“Hell, yes. Unless she doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Darian grinned and slapped his friend on his shoulder. “Oh, she wants you. You didn’t see the expression on her face when she looked at you.”
“Damn, I hope so.”
“Go get your girl.”
Gage grinned and waved as he walked off. He felt an urgency to get to her. He couldn’t explain it, but he always followed his gut.
By the end of that night, he’d have her where he wanted her, or he’d lose it.
Chapter Four
Gage parked down the street from the place Brylee worked. He broke out in a sweat at the rundown eyesore of the building and the rough-looking men he saw walk into it.
He paid the door fee to get in and then moved to the side right inside the door to let his eyes adjust. Scoping out the room, he took in the type of men that were there and how many before scanning the area for Brylee.
He sucked in a breath when he caught sight of her. She was wearing a short black skirt and a black and white striped sleeveless shirt. The outfit showed way too much skin and made him want to throw her over his shoulders and walk out. Her hair was in a braid again. One day soon, he hoped to see it loose and around her shoulders or, better yet, spread across his pillow.
He felt an overwhelming desire to take off with her. He knew he’d have to mellow out a bit if he didn’t want her running from him, but it took all his strength to hold back.
He walked to the bar and ordered but kept his gaze on Brylee. His hands fisted a few times when men went to touch her. If the bouncers hadn’t been there to block the men, he would have lost it.
He sat at the end of the bar and drank his beer. His eyes never strayed from the little woman. At no time was he tempted to look to the stage where other women took off all their clothes.
“Hey, man. You might want to peel your eyes off the waitress. She belongs to the boss.”
Gage almost choked on his beer. He turned to the bartender and narrowed his eyes. “Really? Since when?”
The guy chuckled. “Since she started here. She just doesn’t know it.”
“She doesn’t know she belongs to some man?” Gage asked in shock.
“Nope. He asked her out a few times, but she’s always said no. He thinks it’s because he’s married, so he’s pushing harder for a divorce.”
Gage narrowed his eyes. “He’s getting a divorce so he can be with the waitress?”
“No, he’s been going through it for a while but started pushing to get it done so he could be with her.”
Gage stayed quiet for a moment and took a drink of his beer. He wanted to declare Brylee his but knew shit would hit the fan, and he was sorely outnumbered at the moment.
“Got the picture.”
“Good. The boss is a real prick. You don’t want to mess with him.”
Gage nodded and then pretended to look at the stage. He kept his face turned toward the naked women but let his gaze follow Brylee around.
He caught sight of a large man coming out a door that said PRIVATE and walked behind the bar. Then he stopped and talked to the bartender who had warned him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bartender point to him. The man, who he assumed was the boss, scowled. The boss man then pulled one of the bouncers aside.
Gage knew right then it would be next to impossible to just walk out with her unless he called in a few friends on the police force. He was more determined than ever to get her out of there that night.
He texted his friend and waited. He tried not to show interest in Brylee but knew he was probably failing when more than one of the bouncers came to stand around him.
Gage relaxed when four uniform officers walked in and headed toward him.
“Hey, bud,” one of them said and held a hand out to him. “What kind of trouble are you in now?”