Flaunt It: Paolo's Playhouse

Dedication

To Craig, who brings me wine and makes me smile.

Chapter One

“Whoa, you weren’t kidding, Dave. That waitress is hot!”

Ben narrowed his eyes as the burly bald guy hauled himself onto a stool next to his buddy and immediately swung around to stare at Piper. After taking a deep breath, Ben plastered a smile on his face for the two guys who’d just sat at his bar.
Customers. They were customers.
He slapped a square white napkin down in front of each of them, but they didn’t even notice him as they blatantly gawked at Piper.

She was taking drink orders at a table of four regulars across the room, laughing and talking and moving her hips to the beat of the music pulsing through the speakers all at the same time. Ben’s cock twitched as he watched Piper’s ass swishing beneath her short skirt. He never got tired of watching her, even though he had to hide the bulge in his pants. He was glad his job kept him behind the bar because she kept him in a perpetual state of arousal.

Piper worked the room like the pro she was. She’d been teasing him—and everyone else at the bar—for the past year with her short skirts and tight shirts. She was the only woman he knew who could make plain old canvas sneakers look sexy. She had them in every color and pattern imaginable. Today they were hot pink.

She glanced over her shoulder and he could tell when she noticed the two guys at the bar watching her like she was putting on a show. She raised her brows and worked her hips as she crossed the floor, making a beeline for them. They must have noticed her heading for them because they suddenly swiveled around on the stools as if they could pretend they hadn’t been ogling her.

Dave, nearly as wide as his friend but with a head of shaggy brown hair, had been coming into Scandals pretty regularly. He nodded at Ben and opened his mouth, probably to order his draft, but he froze as Piper wedged her tiny body in between the two big guys. Her head barely reached the top of their shoulders. Did she know how much cleavage they could see from that angle? She draped her arms around their waists and then winked at Ben.

“Hey, Dave, great to see you tonight. Who’s your friend?” she asked.

“This is Tony,” Dave said after he cleared his throat and got his mouth moving again. “I told him that this place had the prettiest waitress in town.”

“Well, aren’t you just full of shit.” She laughed and pulled him down to place a quick kiss on his cheek. “Thanks.”

Ben’s gut twisted as she rubbed up against the guys.
Customers. They were customers.
Well, she wasn’t really rubbing her body against them, but she might as well have been. Every part of her body was touching part of theirs and it made him want to growl and push them away from her.

“Welcome to Scandals, Tony,” Piper said, her bright smile lighting up her face. Ben knew there wasn’t a prettier waitress in the whole damn country. “How come you guys don’t have any drinks yet?” she asked with a wink. “Aren’t you thirsty?”

“Oh yeah, we’re dying of thirst,” Tony said as if they hadn’t had their tongues hanging out of their heads watching her instead of ordering.

“Isn’t this cute bartender taking care of you?” she asked. Ben frowned but she just grinned up at him. “I have to keep him on his toes, you know. Ben, get these guys some drinks.” Ben swore she rubbed up against them again. “They’re so thirsty.”

They quickly ordered their drafts. Ben almost handed them some extra napkins to wipe up their drool. Piper pushed out from between their broad bodies and stepped away. From behind them, she caught Ben’s eye and wiped imaginary sweat off her brow. Then she climbed up on an empty stool at the end of the bar.

“Hey, lover,” she said, her voice lower, seductive. Desire surged through his system, just like that. “The usual for Bob’s table.”

But before he could turn away to mix a Bloody Mary, pour a whiskey and water, and two white wines, she leaned over the bar and kissed him. The crowd whooped it up as they always did, but Ben tuned out everything but the smooth slide of her lips over his and the sweet taste of Piper. She pulled away all too soon.

“Be right back.” She headed over to wait on some newcomers he hadn’t even noticed. Good thing she kept track of the customers. It took all Ben’s time and energy to tend bar and keep track of Piper.

While he continued to fill drink orders, he snuck glances at the petite blonde who’d turned his life upside down. She laughed and joked with the happy-hour crowd, taking orders, clearing dirty glasses and leaning—oh shit—leaning across an empty table to wipe it clean.

Ben froze as Piper’s short skirt rose up to reveal two firm, pale cheeks divided by a narrow strip of black lace. His mouth was suddenly dry as dust. He had to swallow before he slammed two drafts onto the bar. He didn’t even bother to check to see how many of the patrons had noticed her too.

He still couldn’t seem to control his reactions to her, even after they’d begun seeing each other outside of work. And she hadn’t changed at all either since they’d become lovers. She still came to work scantily dressed, still left her bra at home. Hell, maybe she didn’t even own a bra. The customers loved to ogle her pert little tits and tight nipples, loved to check out her slender legs and sneak peeks at her firm ass. As the proud owner of Scandals he knew he should be happy she drew in a crowd. But the jealous caveman inside him wanted her to save her exhibitionist side for him alone.

Customers came and went. Dave and Tony had left after they got their fill of drinking beer and looking at Piper. Ben was talking with Jake, another regular, when Piper came to pick up another order.

“Hey, handsome.” She wasn’t talking to Ben, of course, she was chatting up Jake. She sauntered up to the bar and winked at Ben though, before she scooped up the two mugs. Then she leaned against Jake, who was sitting on his usual bar stool, and rubbed her shoulder against his. “You’re looking mighty buff tonight. Have you been working out?” She grinned as Jake turned red to the roots of his short blond hair, and then spun around to deliver the beers to two guys in suits across the room.

A group of young women burst through the door. They were all talking and laughing at once, obviously trying to draw the attention of all the guys in the place. Ben cast an appreciative glance their way, but none of them were more interesting to him than his sexy waitress.

Someone picked A7 on the jukebox. Ben put his money on Chad. The quiet truck driver at the booth in the corner knew Piper loved “Bad Girlfriend”. As soon as the opening chord blasted through the speakers, she whooped and started shaking her booty. She flung her arms up in the air and shimmied her hips, dancing all around the hardwood floor. Everyone in the place laughed and clapped. Everyone except Ben.

He clenched his jaw as he watched her boobs bounce with each dance move she made. So did every other guy in the room. And yet at the same time that his stomach was twisting, he could see how much fun she was having.

His cell phone rang. Ben checked the caller ID and turned away from the bar, but kept his eye on Piper through the mirror behind the bottle display. Her short skirt flipped up as she twirled. He, and everyone else in the bar, could see she wore a black thong tonight, if they hadn’t noticed it earlier. He swallowed before he could speak. “Hey, Paolo. What’s up, bud?”

“Hello, Ben. Sounds like it’s a busy night over there.”

The whooping of the crowd nearly drowned out the music. “Happy hour,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “Piper’s dancing. The room loves it.”

His friend laughed. “I would like to meet your girlfriend sometime. She sounds like she’s good for you.”

Ben didn’t know how good she was for him, but he knew he didn’t want to live without her. “How’s it going with your new girl?”

“It didn’t work out. As usual.” His friend’s short bark of laughter sounded harsh, especially in contrast to the music and laughter ringing around Ben.

“Ah man, maybe the next one—”

“No. I’m done looking. It’s not worth the trouble.”

“Man, when did you become so jaded?” The song throbbed through the room. It seemed to build with Piper’s energy. Everyone was singing along.

“I’m simply being realistic, my friend. Listen, I know you are busy. I didn’t call to complain about my lousy love life. I was calling to see if you were still interested in trying out the Playhouse gold room.”

Ben narrowed his eyes as he watched Piper’s reflection as she shimmied in front of a booth full of college kids. “Yeah. I’m interested.”

“A couple just reserved the blue room for tonight. Is that too short notice for you?”

“No. No problem.” They worked out the time and then Ben made a couple of quick calls to get employees to cover for them tonight. All the while he wondered in the back of his mind how Piper would react to the plans he’d made.

The song had finally ended and so did her dance. Guys all over the room were draining their drinks, calling to her for refills. Yeah, she was good for business. But hell on his heart. Shit, now he sounded like some old country song. Maybe he needed to join Paolo in Club Women-Aren’t-Worth-It.

One look at Piper and Ben knew she was worth anything. Everything.

He spent the next few minutes taking care of all the refills, grateful for something to take his mind off what he’d impulsively arranged for tonight. But once he got a break, it all came flooding back. He washed up some glasses as he wondered if he’d made a mistake. Would Piper be happy about it? Or hurt? Or angry?

He ran his gaze over the room to find her. He saw her lean over to place napkins in front of a couple of kids barely old enough to drink. Neither one was looking at her pretty face. She laughed at whatever they said to her. Ben looked away and nodded at a guy with a black leather vest and tattoos who’d just taken a stool at the end of the bar. Scandals catered to a wide range of customers, a fact that normally pleased Ben. College kids, rednecks and leather-clad dudes shared space with some office geeks and even a few businessmen who stopped in to unwind after work.

He didn’t kid himself, though. Most of them came in to see Piper as much as for the booze or the company.

He poured the tattoo guy a whiskey and then looked for Piper again. It was second nature to him now. He caught sight of her in the middle of the room. The red lips tattooed on her right ass cheek seemed to blow him a kiss when she bent over to pick up a napkin off the floor. His breath caught in his throat, even though he’d often placed his own lips on that very spot.

Instead of walking over to Ben, Piper headed for the new guy with the tats. Ben supposed women would think he was sexy with his long dark hair, a tribal tattoo spanning his massive biceps, and the diamond stud in his ear. Even though he already had his drink, she hung out at the end of the bar for much longer than Ben thought she needed to. She laughed at something the guy said then leaned into him and placed her hand on his muscular arm. The bastard reached out and brushed her soft hair back over the curve of her ear. Ben glared at them, but neither of them looked his way.

How could he compete with these guys? He was just an average guy. No big muscles. No tats or piercings. He was pretty bland and boring compared to a lot of guys who came into the bar. Piper was anything but boring.

Ben got Jake a refill and then made his way down to the end of the bar. He was about to ask the leather and diamond-stud guy if he wanted another whiskey when he heard him ask Piper what time she got off work. Ben froze when all he wanted to do was reach across the bar and rip the guy’s throat out. He waited to see what Piper would say.

She smiled and patted the guy’s arm. Then she rose up on her toes and whispered something in the guy’s ear. He shifted his gaze to Ben then smiled and tipped his head. In recognition? Or in triumph? Ben couldn’t tell for sure. But Piper left the bar to make the rounds of the tables and the tattoo guy left soon after.

When she came back with a few orders, he noticed the weariness etched around her eyes. “Are you okay?” He poured her a cola and slid the glass across the bar. “Did all that dancing tire you out?” He winced at how nasty that sounded and added a laugh to let her know he didn’t really mind her putting on a show for all the guys in the bar. Not really.

She must have been too tired to notice the edge to his voice. Either that or she just ignored it. She took a sip of soda. “That new guy in the apartment upstairs is so noisy when I’m trying to sleep. I think he’s raising a herd of elephants up there.”

Ben opened his mouth to reply but she held up her hand to stop him before he could get a word out. “I know what you’re going to say.”

He sighed and said it anyway. “You know you can spend the night at my house. No noisy neighbors. Big warm bed.” He grabbed her hand. “Come home with me tonight and get some sleep.”

“Ah, but would I get any sleep?” she asked with a grin.

She tried to make it a joke but Ben knew better. He wanted her to move in with him and yet she’d never even agreed to spend the night at his house.

He didn’t say anything to Piper about the Playhouse until their relief arrived. She climbed up on a barstool with a curious grin on her pink lips. Her lip color matched the wide pink stripe of hair at her temple, a bright contrast to the rest of her short, spiky, platinum blonde hair.