Her Dirty Bartenders (Men at Work #5) - Mika Lane Page 0,34
whistle.
“Damn,” Maze said. “That’s some serious shit.”
“It didn’t end well. And I’m not proud of it. But guys, I look at her now, years later, and she’s sassier and more beautiful than ever. I can’t deny the attraction.”
Maze and Robbie looked at each other again.
“What?” I asked. “What’s going on? Did one of you guys already ask her out?”
Robbie rubbed his hands together like he did when he was thinking. “Like you, we’re interested in her, too.”
Oh. Wow. This could be a good thing.
Weird but good.
“No kidding.”
“Yeah,” Maze said, nodding.
“Think she’ll go for it?” I asked.
More silence.
And I understood why.
We guys had a thing for dating the same woman. And it usually worked out well. That was, however, when we had a woman who was interested in our sort of alternative arrangement.
Just the year before, we’d all three dated a beautiful girl from Paris named Esme. Her student visa had eventually run out and she’d had to return, but the time we’d had with her was magical. I’d always thought Maze would follow her to France, but he’d decided against it. He was a solitary guy, and a traditional sort of relationship, with one guy and one girl, wasn’t his cup of tea.
However, our sharing one woman certainly was.
And now it looked like all three of us were interested in the lovely Stell.
Damn.
“I… would doubt she’s ever even considered a relationship along the lines of what we like. But I think we should feel her out. If she seems responsive to each of us, then we can propose it to her.”
Maze threw his hands in the air. “Well, I’ve already kissed her.”
My head snapped in his direction. “Seriously? When?”
“At the private party we had a week ago. She was in costume. I didn’t know it was her until the next day when she had some tinsel from the wig stuck in her hair. I haven’t told her I know.”
Robbie burst out laughing. “Well shit. I’ve kissed her too.”
Jesus. Was I the only one late to the party?
“When did you kiss her, Robbie?” I asked.
“The other night. When Elise dropped off Jax with no heads up, Stell took him up to the office to babysit. I was so turned on by how freaking awesome she was with him I couldn’t help myself.”
Well, shit.
“She is fucking awesome, guys. I never would have left her except my dad more or less forced me,” I admitted.
Saying it out loud made me sick to my stomach. What I’d done was wrong and it disgusted me.
“How did he do that?” Robbie asked. “And why?”
“He hates her dad, Congressman Kline. They have some long-standing feud. And he convinced me it would never work between us. I was young and listened to him, like the fool that I was. He shipped me to Denver and here I am today.”
I couldn’t believe I’d never shared this story with the guys. We all knew each other’s dirt. Well, most of it, anyway.
And I knew all too well why I’d not shared it. Plain and simple, I was ashamed.
I was still ashamed, in fact.
“I’m working with her tonight,” I said. “I’ll feel her out, but I have a feeling she pretty much still hates me and probably always will.”
But I sure as hell hoped not.
“Stell, you’ve been watching the girls dancing on the platforms all night.”
She looked away, embarrassed. “Well, it looks kind of fun. Like they get up there, they’re suddenly someone else. They just dance their hearts out.”
We watched one of our floor staff usher a girl off a platform and then a new one onto it. It was pretty tightly controlled for safety reasons. We didn’t need anyone getting hurt.
“You want to try it, don’t you?” I asked.
She wrinkled her nose. “No. No way. Of course not.”
Mmmm hmmm.
“C’mon. Give it a shot,” I said, pushing her toward the end of the bar.
She shook her head hard. “No. I don’t think so. It wouldn't be a good idea. Plus, I'm working.”
I put my hands on her shoulders, and damn did it feel good to touch her. “Go. I know you like to dance. I remember that about you.”
She took a couple steps toward the end of the bar and turned around to look at me.
“Go for it. You’ll regret it if you don’t,” I insisted.
A smile broke out across her face and she pulled her shoulders back. With a deep breath, she scooted out the end of the bar and skipped up the stairs to the second floor, where