Offensive Behavior

She blinked, but held his stare. Impressive. “Because that’s how we make money. No cover charge.”

“Do I look like I want a lesson in dive bar economics?” That didn’t come out the way he’d thought it would, she wasn’t smiling.

“You look like a bear crawled up your rear.”

He almost laughed. Why hadn’t he flirted with her, she was fun. Because he didn’t have the first idea how to flirt, that’s why. “What’s your name?”

“Violet.”

“Your real name.”

She leaned forward, still holding eye contact. “That is my stupid, useless mother-given, goddamn real name.” She gestured to the glass. That’s on the house since we mighta killed you. I’ll get your Coke.”

Hmm. That hadn’t gone as he’d hoped. He’d hoped he might get to Lux through Violet. He didn’t want to ambush Lux outside the bar, that was a terrible option, but he didn’t want to sit at the edge of the stage and throw money at her either. He watched Violet on her way back to him. When she drew level with the table he held up a fifty. She looked at him like he’d slapped her.

“What’s wrong now?”

“A fifty. I bring you a kid’s drink and you tip me a fifty. That’s not how this works.”

“How does it work then?”

“With you, I don’t know. With most normal men, they stare at my tits, call me Vi, tell me I’m gorgeous even though we all know I passed gorgeous two decades ago. I bring them overpriced drinks, we flirt, they tip, we all have a good time. But you.” She shook her head, her red lips pursed. “You sit there with storm clouds rumbling above your head, and you don’t speak, and no one wants to serve you even though you tip well, and you barely acknowledge my existence.”

It wasn’t news to be told he could inspire bad weather. “I noticed you.”

“Like you’d notice if your dick fell off. Look, I get it, you’ve got a thing for Lux, but she’s never going to talk to you.”

“Did she say something?” Fricking hell, did he sound like a wet behind the ears schoolboy? Hell yes, he did.

“She’s not like that and she has a boyfriend. Sent a whole florist shop this week, so she doesn’t need no loser barfly.”

What’s the bet there was no flower sending boyfriend. “If I wanted to get a message to her?”

“You know there are plenty of bars where you can get up close and personal with the girls. This ain’t one of them. This the cleanest damn strip club in the US of A, unless you count the kitchen, and you don’t want to have anything more to do with what goes on in there.”

“How do I get a message to Lux?”

Violet shifted her weight hip to hip. “I just told you, you don’t.”

He pulled a hundred from his wallet and held it in front of her. “How do I get a message to Lux?”

She shook her head. “I’ll bring you kid’s drinks, but I won’t sell out one of our girls.”

“So if I held up another two hundred bucks and all I wanted was for you to deliver a message to Lux, you wouldn’t take it?”

“Make that three hundred and you’ve got a deal.”

He whistled. “You drive a hard bargain, Vi.” He’d have paid twice that. Just for the game of it. “Tell Lux, Reid would like to speak to her in person.”

“I’ll tell her, but I’m not guaranteeing she’ll agree and I get to keep the money whatever happens.”

He nodded and handed her the cash and an envelope. “And give her that.”

Violet took the cash and tucked it into her waistband. She tapped the envelope against her lip. “This better not be drugs. She does drugs, Lou will can her.”

“It’s not drugs.”

“What is it then?”