DJ.
Showtime.
Chase laughed at something one of his buddies said and snagged another beer from the waitress.
“Is it me or is it dead in here tonight?” Mike asked.
“You would know,” Brody said in a dry voice. “Not all of us have lifetime memberships.”
The rest of the guys hooted in laughter and threw pretzels and nuts in Mike’s direction.
“Hey, before the show starts, I want to propose a toast to the birthday boy,” Tate announced.
He stood and made a show of clearing his throat.
“Speech! Speech!”
Tate grinned, then tipped his beer in Chase’s direction. “May this birthday be the best ever.”
The others raised their bottles in response, and Chase’s ears were drowned in a chorus of Happy Birthdays .
He raised his beer good-naturedly as he stared at the dozen friends gathered. They’d think he was a pussy if they knew what he was really thinking. If Zoe hadn’t had to work, they could have spent a quiet night at home.
They would have watched a movie while he played with her neck. She would have been so hot by the end she would have jumped his bones there on the couch, and then they would have retired to the bedroom and made love the entire night.
Yeah, he was keeping that thought under his hat. The guys would never let him live that one down.
The lights dimmed and the spotlight hit the stage. Whoops filled the air as everyone focused their attention on the small stage. The music began, a frantic, high-tech bumping and thumping.
Then the curtains flew open and there she was. His supposed birthday present.
The guys surged to their feet as she strutted forward in a pair of heels that were designed to make a man drool. Chase followed the line of her legs up to an ass that jiggled with every step.
Hell, he might be attached but he wasn’t dead. She had an ass to die for.
She turned around, sticking that ass out, and began to shake it in time with the music. Around him the air exploded in whistles and catcalls.
She undulated, working herself back to a fully upright position. The light wasn’t on her face, but then who came to this kind of place to look at a chick’s face?
When her hands hovered teasingly at the clasp of her top, the roar got louder.
“Take it off, honey!”
“Oh hell yeah!”
Strangely, Tate and Brody stood back, their arms crossed, and they had peculiar expressions on their faces. Brody took a swig of beer and then drained the entire bottle as if he needed fortification.
He’d have to give them both shit later because it looked like they were wary as hell to see the lady in question disrobe.
She strutted to the very end of the catwalk until she stood directly in front of the group of men. Then her top flew open, and her breasts bounced free.
Chase nearly swallowed the tip of his beer bottle and put it down before he embarrassed himself. Brody and Tate looked strangled, and both reached for another beer simultaneously. The other guys pushed forward, crowding the stage.
Then the light flooded her entire body, and Chase forgot to breathe. Hell, it felt like someone had kicked him right in the balls.
“Zoe,” he whispered.
She smiled a sexy, disarming smile and pointed directly at Chase. Then she crooked her finger in a come-hither motion about the time the other guys recognized her.
At first there was deafening silence that was obvious even above the din of the music. Then a chorus of “Holy shit!” went up.
Chase was paralyzed at first. This was his fantasy. She was playing out his fantasy. He caught a flash of uncertainty in her eyes, and he knew he had to act fast or this was going to be a disaster.
With a broad grin, he shoved his way through the crowd of guys and came to a stop in front of her. He looked up at her with an arched eyebrow.
“Are you my birthday present, sugar?”
A slow sultry smile lit up her entire face. She bent down until her breasts swayed precariously close to his mouth, and she kissed him just once.
“Just sit