^“Pizza?” I smile as Kaiden pulls out two frozen pizzas from the freezer.

“I’m a guy, this is the best I can do without burning something. Guys can’t cook, well, except that Jamie Oliver. That man is a god,” Kaiden shakes his head and gets some trays out. 

“Why don’t you go and sit in the lounge? I’ll follow in a minute,” he says, and I nod as I slip my shoes off. I carry my shoes to the entrance hall and leave them next to the others. They really need to get a shoe rack, I think, as I look at the pile of messy shoes.

I walk into the lounge, and I’m a little surprised to see Dom watching football on the TV. He’s dressed in only black sweatpants, and he has a beer in his hand. Not that I mind the view, but these guys never seem to wear shirts. I guess they have the bodies and the confidence from being strippers. Dom turns his head to look at me. 

“So, you didn’t run,” he says, I’m not sure if it’s a question or not, so I don’t answer. I go to sit on the other sofa when his voice stops me.

“Come here, Ellie,” he says and pats the seat next to him. I hesitate and end up standing next to the sofa instead of sitting on it. I watch as his lips turn up in a smirk.

“You’re pregnant and had a rough night, you should sit. Please, Ellie,” he says, and I’m surprised at the protectiveness in his statement as I look into his deep-brown eyes behind the black-rimmed glasses.

I gulp a little and mentally remind myself that he is just a hot and intimidating man. Well, a hot stripper who mostly likely can move like a god. Best not to think about those kind of moves, best not to think about him at all. If only my eyes would stop slipping past his face to stare at his strong chest and all the muscles on his arms.

I slide onto the sofa, making sure to keep some space between us. 

“How are you feeling today?” Dom asks.

“Fine, I don’t get morning sickness, and so far, I’m just tired a lot,” I tell him, and he nods. The dim light from the two lamps in the room cast shadows around his stern face. The only way I can describe how he looks, is that he looks like a hot, geeky guy you might find around a university. A guy that takes life too seriously, something I’m well known for doing.

Oh, I know who he looks like, he looks like Clark Kent out of the Superman movies. He has the glasses and the sexy body. A sexy body I need to stop looking at.

“Hey, Dom,” Kaiden says as he comes in the room. He sits in-between us, pressed closely to my side. It’s like he can’t stand not to touch me. 

I had years in a marriage where my ex-husband would never touch me or sit close to me like this. It’s strange, and yet, I like it.

“So, you all strip for money and own a strip club?” I ask, and Kaiden laughs as he leans back. I shiver a little as he puts his arm around me, and I have to force myself to relax. The TV is turned off, and the room goes silent. I watch as Dom scoots closer on the other side of me, both of them pushed closely against me, and I feel like I’m in a hot guy sandwich. A hot stripper sandwich? Holy ducks, that is not a sentence I should use out loud.

“Yes, we own the club, called Four,” Dom tells me.

“Four of you?” I ask and look at Dom as he nods.

“Yes, we inherited it five years ago. We worked there for years before we owned it, and we all have an equal share.” Kaiden tells me.

“Why stripping?” I ask.

“Have you ever been to a strip club? I mean other than tonight?” Kaiden asks me, and I shake my head.

“It’s not as dirty and seedy as you’re thinking,” Kaiden tells me, and I cringe a little at his choice of words. That’s exactly what I thought it was.

“The previous owner of the club picked us up when we had no jobs and honestly, we were all in bad places,” Dom says, his voice lacking emotion.

“Eric, the old owner, taught us to dance. He gave us a room in his apartment, and when we were good enough, we went on the stage. Stripping is fun and sexy, if you do it right,” Kaiden says, and I shake my head.

“I don’t see how it can be,” I stop when I see a flash of pain cross over Kaiden’s face. The sound of beeping interrupts me before I can say anything.

“The pizza,” Kaiden stands up and walks out of the room.

“Can I give you a little advice?” Dom says, drawing my gaze back to him, and I nod.

“Kaiden has a bad past, and this job saved his life. Don’t judge something you don’t understand,” Dom tells me, and instantly, I feel guilty.

“Pizza is served,” Kaiden says with a big smile as he walks in the room. I think he has forgotten all about how annoyed he was or he’s a good actor. I’m going to guess the second option as he must be a little good at acting to be able to be a stripper. I don’t want to walk away from them and the job I need without giving it a chance. I’m a grown-ass woman, and I can deal with some hot guys who may be able to dance like gods.

“I accept the job offer and want to go back,” I say to Kaiden who nearly drops the plates of pizza he’s holding.

“Shit,” he says making me and Dom chuckle.

Kaiden hands me a plate and moves to sit where he was before. The pizza is pepperoni and smells amazing. It doesn’t take me long to start eating it as I’m always hungry lately. Dom takes a slice off my plate as we all eat.

“So, how about we take you into work tomorrow evening? We don’t open until nine, but if you want to work in the day, we could–” he says, but I interrupt by holding a hand up. I lower my hand when I realise that I have no idea why I just did that, and he is clearly trying not to laugh at me. Did I just put my hand up like I’m in school or something?

“No, it’s cool. I need to get used to being up all night,” I say referring to the baby. I’ve always been a night owl, so this won’t be a big difference for me. “So, do you take turns on the stage?” I ask.

“Yes, the club is open Thursday to Sunday night. Two of us work each night, and we have six other members of staff that work here as well. They are our backup dancers, and we train them, but they can handle the quieter nights. We usually know how busy we will be because we have a lot of online bookings,” Dom tells me as Kaiden eats more pizza.

“So, tomorrow?” I ask, a little of my nerves coming out of my words.

“Tomorrow,” Kaiden answers me with a wink.