A Second Chance at Forever (2 page)

It wasn’t the first time she’d received an invitation from one of the patrons, though this was the first one to set her mind racing in panic. Had he recognized her after all?

All the implications of
that
flooded her mind. Would he call Brock, tell her brother what she was up to? Would her mother find out she worked as a stripper? How in the world would she explain this?

Janet nudged her with an elbow. “So, you plan on calling this one?”

She glanced over at Janet. Okay, so she was tempted. Damn temped. In part because something within her yearned to learn how he’d changed. But if he had indeed recognized her, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he thought.

She shook her head and feigned disinterest, crumbling the card and tossing it into a nearby trashcan. “Do I ever?”

She never went home with any of the men she met at the club. Like Stacy, she drew the line at flirting. This was a job, an emotional escape. Nothing more, nothing less.

Janet, however, didn’t suffer from such scruples. She clucked her tongue as she walked away. “Too bad. He’s pretty hot.”

****

Standing behind the curtain the following night, Angela thanked her lucky stars as she waited for the girl on stage to finish her set. When she made it through the day without a call from her brother, or a lecture on proper ladylike behavior from her mother, she knew she was in the clear. If Alex
had
recognized her the night before, he hadn’t said anything to her family. For which she was grateful.

Hopefully that would be the last time she’d see him. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not he recognized her, or whether he’d say anything to her brother. Alex had gone away to college, never to return. He hadn’t been a part of her life in a long time. With any luck, she wouldn’t see him again anytime soon. While some part of her was curious, it was better this way. Better not to connect Candy’s world with Angela’s, lest her mother find out.

Besides, his message said he was only in town for the weekend. Probably a weekend splurge, like a lot of the visitors who came to this city. Which meant that with any luck on Sunday, he’d go back to his life, and she could go back to hers. Then maybe she could forget she’d ever seen him, forget the frightening possibility that someone from her real life had actually found her in this one.

The blonde on stage finished her set with an elaborate twirl around the pole, gaining her a whistle from the audience. Then she pivoted on her heel and strut in Angela’s direction. As she passed through the curtain, she caught Angela’s eye and gave her a wink. Angela smiled in turn. As the new music began, Angela took a deep breath to summon “Candy”, drew her shoulders back, and strutted onto the stage.

Only to find Alex in the audience again. He sat closer this time, at a table just beyond the seats that surrounded the stage. Close enough she could clearly see his eyes this time. With him were the same two men she’d seen the night before. To make matters worse, his dark eyes meshed with hers, grabbed her attention, and held it firm.

As her body sank into the music, something inexplicable flowed between them, hot, sultry and undeniable. For the second time in as many nights, the world narrowed down to him. The music filled her ears, throbbed through her veins. Her body moved for him and him alone. An exchange that felt so intimate she swore she could feel his hands on her; that her own hands, as they slid over her body, had become his.

The last song ended and another began, signaling the change that was supposed to happen. Recognizing the music, Angela blinked in surprise, feeling entirely too much like she’d come out of a trance. Disappointment surged in her belly. Three songs. It was only supposed to be three songs, roughly fifteen minutes before they switched. It was her turn down on the floor, then she would have another set before the end of the night. But she wanted to stay on the stage, yearned to dance some more, for Alex.

The new girl tapped her on the shoulder, forcing Angela to break eye contact. Flashing an apologetic smile, Angela turned and all but ran backstage. She collapsed against a nearby wall beyond the curtain and closed her eyes, her breathing harsh and shallow.

This was insane. Jumping out of an airplane probably felt very much like this, free falling through the atmosphere, with nothing but a thin strip of cloth to keep her from plummeting to the earth. It made for a terrifying yet exhilarating experience. She couldn’t decide what she wanted more—to run from it altogether...or do it again. Dancing for Alex last night had been living the schoolgirl’s fantasy. Tonight felt too real.

“Candy’s admirer is back,” a familiar voice said.

Opening her eyes, Angela found Janet waiting for her again, just inside the doorway that led to the back of the club. She wore a satisfied grin on her face that had unease sinking into Angela’s gut. It was never good when Janet looked at her like that.

“He’s ordered a lap dance. Or should I say, his friend ordered one for him. Apparently it’s his birthday. He specifically requested you.” Janet pulled a fifty off the tray she carried and waved it at Angela. “His friend tips very, very well.”

“A lap dance?” Angela swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. She was going to have to get up close with a man she’d had a crush on for most of her teenage life. Who, twenty years later, still had the power to make her stomach do somersaults. Alex looked better than he had back then. The boy she’d known had grown up. The years added maturity she found sexier than ever. How in the world was she supposed to think with those eyes all over her? Plus, being up close, he was sure to recognize her.

Janet grinned, flashing her pearly whites. “Go get him, girl.” She winked, then pivoted on her heel and strode off.

****

“I can’t believe you got me into this.”

Alex McKinley stifled a groan as he watched the leggy brunette sashay in his direction, wearing little more than a bikini and heels. She walked with a sultry sway of her hips, a siren’s song that called to him. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since her show the previous night. When Rick had suggested they come back to the club tonight, he hadn’t been able to resist, simply because he’d hoped she’d be here.

She was the first woman in over a year to make him do a double take. The first one who’d even managed to capture his attention.

She was gorgeous. Taller than most women, all long well-toned legs and wide hips, full breasts, and a firm backside a man could sink his hands into. Her hair hung long and lush, flowing around her shoulders in soft caramel waves. The image of those locks dragging across his naked flesh as she leaned over his prone body tormented him.

Watching her the night before had done him in. She’d set her sights on him like she’d been dancing just for him. He’d been helpless to obey the call of her song. Surely the dancers got paid to look at the customers that way—they likely made most of their money in tips. But this one… damn. Now she was about to do things to him he’d never dared do in public before.

His friend and fellow attorney Rick Sheffield let out a low laugh, his gaze glued to the blonde in his lap. “Relax. Enjoy it, man. You need it.”

Alex darted a glance at him. “Shouldn’t we order one for Chris too? He’s the one getting married.”

Chris Carmichael, seated on the other side of the small round table, laughed. “Oh no. Jenny finds out you dragged me to this place, she’ll kill me. She finds out that you put one of those girls in my lap? There won’t be a wedding. No, I’m fine where I’m at.”

“Who says she has to find out?” Rick nudged Chris with an elbow, but turned and winked at Alex.

Chris laughed again.

Alex could only shake his head. He had no idea what the hell he was doing. He didn’t come to places like this. He had to admit, though, maybe Rick was right. The three of them had come down for a weekend getaway. Chris was getting married in two weeks. This weekend served as his bachelor party. His last hurrah. Chris and Rick wanted Alex to have some fun, in hopes that he could finally take that first step into moving on with his life.

It had been exactly a year since the police officer had shown up on his doorstep, changing the course of his life with a few simple words he couldn’t forget.
I’m very sorry, sir…

Tonight was the night his four-year-old daughter had died. Karen, his wife, had lived for a few months in a coma. He still woke up every morning expecting his wife to be there beside him, expecting to hear the slap of his daughter’s feet across the hard wood floor as she ran through the house. Every morning he still felt the sting when he found himself alone in an empty house. He needed to escape this weekend and everything it represented. Needed to forget the pain of the memories that seeped out of the walls of his condominium in Manhattan.

That
was why he’d come back to Vegas. Why he’d allowed Chris and Rick to drag him down here. What he wanted more than anything was to forget. A few days to let loose, to assuage a few long-forgotten needs. To feel like a man again. If luck found him, a few days to forget the painful emptiness his life had become.

Candy came to a stop in front of Alex, then bent over, resting her hands on his thighs, instantly grabbing his attention. Up close and personal. God, he hadn’t been this close to a woman in a year, twelve long months. She smelled…delicious, her essence a soft, fruity fragrance that swirled around his head.

“I hear it’s your birthday.” Her words were little more than a breathy whisper, soft and alluring. Her voice wrapped around him, making his entire body sit up and take notice.

He swallowed hard. He’d been painfully aroused since he’d watched her on stage. For the second time in as many nights she’d pulled him in and rendered him defenseless. “I’m afraid my friend lied. My birthday isn’t for another couple of months.”

She winked. “Well then, we’ll just have to celebrate early.”

Then she began to sway to the music. He forgot how to breathe. Her hips rocked, her body so near he could touch her. She twisted, turned her back to him. Her sweet rear-end did a low bump and grind. Twice she dipped low enough to brush his throbbing-to-life erection. It was all he could do not to pull her down onto his lap.

As she swiveled in a slow circle to face him again, he raked a hand through his hair and trailed his gaze over her curves, from her slender shoulders to the width of her hips. Damn! What was it about this woman? She wasn’t doing anything any other stripper in the club wasn’t doing, including the blonde in Rick’s lap. He didn’t normally fall for that sort of blatant ploy, had never in his life felt the need to come to a place like this. It wasn’t his style. There was something to be said about the art of subtlety.

No, there was something about
her
. It was in her eyes, almond shaped and bright blue, rimmed with long dark lashes that tempted him every time she peeked up at him. He’d known a girl with eyes like those once, the color of the Caribbean Sea on a clear day. No way could Candy be Angela, though. Angela Lewis had been a bookworm who graduated class Valedictorian. She would never be in a place like this, taking her clothes off for a crowd of drunken men.

No way could his best friend’s little sister arouse him like this either. On the outside, Candy moved in a way designed to entice a man’s desire. Her hips twisted, shifted, swayed. More than once she thrust her breasts in his face. On the outside, those eyes revealed an innocence that contradicted the way she flaunted her body. Like he was getting a glimpse at
her
, at who she was when she wasn’t being Candy.

It intrigued the hell out of him.

When she spun and her gaze met his again, something electric zipped between them. She bit her lower lip. Not playful or even sexual as he’d expected from a well seasoned stripper, but shy and reserved.

The same looks she’d given him from the stage these last two nights. Like whatever flowed between them wasn’t the simple exchange of customer and temptress. As an Assistant District Attorney for the New York County District Attorney’s office, he knew when someone was lying to him. Those eyes told him that the attraction wasn’t one sided. It was in the shyness of her gaze, the way it dropped to his mouth more than once. In the way her steps faltered when their gazes clashed.

Like now. With one simple look, need burned hot and heavy between them. He found it intoxicating, like a rush he hadn’t had in way too long.

Desire consumed him. He was helpless against it, but he’d long since given up trying to fight it. After all, hadn’t he come to Vegas in the first place for this very reason? He’d come down here to forget, to be someone else for a while. Oh how he wanted her. One wild night with a sultry woman who stroked his libido like no one had in a long time. One night he could walk away from, no strings attached.

“I hoped you’d call me last night,” he murmured, too low for anyone but her to hear.

She met his gaze, staring at him for a moment, before her eyes moved over his face. “I have to admit I was tempted.”

Her soft-spoken admission slid over him as surely as if she’d stroked her hand along his thigh. Damn. He hadn’t expected her to say that. He’d expected Candy to play coy and hard to get, to turn him down flat. It would have been part of the game. Except there she was admitting she’d thought about him.

“Why didn’t you?” He had to know, whether it would get him anywhere or not.

She straightened, standing over him with those long legs straddling his thighs. Her hands slid over her body while her hips did erotic figure eights in the air to the beat of the music.

“Cardinal rule number one. I never go out with guys I meet here.”

The woman was driving him insane. The playful look in her eyes said she was toying with him, but a certain something in the deep blue depths told him she enjoyed the play between them every bit as much as he did.

“Smart girl. You shouldn’t. Never know what kind of scum you’ll meet working at a job like this.”