I realized then he was just as good a performer as I was tonight. The Wolf Den had the trappings of a biker bar but it was so much more. Every man in the place wanted to be tough, cool, part of Kellan’s circle. He let them in, going from table to table with that slow swagger and killer smirk. Just the flick of his fingers or the jerk of his chin and he had the bartenders hopping. The waitresses swooning.
Three club members acted as bouncers. They were fierce and imposing in their leather cuts, their bulging arms crossed as they scanned the crowd. Kellan was near the front door and he couldn’t see what happened at one of the back tables.
A guy got handsy with one of the waitresses as she leaned down to serve his drink. He pulled her into his lap while his friends laughed and egged him on. He ground against her and her eyes went wide as she realized how far away she was from help. Jesus. He looked like he was ready to rape her right over the table. She tried to play it cool, giggling as she twisted her body away from his. But he held her to him and breathed something into her ear that made her eyes go wide. She wasn’t safe. Dammit. She was in real trouble. Where the hell were Kellan’s people?
Shit. I’d seen this a dozen times in seedy dives we’d played. A couple of the guy’s friends started to jostle him. Some of them were trying to get him to back off. A few others were trying to get in on the action. Either way, it was about to end in fists. One wrong move and there’d be a full-on brawl before the bouncers could make it back in time. It wouldn’t matter. It couldn’t happen. One big bar fight and The Wolf Den would be just like every other biker bar there was. All these middle-class single women would never set foot in here again if they didn’t feel safe. If they stopped coming, so would the men. The place would be finished before it got a real chance to start.
Things were going downhill fast. The biggest bouncer, a tall blond I’d heard Kellan call Brax, started to move but he wasn’t going to get there before the first punch got thrown.
I turned back to Justin and drew my fingers across my neck, then drew a heart around my breast. He narrowed his eyes at first then nodded. Two seconds later, he switched the rhythm and I started to walk back toward the trouble.
“Stay with me, baby,” I whispered to the table of single guys right across from the asshole in the back. I positioned myself between their table and the asshole and started singing “Piece of My Heart.” Everyone knew the words. No matter who they were, what they were doing, I could always get ‘em to sing along.
I swayed my hips and blew a kiss to the asshole, drawing everyone’s attention to him. He held the scared waitress in his lap and was busy pawing at her. I looked up; whoever they had working the lights knew his stuff. He dropped a spotlight on me and I moved so the asshole was in it too. He froze and let go of the waitress. I pulled her to me.
“Come on, come on!”
I pointed the mic to her. She was scared at first but it didn’t stop her. She whispered “take it” into the mic and now the whole crowd sang along. I gave her a big smile and a wink and whispered to her to just keep singing with me.
Brax got there. He put his body between me, the girl, and the asshole. I moved back and the spotlight followed me. The groping asshole was back in the dark again; most of the bar patrons had no idea what had just happened. I turned toward the stage just as Brax helped the asshole to his feet and out the door.
Just before I made it back to the stage for the last chorus, I saw Kellan again. He lifted the corners of his luscious mouth in a smile and spread his hands wide, nodding. Justin reached a hand down and helped me back up on stage. Then he and I stood back to back as I brought the song home. The crowd went crazy with whistles and applause.
My heart hammered in my chest as I
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