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* * *
Samson sat at the bar sipping bourbon and flipping a cardboard coaster.
“What’s with you?” Nick’s dark eyes pierced through him. “You look like you’re about to jump outta your skin.”
“Nothing.” Samson let his gaze fall to the entrance.
“You’ve been checking out the door since we got here.” Nick pulled a face. “You looking for somebody?”
“Shut the fuck up.” Yeah, as usual, Nick busted him. A huge problem with being friends with someone for so long. He knew what Samson thought before he did.
Nick nodded to Lisbeth’s assistant, Willow. “She sent her assistant, so there’s a good chance she won’t even show up.”
“She’ll show,” Samson said with much more confidence than he felt.
“I don’t get you and your fucked-up ego. The woman tells you she’s engaged to another guy, and you still think you got a chance.”
“I don’t think, I know, and it has nothing to do with my fucked-up ego. It has to do with how she looked at me and how she melted into me just like the old days.”
“Only problem, this isn’t the old days. She’s not desperate for a job, and you’re not her savior. We’re out in Vegas trying to make Club Wicked work—and she’s got her own business and moved on.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don’t buy it. I’m telling you, she’s not happy, and whoever she’s hooked up with isn’t doin’ his job in the sack either 'cause she was primed and ready.”
“I say you’re buying trouble with this one, but when have you ever listened to me about women?”
“Yeah, right, like the hot con artist you hooked up with back in Brooklyn? Nothing saysI carelike a woman who steals your fuckin’ money.”
“All right, I get it. Safe to say we got shit taste when it comes to women, but I don’t plan on making the same mistake again.”
“No, you just close yourself off from everybody.”
Nick cocked his head. “Better than the alternative.”
The LED lights flashed over a woman at the entryway, and Samson craned his neck for a better look.
Nick followed his gaze and huffed out a laugh. “I’ll give her this—she certainly has gotten better with age.”
“No, shit.” Samson zeroed in on Lisbeth’s long legs, hugged in fitted black pants and a black shirt. How the fuck did she make regular clothes look so damn sexy? He’d been surrounded by women half-dressed for the last hour, yet this woman covered from the neck down had his dick twitching in his pants.
“Shit, you look like a teenager in heat.” Nick looked him over. “Make sure you don’t embarrass yourself.”
“Fuck you twice.”
“You gonna go over and talk to her, or maybe you’d like me to pass her a note during study hall.” Nick chuckled at his joke.
“You can be a real dick, you know that?”
“You just can’t stand I’m right.”
Samson waved Nick off, but the fucker was right. She had him just as excited as the first time he saw her at the Oasis. She’d popped into his brain at odd times over the last years, but he’d never expected to have such a powerful reaction at seeing her again.
He played it off to Nick with his usual who-gives-a-shit attitude when, in fact, the whole encounter confused him. Lisbeth’s words denied what her eyes and body told him. She might think she was in love with whoever lived in LA, but no way Lisbeth would’ve gotten all hot and bothered with him if she had it going on with the other guy. Now, he just had to make her see it.
* * *
After changing her clothes at least four times and leaving a mountain of discarded pants, blouses, and dresses on her bed, Lisbeth finally decided on black pants and a simple black top with just enough lycra to give her shape without being obvious. She reminded herself for the hundredth time that her venue tonight was a strip club, but looking and acting professionally always topped her list—with one exception—two weeks ago in Samson’s office. She hashed and rehashed those few minutes of insanity until her head hurt and finally convinced herself it was no more than a last fling, one desperate act as a way to feel desirable before fully committing to Edward for the rest of her life.The rest of her life.Normally, those words and thoughts of Edward filled her with excitement and anticipation, not dread, anxiety, and trepidation.
After parking in Ecstasy’s lot, she made her way to the bouncer at the front door.
