Tiffany

 

 

 

“It’s really loud,” Morgana yelled as Aria and Morgana’s mom guided her to our table.

The place had more lighting than I expected but Morgana was right, it was loud. She still didn’t know where we were as her grandma insisted on keeping her blindfolded.

“Just one more step. There, you can take your blindfold off,” Morgana’s mom said as she let go of her daughter’s hand.

Morgana slipped off the pink bandana and glanced around. Her brow furrowed. “There’s a stage. Is this one of those dinner theaters?”

Her grandmother took her seat on the long white couch and waved over a shirtless man wearing leather pants and a bowtie.

“In a way. Except we already had dinner. This is more drinks with a show. And they do show everything here. Don’t they, sweetie?” Her grandmother’s hand slid over the man’s bicep before drifting down his arm.

“Yes, tonight is the Full Monty show. Now, what drinks would you like to start with?” he asked.

I knew when I saw the sign out front that it was a strip club. Who would mistake as anything other than a male strip club?

Any other time I would be a little thrilled to come to a place like this. Something different and fun. But, looking around at the half-naked men made me miss Jagger. Especially, his chest. He had a better chest then all these men.

The first thought I had when I saw the strip club was making Jagger put on a show of his own for me.

Then I frowned as I remembered how brooding and silent he was when he left yesterday. When I tried to call him later and earlier today, it went directly to voicemail. I haven’t heard from him since.

No Jagger show for me.

I wish he had let me explain what I meant when I said I regretted marrying him.

“Three shots a piece of tequila with some lime wedges. Oh, and bring out a basket of your curly fries,” Morgana’s grandmother said.

“Since you ladies have the VIP table, you get complimentary champagne,” he said.

“Fine, bring that as well.” Her grandmother waved the guy off.

“That’s a lot of alcohol. Maybe we should just start with the champagne and then—” Morgana’s mom said, taking her seat next to Morgana’s grandma.

“It’s a bachelorette party, Annette. Live a little.” She rolled her eyes at Morgana’s mom before turning toward her granddaughter. “What do you think?”

Morgana, with eyes so round I wondered if they might fall out of her head, glanced around the room. We were seated on a large, leather, U-shaped couch that hugged a low white table. The room was dark, with dark wood floors and black walls. Green lighting poured down from the ceiling against the walls to make it appear like a green waterfall.

“It’s a bachelorette party all right,” Morgana said with a frown on her face.

“I love it. Great idea, Mrs. Austin,” Aria said reaching over to pat Morgana’s grandma on the back.

“Please, call me Denise. I’m just one of the ladies tonight, and if I’m lucky enough, I’ll be hanging with the guys after!” She wiggled her brows as Aria high fived her.

The waiter came back with the drinks and additional glasses of water. I slowly sipped my champagne and passed off my shots to Aria. Evaleen sipped on water next to me.

I snacked on a few fries and was surprised at how good they were. After we had been there about twenty minutes, the white lights lowered and colorful strobe lights began to wildly flash around the stage.

“Welcome, ladies, to the special Full Monty show here at the Hunk O-Rama Male Revue! In a moment, some of our seasoned pros are sure to make you sweat with our pre-show. Right after the pre-show, you will be in for a treat. All the way from our New York venue, four of the hottest men will let you see it all!” the announcer said overhead.

It was fun to see the guys dance around the stage, taking off their clothes. They were quite talented, and I wondered if they were professional dancers during the day. Even the light show was impressive. When the limousine drove up to the strip club, I thought it was going to be seedy, but they put on an entertaining show.

Morgana’s grandma got grabby with a few of the dancer and had to be led back to her seat.

After a while, the men left the stage and the lighting changed. I heard the announcer come back on. “You ladies ready for the Full Monty?”

The crowd, along with Aria, Morgana, Mrs. Austin, and Annette, shouted that they were indeed ready for the men to strip all their clothes off.

“Welcome to the stage . . .” There was a muffled sound where the announcer was asking for the guys’ names. “I don’t care if you’re not really from New York. What are your names?”

Everyone at the table looked at each other in confusion.

The curtain swung open and I thought my mouth was going to hit the table.

“Welcome to the stage Alex, Edgar, Henrik, and Jagger!”

Mrs. Austin and Annette jumped to their feet and began waving dollar bills at the men. I glanced at Aria, Morgana, and Evaleen as they seemed to be in shock at seeing their men up on stage.

“Is this part of the surprise?” Morgana asked.

“No,” Evaleen and Aria said at the same time.

The men stood in the middle of the stage, gazing out into the crowd wearing nothing but their jeans. Jagger was the only one who’s head moved as his eyes drifted over the crowd.

“Help these guys feel welcome, ladies,” the announcer said.

The crowd roared and Annette stopped jumping. Slowly, she sat back down as she must have recognized her future son-in-law.

“Don’t we have a bride-to-be in the crowd? Let’s get her up here so these men can take care of her.” I could hear the frustration in the announcer’s voice as the men didn’t move.

Our waiter showed up and offered Morgana a hand. Still a bit stunned, she got up and let the waiter guide her to the stairs. Once on stage, Morgana sat on a single white chair in the middle of the stage.

“Okay, guys!” The announcer’s voice was laced with irritation. “Show the lady a good time.”

The men started to move toward Morgana, but Henrik widened his arms, stopping them in their tracks. It was like a car wreck. I knew what would unfold would be horrible, well, horribly embarrassing but I couldn’t look away. And as I had a quick glance around the table, neither could any of the other ladies.

Henrik shifted his feet from side to side like he was line dancing.

“Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick,” Evaleen mumbled beside me.

There were insults from the crowd. One woman shouted if he’s going to dance that badly the least he could do was show everyone his dick.

“Come on, ladies, we have to save them.” I finally came to my senses.

“You’re right. Morgana can take care of her own man, but I’ll be damned if these savages will be ogling Edgar.” Evaleen stood and began to move in the direction of the three steps that led to the stairs.

“Aria? Are you going to let Alex strip for everyone?” I asked as I stood.

“Fine. I guess not,” Aria said more disappointed than mad.

As we approached the stage, a large bald man with a black T-shirt that said security in big white letters on the front, stopped us.

“Where do you three think you’re going?”

“Those are our boyfriends up there. There has been some sort of mistake,” Evaleen said folding her arms over her chest.

“Lucky, you. The only way on to the stage is if you are a dancer or you paid for a dance,” he said.

Evaleen leaned forward until she was whispering into the man’s ear. His eyes widened after a few moments as she reached into her pocket, pulled something out, and showed it to him. He quickly moved to the side to let us pass.

“What did you say to him?” I asked Evaleen.

“Just that I could make one phone call and have this entire venue raided. I had a feeling there were a few things that weren’t necessarily up to code. And I was right,” Evaleen said.

I wanted to ask why he would believe her, as any woman could make that claim. I had a feeling it was what she showed him that had him changing his mind.

The ladies ran over to their men. Jagger strolled to me and we all ran off stage. Jagger pulled me toward the exit, and I thought everyone followed. When I glanced back, after hearing another uproar from the crowd as they realized we were taking the men, I saw Henrik still up on stage dancing for Morgana.

“What happened in there?” I asked Jagger once we were standing in the parking lot.

We were gathered in a group near a yellow Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

“They mistook us for strippers.” Jagger ran his hand through his disheveled hair.

With his mussed-up hair and naked chest, I couldn’t help but stare at his body. Even out here, in the dark parking lot, Jagger looked hot.

“Obviously, but why did you come here anyway?” Evaleen asked glaring at Edgar. I thought she was mad but the way she stared at his chest, I realized the heat of her gaze wasn’t anger.

I glanced over at Aria, who was already making out with Alex.

“Emma Hawthorne has escaped,” Jagger said.

Aria and Alex stopped kissing.

“What? But how?” Aria said as she walked up to Jagger.

“I don’t know. But, I got a call tonight from my old partner at the agency, and he said she had escaped. I was afraid you ladies might be in danger.”

“Alex. I think you should stay with me tonight,” Aria said as she slipped her fingers into his.

“Being her son, it’s best you two lay low for a while.” Jagger turned toward them.

“But the rehearsal dinner is tomorrow, and the wedding is the next day. That’s impossible,” Evaleen pointed out.

“Whatever needs to get done, I’ll take over. Aria, Alex, you stay in your home as much as possible. Emma wouldn’t come after me. I only met her once for about five minutes. She probably doesn’t even remember who I am,” I said.

Jagger’s jaw ticked as he turned to me. “No. You and David should stay in a hotel room. I want everyone to lay low.”

“But things have to get done for the wedding and Emma doesn’t know, nor care about anything involving me. I can help out,” I said pushing my hands onto my hips.

Jagger groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She knows you, Tiffany. That woman knows everything about any person she has come in contact with, and even people she hasn’t.”

“Jagger’s right. She’s my mother, but I wouldn’t put it past her to use you in some way. If she thinks you can help her, she will find your weakness and use it to her advantage,” Alex said.

“Then what should we do? We can’t postpone the wedding. There are relatives of Henrik’s that are flying in from Baltimore tomorrow,” I said.

“Let’s ask Henrik if we can at least move the rehearsal dinner. If Emma was planning to show up there for her son, then we can buy some time by switching the location. Where’s Henrik?” Jagger glanced around the parking lot.

“He’s still inside with Morgana. I think Morgana’s mom and grandma are in there too. I’ll go get them,” Aria said.

Everyone moved toward the limo while Aria went back into the club. It wasn’t long before she was back out without Henrik, Morgana, Annette, and Morgana’s grandma.

“Where are they?” Jagger asked.

Aria, with a smirk on her face, threw her thumb over her shoulder. “Henrik’s done the full Monty. Morgana’s mom is hiding in the bathroom and I don’t think a crowbar will remove Morgana’s grandma from watching the show.”