Stripped Bounty Read Online Free

He had to.
    A few beats later, the crowd cheered again, and without giving himself permission, Badger whipped his head back around. She was just too fucking hot not to watch. Badger’s mouth went dry as she turned her back to the crowd and made a show of tugging down the zipper of the skirt before sliding the fabric down her long legs and stepping out of it.
    The hem of the white dress shirt hung past her ass, and as she strutted upstage to the back wall and, more importantly, the pole and mirrors, Badger knew this was only the beginning.
    This woman was putting on a show, and by the time she was topless, Badger had a feeling it might be the best show the customers of Deuce’s Cabaret had seen in a long-ass time.
    For sure, it was already the best show Badger had ever seen.

    R osie pressed her hands to the mirror upstage and rolled her hips around. She’d been beyond nervous since she’d gotten hired that morning. Evie, the house mom, and apparently also the owner’s wife, had been so sweet to her while she’d auditioned earlier in the day and again, just now while getting ready. Rosie could’ve hugged her. She’d even brought Rosie a double shot of Jack Daniels from the bar. Thank God. It was enough to take the edge off, but not enough to get her drunk—just what Rosie had needed.
    The song ended, and just as she’d directed, the deejay queued up Karise Eden’s cover of “It’s A Man’s World.” If she had to get back on the stage, may as well do it with a bang. Rosie turned and slid down the mirror slightly, tugging on the ends of the shirttails, as she rolled her hips, using her legs to propel her movements.
    Two steps downstage, and she stopped, raised her fingers to the arm of the prop glasses she wore, pinched it between two fingers, and peered over the top of the frames to the customers. As she scanned the crowd, her eyes landed right on him—the bartender from that morning. Rosie couldn’t make out the expression on his face, but his eyes were on her. She felt them.
    For the whole day, and especially when she’d reported in for her shift, Rosie had been plagued with the feeling that she’d somehow disappointed him. It was stupid. Not like she knew the man—he sure as hell didn’t know her. He had no right to judge her, and she had no reason to care. But really, why work in a strip club if he didn’t like strippers?
    With a wink in his direction, simply to bust his balls, she pulled off the glasses and tossed them aside. Raising her hands to her hair, she yanked the two strategically placed pins free and let the mass of dark thickness fall down around her shoulders. Fine. He didn’t like strippers. Well, Rosie wasn’t the average stripper, and she intended to show him that.
    Without hesitation, Rosie reached for the pole, swung around and pulled herself up, scissoring her legs into the air before curling herself around the cool steel as if she’d just done this deal yesterday. Technically, she had…
    Rosie may’ve hung up her G-strings and stripper heels two years ago, but she’d continued pole dancing at a local fitness studio in Connecticut. It was strictly to keep her body in shape, as well as release the constant flow of energy that’d always plagued her. Good thing she’d kept at it, or her comeback to the scene might not have been so easy. All things considered, it wasn’t going too bad.
    But “easy” was a subjective term, really. None of what Rosie was doing was easy. Not emotionally anyway.
    The patrons went a little nuts as she spread her legs wide while suspended upside down. Rosie gazed out over the crowd before righting herself and sliding to the ground into a Russian split. Making a dramatic show of every movement, she cocked her head to the side and tugged open one button of the shirt. Then another. Rosie teased, popping her shoulders and revealing a bit of her cleavage before she let go of the blouse and moved her hands to her hair, shaking out the long length. It felt