Irritation flashed in his eyes. “A girl who strips for a living isn’t a girl who says no a whole lot.”

I stood up from my seat and slapped him in the face so hard that his sunglasses hung askew. “Don’t you dare insult me like that again.”

The girl next to me was suddenly holding up her phone, and I knew this was all going on video.

This show needed to end quickly. When I reached for my purse, everything happened so fast. One minute Dave was standing in front of me with a stunned expression, and the next, when I looked up, Wheeler had spun him around and shoved him against the wall. So hard that a picture of an employee’s face fell to the floor and smashed into pieces.

Wheeler threw a series of punches—the third splitting Dave’s cheek and bright blood appearing. Someone in the back shouted to call the police, and that’s when my adrenaline spiked.

Dave erupted with anger and charged at Wheeler, who suddenly stepped aside like a matador dodging a bull in Spain.

When Dave stumbled forward, the teenager stuck out her leg and sent him flying. A chair fell over when he hit the ground. I smirked and gave her an approving wink before grabbing Wheeler by the arm.

Taut arm. His muscles were so tight that he felt like stone beneath my touch. “We have to get out of here, so I hope you filled up on your meat sandwich.”

Did he hear me? I wasn’t sure. His eyes were locked on the human, and I’d never seen the features of his face so fierce. Moving him seemed impossible, so I slipped four fingers down the front of his pants so I could get a firm grip on his jeans.

That seemed to snap him out of it. When he lightly gasped and turned to look at me, I gave him a hard tug and pulled him toward the door. “Come on, sugar. We’re late for the parent-teacher conference.”

Once outside, I realized that Wheeler was compliantly following behind me, allowing me to tug him forward. I glanced over my shoulder and saw why. It almost stole my breath how thick he was—so much so that I snatched my hand back before I felt a surprise. The length and size of him pressed so hard against the fabric of his jeans that it looked painful.

“Come on, Romeo. Before the cops show up and wonder why sloppy joes give you an erection.”

Chapter 8

Wheeler stretched out on Naya’s white sofa after she went to take a nap in her bedroom. He couldn’t stop replaying the events in his head of what had happened earlier at the diner. While sitting at the counter drinking his milkshake, he’d heard Naya’s sultry voice sharpen. When he glanced over his shoulder, a man was facing her with his hand on the table. Because of the distance and the music on the speakers, he couldn’t hear the conversation.