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Brody stepped to the side, crossing his arms on his chest. “Your note didn’t mention Megan. You said you were going to a strip club at nine in the morning on a Friday. I figured maybe you’d lost your common sense too.”
“I didn’t want you to judge Megan,” Josh shot back. “She’s trying to pay her school loans. College and nursing school aren’t free, and waiting tables here pays well. More than you’re paying her.”
“I’m not judging,” Brody said. “I was worried.”
“Well, you can stop. I’m fine,” Josh said, his voice rising with every word.
Kat saw a bouncer move in their direction and stepped forward, placing herself between the fuming, stubborn brothers. “Josh, we should sit down and talk.”
“You said you’d be around for another week or so, Doc. We have time.” He stepped back. “I’m going to finish my food. I’ll see you at home later.”
“Josh,” Brody snapped.
Kat turned to him, placing her hands on his biceps. “How about we stay for breakfast? I’m starving.”
“I’m not sitting down here. Not with you.”
“I have a feeling you’re not leaving without Josh, and seeing as how Lena dropped me off, you’re my ride.”
She took his arm and pulled him over to a table near the kitchen, away from the stage.
“I didn’t get a chance to finish my lunch yesterday. Dinner consisted of chips and animal crackers on the plane. And my flight was late. In another ten minutes I’ll be hungry enough to eat my potatoes off a dancer’s back like that guy up there.” She nodded to the table by the stage.
“What the heck?” He stole a peek before sinking into one of the wooden chairs. “Aren’t there rules about touching the dancers?”
“He’s not using his hands. Who knows, maybe he asked permission.” Kat claimed the seat beside Brody and selected two menus from the stack resting between the napkin holder and the salt. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the bouncer approach the table with the woman lying on top. Maybe there were rules about running your tongue over a stripper’s back.
But later, she thought, after they returned from their “rescue” mission and disappeared into Brody’s bedroom, there would be nothing stopping him from running his mouth over her.
“See if you can get the waitress’s attention,” Kat said, brushing his leg under the table. “Let’s order. And then you can describe your dream lap dance.”
Chapter 16
BRODY HAD SPENT the past twenty-four hours spinning a web of lies. His bed hadn’t felt empty without her. He didn’t miss her laughter, her smile, or that vulnerable look in her eyes when she revealed a part of her past. And he sure as hell wasn’t falling for the sexy, smart doctor.
But then Kat had waltzed in, defused the situation with Josh one moment and teased him with the promise of a lap dance the next. She made him face the fact that he
’d been lying to himself since she left. He wanted Kat in his life and in his bed. Falling for her wasn’t a question. He was already there at the bottom, hoping like hell she’d follow him.
Maybe it was the way she didn’t expect him to solve her problems, or how she rejected his pity, demanding that he feel anything but sorry for her. Either way, he had to make this work. He had to find a way to give her everything she deserved and still honor his commitments here.
One thing she didn’t need? A man who landed her in a strip club on a weekday morning. A man who was going out of his mind with desire while watching her eat eggs and potatoes.
Kat wrapped her lips around a forkful of scrambled eggs and closed her eyes. “I think I’m beginning to see the difference between free range eggs and the regular kind. These are amazing. And these home fries.”
She punctuated her sentence with a low moan.
Brody shifted in his chair. Hell, even watching her eat turned him on. “Are you sure that’s not the hunger talking?”
“No. It’s the potatoes.” She loaded her fork. “You must come back here. For the food. Though the dancers are talented too.”
“I wouldn’t know,” he said, pushing his full plate toward her. “I can’t take my eyes off you.”
“I already promised you a private dance.” She licked a smear of ketchup off her lower lip. “Now start talking. I want details. Does the no touching rule turn you on?”
“No.” With Kat sitting there, torturing him with every movement of her lips, every word, he didn’t want to entertain lies. “If anyone is going to be tied up, unable to touch, it’s you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You won’t hand over control even for a lap dance?”
