Page 10 of Casey's Hero

One of the men recovered her hat and slipped it into her hand. She held it high and rode Jacob to the beat of the music.

Finally able to catch his breath, Jacob started to sit up.

A firm hand on his chest pushed him back to the ground. “Take one for the team,” Candy said. “It’s you or the groom, and I have strict instructions not to touch the groom.”

Lying back on the floor, he played along. Since she was already in a position to entertain, it might as well be him. The others would get too rowdy and demand lap dances of their own.

As she rocked over his crotch, another problem arose, making him more aware and uncomfortable with each move. He gritted his teeth in an effort to keep from embarrassing himself in front of his buddies. He feared that would be an impossibility. When the stripper got up, it would be obvious to his friends how he felt about being ridden.

Candy clutched his shirt like the rope around a bronc and leaned back. “Am I hurting you, big boy?”

“No,” he said through clenched teeth when, in fact, she was hurting him a lot. The effort to contain his arousal was becoming more painful by the moment. At this rate, he’d go back to his hotel room blue-balled.

“Hey, save some of that for the rest of us,” Teller said, waving a five-dollar bill at the woman. “And I’ve got more where this came from.”

Reid yanked a twenty out of his wallet and held it up triumphantly. “Don’t go for the small stuff. Mine’s bigger.”

Logan snorted and pulled a one-hundred-dollar bill out of his pocket. “Skip the kids. What you need is arealman.”

The song ended, and the stripper rose to her feet and reached out a hand to Jacob.

He ignored it, rolled to his side and jumped up, afraid his reaction to the “ride” would set off a round of razzing from his friends.

Thankfully, their attention was fully glued to Candy. The next song started, and the men all clapped in time toI Kissed A Girl.

Candy swayed back and forth, snapping her fingers.

“Dance,” Teller encouraged.

“Show us what you’ve got,” Reid said.

“Whatcha hiding beneath that shirt?” Levi asked.

Logan gripped her around the waist and lifted her to the top of the table. “There. Now we can see you.”

Jacob started forward, ready to defend the stripper from the men getting too familiar with her.

Logan stepped back and smiled. “Go ahead. Dance.”

Candy swayed, got her balance and stepped side to side. Sadly, she wasn’t that good at dancing. Not like the usual strippers he’d seen.

Again, something about her niggled at the back of Jacob’s mind. He felt like he knew her. But the name Candy wasn’t ringing a bell. He studied her as she moved from side to side, rocking her hips back and forth. It wasn’t the hips or the dancing he remembered.

His gaze traveled up her body.

Nor was it the narrow waist and swell of her breasts.

He took in her hair and face.

The blond hair wasn’t right and kept slipping sideways a bit, like a wig. If she wasn’t a blonde, what color was her hair?

“You’re a stripper,” Reid said. “Take it off.”

“Yeah, take it off,” Teller echoed.

Candy’s hands went to the knot of her shirt at her midriff, fumbling to untie it. When she finally had it loose, she shrugged out of the shirt, swung it over her head and tossed it at Levi.

The men whooped and laughed when it landed on the man’s head.

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