Iron Rods: 1 (Strip Club) (21 page)
Read Iron Rods: 1 (Strip Club) Online
Authors: Brenna Zinn
He was offering her everything she could have ever wanted.
Her dream career, a bold and handsome man to call her own and commitment. It
all seemed too good to be true.
It is too good to be true.
“But you and I are as different as chicken-fried steak and
filet mignon,” she insisted. “I’m a simple girl from Texas and you’re Big Slick
from New York. We have so little in common.”
“That’s not true,” Bennett interjected. “I can prove it.”
“Well I can’t wait to hear this. Do tell.”
“What’s most important to you?” he asked.
She needed only a second to think through her answer.
“Family.”
“Me too.” He applied pressure to her palms with his thumbs
as though helping to prove his point. “All I’ve ever wanted was to have a
family to love and to love me back. Until now, I didn’t think that was
possible. Then you came along and turned my world upside down. I’m even getting
along with my father.”
“Really? Lyle?”
“Hard to believe, but true.” He placed her trembling hands
on her knees, picked up the ring from the table and held it before her. “I’m a
man who acts when I know what I want. I know for a fact that I want you. And I
want you exactly the way you are. I only hope you’ll take me the way I am.”
Once again he slid the ring on her finger. “I’ve made the mistake of throwing
you a curve ball, and I want you to know that no matter if you decide to stay
in Austin or move to New York, I want to be there with you. What do you say?”
She noticed his hands were trembling as well. Could he be as
nervous about her answer as she was at his proposition?
“I say,” she started, then stopped.
Could they really make a go of a relationship? Did they have
what it took to make a relationship last? She didn’t doubt the sincerity of
every word he’d said. Nor did she doubt her feelings for him. But was that
enough?
And she still needed to figure out her career, another
stomach-twisting decision.
What
did
she want?
A life in Austin, the city she had come to adore?
Here she could find satisfaction managing a strip club for
woman and using her skills to teach others how to dance. She would be around
people she knew. She would be relatively close to her family in West Texas.
Plus if she and Bennett stayed together, he would be close to family too.
New York?
There she would finally dance professionally. Fulfill her
ambition, her dreams. Shoot for the stars. See where her career took her.
She swallowed hard as though the decision not only clogged
her mind, but her throat as well. So much was happening too quickly. So much
was riding on her decision.
“I say,” she started again, reaching down deep to find her
answer. “I want to stay.” Relief swept through her as the heavy weight of the
choice fell from her shoulders. “I want to live in Austin and really make
something of Iron Rods. I just feel the club is getting ready to take off. It’s
going to be huge. And I’ve got some great new dancers, including a mystery man
who wears a mask. The guy has enough talent to slay every woman who comes in to
the club.” He looked up expectantly, clearly wanting to know if she’d stay with
him. She felt a mulish satisfaction at making him squirm about her answer. But
only for a moment. Strong relationships weren’t built on hurting the ones you loved.
And she definitely wanted theirs to be as strong as she could make it.
“And I will live with you,” she added. “I want to make
something of us.”
Bennett bolted to his feet, grabbed her off the chair and
swung her around the small kitchen.
“You’ve just made me the happiest man in the universe,” he
said when he finally stopped.
He held her tight and then kissed her long and hard. When he
pulled back, a giant grin pulled his cheeks so high his eyes were little more
than slits.
“Gheesh,” she chided. “I only agreed to move in. You’re
acting like I gave you the keys to a gold mine.”
“Oh, but you have.” He gave her another squeeze and then
lowered her feet to the ground. “We have a lot of plans to make. Packing to do.
People to tell.” He pulled out his phone. “I’ll cancel my appointments until we
have everything arranged. Lyle is going to be ecstatic. He’s crazy about you.”
“He is?”
“He thinks the world of you. Now that you’ve decided to stay
and continue running Iron Rods, I wouldn’t be surprised if he dances a jig in
his front yard buck naked\k..”
“Ugh.” Tatum shivered. “I love your dad, but that was an
image I didn’t need in my mind.”
Bennett grabbed her hand and kissed her fingertips. “For
now, forget about Lyle, the club or anything else but us.”
He tested her already unsteady balance with each touch of
his lips as he moved on to the back of her hand. She leaned on the kitchen
table, not trusting her legs to keep her standing. Eyes closed, she blew out a
heated breath while focusing her mind on the man she wanted to see naked, not
to mention lying on top of her.
After several steamy minutes, a wry smile pulled at the
corners of her mouth. She stood up, grabbed Bennett’s hand and pulled. “Come
with me, big fella. I’ve got clean sheets on the bed and I hear them calling.”
Bennett whisked her up in his big arms and gave her a look
that made Tatum wish her clothes were already in a heap on the floor. “I’m just
hoping your door isn’t locked, so I don’t have to kick it in.”
She laughed and nuzzled his neck, breathing in his heavenly
scent that she’d come to love as much as the man himself. “As long as we’re
together, you can tear down any door you want.”
Equally at home camping in the mountains of Montana or
shopping on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Brenna Zinn's journey through life has
taken her all over the United States, as well as many places throughout the
world. Using her travel experience as a guide and peppering in interesting
characters she's met along the way, Brenna loves nothing better than artfully
weaving erotic tales of romance and leaving readers yearning for adventures of
their own.
Brenna welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
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at
www.ellorascave.com
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Brenna
Zinn
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Iron Rods
ISBN 9781419947179
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Iron Rods Copyright © 2014 Brenna Zinn
Edited by Jillian Bell
Cover design and photography by Syneca
Model Georgio
Electronic book publication June 2014
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