Page 18 of Bully

He currently had a pretty blonde in his lap, looking down at him while she played with the hair on his nape while he covertly told her about his new club. The bouncers didn’t have a clue what he was up to, because he was paying the women well and kept them moving fast enough not to draw any attention to himself.

If anything, I was pretty sure I was drawing more attention to our private spot next to the stage than he was. I wasn’t used to being left out of—anything. And being left out of picking women to invite to Prism to interview for the spots he was trying to fill wasn’t sitting well with me. I was the manager after all, and I’ve done the job for years. I should know what kind of women to invite better than anyone else.

I also noticed a theme to the women he was extending invitations to. The women who sat on his lap all looked similar to each other. Leggy, thin, and all in varying shades of blonde.

With massive tits.

Tamen Bryce had a type. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop picking apart the differences between myself and them.

The longer I sat by, chatting when it was expected and playing the role he wanted me to play like a good little girl, the bigger the fire in my gut burned. I tried to keep my lips sealed, pulled up into a pleasing and approachable smile like he expected, but I couldn’t play the role anymore.

“Can I get you another drink?” Our waitress leaned over my shoulder to get my attention, and I looked up at her as an idea struck me. She was probably in her late twenties, with light brown hair and tattoos up and down her body.

She was beautiful. But she was only working at the bar, though something about the way she watched the other girls on the floor made me think she wasn’t happy serving just drinks. “What’s your name?” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs, letting the slip of my dress fall over my knee as I laid my arms on the arms of the chair like a queen.

“Mya.” She answered and glanced over at Tamen as the blonde of the moment tipped her head back and laughed like he was the funniest thing in the world.

“Mya.” I purred back and felt Tamen’s gaze turn away from the girl on his lap for the first time all night and move to me. “Are youjusta server?”

She swallowed and leaned her hip against my chair, “For now, the roster of dancers is full right now.”

“Hmm.” I hummed, looking out over the crowd momentarily and then back up at her. “And what if a paying customer, someone lingering over an empty glass of wine, wanted something more from you than just a drink for twenty minutes?” I ran my fingertips across my collarbone and, as expected, her eyes followed it. Sexual seduction didn’t know limitations, and even if she was straight, sexual tension flowed in the air all around us, drawing her in. “Would your boss let you switch roles?”

“I could ask.” Her dark brown eyes flicked over my shoulder to Tamen, and she licked her lips. “Do you want me to ask for your—boyfriend?”

Smiling, I trailed my fingers across her black leather skirt, grazing my chair. “I’m the customer in question, sweetheart.”

“I’ll be right back.” She turned and walked away toward the bar as I glanced back over at the suddenly attentive man at my side.

“What are you doing?” He asked with an interested look on his face.

“Diversifying your surplus of blonde barbies.” I lifted my new glass of red wine and took a sip as I watched him. “I thought the whole motto was a kaleidoscope of variety. Yet, all the girls you’ve paid attention to tonight appear to be related.”

“I should hope not.” He scoffed, “One offered to have a threesome with two others so I could watch them in action.”

I rolled my eyes and took another sip. “Did you know that seven out of ten times at the Den, a blonde was picked second behind a girl with some other characteristic?”

His eyes squinted slightly as he looked over toward the bar to where Mya was now in discussion with a manager. “Characteristics like tattoos?”

“Anything to make them stand out in a crowd, yes.” I clarified as I waved a hand over my colorful hair, “One could say something to make them different from the rest.”

“Is that why you choose to look like a sticky kid’s treat? To stand out?”

I tightened my lips to keep from biting back at his dig and took another sip of wine as I caught Mya coming back. “It got me off the floor and into private bookings only,” I challenged, “Didn’t it?”

He didn’t have time to reply before Mya kneeled next to my chair, “I’ve got the all clear to give you a dance.” She smiled excitedly, “But it has to be in a private room, so the other girls don’t get fussy about it.”

“Mmh,” I purred seductively as I uncrossed my legs and rose, “VIP treatments are my favorite.” Glancing back at Tamen, I winked, “I’ll be back.”

But the man was already standing up from his chair, towering over me and Mya. “Like hell am I going to miss this.” He said, in a voice thick with desire as Mya took my hand and started leading me toward the private wing of the club.

Fucker.

He wasn’t going to ruin this for me.

When we got to the room, I sat down on the loveseat in the center as Mya selected a song on the console. “You have to sit over there.” I instructed him, nodding to the chair in the corner. “You can’t talk or touch.”

Mya chuckled and looked over at him. “Yeah, this is all aboutherright now. You’ve had enough attention tonight.”

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