“Whoa. The fountains! Look-look-look, that’s the one that puts on the show!”

Glam made a little tongue clicking noise at Anna. “Don’t stare like a tourist.”

“But we’re tourists. We’re supposed to stare at tourist attractions,” she objected, pushing back her wig and strutting on with the group down the Strip, where Zeph was desperately trying to shepherd everyone to the right bar on time.

Tina piped up, “Darling, we are the tourist attractions.”

She wasn’t wrong. There were phones pointed toward them as they walked, a cacophony of high heel noises accompanying them, and every shutter click made Zeph twitch slightly.

He stayed calm and steady outwardly, keeping his eyes peeled every which way for signs of trouble, but nobody seemed to want to start anything. If anything, here, they were just an amusement.

River was passing out flyers to anyone who took a photo, sashaying from one side of the group to the other with ease, smiling and flirting and giggling like he was having the time of his life. Knowing him, he probably was.

“Darlings, it’s Vegas. It’s not going to go away. Keep your cool,” Glam advised. She’d been there before, as had a few others, including Zeph, but not everyone.

Everyone else who was oohing and ahhing at every hotel on the Strip was drawing eyes, but Zeph had the feeling River wasn’t discouraging them precisely so that they’d attract attention and he could hand out more show flyers. He’d already gone through half the stack.

By the time they got to the little bar where they were holding the show, every one of them was relieved to put down her bag and get to work dressing.

In the meantime, Zeph headed up to the bar with River to talk to management.

They exchanged formalities and chatted about their plans for the night while River handed over the music CD to give to the DJ. But it didn’t take long before Sean, the night manager, turned his eye to Zeph.

“And are you in the show, too? As a prop?”

Zeph feigned offence. “I can dance quite well, if you give me a tune.” River snorted with laughter and he shoved him slightly.

Sean giggled and scooted closer along the bar, then wrapped an arm around his bicep. “I imagine you have a hard time finding dresses that fit those guns.”

Oh, boy. You could be a little more subtle. Zeph was fine with being hit on, but with River right there, he didn’t think too closely about tugging River close to him. “If my b… if my boss would let me, I’d be in the show in a heartbeat.”

“I’m only saving you from yourself,” River giggled, not pulling back.

Zeph didn’t want to think too much about why his first instinct had been to pull River close and say he was with him. Boss had not been the first word to his lips.

Actually, now that he thought about the day, he’d checked in more on River, he’d looked over his way more… he’d looked at him first for guidance. Which was normal, since River was technically the one who’d hired him, right?

River disappeared to get dressed, leaving him to make small talk with Sean for a few minutes. Luckily, Sean had likely sensed something between them, since he’d pulled back to mild flirtation.

By the time he made it back to the dressing room, the thrum of adrenaline was palpable. River was darting around doing his usual last-minute makeup fixes on everyone else, Glam was in charge of ensuring everyone made it to the stage with all their props, and Anna just seemed to be frozen on the spot watching everything unfold.

Before Zeph could make it over to her and attempt a pep talk, River spotted her, sidled up and hugged her, and murmured with her for a minute. Whatever he said got her smiling, then moving with them.

Zeph shook his head slightly as River passed, giving him an admiring glance, and River winked back at him.

Then they were up, Tina taking the stage to announce the first number of the night.

It was a different routine than L.A., since not everyone from those shows had been able to make it out here. Zeph wasn’t yet sure when it was safe to get between their makeshift dressing room and the little stage at the back of the bar. In the end, he picked a spot near the side of the stage, just in the shadows but visible to anyone looking for security.

“And all the way from the frozen north of Minnesota, the lady of the hour escaped on a dogsled—seemingly forgetting all her clothes in the process, but we like her that way—to join us tonight!”

Half the audience groaned at the song choice as Let It Go began to play while River strutted out onto stage.

Despite the horrible music choice, River hammed it up and turned it into a sexy striptease number about letting go of his clothing, going all the way from a sweater to bikini top, and some kind of bulky skirt to a miniskirt in the process, and managing to make it look both sexy and sweet.

That was just River’s charm. Sexy and sweet.

Zeph reminded himself to watch the audience, not the performance. Rule number one of security.

River’s numbers were the most interesting to him throughout the rest of the show, too, but Zeph slowly relaxed throughout the course of the night. The crowd was very well-behaved—only at one point between numbers did he have to intervene when two drunk guys were arguing over whose turn it was to shove tips into Glam’s bikini top.

They were about to start a fight over something… this was just an excuse, he could tell.

Zeph muscled in between and made them take turns being very well-behaved with him standing right there, which amused the people nearby. He made a mental note to refer the club’s security to them, but when he made eye contact, the guy at the door nodded slightly. They were already on it.

God, it was nice working with professionals. For Vegas, the bar was tiny, but their people were well-trained.

The show ended without incident, though, and Zeph was glad of it. He didn’t want to take more bruises than he had to, even if he was prepared to do so.

“I’m glad you were on the ball there,” River murmured afterward in the dressing room as he unzipped his bikini top.

Zeph’s eyes fell to the mirror, watching his bare chest for a moment before he yanked his gaze north again. “Uh huh. That’s my job.”

“I like your whole muscled enforcer look. You should try it on me sometime,” River teased, but only Zeph knew that was a much more immediate invitation.

He had to fight not to grin all the way back to their motel. God, this job was great. The pay was shit, but the rest of the benefits?

Out of this world.