Page 38 of Until Joy

Smart man.

“I’ll get to you ladies as soon as I can,” the waitress promised as she winked at Harlen, pocketing the money.

We took some time catching up. I asked June’s husband, Evan Barrister, who worked for July’s, cousin Jax Mayson, if he’d worked on any interesting cases lately.

“Nothing I can talk about,” he answered.

I wasn’t all that surprised. Jax ran a tight ship over at his security firm, and Evan was ex-military. He knew how to keep his mouth shut. He turned the tables and started asking us what was going on with our club. He was always interested in what the Broken Eagles were up to. From time to time, we helped out his security company. Once you served on behalf of your country, you had a tendency to fight the good fight now and again.

Wes looked over at the women who were all leaning together talking. He took that moment to lean into Evan. “The biggest thing going on at our place is that another one has bitten the dust.” Wes grinned.

Evan raised his eyebrows. I hadn’t been around when he and June had hooked up. All I knew was that it had been a convoluted mess, and that June had been the one who’d suffered from the boom. Wes told me it was because she was a Mayson girl.

“So, who's the lucky bastard?” Evan asked.

Wes tilted his chin at me.

Evan gave me a slow grin and looked at my arm circling Joy’s shoulders. “Well, at least your boom has good taste,” he told me quietly.

I looked over at Joy to see if she’d heard Evan, but she was engrossed in her conversation with the women.

Just then, the DJ started talking really loud. Apparently, karaoke had started.

God save us all.

There was a small line of would-be stars eager to show their stuff that had shuffled close to the stage. First up was a trio of kids. They must have just turned twenty-one, and if I had to guess, they were part of a bachelor party.

As soon as the first few bars of the song played, I knew what they were going to sing—“Love Stinks” by The J. Geils Band. These guys could actually carry a tune, and it was pretty damn funny when the groom rushed the stage to demand they stop singing. Then the groom started singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley, and the entire bar was soon roaring with laughter.

However, nothing compared to that until a woman got up to imitate Marilyn Monroe. She was even wearing the famous white dress that Marilyn wore, but when she started singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” everyone at our table covered their ears. Yes, it was that bad. At one point, the DJ cut the mic. But she was good to look at. At least her boobs were.

July had finally figured out that somebody had paid off our waitress, and she waved a twenty at her so that she came back to our table and delivered five more tequila shots. I watched Joy sway to some songs when people did a decent job singing. She was really getting into it. I was closely monitoring her window. I looked around at the other men and saw that they were observing their women as well.

“We’re up,” July yelled.

I looked over at her as she and Kayan stood up.

What the hell?

I hadn’t even realized they’d put their names in. Jesus, this was going to be either good or a train wreck. I sat back in my chair. Whichever way it went, I was going to be entertained.

Joy cuddled closer as we got ready to watch. This was the first time I had a chance to really get a look at July’s outfit. She was dressed pretty much like Kayan. They were both knockouts, and they were dressed to impress. As soon as they got up on stage, the wolf whistles and catcalls started.

The opening notes of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper blared through the speakers, and from the first off-key note, it was a disaster. They were laughing too hard to even keep up with the lyrics as they hung onto one another, bumped hips, and danced with their hands in the air. It didn’t matter how badly they sang, everybody was clapping and stomping their feet.

By the time they stumbled back to our table, everyone was demanding an encore, but Z and Wes switched their seats, so they were now seated next to them, and kept them firmly by their sides.

“Stunning performance,” Wes said dryly.

“You brought down the house!” Harmony enthused.

“You should go next, Joy. You have a fantastic voice,” Kayan yelled across the table.

Joy jolted. July called out for another round of shots, and the waitress delivered again, so I knew our time was limited. Maybe Joy would get out of singing.

I watched as Kayan pulled July up to the DJ, and a lot of talking was done, and money exchanged hands. Oh God, this would not be pretty.

Another person was waiting, and they sang a song by Madonna, which left the audience flat. Then the DJ told everybody to quiet down. Joy didn’t have a clue that she was being set up.