not been his
intention.
Now that he saw the place, he was even more
convinced that whatever awaited him behind that rough wooden door
with the half-moon cutout was going to be bad. Very bad. And he was
more than sure Zack was going to kill him—literally—not
metaphorically when he found out. If Ryan couldn’t convince her to
leave this place, he might as well find some place to hide. But he
doubted there would be any place he could hide that Zack wouldn’t
find him.
He had to convince her, before Zack found
out.
Ryan pulled the door handle and opened the
truck door. Even at the back of the parking lot, which was the only
spot he could find, he was immediately assaulted by loud country
music, mixed with loud male whoops and hollers. He shut the door
and locked it then walked toward the entrance on leaden feet, his
heart sinking lower with every step.
The song playing right then was pretty fucking
appropriate, he thought, as he pushed through the crowd outside the
door to grab the door handle. “Wild, Wild West,” he grumbled in
time with the lyrics, as he yanked it open.
This place was as wild as any he’d been in,
and that was saying something. The crowd inside was so thick, he
had to shoulder his way through. The only open spot was near the
wall by the bathroom. He stopped there a moment to breathe and
search for Twyla. He had no idea how he would find her. Over the
music, and the roar of the crowd, he heard a man shout near the bar
on the other side of the room. “Shake it, Daisy—I got a hundred for
ya!” the obviously drunk older cowboy slurred.
The woman on the bar whipped her head around.
Her layered white blonde hair swished, then settled on her
shoulders. A sick knot formed in Ryan’s throat, then sank to his
stomach as she grinned at the man, before whipping her black hat
off of her head. She shook her head and her hair became a wild
white mane around her beautiful, but heavily made up face. Turning
her ass to the man, the dancer spread her legs wider then bent at
the waist to shake her barely covered ass in the man’s face. He
tilted his head back and stepped closer to get a good
look.
The woman extended the hat back to him between
her legs, and he dropped a bill into the hat. Before she could move
away, he ran his hand up the inside of her calf to her knee. She
stumbled away, and spun to put her boot on his forehead, shaking
her finger at him. He reached for her calf again, and with a frown
she shoved him with her foot. He staggered backward and a chorus of
laughter followed.
Some man at the front of the crowd yelled,
“Gut Shot!”
Several others joined in the chant, and before
he knew what was happening, the dancer gave them a coy look as she
tucked the hem of her shirt into her bra. She disappeared beneath
the cowboy hats surrounding the bar, and Ryan blindly stumbled that
way, hoping like hell that wasn’t Twyla. Even though the woman had
the exact same willowy build, she certainly didn’t look like his
best friend’s little sister.
The woman on that bar was wearing makeup, and
she had bountiful breasts pushing over her low cut top. Twyla had
smaller breasts, hated wearing makeup, and wouldn’t be caught dead
in a getup like that. And Twyla did not dance like that woman was
dancing. She was lucky to put one foot in front of the other to
walk. It couldn’t be her. But he needed a closer look to be sure.
He pushed his way to the front row of men around the
bar.
“ Line up!” a gruff male voice
shouted. Ryan leaned around the man in front of him to see the
speaker was a musclebound guy who looked to be a bouncer. He
crossed his arms over his chest, and eyed the line of men warily.
“Have your money ready and no touching!”
Ryan elbowed his way up to the front row and
finally got a good view of what was going on. Twyla, he had no
doubt it was her now, was laid out on the bar with her knees
spread, and Heather was between her knees. The bartender put a shot
on her bare belly, right