Stripe-Club: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Furocious Lust Shorts Book 6) Read online

  STRIPE-CLUB

  FUR-OCIOUS LUST SHORTS (TIGERS)

  BOOK 6

  NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  MILLY TAIDEN

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  Emilia Roca, curvy flower-shop owner, adores her body and all things curves. She loves her Uncle Charlie’s strip club so much she wants to open her own, until some jerk by the name of Tigris takes her plans out of her hands. She’d give the stupid man a piece of her mind if she ever got him in her sight.

  Zander Tigris loved curves. When he met Emi, he knew she was the perfect mate for him. Suddenly, his need to talk to the shop owner takes a backseat, and getting to know Emi supersedes all business—including buying the shop to open up a new club.

  Getting wrapped up with a sexy-as-sin shifter wasn’t in her plans. Finding out the man she’s falling for is the one who took her dream from her won’t bode well for him…especially since he’s more than ready to claim her as his mate. She’ll either slap him for deceiving her or sue him for butting in to her contract. Either way, she’s not giving in without a fight. And he’s not giving up his mate without calling her: MINE!

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published By

  Latin Goddess Press

  New York, NY 10456

  http://millytaiden.com

  Stripe-Club

  Copyright © 2015 by Milly Taiden

  Cover by Willsin Rowe

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Property of Milly Taiden

  June 2015

  —For Robyn

  For giving me the strength to finish. I love you.

  ONE

  Emilia Roca, better known as Emi, glanced at her uncle with shock. “What do you mean I can’t open up Charlie’s Deux?”

  Her Uncle Charlie, owner of one of the hottest strip clubs in Sin City, glanced everywhere but at her face. Something else was going on, and she was going to get to the bottom of things. “I gave a friend the chance to use Charlie’s for his son’s next club.”

  Her jaw ached from how hard she ground her teeth. “But you knew I was going to open Charlie’s Deux! Does Vanessa know about this?”

  Her cousin would have never allowed Charlie to go back on his word to Emi. There was no way Vanessa could know he did that.

  Her mouth hung open from shock. “But we had decided to turn my flower shop into a new club. Now that I have the lease for the business next door, I can do it,” she said, curling her hands into fists at her sides.

  “I understand, but Mr. Tigris had a proposal I couldn't turn down. Lia and Tomas would understand.”

  “A proposal you couldn't turn down? Couldn't turn down? I'm your niece! My mom and dad would not understand this. I'm your family! What the hell, Uncle Charlie?”

  “I’m sorry, cariño. I wish there was something I could do.”

  She stood there, in stupefied shock, unsure what else to say. Charlie leaned forward, gave her a kiss, and turned away to leave. What the hell just happened? Even when she heard the sound of the bell at the entrance, indicating his departure, she couldn't move.

  She'd saved like crazy to open Charlie’s Deux. For almost two years, it had been her dream. She'd scrimped and gone without, having always loved the way Charlie’s was set up.

  The 1920s burlesque style of the club had been one of the things she'd loved the first time her mother had taken her to her uncle's place. The next thing that made her fall in love with Charlie’s had been the numerous curvy women onstage.

  Charlie’s catered to men who appreciated curves. As a big girl herself, she’d learned to embrace every roll on her body. Her mother had danced at Charlie’s in her youth and met her father there.

  Emi’s cell phone rang, and she glanced down at the screen. It was her cousin, Vanessa. Currently in a blissfully happy relationship with one of the Tigris men, Vanessa was taking a break from the club to plan a wedding with her tiger.

  Emi hadn't really dealt with shifters, but she knew the Tigris family name. Her flower shop was only a few streets away from the well-known Striped hotel and casino.

  For a second she considered not answering the phone, but gave up the idea as soon as the name showed up.

  “Hello?” She cleared her throat, trying not to sound like she was going to start crying at any moment, which she was.

  “I'm really sorry! I had no idea what Dad had done.” She heard the frustration and sadness in Vanessa’s voice.

  “It's...okay,” she said, pushing away at the lump in her throat.

  She'd wanted so bad to open Charlie’s Deux for her parents. Before their accident, it was all they spoke of.

  “No. It's not okay,” Vanessa said with a bite of anger in her voice. “I just did something, but I'm not sure it’ll help.”

  “Oh?” She really didn’t want her cousin getting into trouble over the club. She’d just have to wait a few years, like Charlie said, and open up Charlie’s Trois. It wasn’t that she couldn’t wait, she’d just been excited to start her adventure in opening the club.

  “I kinda told Cash that the location my dad had for Charlie’s Deux isn't available anymore.”

  She smiled at her cousin's idea. It was true. The location that would have housed Charlie’s Deux was going to stay her flower shop, so it was no longer available. “He can get another. They’re Tigris.”

  “Yeah, but you have prime real estate there. They wanted that location badly.”

  Too fucking bad. She’d keep her flower shop until she could open up the next Charlie’s. Screw what Tigris wanted. It wouldn't do any good. She appreciated Vanessa’s idea, but the Tigris men had enough money that they could buy half of Vegas if they wanted.

  Vanessa sighed. “I’ll talk to Vincent myself, if I have to. I’ve got your back, chica.”

  Her shoulders slumped, and she licked her lips. “Thanks, but don’t worry about it. I’ll just have to wait to open up Charlie’s Trois.”

  TWO

  Vincent Tigris leaned back on his desk and waited. Three. Two. One. His office door flung open, and his son, Zander, the largest of his three boys, marched in with a fierce scowl that would normally make the guards nervous.

  “Father,” he said, stopping in front of Vincent’s desk and watching him intently. “I got your message. What is it that’s so urgent you needed to see me?”

  Vincent grinned at his son. He loved all his boys like crazy. Zander was the youngest, but in a way he acted like he’d been the oldest all his life. He didn’t smile, and he kept to himself. Even during family dinners, he was the quietest of the bunch—especially now that his two brothers were mated and the women joined in on the family events.

  “Remember that project you were interested in?” he asked casually, picking up some papers and biting back the smile threatening to let loose.

  “Charlie’s?” Zander’s eyes widened. Vincent saw the immediate interest spark to life.

  “Yeah. I had a chat with him.”

  “He said he couldn’t endorse a Charlie’s Deux, because h
e’d backed someone else on the project.”

  Vincent cleared his throat and nodded. “He did have someone before, the florist, but now that we’ve spoken, he feels you’re the right man for the job.”

  “Wait. You’re saying he’ll back me opening a Charlie’s Deux?”

  Vincent knew he had to word things carefully, or Zander would wonder what was going on. “Yes, but there is a problem, and since you’re the one interested in opening the second club, you’ll have to handle it.”

  “What?”

  He handed his son a file folder with all the pertinent information on the location where Charlie’s Deux was supposed to be built. “This. The flower shop owner owns one and has the lease to the second location we want.”

  Zander’s frown deepened. “How’s that a problem? Just offer the owner money to get a different location, and we have our spot.”

  Vincent stood. “It’s not that simple. You see, the florist own one of the building. And the building owners next door really like her…so much so, that they won’t give anyone else a lease on that place if she wants to use it to expand the flower shop. It’s your job to get her to move.”

  “Again, how is that a problem? Why don’t we just get her a bigger place and help her move?”

  Vincent walked calmly to stare out his office window at the strip. “She doesn’t want to move. She likes it there.”

  “Fuck!”

  “It’s going to be your responsibility to get her to go, or you’ll have to find a different location for your project.”

  “But that’s the place. We’ve surveyed the area, and that corner is at the right distance from the hotel where we can offer guests passes. Plus, it’s next to our newest restaurant, and on top of that, we’d have them right by the strip. The most important part about that building being perfect for the club is that it was built in the 50s. It already has the look. It was once owned by a famous gangster and you couldn’t make that kind of history show up on a new building.”

  Vincent shrugged. “Look, son, I know this is important to you. I’m leaving it in your hands.”

  Zander Tigris swallowed the growl threatening to come out. From the first time he’d gone to Charlie’s, he’d known that was his future. He’d fallen for the set up and the vibe. The club was unique in every way, and he wanted to have one like it. He’d propositioned Charlie for a chance to open a second, but had been quickly turned down due to someone else having already gotten ahead of him.

  He had a chance to have his dream of owning a Charlie’s back, but changing locations had never been in his plans. He wanted the building the flower shop was in. That meant he’d have to go speak to the florist himself and try to talk some sense into her.

  “Owners?”

  His father glanced away. “Mrs. Lia Roca bought the building about fifteen years ago. It’s been in the family for a while now.”

  As the youngest of the Tigris males, Zander was normally the one everyone left alone. He had helped in opening up the various clubs in the Striped hotels, and now his father was giving him the opportunity to do his own thing.

  Opening his own Charlie’s would be a solo project, not a Striped hotel club. When he’d visited Charlie’s, he’d noticed the dancers and how much attention they had from the men. At first he’d been interested, because it wasn’t a regular club. The women were curvy, with real bodies. Perfection was each woman and how she looked. There was no beauty standard. Charlie’s offered big, beautiful women, and as one of the shifters who loved curves, he’d enjoyed every visit.

  Though visiting Charlie’s had been nice, he had not met his love there like his brothers. Instead, he’d found himself entranced with the atmosphere and the women. He wanted to create a second place to mimic it and encourage more women to embrace their curves. He loved curves, and every shifter he knew did as well. A Charlie’s for shifters only would be something the male hotel guests could really connect with.

  “I’ll go visit the owner,” he said to his father. Already, ideas on how to make the place look like he wanted floated in his mind. “I’m sure a better place for a flower shop can be found and offered for the right kind of money.”

  “You do whatever you have to, son.” His father nodded. “Just remember that if she doesn’t agree to move, you’ll have to find a new place to set up the club.”

  No way. That building would be his.

  THREE

  Emi sat down for the first time that day and groaned. Her back hurt, and her feet were swollen. She needed to eat something soon, or she’d end up bitching at the next customer who walked in the door. Instead of eating, though, she climbed up a ladder to put up a new row of vases on a shelf. She paid the bell no mind and instead continued fixing her vases.

  “I’ll be right with you,” she called out. “Just give me a second.”

  She glanced over her shoulder, ready to step down the steps, when she realized she had the hottest man she’d ever seen in her store.

  She leaned back, which only made the ladder wiggle on its unsteady feet before she slipped and went flying. The floor zoomed up to meet her face. She closed her eyes and braced for the pain of the fall—all because she was caught up in looking at a hot man.

  Then, as if something out of a movie, she was caught mid-flight. She opened one eye, then the other, and glanced around. The guy she’d been ogling had run and caught her in his arms. She’d landed in his powerful arms with a tiny shriek and her heart beating a million miles per hour.

  She clung to him hard, gripping his suit for dear life. Their gazes met, and she had a hard time remembering what the hell she was going to say. He had the most beautiful lips. There was a hint of a smile on them, and she couldn’t help but think she wanted to see a full-blown one on his mouth. Something raw and wild flooded her senses, and she got the urge to rub her nose on him. That was unusual. She never got like that with David, the last man she’d dated. Come to think of it, she never got that way with any man.

  “Hi,” she gulped, her gaze roaming his face until she reached his eyes. They went from a thunderous blue to a bright gold in the blink of an eye. “Wow. Your eyes are amazing.”

  “Yours are pretty amazing too.”

  She shook her head. “No way. You’re the one with the color-changing ones. I bet you get a lot of women with those eyes.”

  Oops!

  A wide, sensual smile spread over his lick-worthy lips. “Are you always this outspoken?”

  She grinned. “Maybe. I’m still trying to figure out how you can stand there, carrying me, and not be out of breath.”

  He lifted his brows. “I don’t understand?”

  “I’m a big, big girl. You should have a hernia or some back pain by now.”

  “Trust me, beautiful, you’re lighter than you think.”

  He called her beautiful...and didn’t appear to be wanting to put her down any time soon. Her heartbeat started to go faster and faster, like she’d been running all day, except she didn’t run. Ever.

  “You can...uh...put me down now.”

  He helped her back on her feet. Her skin felt all tingly and hot everywhere he’d touched her, which was actually not enough places according to her very perverted mind.

  “You shouldn’t be up on ladders. You could hurt yourself,” he chastised.

  Once she was standing on her wobbly legs, she realized he was huge. Like frickin’ huge. Bigger than any man she’d ever dated. Or seen. Her Uncle Charlie was tall, but this guy was over Charlie by more than a few inches. If he didn’t have such an interesting face, she might have found herself intimidated. As it was, all she could think of was the fact he was staring at her like she was the sexiest woman ever.

  Too bad she was in the no-dating zone right now. She’d stopped dating in order to focus on doing what she wanted in her life: opening a Charlie’s Deux.

  “Thanks for the warning, but I’m up on ladders all the time, big guy. And I don’t need anyone saving me.” Well, not usually. This one time it had bee
n his fault she almost busted her ass anyway. He’d distracted her.

  “The owner should get you an assistant. Or some help. It’s wrong to have someone as small as you climbing high and getting hurt.”

  She eyed him with surprise. “First, I am not small. Didn’t I just say I was a big girl? Look at me. Big, remember? Second, I do what needs doing without any help. And for your information, I have an assistant. She’s gone for the day, but I’ll be sure to complain to the owner. She should totally get me more help, instead of taking care of whatever she’s doing,” she said with a grin. She loved messing with people. Acting like someone else was in charge always gave her a break from having to answer questions when she wasn’t in the mood. Like right now. All she wanted was to have dinner and go to bed.

  “You need better help,” he continued.

  She rolled her eyes and tried to bite back the laugh over how worked up he was getting. “What are you doing here anyway? If you need flowers, I can make you something quick, but I was about to close.”

  He glanced at his watch and then around the flower shop. “I guess it is kind of late.” He shook his head and met her gaze. “Do you want to grab something to eat?”

  “Thanks, but I don’t date men I don’t know,” she lied. She’d been on enough blind dates with men she would rather not remember, but that was another story. This guy was gorgeous, but she was tired and a bit cranky.

  He offered his hand and smiled. “I’m Zander. I like steak. I enjoy watching you smile, and I think your curves are the sexiest thing you have on.”

  Air swooshed out of her lungs. “Wow. You’re good. Okay, Zander. I’m Emi.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, but I’m usually not this vocal with women. Something about you caught my attention, and I’d love to spend some more time getting to know you.”