“Hmm, I suppose it could be worse.” Her stomach somersaulted as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

Chapter Four

Lucky

Shit!

That smile was trouble, and those green eyes were more than any normal man could take. Lucky didn’t know how long he would be in New Orleans, but it was obviously going to be longer than he had planned. He had to find out more about this girl. It had nothing to do with being a dancer. He had dated tons strippers in the past. Actually, it was fair to say he had fucked a lot of strippers. Lucky didn’t do the whole dating thing, but this girl was something else. She got under his skin, and he liked it. She made his cock hard simply by being in the same building.

Lucky made sure not to get tangled up with females while in New Orleans. The last thing he needed was to stick his cock into someone who was aiming to latch onto the Gauthier name. Been there, done that, and bought the fucking t-shirt.

He didn’t like the way everything about Baby caught him off guard. Those eyes, paired with that smile did things to him that he wasn’t prepared for. Shit.

It was clear to Lucky that the other girls at the club wanted his attention. Coral and Lolli were cute. If he had been anywhere else, he might have entertained the thought of hanging out with one of them or both of them. But with Baby Jade around, they didn’t stand a chance.

“Hello? Earth to Lucky.” Baby snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. “You’re staring at me.” Her gorgeous green eyes beaming up at him, making his cock stir.

“Don’t try to tell me people don’t stare at you. Besides, I was trying to figure out my next question.” He didn’t want her to know that she had his head doing that spinning bullshit. He hoped he didn’t have some stupid shit-eating grin on his face.

“Damn.”

He grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Are you from New Orleans?”

“Yup. Grew up right here in the Seventh Ward. My turn. Where did you grow up?”

“All over the place.” He leaned against the wall.

Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “Come on, that doesn’t count.”

“Sure it does. I grew up all over the place.”

Lucky wasn’t ready to tell anyone he was from New Orleans. Once that was out it wouldn’t take long before people linked him back to his family. He had finally met a girl he wanted to get to know better, someone who intrigued him, and she was from the fucking Seventh Ward. They didn’t have a shot in hell.

Damn, one head was hard, and the other was screwed up. “I’m done playing twenty questions,” Lucky snapped, causing her face to downturn. The pain in her eyes and the offended look on her face twisted his insides.

“Ok. What else do you wanna talk about?”

“Nothing. Don’t you have a set or something?”

Her face fell. “Not for a little while. Why?”

“Jewella’s gone now, I’m probably safe. I think I’ll be fine.”

Lucky felt as if he had the wind knocked out of him watching the way her doe eyes glazed over, dark and ominous.

“You can go now.” He knew she got the hint when her brow furrowed and she didn’t say a word. She lifted her shoulders and walked away, not looking back.

He felt like a bastard for treating her like shit, but he couldn’t allow himself to get wrapped up in a chick, not in New Orleans. As soon as he took care of business, he was heading straight out of town.

Chapter Five

Baby Jade

Baby Jade was sick to her stomach, feeling like she could vomit as she went through the motions of the rest of her set with Lucky in the same room. She didn’t like the way he made her feel vulnerable. He left her feeling exposed and confused. It pissed her off. When she was dancing, she tried not to look in his direction, but she was drawn to him. He didn’t attempt to divert his gaze when she caught him watching her every move.

Things were off to a good start. They were having fun, and he was attracted to her. Baby was sure of it. He had participated in the flirting as much as she had. Now, all of the sudden she didn’t exist. She didn’t have time for the Jekyll and Hyde bullshit.

After her shift, Baby Jade did a quick cleaning around the dressing room. When she was done, she grabbed her stuff and let Mickey know she was heading out for the night. Lucky was still working, but the front entrance was the only way out since she refused to take the back alley exit in the middle of the night. It was after two a.m. and the room was winding down. Lolli was finishing her last set and had her attention directed toward Lucky, who looked bored out of his mind. Bored in a strip club, this man was a fucking puzzle.

Lucky’s head shot upright as the door opened. He jumped off the stool at attention. Baby knew who it was before the person made it through the door. Slade. He was hard to miss. He soared at six feet five and was built like a MAC truck. She assumed his weightlifting addiction was due to little man syndrome. He had his long blond hair pulled back with a hair tie. His jaw was as chiseled as the rest of him. He dressed like he was a walking ad for Diesel with his shirt pulled tightly across his massive chest. Most women fawned over Slade. The girls fought over him and begged Mickey to put them on his private party circuit, but not Baby Jade. The sight of him made her shudder, and her stomach heaved with repulsion.

Slade strolled right past Lucky, throwing his jacket across Lucky’s stool, pretending not to see him standing there. There was no way he didn’t already know about the new guy. Word traveled fast around here. Let the inevitable game of “my dick’s bigger than your dick” commence.

Lucky’s body tensed up at Slade’s dismissive move. His jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. He looked like he wanted to rip the man’s head off.

“There’s my girl.” Slade looped his arm around Baby’s waist. He leaned in to plant one of his slobbery wet kisses on her neck, but she managed to duck and push him away, although she knew he let her. It was all for show. If Slade wanted something, there was no way she’d physically be able to stop him, short of using her 357 Magnum.

“Stop, Slade. I’m not your girl.” Baby Jade noticed the way Lucky’s jaw twitched. The vein in his forehead bulged underneath the skin.

“I haven’t seen you in a while. No treadmill after work anymore?” Slade ran the backside of his enormous hand along her cheek, leaving the feeling of road rash on her skin.

“You’re not discreet, are you? You want a show, come to the club.” She stepped out of his reach.

“I’m here now,” he replied in a deep growl.

“Not a chance. I’m done for the night. And I guess I won’t see you stalking my apartment later since Lolli’s keeping you in good company?” She glanced toward the stage and sympathized with the girl. Watching Slade hit on Baby Jade distracted her, causing her to stumble. She grabbed the pole to catch herself and made an ill attempt to play it off.

“Well, that depends on whether she keeps me entertained or not. Not that anyone has ever held my attention quite like you.” He placed his index finger under her chin.

She jerked away, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Get a grip. I don’t know why you insist on putting Lolli through this. She’s always there, willing and able.”

“Oh yeah, she’s definitely able.” He leered up at the stage. It was pathetic the way Lolli soaked up the pitiful morsel of attention. As soon as he got the poor girl’s attention, he wrapped his mammoth-sized arm around Baby Jade and squeezed her ass. He was close enough that his heavy cologne assaulted her nostrils making her nauseated.

“Dammit, Slade!” She slapped his chest and marched past him. Lucky was still manning his post, eyeballing Slade, obviously ready to pounce. She had seen that look before. All Baby wanted to do was get the hell out of this damn Twilight Zone.