Her Dirty Bartenders (Men at Work #5) - Mika Lane Page 0,39

minute attempt to save face.

I turned to the bouncers. “Good job tonight, guys. I appreciate it.”

They nodded and hit the road. They’d had a long night.

There was noise on the steps from the mezzanine, and I turned to see Cab slowly walking Stell down the steps.

“Well, here she is. My hard working, beleaguered barback,” I said, pulling her to me.

It might have been overly familiar, hugging her, but she’d been knocked out on the job and I wanted her to know she was safe now.

And I was happy to report she embraced me right back, burrowing her face against my chest.

I took her by the arms to look her over. “You’re feeling better?”

The club’s front door blew open and Robbie rushed in. “I got here as fast as I could. Is everything under control?” he asked, rushing straight for Stell.

She had a little laugh and put her hands up. “I’m fine, guys. I really am. Cab took good care of me.”

Yeah, I bet that bastard did.

“Thank you,” she said, looking at all of us. “I really appreciate the concern. And fast action.”

She gestured in Cab’s direction, and I could swear I saw embarrassment wash over his face. I knew he had a thing for her, but damn.

“Hey, Rob, would you lock the front door?” I asked, pointing.

“Yeah, man. Everybody else gone?”

“Yup.”

Stell walked behind the bar and began to look around. “Jesus. I'm gone for an hour, and everything here goes to shit,” she laughed, starting to put dirty glasses in the dishwasher.

“Stell, stop working. Just chill.”

We settled in at the bar. I loved the club after hours. Sometimes it was eerie, having gone from a pulsing creature full of life to complete stillness, but I looked at it as giving our baby a little rest.

Crazy.

“Stell, why don’t you open one of those bottles of champagne in the back of the cooler? I’ve been saving them for a special occasion,” Cab said.

She tilted her head, and damn if her eyes didn’t bewitch all three of us at once. “This is a special occasion? What’s so special about it?” She smiled, hands on hips.

All right. She was being saucy. I liked that.

Cab gestured toward the cooler. “Get the champagne, will ya? For Christ’s sake, you’re alive. Isn’t that reason to celebrate?”

She delivered four champagne flutes and then started moving bottles to get at the stuff we hid in the far recesses of one of our fridges.

When she put a bottle on the bar, I reached for it. “Here. Let me do it.”

She shimmied her shoulders. “Such a gentleman.”

Fuck. She was flirting. That was a good sign.

I popped the champagne cork and poured.

Cab held up his glass. “To the past, and to the future,” he said, his gaze not moving from Stell.

“Cheers,” everyone said.

Robbie set his glass down. “Now, Stell, I hear your new career in go-go dancing is what got you knocked out tonight.”

She hung her head and when she looked back up, she was blushing. “Exactly. That’s what I get for being a hussy,” she laughed.

Robbie gestured toward the platform, now looming above the empty dance floor. “I say give it another shot. You were interrupted earlier by an inconsiderate drug dealer who started a fight. It’s only fair you get another chance.”

She broke into a huge smile and turned a shoulder toward us, playing shy.

Only we knew better.

“It’s so nerve-wracking up there,” she giggled.

“Only one way to get over that, sweetie,” Cab added.

“Well, I guess I could. Just once. Especially for Denver’s Most Eligible Bachelor.”

Maze groaned while Stell took a swig of her champagne and headed for the mezzanine.

27

Maze

The DJ had long since gone home, but we had access to the speaker system from the bar. I scrolled through my Pandora stations and turned on Pony by Ginuwine. It was an oldie, but it was one of my favorites and I thought it might get Stell fired up.

“Woo, look at Stell,” Robbie hollered through megaphone hands.

She leaned on the platform railing and slowly began to move her hips back and forth, her gaze locked on us. Kicking off her sneakers, she tossed them to us and began to slide her sock-covered feet over the platform.

And holy fuck if she wasn’t sexy. With her hands above her head and hair whipping around her face, she twisted and twirled, shaking her ass until my dick ached with a raging hard on.

I lowered the volume on the music a couple notches. “C’mon Stell! Take it off!”

Her eyes popped open and she looked as