Deacon squared his shoulders. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Do I mean nothing to you?”
“Alex, don’t start this shit.”
“Oh, I’m sure as hell going to start this shit.” Rolling out of bed, I snatched up my discarded yoga pants and shirt. Narrowing my eyes at him, I said, “You’re with me now—my man, and I’m your old lady. That means we don’t look at or touch other members of the opposite sex.”
“I’m not going to be touching anybody!” he shouted.
After I jerked my shirt over my head, I huffed, “You don’t have to. I’m sure they’ll be touching you when they’re rubbing themselves all over your dick during a lap dance.”
“Now, listen to me. You might be my old lady, but that doesn’t mean you get to tell me what to do. So you need to pipe the fuck down.”
“You are an unimaginable asshole!” I screamed.
“And you need to learn your place!” he shot back.
I shook my head, hating myself for the tears that sprang into my eyes. “I can’t do this, Deacon. I can’t lie in an empty bed, wondering what or who you’re doing. If this is really how you feel, I don’t think we need to see each other anymore.”
“Dammit, Alex,” he snarled, reaching for my arm.
I pulled out of his grip and started for the door. “If you go to that club tonight, don’t bother coming home to me when you’re done. I won’t be here.”
With that, I slipped out the door. I pounded down the stairs and headed for my car.
“Hey, where are you off to so early?” Kim called from the sidewalk. She was doing her morning jog around the compound. When I didn’t respond, she came over to me at the car. I hurried and slipped inside, trying desperately to start the car so I could escape her.
“Alex, talk to me.”
“I have to get out of here.” I tried once again to put the key in the ignition, but my trembling hands wouldn’t work.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” When I burst into tears, she reached into the car and pulled me out. Putting her arm around my shoulder, she led me up the hill to her house. I was sobbing so hard I was shaking when she tugged me through the front door. I could only imagine the looks her kids and Case were giving me. She ushered me past the living room and kitchen onto the back porch.
“Now, what on earth is going on? I thought after your little fuck-fest with Deacon, there wouldn’t be any more trouble in paradise.”
Sniffling, I wiped my eyes on my sleeve. “Does Case go to the auditions at the Lounge?”
Her body stiffened. “No, he doesn’t.” When I opened my mouth, she shook her head. “It isn’t for the reason you think.”
“It isn’t because you told him not to?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s because it has too many bad memories for me. I was stripping there when I met him. Out of respect for me, he doesn’t go there anymore.”
“Deacon’s going to the auditions there tonight. He wouldn’t even listen to me when I pleaded with him not to go.” Staring into Kim’s green eyes, I said, “I don’t think I can be with him anymore.”
“Oh, no. I’m not letting you give up so easy.”
“I can’t be with someone who doesn’t care about my feelings. This may seem small now, but what happens when it’s something bigger? He told me he loved me, yet he can go down and watch naked women hump a pole? It doesn’t add up.”
“Deacon is just being stubborn. He’s never had to justify his actions to any woman. Nor has he ever had one tell him no, except his mama. You need to find a way to turn the tables on him, give him a taste of his own medicine.”
With a mirthless laugh, I said, “Why does all your advice come in the form of a game?”
“Because that’s what works with these men, honey. I wouldn’t have told you to play strip poker to get your man to touch you again if you’d been dating a banker or even a mechanic. But you’re with one of the Raiders, and they’re a whole different breed of men.”
“You’re right,” I replied. I then thought about how Deacon went caveman at the poker game when he thought his brothers were going to see me naked. I obviously couldn’t stage another poker game. I had to find a different means this time. And then it hit me.
“Kim, do you have any connections down at the Lounge?”
Her brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“I mean, someone you could call for a favor.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Why?”
“I just thought of a way to beat Deacon at his own game.”
When she realized what I meant, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “Holy shit. Are you serious?”
“You don’t think it will work?”
She laughed. “Oh, honey, I think it will be the most fucking epic thing ever.”
Nibbling on my lip, I then asked, “You don’t think it’s too much?”
With a wink, she replied, “It’s all in how far you go.”
I drew in a deep breath before I broached a difficult subject. “Would you be willing to help me?”
The amusement in Kim’s face faded. When she began to wring her hands in her lap, I regretted mentioning it. I knew it was a lot to ask of her. “Look, it was wrong of me to ask. I’m sure I can bribe one of the regulars for some help.”
When I rose out of the chair, she reached for my hand to stop me. “I think I can make an exception for you.”