“Two arrogant bastards, please.”
I liked that he didn’t even notice the waitress. “So. What do you want to do tonight?”
“The usual. Blackjack, boobs and booze.”
“Pardon?”
“When you come to Vegas, you come for three things: playing cards, half-naked women and partying like a rockstar.”
A busboy brought us utensils and smiled at me. Chance noticed.
“We already got the half-naked woman covered,” he grumbled.
“So, let me get this straight. You like half-naked women. Just not when one of them is me?”
The waitress brought our beer, and Chance chugged half of the oversized mug in one long gulp. God, what is it with me and that Adam’s Apple? Watching it, I felt it bobbing in the pit of my stomach.
“I like you half-naked. Just…in the car or a closed tent. Not prancing around town for everyone else to see.”
“Were you dating Piper when that poster of you hit the stores?”
He squinted. “That’s different.”
“Oh yeah? How?”
“My being naked from the waist up, doesn’t have the same effect as you walking around with that little flesh-colored tank top with your massive tits bouncing up and down.”
I sipped my beer. “Wanna bet?”
Chance’s eyebrows shot up. “Princess. Are you being brazen again?”
“Do you like brazen?” I asked with a sinister smile.
He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re trying to kill me. I knew it.”
We both ate ridiculously large hamburgers and washed them down with our even larger mugs of beer. I was going to need a month long cleanse after this trip.
“So what do you want to do tonight?” Chance asked as we headed to the lobby to book rooms.
“Whatever you want.”
He stopped short. “That’s a dangerous offer, Princess. You might want to amend your answer before I take you up on it.”
Between his admission earlier today and the beer leaving me feeling a little tipsy, I was feeling bold. I walked into Chance’s personal space and smirked. “Whatever you want. I’m yours to do with what you please tonight.”
He groaned, and I pretended I didn’t notice him adjusting his shorts a few times as we checked in to the hotel.
I took less time to get ready for the senior prom than I did getting ready to go out that night. Normally, I tried to tame my naturally wavy hair, but instead I encouraged it to be wild. Smokey eyes and glossed lips matched the sexiness of my open toe high-heeled shoes, and the simple black dress showed off my figure in all the right places. Finally, toting around everything I owned had a perk.
My look wasn’t really me, and it definitely wasn’t how I’d normally go out at night. But when Chance knocked and I opened the door, any apprehension I’d felt went out the window.
“Fuck.” He raked his fingers through his hair.
Inwardly, my peacock feathers fanned. “I just need to grab my bag. Come in.”
“No, thanks. I’ll wait out here.”
If I couldn’t have him, I was damn straight going to make sure to rub in his face what he was missing.
A group that looked like they might have been a bachelor party stumbled to the elevator bank as we waited. I sort of loved it when Chance put his hand on the small of my back in an understated possessive gesture. I really loved it when he didn’t take it away, even when we walked out on the strip.
“Where are we going?”
Chance hailed a cab and opened the door for me. He answered by means of directing the driver, “Spearmint Rhino, please.”
Five minutes later, we were pulling into a parking lot. The neon sign read Spearmint Rhino. But beneath it explained more: A Gentleman’s Club. “We’re going to a strip club?”
“We are. You said it was my choice all evening.” He winked.
Oddly, although I’d never been inside of one, I was more intrigued than put off. The interior was nothing like I’d imagined. I suppose I expected darkness and sticky floors. But instead, I was surprised to find two floors, a grand stage and opulent décor. At first, it seemed more like a swanky nightclub than a place where women took off their clothes. The main stage had seating all around it, and there was a section with long couches for larger parties. Other areas could be curtained off for privacy. Some of the curtains were closed; others were open and inviting. I watched as two attractive women led a man by his hand into a private area behind a door.
My eyes took in everything around me, but when I looked at Chance, he was only watching me.