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Her eyes twinkled. "Are we going to play? That could be fun."
"I certainly plan to enjoy myself."
I saw the uncertainty creep into her eyes at the careful way I phrased my answer and chuckled. I planned to make sure by the end of the night that my sweet Audrey knew exactly who she belonged to and that any jealousy she felt or any insecurities she had regarding our relationship were nothing but distant memories.
"You've been a naughty girl," I told her, taking her coat. "You chose to not respect my privacy, so you don’t get yours. You don't deserve the privilege of clothing tonight. I want you to go in there and remove your dress." I pointed the direction I wanted her to go and just barely held back the urge to smack her butt to get her moving. There would be plenty of that in her very near future.
Chapter 14
Audrey
When I stepped through the door, I was expecting some sort of sparse dressing room, maybe with storage cubicles for discarded clothing items.
Instead, I walked into a second, smaller club with cozy couches and intimate tables, a pool table and a well-stocked bar.
And a room full of people. Three men and two women stared at me with wide, confused and curious eyes and I knew without being told that they were Archer’s friends and business partners, the other owners of the club and the skyscraper it resided in.
"Hi." I bent my fingers in a little half wave. "My name is Audrey, and I … um… apparently I don't deserve the privilege of my dress tonight so… um I'm just going to take it off real quick."
Five bewildered faces stared back at me. The door creaked as Archer entered behind me and as soon as they saw him, the atmosphere in the room shifted drastically.
Their confused frowns turned to knowing smirks and the men looked down at their phones. There were only two women, both with tan skin and dressed in black, and the shorter one with the wild curly hair jumped to her feet.
"Hi! I'm Nyla. That's Jasmine. My husband, Bas, is over there. Lennon is behind the bar, Bain is the snooty-looking one with Jasmine, and Theo hasn't shown up yet. And don't worry about the dress thing," she whispered as she got closer. "Trust me you won't be the only one walking around in their undergarments. It's a pretty common occurrence around here."
"Okay," I breathed.
I stood there awkwardly, not sure exactly when, how, or where to undress, until Archer stepped into my line or vision and cleared his throat.
Okay then. Here and now were apparently the answers. Looking out at the room's inhabitants, I noted that they had all tastefully averted their eyes.
All except Archer who was watching me expectantly, as if to ask what was taking so long.
This was a club. People walked around in lingerie and undergarments all the time, according to Nyla.
He tapped his wrist and I pulled the dress over my head. When I was standing in my lacy bra and panties with garters and heels, he walked up beside me and hugged me to his side with one arm around my waist. "Everyone, this is Audrey, my babygirl. Audrey, this is everyone."
The breath left my lungs in a whoosh as I realized the significance of not only being introduced to his closest friends, but of being introduced as his babygirl. It wasn’t a small thing, and I recognized that. But what did it mean? I wanted to appreciate the moment, while also not putting too much stock in it.
And then they all stood and came to shake my hand and offer cursory hugs and greetings. It would have been nice if introductions could have been done while I was still clothed, but Archer had a point to make, I supposed.
"You playing tonight?" the one named Lennon asked from behind the bar.
"We will be, yes," Archer answered, his eyes locked on mine.
"Water then?" I looked over to see Lennon with two glasses on the bar in front of him, a pitcher poised above them, ready to pour. I could have gone for a shot of tequila or some whiskey to calm my raging nerves but I knew it wasn't up to me.
Archer nodded and Lennon filled the glasses, topping them each off with a slice of lemon and brought them over to us.
"It's important to stay hydrated," he said with a wink.
Archer sipped his water. "You know, I had such a crazy day, I forgot to grab my playbag."
"I could go grab it for you," Nyla offered. He lived in the next building over.
"No need. I need some new things anyway. I'll just buy them here."
"Ala carte?" Nyla asked, poised at the entry as if she was ready to go grab whatever he asked for.
