Ari almost gagged, but she managed to swallow the bitter liqueur, then waited for Rachel to take her turn. Each time another woman took a shot, the crowd grew louder. Ari was laughing as she turned and made eye contact with a stunning man sporting a dark suit and tie.
“Are you here for the show?” he asked with a laugh.
“Of course. You?”
“No. I’ll pass on watching men strip, but how about I buy you and your friends a round of drinks?”
“I wouldn’t pass that up,” Ari replied, feeling the tiniest bit of guilt over flirting with the stranger. It was a girls’ night out, though, and a bit of harmless flirting wasn’t wrong, was it?
“Is that a cigar?” Rachel asked, making Ari scoot aside as she pushed up against the man; he didn’t seem unhappy in the least at having the petite Rachel practically in his lap.
He held the large brown cigar out, offering it to her, and to Ari’s surprise Rachel grabbed ahold of it and took a deep puff.
“That’s such a disgusting habit, Rachel,” Lia said with a laugh as Rachel blew a puff of smoke from her mouth.
“I only do it when I’m drinking. The smell reminds me of grandpa and it’s so much fun to hold the sweet smelling tobacco,” Rachel said as she took another puff before handing it back.
“Sitting here with you three beautiful ladies would make it almost worth it to watch a male stripper show,” the stranger said as his eyes drank Rachel in.
“Sorry, bud, only girls tonight. You can give Rachel a business card, though — then, if you’re lucky, she might call you back,” Lia said as she downed her second shot, vodka-based Sex on the Beach.
“Phillip Monsoon,” he introduced himself as he pulled a card from his wallet.
“And what brings you to Las Vegas, Phillip?” Lia asked.
“If you call me, you’ll find out,” he answered with a laugh. “It looks like they’re starting to let you ladies in. Would you like one more round before I lose your company?”
“How could we say no to that?” Rachel answered as she grabbed his cigar again and took a big puff.
“Tequila shots,” Lia called, and the dozen women at the bar all yelled their approval of her drink as the bartender pulled out enough glasses for them all, then flipped the bottle in the air before filling them in one long line.
To Ari’s surprise, Philip didn’t seem put out at all that Lia had turned his offer of three drinks into a dozen. The same sparkle remained in his eyes as he watched Rachel. It looked as if he was a little smitten.
The women all licked their wrists, poured salt, took their shot, then sucked on limes. Rachel sent Phillip a wink before they rushed to the door and entered the theater. As soon as they walked inside, all thoughts of Phillip were forgotten, at least by Ari.
Lia led them to the front of the room, right in front of the stage, and sat Ari front and center. The big screen showing a photo shoot of the performers had the ladies screaming. When the spotlight hit a shot of their na**d behinds, the crowd went wild.
Several minutes later, a gorgeous man wearing a button-up shirt, a tie and some worn-out jeans jumped onto the stage and welcomed them, asking whether they were having a good time. The crowd went wild again. His sexy Australian accent had Ari melting as her stomach twisted into knots in anticipation, and slight fear, of what was to come.
“You’re all just a bunch of horny women, aren’t you?” he called out. The women noisily agreed, not feeling the least bit ashamed. They’d come to see sexy dancers strut their stuff, and they wanted the show to begin.
Ari had never been to anything like this before, and as smoke filled the stage and the screen started to lift, her heart thumped and thudded.
Seven men entered the stage, wearing suits and dancing with synchronized steps. Ari was surprised to find herself calling out as they swung their h*ps in time to the music. Somewhere in the middle of the song, their shirts came open and their rock-hard pecs and washboard abs made her salivate.
At the end of the number, they turned around and their pants descended, exposing their bare backsides. The crowd let out such a loud roar that it drowned out the sensual beat of the bass. And even in that steamy room, Ari could feel her cheeks flame. Wow. Rafe would throttle her if he knew, but who cared?
Soon the men were leaping off the stage and moving down the aisles of the intimate room, then jumping on tables and bending down to kiss a number of the fired-up women. Ari figured she was safe from their attention as long as she didn’t make eye contact. Rafe would be ticked off enough if he discovered that she’d come to the show. Any kissing might make him explode.
During another number, one of the guys pulled a woman up onstage, put her in a chair and gave her the lap dance of her dreams. The woman blushed scarlet, in nice color contrast with the mouthful of pearly white teeth revealed by her huge smile. When the dancer jumped up and pushed his crotch close to her face, Ari was the one who went scarlet. The men certainly seemed to enjoy their job.
As the show was nearing its end, Ari’s tipsiness overtook her, and when six of the men danced out onstage again, she clapped and hollered with the rest of the crowd. One of the men jumped down and suddenly grabbed her hand.
She looked up at his smiling mouth like a deer caught in headlights. She couldn’t go up there! It was all good fun, and they were movie-star gorgeous. But they still paled in comparison with Rafe. Why bother to rub up against any of them when she had an amazing lover waiting for her return?
Then again, how much longer would he be waiting for her? One day, a week, maybe a month. Rafe wasn’t known for keeping his mistresses longer than a few months at a time. She’d do well to remember that.
“Don’t you dare try to get out of this,” Lia yelled out with laughter in her voice as she gave Ari a push.
Ari had no choice but to follow the hunk onstage. He sat her down on a long bench, then ran back to join his buddies in a dance number. Ari didn’t know whether she was supposed to look at him or the crowd, so she looked down as she waited for the tune to end. From what she’d already witnessed, she had little hope of escaping with anything less than maximum embarrassment.
The man sauntered back over seductively and stood directly in front of her, pressing his body against hers, then grabbed her hands and placed them around his back, with her fingers spread out on his bu**ocks. As the audience yelled out instructions, Ari got into the spirit of the thing and squeezed, and the dancer winked at her with his dark brown eyes.