The Lion and the Lamb

She spoke to the same girl Tatum had seen behind the bar the first time she met Leo. The two women stopped talking and turned to stare at them. Peaches waved enthusiastically, but the bartender gave her a withering stare.

Peaches literally skipped over to them, her breasts barely restrained under the teeny, tiny cutoff tee. Her shorts were the length of some of Tatum’s panties, and the stilettos she wore were probably illegal in several states. She also wore a bobbed bright orange wig.

“Hey, hon.” Peaches lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers at Tatum.

“Hi.” She felt her cheeks heat and felt like an idiot. The girl was beautiful and nice. At least she didn’t get paired up with the bartender still shooting daggers at her.

“Peaches here already knows her role to play.” Leo faced Tatum again, completely blocking out the pixie behind him. He leaned close to her, and she felt his breath tease the shell of her ear. “And, Tatum, if anyone touches you, male or otherwise, you come get me right away.” He leaned back slightly, his face stoic. “Do you understand?”

His chauvinistic ways infuriated her, but he also enthralled her, and she found herself nodding. He snapped his teeth together and straightened. Their eyes held for so long she knew others had to have noticed by now, but before she started to feel uncomfortable, he turned and strode away. A low whistle sounded, and she tore her eyes from Leo’s retreating back to look at Peaches.

“Dayum, honey, Leo has it bad for you.” Tatum just noticed Peaches chewed a piece of gum. She chose that moment to blow a big bubble, reminding her of a child. It popped, and she grinned.

“No, he doesn’t. He’s my boss.”

Peaches’s grin widened. “Girl, he’s my boss too, and he doesn’t place a claim like that on me, or any other girl for that matter.”

Tatum huffed, not liking where this conversation was going. “There is nothing there.” She clasped her hands together in front of her, hoping Peaches took the hint that the conversation was over.

Peaches took a step closer, and a serious expression crossed her face. Even with those six-inch heels on, the girl barely matched Tatum’s height. “Sweets—”

“My name is Tatum.”

She shook her head. “In here, you don’t use your real name. It’s better that way, especially when you get some real clingers, if you know what I mean.” Tatum didn’t, but she didn’t say otherwise. “You’re all sweet and innocent. You look like you should be workin’ in a library or at an elementary school, but the boss sees something special in you obviously.” She lifted her hand and picked up a lock of Tatum’s hair. “That’s why I called you Sweets.” Peaches dropped the lock and eyed her clothing, a smirk on her face. “Conservative too.”

“Leo gave these to me.”

Peaches quirked a perfectly shaped brow and laughed. “Yeah, the boss has it bad. He must not want other guys looking at what’s his.”

Tatum bristled at the implied statement. “I’m not his. I just started working here.”

The look Peaches gave her appeared droll. “Girl, if Leo wants you, he’ll get you. It’s as simple as that.” With that, she smacked Tatum on the ass and went back to talking to the bartender.

Two beefy bouncers came out from the back and straight toward her. They unlocked the front doors, and Tatum took a deep breath.

Well, this is it.4Tatum’s feet were killing her by the time her shift ended. It was going on two-thirty in the morning, but there was still a group of five men celebrating a bachelor party, several older businessmen getting a private show, and another handful who had paid a hefty amount to have a private party in the champagne room. All of this told to her by Peaches, who seemed to know what went down at every corner of the club.

She had watched Kiki dance, which she had been enthralled with. The girl knew how to move, and when she worked the pole, it was more artistic than slutty. Tatum never really knew women could be so beautiful and graceful on a stripper pole, but boy had she been wrong. Even she found Kiki’s act seductive.

The men had watched her like they couldn’t get enough, like they had just seen gold fall from the sky. Pepper, which happened to be Kiki’s stage name, had done moves Tatum didn’t even know were physically possible.

“You ready, Tater?”

Tatum rolled her eyes at once again being called that ridiculous nickname. “People are going to start calling me that if you keep it up.”

Kiki chuckled and nudged her in the shoulder. “Nah, sounds like you’re all set as the little Sweets of the club.”

She followed Kiki out of the main floor and down the employee hallway. Right before they clocked out, the same voice that seemed to send chills up her spine called out her name. She turned to see Leo leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his biceps bulging.