A PERFECT FIT Read online

  "What kind of show?" Audrey closed the book and leaned back in her chair to sip her tea.

  "All male revue."

  "Oh, Karen." Audrey laughed. "Good Lord."

  "It'll be fun," Karen said. "C'mon. It'll be a blast."

  "Is this like...Chippendales? Or what?" Audrey tried to think of the last time she'd been out anywhere, much less at a nudie show. "Do they get completely naked?"

  "I don't know," Karen said with a little squeal. "But apparently they do this once a month, and it's always themed. This month it's Cinco de Mayo. Latin lovers. That sort of thing."

  "Muy Caliente," Audrey murmured with a shake of her head. "What should I wear?"

  "Nothing that has be dry-cleaned," was Karen's advice before she hung up.

  * * * *

  "Hey," Karen said. "Great jeans! Are they new?"

  Audrey looked down at the faded blue denim. "No. Old, actually. I just haven't worn them in a long time. But you said nothing that had to be dry cleaned..."

  They both laughed as they entered the club. The last time Audrey had been to the Chili Pepper, it had been called Spanky's Sports Bar. Now it featured a Latin decorating scheme, including drinks with names like "Red Hot Mama" and "Chili Chiller."

  "Muy Caliente!" cried Karen as they entered.

  The music's heavy, thumping beat reverberated in the pit of Audrey's stomach. "I should've brought ear plugs!"

  "Hello, ladies." The smiling young man who greeted them carried a handful of plastic necklaces with blinking chili pepper pendants. "Are you here for Muy Caliente?"

  "Hell, yeah!" Karen shook her ass. "We're ready."

  The host smiled. "Right this way."

  Audrey shared a look with her friend as he led them through the main bar section and down a short flight of stairs to another, much smaller room with black-painted walls and blue lighting.

  "Omigod," said Karen, "there's a pole!"

  "Have a seat," offered their host. "The show will start soon."

  Karen gripped Audrey's arm in a death grip. "Omigod, omigod...!"

  "Karen! You're the one who wanted to come here!" Audrey laughed and headed for a small couch toward the back of the room. "C'mon, it'll be fun. That's what you said. Right? Are you nervous?"

  They sat. Karen refused to let go of Audrey's arm. "Omigod. Look at this place!"

  Audrey looked the room over. Mirrors on the walls and ceiling, blue neon lighting, a nice, shiny pole on a platform in the middle of the floor. Yep. It looked like a nudie bar, all right. Not that she'd ever been in one before. "This is some set up. You say they do this every month? What do they do with the space the rest of the time?"

  "Private parties," said a low, rumbling voice, and Audrey looked up at the young man standing in front of them. "Hi. I'm Vance."

  "Hi, Vance. I'm Audrey. This is Karen." Audrey nudged Karen, who seemed incapable of speech. "How are you?"

  Vance, clearly used to shy and wilting flowers, looked at Karen with a gleam in his eyes. "Great. You ladies up for some fun?"

  "We sure are," said Audrey firmly.

  "Good," said Vance. "We've got five guys here tonight. Any preference for music?"

  Karen, apparently, had been struck dumb. "Whatever works," Audrey said generously, having no idea what sort of music would be good for men to strip to.

  "Great!" If nothing else, Vance seemed full of enthusiasm. "Give us a couple minutes to get ready, okay?"

  As the waitress carrying a small tray and rack of shooters headed toward them, Vance added, "Oh, and by the way, because state law says that if we serve alcohol we can't be completely naked, we'll have to leave our g-strings on. Hope that'll be okay."

  Karen whimpered.

  Audrey smiled. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

  "Great!" Vance nodded and disappeared into a back room.

  "Omigod," Karen muttered.

  "Karen!" Audrey shook her. "C'mon, we're here to have a good time, remember? It'll be fine! What are you worried about?"

  "Can I get you ladies a drink from the bar?" The chipper waitress smiled. "I also make change, if you need some dollar bills."

  "Dollar bills!" Karen squeaked, falling back onto the couch in a paroxysm of trembling something-or-other. Audrey couldn't figure out if it was agony or ecstasy.

  "I'll take twenty," Audrey said, laughing at her friend. "That should be enough, right?"

  "For the first fifteen minutes." The waitress took the twenty-dollar bill and gave Audrey a handful of ones with a grin. "These guys are hot with two t's."

  Karen fanned her face and handed over a twenty, too. "I'd better get mine then."

  "Is it usually this crowded?" Audrey looked around as another group of ladies, giggling, followed the host with the blinking necklaces, and took seats at a table on the other side of the room.

  The waitress nodded. "This place gets crazy on Muy Caliente night, let me tell you. Our boys really know how to show the ladies a good time, too. You'll see."

  Karen hooted and clapped her hands.

  "We'll take two shooters to start," Audrey said. "My treat."

  Karen let out another hysterical giggle. "Omigod!"

  "You let me know if you need anything else," the waitress said, and Audrey assured her they would.

  "I don't understand you, Karen." Audrey drank her shooter. "You're usually the one leading the pack."

  "I'm all talk," Karen admitted and tossed back her shooter with a grimace. "Not like you, Audrey."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Audrey turned toward her friend, surprised.

  "Oh, you know, you're so good with guys. How to talk to them and stuff."

  "Believe me, Karen, I'm not that good at it. You're the one who's had all the dates. Not me."

  Karen rolled her eyes. "You could have dates, if you wanted them."

  Audrey didn't have time to answer because the curtain hiding the doorway to the back room shook. Three young men, casually dressed like they were just out for a night on the town appeared and split up, working the room's other tables. Audrey could hear them giving the same sort of rap Vance had given her and Karen.

  "Wow. I was expecting...you know, construction workers and cops," said Karen. She watched the boys across the room. "A show! An act!"

  "Maybe they'll do that, too," Audrey assured her with a pat on the hand. "We'll see."

  Karen giggled again. "Omigod...they're so cute!"

  They were cute, too. Young and cute. "I feel like a perv," Audrey murmured, watching the boys charm the group of ladies across the way. "They can't be more than twenty-one."

  More women filed in, and music began pumping from the loudspeakers. Audrey didn't know the song, but then she hadn't been out to a club in number of years. She listened to the racy lyrics with some surprise, then a giggle. So that was the sort of song men took off their clothes to.

  "Oooh, I love this song!" The shooter seemed to have loosened Karen up a little bit because she started dancing in her chair.

  When the waitress came back around, they ordered a couple more drinks, and Audrey sat back against the couch, watching as the show began. Vance introduced himself and the other three guys, Armando, Brick and Julian.

  "Think those are their real names?" Karen asked as the four young men gyrated.

  "Heck, no!" Audrey watched them work the crowd and head in their direction. "But who would you rather flirt with--an Armando or a Harold?"

  "Good point," Karen said, and then her attention was taken up by dark-haired Brick, who had his eyebrow pierced and wore a braided leather choker.

  Armando had set his sights on Audrey, and she sat back and prepared to enjoy the display. She'd seen male revues before, and Karen was right. They were usually stereotypical fantasy cops or construction workers, who did some sort of cheesy dance routine to predictable dance tunes. Not these boys. They shimmied and strutted to the bass-heavy tune as they stripped out of their clothes to the whoops and hollers of the now-packed room.

  "Omigod!" Karen wriggled be