Disclaimer: I own none of the characters.
I hope you enjoy this story. I thought of it while watching Coyote Ugly. =)
Steph's POV
I was going to the club to get ready. I was a dancer and a bartender. I worked with three other girls. We weren't strippers. We may show a little skin but it's not like we do private shows. We look out for each other. And ever since I was laid off from E.E. Martin this was the only job I could find that paid well. Tonight I was wearing short shorts and a sleeve less shirt that fell right above my belly button. I rushed in and stashed my purse behind the bar and started getting ready for the crowd.
"'Bout time you got here white girl," Lula, a plus sized black woman, said to me. We were friends. She squeezes herself into some too small spandex that is brightly colored.
"I'm not late," I told her with a grin.
"Hunh!" Lula huffed. The crowd started rolling in.
"You girls ready for this? It's Friday. Big crowd should be here soon," Mary Lou, my best friend, commented.
"You know it," Connie Rosolli another one of the dancer slash bartender said. We were all friends with the same heritage. Except for Lula who was black. We were Italian. I'm not all Italian I am also Hungarian. I have blue eyes and curly brown hair and a fast metabolism that lets me eat what I want. Lucky for me because I eat a lot. Once the crowd had rolled in we started serving. Lil the owner would serve drinks while we danced. We started some music and we all got up. Lula had a harder time with all of her weight. The men always loved when she got up cause they got to see down her shirt. My mom would never approve of my job. I haven't told her and luckily it hasn't gotten back to her. The Burg grapevine isn't in Miami. We moved once my Grandpa went to the big pot roast in the sky. He had a house down here and my parents decided to move. I figured I might as well go too. I can't eat my mom's pineapple upside down cake from Jersey. My friends decided they needed a change as well and packed their bags. We were dancing to the beat and Mary Lou was pulling people up on the bar with us. We have the look but don't touch policy. We would move seductively but no one ever gets a piece. My eyes scanned over the crowd. It was big today like most Friday's are. Usually on the weekends we're filled. In the back men were dressed in black. They all had their eyes on the stage. They all looked buff but not overly so. One was pointing and grinning. Then one of them came up to get a drink. He had his eyes on me. We hopped down to serve the mob that had surrounded the bar.
"Can I get a piece of you?" a drunk guy asked.
"Sorry I'm all out," I told him with an unapologetic voice. The guy started to grab me.
"Lula! Little help here," I called. Lula came over with the water spray. Then she sprayed the guy in the face.
"There you go white girl," Lula said with hitching up her chin, "yeah that's right buddy! Walk away we don't allow punk asses like you in our bar." I couldn't contain the laughter. I saw the guy in black, he seemed to be laughing but it was hard to tell. Our eyes met and I smiled. I then turned and started helping another person.
Ranger's POV
I was out in the bar with the guys. They came here often unlike me who wasn't much for the bar scene unless I needed to be satisfied. Tonight was different though I just came to hang out. My life doesn't lend itself to relationships so usually if I ever need to satisfy those urges I leave when the woman are asleep.
"Check out the brown haired, blue eyed chick. Boy is she smoking," Lester Santos said with a grin. We were all in the army together but once we got out I started a business called RangeMan, and they all worked for me. I had to agree with Santos, she was hot. Her hands going up and down her body seductively. I went up to get another drink. On the way over a drunk blonde stumbled into me. She put her hands on my chest.
"Hello big boy, need a friend?" she asked her speech slurred slightly. I took her hands off my chest.
"Not tonight," I told her. She pouted. But all I could think about was the bright blue eyed woman, she had my attention.
"Aw, come on. I'll do a real good job," she purred.
"No. Not interested," I said going around her. I went up to the bar and a guy had grabbed the blue eyed woman's wrist. She looked mad. And then someone named Lula sprayed the guy with a water hose. She looked like Tank's type. She was a big woman and I knew Tank preferred them. I'm sure he would love her attitude. Although he doesn't talk much he doesn't need to. We're close. Like brothers. After that little incident the girl went back to work. Our eyes met and she smiled a heart melting smile at me. Faster than I could blink she turned around and started working. I walked back to the guys and was smiling internally. I knew who I wanted. I stayed seated for the rest of the evening staring at the bar. Talking occasionally. Tank was studying me. I raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing. You just seem…different like happy or determined. Both," Tank concluded. I nodded and moved my attention back to the bar. They had gotten up again.
Steph's POV
After the eye contact with Batman, as I was now calling him, I hadn't had another. I was calling him Batman because of the way he dressed and how he looked like a dark night. Lula, Mary Lou, and Connie all agreed. We got back up on the bar again. I slid my hands over my body and then squatted down. Then we did a synchronized dance. By the end of the night I was exhausted like I always am afterwards. My mind kept wandering back to Batman. A guy that good looking probably had a girlfriend. Besides I was supposed to be off men forever now. After the little escapade with The Dick. I had my keys in hand and was walking to my car when I dropped my keys. I was about to pick them up when they were picked up by someone else. I stood up and saw Dickie. I grabbed my keys out of his hand. I then started walking. He screwed me over once and it wasn't going to happen again. What was he doing in Miami anyways? He lived in Trenton. Maybe he came back to find another woman who didn't know about his problem.
"That was quite a show Steph," he said running to catch up with my long strides.
"Why are you here?" I asked moving closer and closer towards my car.
"I want to get back with you," he told me. My head whipped around so I could stare at him.
"Are you serious?" I was honestly confused and mad. Dickie had married me and then before the ink was even dry on our marriage certificate. I had caught him while he was playing hide the salami with my arch nemesis Joyce 'the skank' Barnhardt. I thankfully, left the bitch behind in Trenton.
"Yeah. I messed up with you. Now I want you back," he said coming closer. I stepped back.
"Now why would I want you back Dickhead?" I asked using one of the many nicknames I had for him.
"Aw, come on Steph. We were good together. We can still be good together," he pleaded. I put my hands on my hips and gave him my burg glare.
"I don't think so. We get married and I find you playing hide the salami on our dining room table. You didn't even have the decency to find a motel," I spat at him, "look if you want I can take you to the Vet to get you neutered." Dickie took a step closer and then pulled me to him. His hand moved to my hair and it was tangled.
"Get off of me!" I struggled but he was pressed against me so I couldn't knee him.
"I don't think so sugarplum. You're mine," he told me and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. Someone stepped out of the shadows and pulled Dickie off me. Before he was out of reach I kicked him where the sun don't shine. The man dropped him and he fell to the ground holding himself.
"Thanks," I said to the man who had helped. I started backing away. Who knows maybe this guy only got Dickie off to have me for himself.
"You're welcome. I'm Car-Ranger. Call me Ranger," the man said and when stepped out of the shadows I saw it was Batman. He was all muscle I didn't see an ounce of fat on him. I think my eyes glazed over and I was starting to drool. I inconspicuously checked to see. Nope.
"Stephanie but you can call me Steph," I told him shaking his out stretched hand. I saw him nod.
"So…how much of that did you hear?" I asked hoping he hadn't heard a lot of it.
"I heard everything from Dickhead on. I just wanted to make sure you would be okay," Ranger explained.