AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
Jill St. John’s entire life had come down to this moment—to strip or not to strip.
“C’mon, you can’t back out now,” Vicky Townsend said as she applied war paint to her face. Vicky was a natural beauty who needed very little help, except apparently when she was preparing to dance her booty off onstage in front of a crowd of hollering men—a group who happened to include her fiancé Cory’s bachelor party. The rest of the audience would be a wildcard. Talent Night at Triple Threat always attracted an interesting crowd. “Haven’t you always wanted to gyrate in front of a bunch of horny men?”
Jill lifted an eyebrow. Dancing in front of Cory and his other guy friends would be embarrassing enough, but half of the other people in the club were complete strangers.
Not that a bunch of strangers would stop Vic. Vic and her friends were providing the entertainment for her husband-to-be’s party, unbeknownst to him. At first, Vic had told Jill to sit down with the guys and enjoy the show. Apparently, the days of Vic being overprotective weren’t quite over. But Jill had finally convinced Vic to let her join in.
She’d pushed to join in the pseudo-stripping routine for one very good reason. Namely, Vic’s sexy older brother Bryan was scheduled to attend.
Scheduled, yes. A sure bet, no.
It seemed like she’d been angling to get closer to Bryan forever. Vic thought Jill barely knew her big brother, but she was wrong. They had a past Vic had never been privy to, for good reason. They’d talked a lot as teenagers—and one night, they’d even gone past conversation.
Haven’s resident football star was back in town for two weeks, and if she had her way, they’d be two very dirty weeks, thank you very much. Tonight would start them off on the right note.
But with every passing minute, it seemed less likely that Bryan would appear in time for the main event. If he even came at all.
Well, she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself with no payoff. Her stage fright was kicking in, and without the chance to make Bryan drool, she was out.
But how to break the news to Vic?
Hey, I know I asked you to let me join in, but I just remembered that I break out in hives whenever I have to wear anything made out of feathers, latex, or pleather. True fact.
She tried the soft approach. “Are you sure you need me?”
“Seriously? Jill, you begged me to let you do this.”
“I guess I’ve just got a little stage fright.”
Vicky turned toward Jill, her big brown eyes silently imploring. “You can’t back out now. I can’t go out there with just Mel and Nellie and Lex. We modified the routine for five dancers.”
“A routine I butchered during practice.” Jill tugged her lip gloss out of her purse and leaned closer to the mirror for a quick touch-up. “Besides, I’m not dressed to strip,” she added, glancing down at her little black dress and chunky heels. Thank God, she finished in her head.
As much as she wanted to shed her boring image and begin having the wild adventures she’d always dreamed about—ideally with Bryan—before she started Vet-Tech school in the fall, she wasn’t sure this was the way to start. She wasn’t harboring any illusions that Bryan would want to settle down with her, but that was okay.
She’d dealt with enough of her fame-junkie father’s in-and-out appearances in her life than to want a relationship with a man who lived in the spotlight. She wasn’t worried whether she could compete with all of his fans. She knew she couldn’t. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t grab him for a night. Or two. Or three.
Assuming she managed to put the moves on him before his defenses came up.
Jill didn’t have any moves, dancing or otherwise. But she had other assets to lure Bryan with. Even though Vic had so deviously devised the dance routine so that Jill would come on stage last, at the back of the group, she’d planned to head straight for Bryan. With luck, she’d have been on him before he could look at anyone else. Touching him. Tempting him. And hopefully seducing him…
“Hello, we have costumes.” Vic charged over to the chair piled high with glittery outfits, each one more scandalous than the last. “Grab the one you want now. Otherwise, if you wait until Nellie gets here, you’ll get stuck with second pick since you’re about the same size.”
“Same size as a woman who just had a baby? Jeez,” Jill said. “Boost my confidence a tad higher before I jiggle my junk on stage, will you?”
Vicky laughed. “She had the baby months ago, and you know she’s tiny. Besides, I thought you were having second thoughts.”
Jill had half a mind to do the show despite her serious misgivings just to show Vic she wasn’t a kid anymore. Okay, so she was still a virgin. But even that little sign of innocence was about to vanish in a night of orgasms. Assuming Bryan ever showed up. Where was he, anyway?
“I’m not having se
cond thoughts,” Jill said. “I’m just…”
“Stalling?”
“Maybe.”
“Listen,” Vic said. “I know I’m giving you a hard time, but this is going to be a blast. You’ll regret not joining in.” She widened her baby browns. “Come on, this is one of our last hurrahs as freewheeling besties.”
Just what she wanted to think about right now. Her best friend was on the verge of marrying an amazing guy. Goodbye Friday-night parties, hello responsible dates at home. Vic would probably have married-person stuff to do, like knitting socks or pressing trousers or learning how to make casseroles.
Which had its own kind of appeal. But Jill had no intention of settling down until she had a chance to let down her purple-streaked hair and party. She’d been the vanilla bean in their rocky road circle of friends for too long. Now was the time for her to go after what—who—she wanted.
Which begged the question: why would she pass up this opportunity to shake her groove thang? Sure, it didn’t look likely Bryan would be here in time to see their show—she’d checked the audience several times already—but there was still a chance. Wasn’t it worth taking the risk to get a shot at the man she couldn’t stop fantasizing about?
“I know I’d be missing out,” Jill said. “I’m not leaving—”
“But?”
“Let me step outside. Just give me a second to catch my breath.” And possibly take a few bracing sips of tequila from that flask she’d tucked in her purse for the occasion.
“Is that code for ‘slip out the door and never come back?’”
“No. I swear!” She dumped her lip gloss in her purse and pulled her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
Vic cocked an eyebrow. “If you leave, I’m so going to kick your ass.”
“Would I do that?”
“In a New York City heartbeat.”
Jill laughed and opened the door. “Worry about making Cory’s eyes cross.”
“Ass. Kicked,” Vic called as Jill pulled the door shut behind her.
Relief swept over her as she glimpsed the empty hall leading to the side exit. Perfect timing. No one would notice her. And if she decided after all that this was a bad idea…well, Vic hadn’t wanted her onstage anyway.
She rushed down the hallway, her mind already dancing with images of a black-and-white movie marathon and ice cream with hot fudge. Hell, she was even pretty sure she had a can of chocolate whipped cream leftover from that horrible date with Howard the Winker, who’d talked a way better game than he’d played.
