To have and to hold (Fire and Ice Revised)

Chapter 1

'' Mika please participate for once tonight it's a bachelors party for crying out loud '' my friend Alison complained she had been trying to get me to take place in one of the club's dances for a while now so when all she got was a whispered no thank you she shouldn't have been suprised , i owned this little bar along with my best friend Alison she and i had been friends for years and would go to hell and back for each other , i couldn't have been luckier , everyone who knew me knew i was quiet i liked to stay to myself and dances where absolutely off limits it was wrong , in so many ways although no matter how many times i tried to say i didn't want to dance Alison always asked and i always declined .

The night was everything it had promised and threatened to be, just as I had hoped. The line reached out the door all night long since nobody wanted to leave. The two bachelor parties were smashing successes. Well, maybe not for the brides-to-be, but the boys had the times of their lives. At one point, I overheard one of the best men commenting on how he may just cancel the stripper for later at the hotel suite because the women here were so much hotter than strippers. Hearing that, I grinned from ear to ear and stepped behind the bar to help my girls out.

Later in the evening, after Alison had spent an hour in my office explaining why it was a good idea to upgrade the women's bathrooms and the decor in the men's room, I was willing to do anything to get out of that conversation.

I lazily watched the customers, glad that they so enjoyed the staff dances atop the bar,  I couldn't help but laugh as James , Alison's annoying little brother who hit on me every chance he got  walked through the front door of the club, looking up to the bar with a smirk. He drew nearly as much attention as the five girls dancing did, just by meandering across the floor towards the bar.

I waited, watching to see which lucky girl vying for his attention would win the prize for the night. Would it be Charline or Madeline the dancers , or maybe a customer? It's a little game I played with myself. I could usually predict within the first five minutes who he will be leaving with at the end of the night. I laughed to myself as I saw a gorgeous strawberry blond blatantly ignore him, catching his interest. My private bet was waged: it would be the strawberry blond, without a doubt.

I climbed down and began the task of filling drink orders for the waitresses. Jessica and Lauren are yelling them out faster than I could fill them. I worked quickly to catch up, then watched as Madeline lay across the bar and flirted with her first body shot customer of the night. The girls could easily make $20 tips per shot, sometimes more if they worked it right. But some customers just paid more than others. For example, James, the jackass, once paid me $500 for give and get body shots. That was a rare occasion. I never participated, unless the girls really needed the help or a customer specifically demanded the owner or asked for me by name.

Eavesdropping on the boys from one of the bachelor parties as I walked to my office, I heard him say, "I'll bet you $100 you can't get the owner to let the groom do a body shot off of her, James says she is hands off. I guess she doesn't do body shots for anyone but him, and never hooks up either. I know he has tapped the red head and the blond with the tits, but I bet you he has never hit that fine ass. It would be fucking cool to get the one even James can't land."

Stewing over the comments all the way to my office, I texted Alison and asked her to meet me there.

Practically attacking her as she walked in the door and closed it behind her, I groaned. "Alison, I now have customers making bets on whether they can get me to do body shots, and discussing mine and your brothers' imaginary sex life. This has gone far enough." What i can put my foot down if needed im not always meek and i won't let James go around claiming me .

"Mika , relax. They are stupid boys, and stupid boys always talk out of their asses. Everybody knows there is nothing between my idiot brother and you. In fact everyone you know knows you don't have anything going on with anyone. Ever. I know this is hard Mika , maybe you should just..."