Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 122896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 614(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 614(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“For allowing me to go undercover with them as a stripper. It not only helped the investigation but, without his cooperation, I never would’ve met you.”
Sometimes the sweetness that came out of him surprised her. Especially since, for the most part, Finn wasn’t a very romantic type of guy. “Well, then thank him for me, too.”
“I will. I’m heading back there now. I’ll find you before I leave.” He gave her a quick kiss and disappeared.
As she waited for Finn to return, she watched Pecker after Pecker take a turn doing their individual routines, and when the last one ran off stage, she expected the whole group to return for their closing act.
What she wasn’t expecting was all the lights to go out, the club to go pitch black and the music to stop.
When gasps and worried chatter from the audience rose around her, she pulled out her cell phone, using it as a flashlight, so she could find her way toward the back to check the fuses.
She stopped dead in her tracks when a single spotlight hit center stage and the music started again, this time to a song she never heard anyone use during a strip routine.
And when another solo dancer stepped out on stage, she lost her breath.
Perfect by Ed Sheeran was his cue to step out onto the stage.
Finn wasn’t lying when he told Mel he was going backstage to meet up with Nick and the guys. But what he didn’t tell her was he was only heading back there to change into a white button-down shirt, black suit pants and a matching jacket. He left a few buttons open at the top of the dress shirt since he needed to be able to bust a few moves in it.
As he stepped under the spotlight, the women in the audience screamed so loudly he could hardly hear the music.
He spotted the chair the previous dancer used during his routine just outside of the bright circle of light. Finn had asked Nick to leave it there since he would need it.
A wild mustang galloped in his chest and his temples had turned into a bass drum. The amount of sweat beading across his forehead was more than expected for a slower routine.
Tonight, he didn’t plan on doing any crazy moves since he didn’t want to split the seams in his suit. Instead, he kept it simple and sensual by doing a high-knee strut down the stage, stopping here and there to do chest pops, hip rolls and a few spins. Just enough to draw the women to the edge of their seats.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sapphire standing near the stage giving him a blinding smile and a quick thumbs up. Besides Nick, Mel’s best friend was the only other person who knew of his plan.
One he hoped didn’t backfire. On stage, under a bright spotlight and in front of a big audience.
Continuing to lip-sync to the song’s perfect lyrics, he did a few more smooth, sexy moves before dragging the chair center stage. He turned and crooked a finger at Mel.
Even though she bugged her eyes at him, most likely in exasperation, she approached where he stood at the very edge of the stage. He leaned over, offering her his hand. When she took it, he lifted her up on stage with ease and escorted her to the seat.
“What’s going on, Finn?”
He put a finger to his lips, then pointed at the chair. “Sit. This dance is only for you.”
She sat. “In case you’re unaware, those women believe otherwise.”
He didn’t care about those other women, he only cared about the one that belonged to him.
Circling the chair, he continued his routine with the moves he learned right before going undercover with the Peckers. Only tonight he wasn’t doing them to rile up the crowd or earn tips, but to woo his woman.
After a few more teasing touches and another rotation around the chair, he stopped in front of her, did a full body roll as he ran a hand down his torso, only stopping to grab his crotch and add a couple of hip rolls. When he turned around, he dropped to both knees and arched backwards until his head rested on her thighs.
With a wink, he grabbed her hands and guided both up his chest, earning him a wiggle of her eyebrows and an answering smile. As soon as he released her wrists, he straightened and spun on one knee.
When he came to an abrupt stop facing Mel, he extended an open hand. Balanced on his palm was a small, black velvet-covered box with the lid open.
In that box wasn’t a pink pearl, but a diamond.
Not just any diamond, either. The one his father put on his mother’s finger decades ago.
One night over dinner, his mother confessed she didn’t think Finn would ever settle down with one woman. And now that he had, she was more than happy with his choice since she had fallen in love with Mel, the same as he had.