She walked right in behind Helena, Pamela, and Nancy. Tyler was easy to notice, sitting in the family room's primary chair. She spotted that a huge, heavy square coffee table, surrounded by comfy seats and a sofa, had been stripped of everything and shone like a little stage.
Red followed Helena's lead and tossed her black trench coat, along with the other girls' seasonal clothes, over the edge of the couch.
It was my first bachelor-thingy event. This should be intriguing.
She expected them to start dancing straight away, but instead they were brought drinks and introduced.
Everyone just gave their first names. She followed Helena's lead once more and addressed herself as Daisy. And she requested a glass of water rather than anything alcoholic.
They were also given gorgeous, sparkling dark theme masks with feathers, and Red realised this bachelor party had a theme. Between platters of spicy chips and dip and trays of cookies, fancy brownies and colourful lightning were sprinkled throughout the room. The enormous sheet cake was adorned with an edible cookie tombstone and the phrases "Goodluck Tyler Boy" and "Regret Nothing" written in icing that shone with red, blue, and dark yellow coloured sugar.
Red took her mask and donned it. It gave her the impression that she could view everything without being noticed.
There were perhaps twenty-five males in their early to mid-thirties there. Red could almost smell the testosterone permeating the entire room.
"I don't see the man who hired us," Helena murmured quietly to Nancy, as Red kept near and listened.
"Perhaps he decided not to come," Nancy said quietly.
"Hmmm," Helena thought, then replied, "Why don't you two get up on the table and start dancing?"
The opening bars of The Pussycat Doll's Stick With You flooded the room as if on cue. The vibration of the percussion bass licks creates the atmosphere. If there was ever music made just for dirty dancing and parties, this was it.
"Well done," Red replied. Nancy and she pushed their way through a crowd of masculine bodies and appreciative gazes to that enormous, shiny coffee table. Red had her gaze fixed on Tyler. She got the sense he'd already had a few drinks.
He wasn't going to do anything romantic tonight.
One of the men extended his hand up onto the coffee table, and she accepted it, smiling sweetly at him.
Then she started moving to the tunes, her eyes closed and a grin on her lips in reaction to Helena's decision to have two females dance at the same time. Despite the fact that she and Nancy would not be conversing, the idea would be there. That would be enough for these people.
She briefly wondered, as she started to dance, how much money these females took home. Despite her family's wealth, her growing dancing business was perpetually in the red. And the group constantly turned down her loan proposals, stating they couldn't possibly take her money.
Someone turned up the volume on the music, and Red opened her eyes.
Nancy had already thrown her skirt behind the couch, much to the amusement of the male audience.
Okay, she needed to catch up.
She bit her lips when the zipper on her black leather miniskirt snagged on her red satin underwear. Not bad at all. She was actually enjoying this! Yet, she couldn't believe she was here only a few hours ago; after landing in the airport, her only thoughts were a nice shower and something tasty and greasy to eat.
The skirt fell off, but as she flung it, it landed on a guy's head. The others roared with joy as he pawed it off his face and hurled it behind him, smirking. Nancy gave her a wink as if to say, "Nice play."
Red mimicked Nancy's movements. She was still wearing her tight black top at the end of the song. Another tune, "Touch My Body," began. The redhead Pamela joined them at the long table. They danced till they were down to their bras and underwear by the conclusion of the second song.
It was just as Helena had described it. Red knew she wasn't showing them much more than she would on a beach, but they loved it. Christmas had obviously arrived early this year, judging by the grins on all the joyful manly faces looking at them.
Nancy then shocked her.
They were in the midst of their fourth song, "Love Game" by Lady Gaga, when Nancy smiled and opened the front clasp of her red lace bra. She quickly refastened her bra.
The clapping and roars of applause were overwhelming.
Pamela smiled as she flashed them, then secured her dark-coloured bra once more.
And Red discovered every man's eye on her.
Unfortunately, she and Helena were the ladies who would have been seen to be more endowed. Even worse, her bra was attached to the back.
What should I do?
She kept dancing around on the low coffee table when she noticed Nancy and Pamela had both stepped down. She was the only one at the table. And she was aware of it.
Every man in the room was curious about what lay behind her red satin push-up bra.
She'd never felt so self-conscious about her figure before. Growing up in Montana and attending a private school in France played a role. She'd sunbathed topless in France and Germany over the summer. She was a dancer who was comfortable in her own skin.
She smirked, "Oh well, what the hell?"
She was alone at the table, scarcely breathing, when familiar music began to play. The male-dominated crowd applauded. Red became aware that every eye in the room was on her.
She began to dance to the alluring music, her secret, dreamy grin meant to drive a guy insane. She went for the straps at the back of her bra slowly and seductively.
*****
Meanwhile, Charlie Cole sat on the phone at his large wood desk, trying not to hear the noises of the party flowing beneath the door.
One of the drawbacks of being really successful was that your working day didn't always end at five o'clock.
And he achieved prosperity beyond his wildest expectations. He and his business partner, Justin Miller, had created a little USB with massive storage that could be used as an internet wireless port that had swept the computer industry and garnered positive feedback. They'd made millions from it when their firm went public and gained rapid industry celebrity. They'd also managed to have a lot of fun while doing it.
Charlie smirked. Justin had at least completed the enjoyable part. His partner nagged him all the time to let loose and live a little, but he was a guarded man by nature.
That's why he and Justin worked well together in business.
Charlie paid close attention. And Tyler was Tyler's wedding, and if only he could stay here and finish the paperwork. He groaned and stretched. himself.
"Wasn't there a particular kind of event you were meant to go to tonight? I mean, downstairs?" Justin said as the chat came to a close.
"Yeah, coming. I just need, um, to finish some papers," he said, rubbing his fingers down onto his temples, feeling a headache start. He'd laboured straight through noon and was starving. Perhaps he could go down the hall and have a slice of dessert and a mug of coffee.
"Come on, it's your cousin's bachelor party. Get up and have some fun."
"I will—"
"And Charlie, hurry up and don't do whatever that I wouldn't do."
"Which means it's open season?" Charlie raised his brows.
"Aha! You said it, not me," Justin responded at the other end, amused. "All I know is that all labour and little play equal a miserable life. Trust me, I know."
"Point taken," Charlie commented as he checked his watch. "How's Roro doing there?" he inquired of his three-year-old blond labrador. He'd asked Justin to look after his dog tonight. Roro became concerned when big groups invaded his house.
"Roro is under my desk right now, chewing on that white toy ball — oops, he just heard his name, and he's looking at me with that 'Let's play' speech, so we will."
"Thank you for keeping him overnight; parties irritated him."
"Don't worry about him; he's fine."
Charlie inhaled deeply. "Okay, I'll call you later."
"You won't because Tyler is getting married. Enjoy the event. I can handle a day without you here in the office. Calm down."
"Yeah, you're right. Okay, I'll call you in the next few days." Charlie hung up the phone and stretched. He tilted his head, listening to the family room down the hall's roars and exuberant masculine cries.
"What in the world was going on?" He murmured to himself and walked towards the den's door, opened it, and entered the family room.
*****
Red tormented, tortured, and made fun of them. She had no idea where she gathered the urge to do so. It was as if an innate ability she'd always kept hidden had suddenly exploded, taking her over. It didn't hurt that she was wearing a black wig and a mask that simply concealed one-third of her face. She felt like another woman in her beautiful black pants and sparkling red lipstick on her lips. A seductive, experienced woman. A woman who can lead a guy down any number of sensual paths.
She'd gone for her bra's back fastening, then stopped, her hands moving to her front, then wandering back, and eventually, still teasing, she'd undone her bra's back fastening for the third time. Red considered a true striptease to be a piece of art, an expression of the feminine form. She'd never had the opportunity to perform one, and she doubted she'd ever have another. She planned to make the most of this opportunity.
Every male in the room was focused on her hands, waiting for her to pull the gorgeous garment down lower and lower, until it was entirely off.
She, however, did not. She compelled them to wait.
Red slipped the back fastenings open, letting the lace bra straps fall down her shoulders, then cupped the bra in front of her breasts with her hands.
"Yes...." one of the guys purred.
"Take it off, sweetheart!" screamed a masculine voice.
She had the foresight to look across at Tyler, wondering how her soon-to-be husband was doing.
Good, at least she doesn't have to explain to Mary what she did tonight that involved Tyler. She thought to herself.
Maybe Tyler was so drunk that he passed out.
Red grinned, nearly chuckled, and kept dancing, her hips moving to the tunes, her hands on red satin. Then she lifted the cloth, showing her nude breasts, before quickly covering them again.
The audience erupted. Someone banged on the table. Someone else hurled a drink at some of the other males in the throng, but they didn't seem to notice.
Red grinned. She raised her bra once more, giving it a slightly longer look. Completely teasing.
The roars were loud, and the applause was overwhelming.
She slid the bra down her arms, then proceeded to spin the black satin gown over her head, dancing passionately to the music.
Then she hurled the bra into the throng, right at a dark-haired man who was approaching her with a serious expression on his attractive face.
Red smirked.
*****
Charlie had arrived in the spacious family room just in time to watch the black-haired dancer flaunt her breasts to the mob of excited males. And his first thought was, When did I ever see this in the Dance catalogue?
No! This could not happen.
Tyler, his cousin, was frightened enough about getting married in the morning. He didn't need anything like this to get him in trouble or drive him over the line into doing anything crazy. Mary would be devastated if she suspected he had even contemplated cheating on her. She would hate him too.
"Damn it!" he groaned to himself as the dancer turned, stopped, faced him, and flung her bra into the throng as the audience parted to let his determined body through.
He reached up, caught the red satin bra, dropped it, and rushed over to the coffee table, taking the half-naked woman into his arms.
"Hey!" the woman growled.
He slung her over his shoulder and strode out of the family room, down the hall, and into his room.
"Hey! What the—" Red wriggled in his hands. "Put me down, you neanderthal! Now!"
Charlie sat her on the bed. She quickly exited the room, down the corridor, and back towards the party.
He began a hot pursuit.
When he discovered her, she was taking a glass of punch from the barman. The red satin bra had suddenly returned to cover those wonderful breasts.
His pupils constricted as he observed her. As irritated as he was by her antics, he had to acknowledge that she had some pretty amazing breasts.
"Just what did you think you were doing up there?" Charlie said, keeping his voice level and his fury under control.
"She was dancing, man," exclaimed the young blond barman, his eyes filled with adoration. "And doing a damn good job of it, if I may say so."
"Whatever, where's Tyler?" Charlie wondered.
"He's sound asleep in the balcony chair," the woman explained. Even if he didn't want to, he enjoyed her voice. Low, soft, and seductive.
"How do you know Tyler?" Charlie inquired.