She led me to the back room, pointed out the piece of wood I’d be turning into a custom bar, and ran out of there like her tail had caught fire.

I watched her leave, enjoying the view as usual, but had to laugh. She was a tough one, a real little firecracker, and I would enjoy breaking down her barriers until she opened herself to me willingly.

I took one look at the custom cedar piece the boss, Max, had brought in and whistled softly. It was crazy, before prison I was into running guns across the border into Mexico, collecting debts for my motorcycle club, and the occasional beat down of one of the minor drug dealers working for us. After prison, wood excited me.

I guess those years spent in the wood shop on the inside had gotten to me after all.

I walked to the slab that was set up on saw horses, and ran my hand along the rough edge, marveling at the natural beauty.

I think that’s what turned me on so much about Kitty, she might have dyed hair and tattoos, but she was naturally beautiful. Her beauty was beyond physical, it was all her, the wiggle in her walk and the way she carried herself.

It all drove me wild.

“You’re gonna get one hell of a splinter if you keep rubbing on it like that,” a man’s voice came from the doorway.

I turned to find the quintessential Vegas club owner standing in the doorway. He wasn’t tall, but he was wide. He was balding and I caught the flash of what might have been a gold tooth.

Kitty’s uncle Max, and he looked nothing like her.

“It’s a risk I’ll have to take,” I said and held my hand out to him.

He shook it and I almost recoiled at how limp and damp it was.

“I take it Kitty filled you in on the deal? You make it look good enough to put up front, I give you space to work back here, then you have about an hour for the install up front.”

“Seems reasonable.”

“And don’t bug the customers. Or the staff. If I catch you bothering the waitresses, I’ll run you out of here myself.”

He looked me up and down and stood in front of me, staring up. I towered over him by at least a foot and it would have been comical enough to laugh had he not seemed like such a serious and vain man.

“What about Kitty?”

He blurted out a snort that ended in a laugh. “That? I’d fucking pay to see you try and bother her, buddy. She’s way outta your league and can hold her own.”

“Well that’s settled, I’ll get to work right away.”

Max turned to walk out, paused and added, “You have until the end of the week. I need this done as soon as possible.”

“Will do.”

I grabbed my tools from the truck parked in behind the hotel, took the back hallway to the club to avoid letting any tourists actually see a worker and destroy the illusion of Las Vegas, and got to work.

As I ran the sander along the wood, I couldn’t help but think of Kitty, the beautiful woman who had taken over so much of my head and certain parts of my body.

Almost the entire time I ran the sander along the curving grain of the cedar slab, I ran a list of cocktail names through my head and tried to determine the first one I would guess.

I didn’t have to wait too long, I felt a light tap on my shoulder about forty minutes into it, and turned off the tool. I pulled my ear plugs off my head, turned and smiled at the kitten waiting eagerly to speak with me.

“Can I help you, ma’am?”

“What’s your guess?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your guess. What is it? I’m dying to know what you come up with.”

“Have you been standing out there behind the bar obsessing over what drink I’ll come up with?”

I chuckled and her cheeks bloomed two bright spots of red. I couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or angry at my mocking laugh.

“Maybe. But come on, it’s dead out there. I’m bored and I want to know what you think of me.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at her critically. “Manhattan.”

She made a negative buzzer sound and said, “Wrong. You lose. This job is free.”

She flashed me a smug grin and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Wrong,” I replied and made my own negative buzzing sound.

“No, I don’t even drink Manhattans, you’re wrong.”

“I believe you. My first guess is wrong.”

“First guess? Wait, no. You have one guess.”

“We never decided the limit on guesses, Kitty,” I drawled and offered a lazy smile. “So I get more. As many as I want.”

“Wait, that’s not fair! You’re cheating!”

“Not cheating, just beating the house. I might not be from Vegas, kitten, but I know how to flip the odds.”

She sputtered and threw her hands up, blurted a couple choice words not suited for a lady to speak, and stomped away.

And once again I enjoyed the view. Damn, that ass. It wiggled even harder when she was angry so I decided I’d have to make her angry more often.

But with a woman like Kitty, I didn’t think that would be too difficult.

I was finishing up for the day when I saw her again. She’d been avoiding me since our encounter earlier on, but I didn’t mind. I’d really gotten into the cedar and had done some extremely excellent work. Work I could be really proud of.

Speaking of work, I had to go meet Jorge in the morning for a new job with his company. I would have to balance him and this job for the week it took me to customize the cedar in front of me.

I peeked out the door and saw Kitty sitting at a table by herself. She had books spread out in front of her and was busy entering sums into a calculator.

I brushed wood dust off my hands and pants and shook my shirt to get the remains from my collar. I strode across the club and slipped into the seat across the table from Kitty and waited for her to acknowledge me.

“Do you need something?” she asked at last, raising a single eyebrow as she looked at me. Her gaze was icy, but I could sense her passion simmering just underneath.

“Moscow Mule.”

Irritation flickered across her features. “What?”

“Moscow Mule.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your favorite drink. Is it a Moscow Mule?”

“You’re seriously going to keep guessing?”

“Yup. Until I get that dinner I’m after.”

She sighed, blew a stray strand of hair off her forehead and said, “No. Not even close.”

I winked at her and grinned. “Well I’ll try again tomorrow.”

I stood and watched as she pursed her lips and glared at me. “I’m not working until late tomorrow so our paths probably won’t cross.”

“We’ll see about that.”

And as I walked away I could feel her eyes following me and wondered briefly if she was enjoying the view as much as I enjoyed watching her ass when she walked away from me.