Paula and Susanna looked out over the private balcony. It was another busy night at Dixie Chix.
“London had to leave. Juliet thinks she’ll be out a few days. She said that London didn’t sound well.”
Paula nodded her head. “Poor girl. London’s been trying to save up for her college tuition. I think I’ll talk to her when she returns. Perhaps give her a little loan so she won’t have to overwork. She’ll need time to study so that she can get the most out of her money.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Juliet paid her first semester for her. London’s trying to save up for the rest.”
“Seriously? Juliet paid for London’s first semester?” Susanna asked, and Paula smiled as she nodded her head.
Susanna looked out toward where Juliet was working. She wasn’t behind the bar at the moment. She was personally handling a small private party toward the side of the bar. Paula and Susana both caught the potential problem immediately. Some guys were trying to start a fight, and Juliet placed herself in between them.
“Is she crazy? Those guys are huge!” Paula exclaimed. Susanna picked up the phone to call G-Force, but then she saw him headed that way.
* * * *
“Okay, guys, let’s settle down now. It really isn’t anything to fight over. You’re cousins for crying out loud,” Juliet exclaimed as the two very large monstrosities prepared to fight, but she wedged herself between them.
Her hands were on one guy’s chest as the guy behind her kept bumping her. Juliet’s head hardly reached the guy’s chest.
“Please settle down!” she yelled at him. When the guy in front of her smiled down at her then placed his hands on her hips, she released her hold of him and stepped back. His hands fell from her hips.
“You sure are cute, Juliet.” He reached up and gently tugged her pony. “She’s really good looking, isn’t she?” the cousin behind her stated as he placed his hands on her hips.
She placed her own hands over his and pressed them away. Their friends chuckled, apparently enjoying the scare their buddies gave her.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave Zeek a dirty look. She should have known that he and his cousin, Darien, were fooling around.
“That wasn’t very nice. You scared me,” she stated, and Zeek placed his fingers under her chin to tilt it up toward him. “It was fun.” Again she felt Damien’s hands on her waist from behind her. “Especially when she’s wedged in between us.”
She felt her chest tighten, and that uneasy feeling crept into her body. These guys were harmless. She had to remind herself.
“What the hell is going on over here?” G-Force demanded as he pulled Juliet away from Zeek and Damien and right behind him.
She grabbed on to his arm as Zeek and Damien tried to explain.
“It’s okay, G. They were just teasing. It’s all over,” she stated over G?
??s extremely large biceps. He glared at Zeek and Damien. “Settle down or you’re all outta here.” He turned, taking Juliet’s hand and leading her back toward the bar.
“G, really it was no big deal.”
“Well the bosses upstairs thought so. They watch you like a hawk,” he stated, and she wondered who he meant.
“Susanna and Ava?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“Your two bodyguards, Carl and Richie.” She swallowed hard. She had been avoiding them for quite some time. She liked them, and the attraction was mutual, but she still lived in fear. Danny was dead because of her, and she vowed to never love another.
“They’re just doing their job.”
G raised his eyebrows at her. “Sure they are, baby. You keep telling yourself that.” He winked at her then looked over her shoulder. She turned and her eyes widened with concern. Richie was there, and he looked pissed off. He stormed toward her and paused mere inches in front of her. His eyes glanced over her breasts, and she shifted uncomfortably. It wasn’t like she enjoyed showing off her assets. She was a woman, despite her petite size and the way Carl and Richie treated her like their kid sister. That irked her, but it was safer that way. She adored them, and she feared them.
“You and I in the back room now,” he stated firmly, and then grasped her elbow and arm before he led her through the crowd.
Richie was almost as tall as G-Force. Six feet at least, black hair, cut short in a military style to match his authoritative, military attitude. He was a boss, the man in charge of surveillance and security at Dixie Chix. No one messed with him, and even though he remained hidden, Juliet knew he was there watching. It made her belly quiver and her nipples harden. Everything about him turned her on, made her feel feminine, and yet, his lack of interest in her was the best medicine for her psyche. He was off-limits, and so was his equally intimidating, sexy, badass brother, Carl.
Her cowgirl boots clicked and clacked on the hardwood floors as they exited the dance floor and ate up the distance between the hallway and the staff lounge. Now he was closing the door. They were alone, in an empty lounge room, and the look in his eyes was intimidating to say the least.