threatened to take a turn into mutiny, but unlike my hellspawn, the waitress couldn’t hold my gaze. Suddenly, she looked everywhere but at me. We stood there for the better part of a minute before she began stuttering her way through a repeat of what I’d told her.

Close enough.

I nodded to her. “Now go away.”

Bypassing her and the waste of time she’d presented, I went in search of the busboy and the cook who had been helping themselves to a portion of the profits from the tillandthe dancers. Yeah, extortion was extortion in my book.

This was my place.

It took me ten minutes too long to pin both men, extract their stuttering confessions, and deliver a beatdown I doubted either would remember. Frankly, they got off light. I might go and find them later.

Especially if they hadn’t returned every dime they’d taken within the next forty-eight hours.

Oh, and they were fired. One of the other cooks helped me throw them out on their asses via the back.

“Remember,” I told them as they stared, bloody and bruised. “I know where you live. Do yourselves a favor, don’t make me come looking for you.”

That finished, I went to wash my hands before I went back to our table. Only instead of making it to the table, all I saw when I exited back into the bar was my hellspawn, on the main stage,workingthe pole.

Every breath in my body squeezed out of me in a whoosh. While she wore next to nothing, she wasn’t naked. Didn’t matter. Didn’t matter at all. She was more attractive in her dance pants and oversized t-shirts without an ounce of makeup than any other woman I’d ever met. But riding that pole, writhing and half dancing in the fucking air like it was solid ground.

I couldn’t see anything but her.

Rome had watched her videos so much and so often, I’d obviously seen the appeal. But it hadnothingon seeing her in person. Nothing on watching the way her muscles rippled and moved with her.

Fighting with her had given me a real appreciation for the strength she possessed. But this—this was something else. Everything in the room just faded away. The guys whistling and inviting her to come to the edge of the stage, the waitresses weaving in and out, the other dancers at their stations.

No, the only thing I could see was Emersyn and the only thing I could feel was the wild pulse of my heartbeat slamminginside me to the rhythm of the music. I made it almost to her when she landed on the last note of the song. The ease with which she slid into the splits made my cock leap.

Hell.

Yes.

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