It had paid off; she was getting the extra money she was hoping for and a lot of attention from the male patrons. The pitfall to that strategy was she had to put up with every man she waited on feeling like he had the right to touch the flesh she exposed.

The man that had grabbed her was an asshole, yet he reeked of money. She wouldn’t touch the fucker if he had a million dollars. He was one of those rich guys that believed he could do and get away with whatever the hell he wanted. She would love to have proven him wrong, but when she had looked up, she’d seen her boss watching; hence, her decision to step back and play it off like it was nothing.

He had laid a hundred dollar bill on the table to pay for their drinks. Ria had swallowed her nonexistent pride and reached across the table to pick up the money. That’s when his hand had cupped the bottom globe of her ass. All the men sitting with him had laughed and leered at her, obviously enjoying watching her breasts as she struggled out of his grip.

She had seen groups of men like them before, most of them wearing wedding bands. They would tell their wives they were working late when, in reality, they were at a place like this where they’d brag to each other about who’d scored the most women. Ria was willing to bet the only time any of them got laid was when they bought their wives an expensive gift, though. Married or not, she couldn’t imagine any woman giving it up to one of those jerks for free.

She didn’t bother wasting her time complaining to her boss. He wasn’t going to lose a penny over an irate waitress. He would fire her before offending a paying customer.

Ria sighed. She had lingered in the bathroom, feeling sorry for herself, long enough. It was time to get her ass back to work.

She gave her appearance another once-over in the mirror, adjusted her long black hair into a side ponytail, and let her hair cover the tan skin of her breasts as much as possible. She then pulled her skirt down a little more to hide the view of her ass. She better get the tip she deserved for putting up with the men for over the last two hours.

She took another deep breath, and walked back into the bar.

As she walked through the crowded bar to her table, she saw their eyes drop to her breasts, just as she’d expected.

“Hey, fellas. Can I get you anything else?” The sultry voice she had perfected made her feel unclean as she bent over to pick up some of the empty dishes.

“Another round, sexy,” one of the men next to her slurred as he slid his hand up the inside of her thigh.

Ria felt the shock of being touched intimately again but forced herself to shake it off. It was getting late; their wives would be getting suspicious. While they would act like arrogant assholes with her, at home were probably whipped by their domineering wives. Hell, they probably didn’t realize they had a dick until they left home in the morning.

“No problem. I’ll be right back.” She smiled down at him as she smoothly maneuvered herself away from his wandering hand.

As she walked back to the bar, she stopped by her two other tables to get their drink orders, as well. At least the other two tables had men and women, so she didn’t have to deal with more than one table of all males. Why any woman would voluntarily come to this place was beyond her.

“Four Utopias, four Buds, two vodka-crans, and two Miller Lites,” she yelled to Chris, the bartender.

When he turned and grinned at her, she couldn’t help smiling back. Chris looked like a complete bad ass with his bulging muscles covered in tattoos. He was good at dealing with the drunks who got out of hand. Yet, when you got to know him and talked to him, he was actually the sweetest guy—that is, until you pissed him off.

Chris whistled. “High rollers. You are getting some green tonight, Ria-baby.”

Their boss always kept some expensive beer for the businessmen that came in at night. Even though it was a bitch waiting on them, those types of men were pretty free with the cash.

Ria rolled her eyes at his nickname. If he didn’t have a nickname for all the waitresses, she would have liked it, but he was the ultimate ladies’ man. She wasn’t going to fall victim to his flirting, and he knew it, which was why they had become good friends.

“I deserve it tonight,” Ria responded with a glare.

Chris looked at her and she saw his face soften. “Sorry, Ria. Want me to deal with them?”

“No. I’m hoping this is their last round—they have to go home to their wives eventually—but thanks Chris.”

Chris finished getting the beers for the men first, so she grabbed the bottles and sashayed back to their table with a smile.

“Here you go.” She placed each bottle in front of the men, making sure to stay on the opposite side from the two men who had touched her. Unfortunately, it didn’t help.

The man who had grabbed her breast earlier in the night leaned across the table. “Honey, how would you like to see the view from the top floor of The Plaza?” he inquired as all the men looked at her.

Well, she had been wrong about them going home to their wives. They must be on an out of town trip and looking for some fun.

“Wow, that sounds incredible, but I have to work late.” She tried to put her most seductive smile on her face, not wanting the rejection to hurt her tip. “I’ll just have to picture it in my head.” She pretended to pout.

She watched his eyes narrow in anger, but then he tried to cover it up with a fake smile. “I understand.”

Ria could see him holding back his temper, and she wanted to get away as quickly as possible. A feeling of foreboding came over her. Men never took her refusal without an argument.

“Anything else?” She looked at the rest of the men, but none of them responded.

“No. I’ll put the last round on my card,” snapped the man she had just rejected.

She nodded her head and went back to the bar where the rest of the drinks were ready. She quickly took them to her other tables then completed filling out the check and took it to the table of men.

As she approached, the main guy lifted his hand to take it. She started to leave and wait for him to put his card on the table, but he told her to wait and handed her the card. She took the card and quickly went to the register to close the tab. He was really starting to give her the heebie-jeebies.

She returned to the table and handed him his card back with a pen and the receipt. “Thank you so much, gentlemen; it’s been a pleasure serving you. Enjoy the rest of your stay at The Plaza.” She was doing her best to play dumb and act like she didn’t realize they were looking more like ferocious werewolves than businessmen. She pitied the woman, or women, they ended up with tonight, but at least whoever it was would most likely be getting paid and had volunteered to be with them.

She walked away casually and stopped by her other tables before heading back to the bar.

She sensed Chris watching her approach and forced herself to keep her face calm. She didn’t want any of the patrons thinking she was upset. She met Chris’s eyes and smiled.

“Hey, girl. They’re gone,” he said soothingly.

She just nodded her head in return. She didn’t want to cry. She was facing worse problems than getting groped to earn a small paycheck, plus tips. Tonight was nothing she hadn’t dealt with before over the last six months. She was pissed at herself for letting a few assholes get to her. She knew it was the strange vibe from that table that was throwing her. It was time to shake it off.