My smile gets wider and wider as my limo approaches the strip club. It’s early still, even though Ryder and I had a late lunch. I don’t know what time Sapphire starts work, but she has to get there before they open, right?

I bounce my leg, full of nervous energy, ready to just be there already. As soon as my driver pulls up in front of the club, I jump from the limo and rush to the front doors. They pull open easily, so I figure they must be open.

Wrong.

About twenty pairs of eyes all turn toward me where I’m standing on the landing just inside the doors. All women. Correction. Not just women, all strippers.

Strippers who all have a greedy look in their eyes.

I know that look and I don’t fucking have time for it. I’m here for one woman, and one woman only.

They all seem to close in on me at once, looking terrifyingly like vultures in the black lace covering their bodies. Well, sort of covering. There’s a whole lot of bare skin in this place.

“Hello, gorgeous,” a busty blonde says, sidling up to me, closely followed by three more girls.

She fingers my collar. “We aren’t open yet, but I think I could make an exception for you.” She winks and gives me salacious grin.

Sapphire has truly gotten to me—she must be the one because I’m totally unaffected. Not just unaffected, but fucking annoyed.

Up until last night, this would be a fantasy come true. An entire club of strippers sitting around in their underwear, and I’m the only guy to be found? The old Derek would already have both his hands full of tits, mouth eating out one pussy, and dick buried balls deep in another.

I can totally take care of four women at once. Don’t ask how I know this. But it’s true.

I hold up my hands warily. “I’m good. Thanks anyway.”

Trying to move around her, I scan the women scattered around the lush room, but I don’t see her anywhere. Maybe she’s in the back.

I start to head that way when two hands appear from nowhere and fist in my shirt.

“Where are you headed so fast, sexy?” A redhead this time.

I grind my teeth, frustration building. “Looking for someone. Excuse me.”

Prying her hands from my shirt, I cast her aside, only to be stopped two steps later by a brunette. This girl has the same hair as Sapphire, but her eyes are brown, and her face isn’t nearly as breathtaking.

An exasperated sigh rushes from my lips. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Aw, sugar,” she says, her voice so whiny it makes me flinch, “surely you can find time to let me make you feel good. And I promise, I can make you feel really good.”

I look around, suddenly feeling like a raw steak tossed into the middle of a pack of wolves. Fuck. They’re all looking at me like I’m the sexiest man alive.

To be fair, it’s probably true. I mean, I have the body of a God and a giant cock to match. But right now, all I care about is Sapphire.

“Look,” I say, glancing around at the strippers, trying to put on an easy grin that should have them willing to do whatever I ask. I figure I’m going to have to play their game to get what I want. “I’m looking for somebody.”

The brunette gives me a sultry smile. “Take your pick.”

I shake my head. “Not like that. There’s this girl.”

I glance around the room again to make sure I didn’t miss her. Not like I fucking could. If she were in here, I’d know.

Raking a hand through my hair, I turn back to the brunette. “Just tell me, where is the girl with the brown hair and big tits?”

She gives me a look like I’ve lost my mind, then steps back and runs a hand up and down her body, her giant tits nearly busting out of her costume. “Sounds like I’m exactly what you’re looking for.”

“No,” I grind out, “the other girl with brown hair and big tits.”

She lifts her eyebrows and looks around the room, pointing. I follow her finger as she indicates, like, twelve chicks that fit that description.

Okay, so maybe I’m not thinking straight. I mean, I’m in a fucking strip club. Big tits are part of the territory.

“Sapphire,” I say in frustration, finally finding some bit of sense in the chaos that is my mind. “Where is Sapphire?”

No one says anything for a minute, then a short girl—another brunette with big tits, naturally-approaches me, her eyes a little wide. A little star struck. Like she knows exactly who I am.

Well, that’s fine. As long as she can tell me where Sapphire is.

She stops in front of me, biting her lip nervously. “Derek?”

I nod impatiently. “Yes. Do you know where Sapphire is? Is she working tonight? Is she in the back?”

“I’m Misti.”

Great. Sorry, Misti, but I don’t give a flying fuck what your name is. I barely keep the words from spewing out.

Almost regretfully, she says, “Sapphire got fired last night.”

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

I’m staggered. I literally feel like I’ve been knocked back by a blast. Fired? I know immediately it’s because of me. Somehow, they found out I had sex with Sapphire and they punished her for it.

Guilt swamps me. She said she loved her job. And now she’s lost it because of me. I can’t regret what we did, but I feel like shit that I caused this. My chest tightens with an unfamiliar feeling, like a heavy weight has settled on me.

I grip Misti’s arm, taking her by surprise. “I need to find her. Where did she go? Did she get a new job somewhere?”

Misti shakes her head. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess that’s what she’ll do. Most likely. But she didn’t say where.”

I exhale sharply through my teeth. “What about her phone? I can’t get in touch with her. I’ve tried and tried to call her, but it’s saying her phone was disconnected.”

She nods. “Those phones were part of working here. When she got fired, they disconnected it.”

I rake my fingers through my hair again, making it stand on end, mumbling to myself about how I'm supposed to take her back to St. Albans with me when I can’t even find her.

“Thanks,” I mutter to Misti, turning to leave, my very soul feeling crushed.

Sapphire is the one woman I’ve ever truly wanted, and now she’s slipped right through my fingers.