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Peggy and Zeph were both right. I was burning the candle at both ends and eventually I was going to set myself on fire. I wasn’t doing anything wrong by taking one night off, not only from work but from my life.
The prospect twinkled in front of me like it was made of gold. Why the hell shouldn’t I use Kat’s gorgeous place as my own for one night? I deserved some sort of compensation for dealing with her cat’s sticky eye gunk. I needed to go over there later and deal with that again before I went back to the club for my Sunday night shift. Maybe while I was there, I’d investigate where she kept the bubble bath so I was set for a Monday night sleepover.
I gave Peggy a little nod.
She squealed. “Is that a yes? Are you actually agreeing to this, oh stubborn one?”
I laughed and shoved her toward the door. “Yes, I’m agreeing. Get out of here before I change my mind.”
She leaned in and kissed my cheek then grabbed her purse and let herself out.
A second later, I opened the door again. “Peggy?” I called down the hallway after her.
She stopped and looked back. “Mmm?”
“Thank you,” I said softly. “I really need this.”
She blew me a kiss. “I know, sugar. I know.”
16
ZEPH
After my Sunday evening mass, I staked out Kat’s house. From my car, parked a little down the street, I made notes on my pad of paper about the comings and goings of the neighborhood. The security cameras I needed to be aware of, the dogs that might cause a fuss if they noticed a strange man, stalking around in a balaclava in the middle of the night, any person who might do shift work.
And I waited for Lyric to show up to feed the cats, correctly guessing she’d be there in the evening, before her shift at the club started.
In the dark, my breath sped up. Her long, bare legs were the first of her to emerge from her car, followed by shapely thighs, toned from long nights dancing and performing on the pole, no doubt. She had booty shorts on that clung to her perfect ass, and a baggy T-shirt that had seen better days. The faded fabric was worn in and cozy though, and really did nothing to stop me thinking about her body beneath it. Her auburn hair glinted in the streetlight as she moved to the front door of Kat’s extravagant house, keys swinging from her index finger.
I noted the time down on my notepad, then sat back and watched her move around the property, switching on lights as she went. I cocked my head to one side, wondering why every light in the place periodically turned on then off, then grinned at the realization she was probably snooping around Kat’s belongings. I couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t like I didn’t do the same anytime I broke into a house to steal. The things people kept in their homes, especially the places that nobody else ever saw, were inherently interesting.
Eventually, it was only the downstairs living area light that remained on, and through the open windows, I watched her fill water and food bowls for two cats who twined themselves around her feet, waiting for their dinner.
I checked my watch again. She’d been there fifteen minutes, and with her job done, I expected her to lock up and come back outside. My pen hovered over my notepad, ready to jot down her leaving time, but I sat forward when instead she went over to a sound system and switched it on. Her shoulders instantly shimmied to the beat of whatever she’d put on, and when she straightened into a standing position, her hips swayed seductively.
I swallowed thickly, a lump suddenly lodged in my throat when she ran her palms over the curve of her hips and up her rib cage. Her T-shirt lifted, flashing me her toned, flat belly, before dropping again to settle around the tops of her thighs.
I’d thought so many times about what she must look like when she was working. How her body would move, undulating to a sensual beat. How she must make eye contact with the men who watched her take her clothes off.
And yet I’d never allowed myself to walk inside the club while she was working. Not once, even though I’d envisioned her there a hundred times since I’d learned what she did for work.
I’d want to kill every other man in the room for looking at her. Watching them leer at her, maybe even try to touch her, there was no way I’d be able to stay in my seat. I respected her choice of job, but from the minute I’d laid eyes on her, I’d known I’d never be able to watch her perform.
Unless it was just for me.
A solo dance for no other man. One she performed with lust in her eyes, all of it centered in my direction.
But that was something I’d never be able to ask her for, and so I’d resigned myself to sitting in my car, watching the building where she worked, imagining all the ways I wanted her to dance for me, and only for me.
Like the perverted stalker I knew I was.
Only I wondered if she’d like it. If she knew I was out here, watching her dance.
I blinked as the curtains were abruptly pulled shut.
“Fuck.” Had she seen me? I waited a moment, watching for the front door to fly open and for her to storm down the driveway, gorgeous hair flying about behind her and expression full of outrage. I waited for her to slam her hands on her hips and yell at me for being a pervert.
I waited a good long minute. But the door never opened. Lyric’s silhouette danced behind the light-colored curtains.
