Down to You- Excerpt 1- Olivia

Meet Olivia.  She's just been wrangled into doing something she's way too shy for, yet feels compelled to do anyway--strip a stripper.

Excerpt 1:

Taking a deep breath, I stand and turn toward the Hot Stripper Guy, purposely jacking my chin up another notch.  He’s still watching me with those smoky coal eyes. 
When I take a step toward him, he very slowly raises one eyebrow.  
Heat washes through me.
Must be those dangerous drinks, I think.  It has to be. 
I feel flushed and a little breathless, but I take another step anyway. 
Hot Stripper Guy takes a step away from Ginger and turns to face me fully.  He crosses his arms over his chest and waits, that one brow still raised in curiosity.  He’s not going to make it easy.  He’s leaving it all up to me, just like Ginger asked them to do. 
As if on cue, the music that’s been pumping into the room all night gets louder.  It’s a sexy song, heavy on the bass.  It’s mood music for sure.  It seems to punctuate every intense beat of my heart as I get closer and closer to those velvety eyes.  
When I stop in front of him, I have to look up.  My five and a half feet of height is nearly a foot shorter than his towering frame. 
Up close, I see that his eyes are brown.  Dark, dark brown.  Nearly black.
Sinful.
I’m lost in wondering why that particular word would come to mind when the girls start chanting for me to take his shirt off.  Uncertainly, I glance at their excited faces then back to him.  Slowly, he spreads his arms, holding them out to his sides, away from his body. 
One corner of his mouth twitches.  His expression, his body language is rife with challenge. 
I realize he doesn’t think I’ll do it.  No one probably does.
And that’s exactly why I will.
Letting the beat of the music relax my tense muscles, I plaster on a smile as I reach forward to tug Hot Stripper Guy’s shirt from the waistband of his pants.


DOWN TO YOU, Coming October 2, 2012