Hot for Charity Read Free Page A

great while when the chemistry was insane. But usually it was just sex. This seemed different.
    As the dancers finished the finale, Cody darted backstage quickly and pulled on his jeans and a T-shirt. Instead of mingling with the crowd, he went straight for the bar. Ken gave him the evil eye, but when wasn’t that old stripper giving all the younger guys crap? Someday, Ken would retire, but he would bitch and whine all the way. His angled features were still tight, but his blond hair had turned a nice silver.
    He was a weird mix of old and new. He had real talent, but his body couldn’t do some of the stuff the twenty-somethings could. Cody made it to the bar and smiled at Kyler. “So? Good news?”
    Kyler shrugged. “No clue. Avery wanted me to wait.”
    “Your friends look like they’re having a good time.” Cody nodded to the pair slow dancing among the tables.
    “I’ll get them home safely. They’re good friends, but they found each other so easily, it makes them think I’m not trying.” Kyler shook his head.
    Cody slid behind the bar and wiped it down to be useful. “Is that why you really came here? This isn’t the best place to pick up guys.”
    “No, normally they drag me to gay bars. This was breaking the routine, and I’m glad. The bars don’t want to touch a teen shelter because they don’t want to be perceived as trying to lure in any underage customers. The ones who will give, want to be anonymous,” Kyler said.
    “Bev doesn’t worry so much about what people think. That’s why she has Avery and Ken.” Cody straightened up the bar.
    “Is that the silver fox?” Kyler asked.
    “Don’t call him that to his face, but yes. Half the time, he acts as if he is in his twenties up on stage, then he’ll get all old-fashioned, and we’ll have to show him some technical thing. Refill?” Cody nodded to Kyler’s glass.
    “No, I’m good. Thanks. Do you tend bar too?”
    Cody laughed and stared at Kyler’s serious brown eyes. “No, but it might be a good night-job instead of this at some point. Avery used to strip.”
    Kyler leaned on the bar. “Can I ask you something?”
    “Sure.” Cody hoped it might be for a phone number or a date before they got down to the charitable business.
    “Are Ken and Avery a couple?” Kyler asked quietly.
    Disappointed but not shocked, Cody considered the question. He had asked that himself, too. Everyone at Big D’s had. “There is some history there, but no one knows for sure. Right now, no, so don’t even act like you think they are or you’ll piss them both off.”
    Kyler frowned. “They seem to gravitate to each other.”
    “Ken sort of oversees the dancers’ rehearsals and stuff. Avery manages the bar. Bev bops between the Reno location and here so they have to work closely together. But it’s work.” Cody winked at Kyler.
    “Bev is the owner?” Kyler nodded.
    “Yep, and she’s not on site now, but they probably got her on the phone. She’s generous but tough.” Cody wanted to change the subject badly. “Are you really looking for a boyfriend, or are you just teasing me?”
    Kyler turned bright red as Avery and Ken appeared from the office and headed straight for the bar.
    “Thanks for the help,” Avery said to Cody.
    “Sure.” Cody backed away from the bar and watched Kyler for any further reaction.
    Not many men jumped at the chance to date a stripper. When they did, it was more for a hot date, great sex, and the second doubts hit, they became jealous freaks. The relationships ended fast. Cody hated to lie by omission, but he was a paramedic as well, so he often left off his stripper job when talking to prospective mates. Kyler knew the truth already, and Cody hoped the fact that there was more to him than costumes and glitter would help. A guy like Kyler, who went this far for a charity he believed in, that was a keeper.
    Not that Cody had been on the hunt for a serious relationship, but it was something better than being a piece of