AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mr. Denton—”
“Just the top one, sweetie. The boys are getting restless.” Before she could stop him, he had opened the button at the collar of her white polyester blouse. “You must be new at this.” The tip of his index finger explored the hollow at the base of her throat, making her shiver. “I thought I’d met all of Stella’s girls.”
“Yes, I— I mean, no, I’m—”
“Now don’t be nervous. You’re doin’ just fine. And you’ve got very nice legs, if you don’t mind my sayin’ so.” His nimble fingers opened the next button.
“Mr. Denton!”
“Miz Snow?”
She saw the same amusement in his eyes she’d noted earlier when he was giving Julie the football quiz, and she realized he had slipped another button open, exposing her pale peach demibra with its plunging center and scalloped edging. Her naughty underwear, a foolish indulgence for a homely woman, was her most closely guarded secret, and she gave a small gasp of dismay.
A raucous cheer went up from the crowd, but it wasn’t in response to her pale peach demibra. Instead one of the women standing by the pool had whipped off the top of her bikini and was twirling it around her head. Gracie saw right away that this woman needed something with more support than a demibra.
The men clapped and hooted. She reached for her blouse to clutch it together, but Bobby Tom caught her fingers, trapping them gently in his palm.
“Candi, there, seems to be gettin’ ahead of you, Miz Snow.”
“I thought— Perhaps—” She swallowed hard. “There’s something I need to talk to you about. In private.”
“You want to dance for me in private? That’s real sweet of you, but my guests would be disappointed if I got to see more of you than they did.”
She realized he had unfastened the button at the waistband of her skirt and was lowering the zipper.
“Mr. Denton!” Her voice was louder than she had intended, and the guests standing nearby laughed.
“Call me Bobby Tom, honey. Everybody does.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as if he were laughing at some great private joke. “Now this is interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever known a stripper who wore panty hose.”
“I’m not a stripper!”
“’Course you are. Why else would you be taking off your clothes in front of bunch of drunken football players?”
“I’m not taking off my— Oh!” His nimble ball handler’s fingers were divesting her of her garments as effortlessly as if they were made of tissue paper, and her blouse fell open. Summoning all her strength, she pushed herself from his lap only to feel her skirt slide over her half slip to her ankles.
Mortified, she reached down to snatch it up. Her face was crimson as she yanked it back into place. How could a woman who prided herself on organization and efficiency have let something so appalling happen? Clutching her blouse together, she forced herself to face him. “I’m not a stripper!”
“Is that so?” He pulled a cigar out of the breast pocket of his robe and rolled it between his fingers. She noticed he didn’t seem at all surprised by her announcement.
Her words had caught the attention of the guests nearest her, and she saw that her plans for a private conversation were rapidly dissolving. She lowered her voice until it was barely more than a whisper.
“There’s been a terrible misunderstanding. Can’t you see that I don’t look like a stripper?”
He slipped the unlit cigar between his teeth and, letting his eyes slide over her in a leisurely fashion, spoke in a normal voice. “As to that, sometimes it’s hard to tell. Last one came in here dressed like a nun, and the one before that was pretty much a dead ringer for Mick Jagger.”
Someone had shut off the music, and an unnatural silence had fallen over the crowd. Despite her determination to hold onto her self-control, she could no longer keep her voice steady. She snatched up the suit jacket she had discarded earlier. “Please, Mr. Denton. Could we go somewhere private?”
He sighed and uncoiled from the boulder. “I s’pose we’d better. But you’ve got to give me your word you’ll keep your clothes on. It wouldn’t be fair for me to see you naked when my guests can’t.”
“I promise, Mr. Denton, that you will never see me naked!”
He looked doubtful. “I don’t mean to question your good intentions, honey, but judging from my past history, it might not be that easy for you to resist.”
The size of his ego flabbergasted her. As she stared at him, he gave a slight shrug. “I suppose we’d better go in my study, then, and have that private conversation you’re so set on.” Taking her arm, he led her down off the platform.
As they crossed the floor of the grotto, she remembered that he hadn’t seemed the slightest bit surprised by her announcement that she wasn’t a stripper. He was too cool, too calm, too openly amused with the whole situation. Before she had time to carry this thought to its logical conclusion, the red-haired football player who’d spoken with her earlier stepped out of the crowd and gave Bobby Tom a playful punch in the arm.
“Damn, Bobby Tom. I hope this one isn’t pregnant, too.”
