“Hiya, you boys aren’t from around here, are you?” A woman dressed in what appeared to be strings fashioned into some sort of bikini plunked herself right down on Chase’s lap. She was far better looking than Misty Dawn, but that was only because Chase thought he saw all her teeth. He could be wrong. She wasn’t a wide smiler.
God, she was sitting on his lap and he hadn’t offered. He was so offended he thought seriously about dumping her on her not very well-covered ass. She snuggled up, placing a set of not well-done breasts in his face. And she needed deodorant.
His little brother kicked him under the table, a reminder that they were supposed to be two high-rolling city slickers out for a good time and not one reasonable guy and one picky prick.
Yeah, he knew what Ben was thinking, but Chase was perfectly fine being the picky prick. It normally kept him out of trouble and out of the clutches of women who wore way too much makeup and needed a shave.
Still, he had a job to do. He tried to find the best place to put his hand where he didn’t touch too much skin. Nope. He settled back and hoped he looked like he enjoyed the view.
“What are you city boys doing out here? Come on now. You can tell Twilene.” Twilene wiggled on his lap. God, why hadn’t she picked Ben? She was looking for a hard-on. She was trying to get him erect and all he wanted to do was toss her off his lap and run home to Natalie. Natalie would protect him from strippers.
Natalie, who was still lying in bed sleeping because she’d taken his flogger with such beauty and grace. Natalie, who would look gorgeous on a St. Andrew’s Cross. Natalie, with her delicious pink hair and that jewel on her pussy he wanted to play with.
Twilene giggled. “Someone’s happy to see me.”
Ben gave him an encouraging smile.
“Yeah, uhm, I love strippers.” It was the best he could do. This was why Ben did the undercover and Chase just set everything up.
Ben’s smile turned to a frown, which quickly turned seductive when he looked up at Twilene, who Chase would bet was divorced. There was a tan line on her hand where a wedding ring used to sit. She’d been divorced no more than a couple of months. Faint lines on her abdomen were stretch marks from a pregnancy. Likely more than one.
Her husband had left her, and this was the only job she could get to feed her kids.
His distaste was being crowded out by a nauseating empathy. God, what the fuck was happening to him?
“We all love a beautiful woman, darlin’.” Ben poured on the Texas charm. They’d been here long enough that Ben had picked up the accent. He used it when it amused him.
Twilene giggled again, but now Chase could hear the affectation. Before he’d really studied her, he would have put it off as trying to manipulate a man into paying her way. Now he heard it for what it was, a way to feed her kids and keep a roof over their head.
“Come and have a drink with us,” Chase said. He was aware that his invitation wasn’t as charming as Ben’s but suddenly it was sincere.
“Really?” Twilene hopped off his lap. She blushed a little. “What can I get you boys?”
“Whiskey on the rocks for me,” Ben said.
“Rum and Coke.” He was still in the mood for something sweet. “And can you get us all some fries or chips or something?” He winked, a forced move, and gave her a hundred dollar bill. “And you can keep that change as long as you come back and share it with us.”
Twilene ran as fast as her stripper shoes, which did indeed look shockingly like Georgia’s Louboutins, would carry her.
“That was good, brother. Except for the wink thing. It looked more like a tic. I thought maybe you were having a stroke. Otherwise, nice job.” Ben smiled up at the girl awkwardly twisting her body on the center pole. She needed work. And potentially yoga classes. “So we’re going to work her gently into finding out where we can find some pharmaceutical relaxation. Just follow my lead.”
It wouldn’t be pharmaceutical. It would likely have come straight out of a trailer park meth lab.
“And don’t blow the cover,” Ben said.
Chase looked down at his phone, trying to ignore the horrors around him. No texts. Kitten was supposed to text him the minute Natalie woke up. The last thing he wanted Natalie to think was that he didn’t care enough to watch over her.
He should have stayed. Ben could surely handle one small-town drug ring that had already killed someone. Ben didn’t need him. Right?
“She’s fine.” Ben put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s safe. We need to keep it that way and this is where we start. You’re the brains, man. You know that.”
“Here you go.” Twilene’s smile was a little more genuine as she set the drinks in front of them. She had a tray in her hands and set the table with the ease of a woman who had done it a million times right down to napkins and properly placed knives and forks. “I brought out some fries and chicken wings and mini corn dogs. I know it’s not fancy, but it’s actually pretty good.”
And Twilene was hungry. He noticed the way her hands shook just slightly. There was nothing about her eyes that told him she was on drugs. Her pupils were the right size for the low light. And she didn’t put liquor in front of her, just a tall glass of iced tea.
“How much of that hundred did you have to turn over to the boss?” Chase asked.
She went still. “What?”
“Don’t mind him,” Ben said, obviously trying to smooth over what he felt was a faux pas.
Chase didn’t care. Now that he actually understood what the word “sympathy” meant, he couldn’t help himself. “I want to know how much he took and if you might need some more.”
She looked over her shoulder. “He took it all, but it’s okay. He also told me I could get off my feet for a while and I could eat with you. Usually that’s not really allowed, but not many people flash hundred-dollar bills around here.”
Chase knew where this was going. “You’re supposed to figure out who we are and where we come from and how to get more money out of us, aren’t you?”
“Chase.” Ben hissed the word.
But Chase thought he had a good hold on Twilene. She slumped down into her seat. “Yeah. Sorry. If you want me to, I’ll leave.”
He slid a hand over hers. It felt okay now because there was nothing sexual about it. He’d seen Natalie hold Gretchen’s hand, comforting her when she should have been the one given comfort. Natalie had been through hell, but she still reached out. Natalie would try to help Twilene. “Not at all. Please stay. We’re having a good time. We just like to have all the cards out on the table. I’m Chase. This is my brother, Ben.”
Twilene granted them an enormous smile now, and Chase had been right. All her teeth were there. “I kind of figured you were brothers, what with being twins and all.”
Ben snorted. “I’m much better looking. And we’re going to be here for a few weeks. We’re with Texas Oil and Gas. We’ve had some geologists scouting locations, looking for natural gas pockets like the one on that ranch. What’s the name again?”
Twilene’s eyes widened. “Barnes-Fleetwood? That’s the biggest ranch around. It’s how old Jack Barnes made all that money. I don’t believe the other rumors. I don’t really think he sold his soul to Satan for a hundred million dollars.”
“He’s worth far more than that,” Chase muttered, wondering what century he’d landed in.
“Yes, that’s it. We’re looking for more wells like that one. The geologists are almost certain we’ll find a couple. Maybe even something as big as the Barnett Shale.” Ben sounded like he knew what he was talking about.
“Wow. That could be real good for the economy. How nice and you boys are going to be here for a while?” Twilene dug into the mini corn dogs. She glanced up at the current entertainment and shook her head. “Poor Sally Lyn. She always puts on too much body glitter. I’ve told her it makes the pole slippery.”