Chapter 80

Brock decided he should wait for Esmi and her group by the door to make sure that Jana Jones had time to depart. He stood with the bouncer and talked about baseball until a large SUV with tinted windows pulled up.

The photographers who usually stationed themselves out front had seen it roll past and turn down a side street so they ran as quickly as they could to catch up. They had just arrived when Esmi Perez, in a short green dress, stepped out of the vehicle, assisted by the bouncer.

Mandy Hart followed in an all-white number similar to Esmi's in cut and Juanita Sanchez was next in a red dress that hugged her curves. Allison Watson, in a black dress, was the last out and seemed embarrassed when the flash bulbs went off around her. Brock stepped from inside the door to offer her his arm because he could tell she was having trouble seeing.

"What about us?" a voice asked. "You just plan to leave us out here?"

Tara Wyatt was still in the back of the vehicle and so was Susan Simpson. Brock and the bouncer assisted them down and into the club. Tara wore a yellow tube dress and Susan was in a short skirt and a white button-down blouse.

"The rest are only a few minutes behind us," Susan told Brock. "We staggered the arrivals by five minutes to make sure everyone got her chance to be famous."

She gave Brock a wink and headed inside the door.

Sure enough, by the time that the first SUV had pulled away, a second had taken its place. Emmy Reyes was the first one out of the vehicle, looking stunning in an emerald cocktail dress that stopped well above her knee. Zoe Brewer followed in a white skirt and a peach top.

Brock gave his sister a kiss on the cheek when she stepped out.

"You look really great," he whispered. He knew Zoe sometimes thought of herself as a lesser light when compared to the other women. He thought she had no reason for it. She was just as attractive as the other women that Brock knew.

Jennifer Miles, in a short, tight pink dress, was next out. Brock had to lift her from the waist and lower her to the ground to keep her from giving the paparazzi a look up her dress.

"I'll take her from here," Chris Gomez offered.

"Sorry, Chris," Brock replied. "I didn't see you there. You're so small and unassuming. I would have let you lift her down."

"No problem," Chris said with a smile and a pat on Brock's back. "I'll get her back. I'll help Melanie out."

Melanie was dressed slightly less provocatively – given her professional status – but she still looked pretty in a white wraparound skirt and a red button-down blouse. She made sure she gave Chris a kiss on the cheek – then she stuck her tongue out at her sister.

"I'm going to stick around for the last one," Chris said. Brock figured that was because Meredith, Randi and whoever else they had invited were riding in the last SUV.

He was right. But the other two occupants surprised him. Hailey Winters was the first one out, wearing a black cocktail dress that looked really nice on her. She glanced around nervously before letting the bouncer help her out of the vehicle. Brock knew that Karen Smythe would be the next one out. Karen was slightly more secure. She wore a white skirt and a black blouse.

Randi was next in line. She was wearing a faux leather mini skirt and a white blouse tied to show off her midriff. She gave Brock a wide smile as she and Chris entered the club. Meredith was the last one out.

She wore a dark green tank dress that displayed the tops of her breasts and hugged her bottom. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the look on Brock's face. He had unconsciously licked his lips as soon as he caught sight of her.

"Shall we?" she asked as she took his arm. Brock nodded dumbly and led his bombshell girlfriend through the door as the flash strobes took in her every step.

Brock made it a point to walk behind Meredith. First off, he didn't want anyone from down below to be able to look up her dress. He wasn't entirely sure she had decided to wear panties. More importantly, he wanted to look at her butt.

There were two more new faces in the VIP room when Brock and Meredith made their way up the stairs: Tiffany Wells and another woman that Brock didn't recognize but whom the others obviously did.

Randi had taken a seat beside a stunned Beau Beaufort, who appeared quite over the snub he'd received from Jana Jones. The second young woman, introduced to Brock as Crosby Gordon, was a star on one of the top-rated TV shows. Brock had never seen it but it was evident that the other players were fans of the crime drama. Crosby had pulled up a seat beside Tony, who also appeared to have forgotten that Jana Jordan even existed.

The room was crowded, so some of the young women were perched on laps. Esmi was even sitting on her husband's lap, sharing champagne from his glass. Brock looked around and realized that every woman had an escort – except for Zoe and Emmy who were escorting each other.

"Did you plan this?" Brock whispered.

"Esmi and Mandy have been planning this for a while," Meredith admitted. "Al and Josh were given marching orders that we need at least seven single guys. I think he did a great job."

"It should be fun," Brock agreed. "Oh, before I forget. Guess who's in the lounge next door?"

"The Nationals?" Meredith asked.

"I wish," Brock groaned. "Jana Jones and her party are here. She's already been across to see if we wanted to join her."

"I will kick her ass if I have to," Meredith promised. "I just want you to understand. If the time comes and I have to put her down, I will put her down and I will put her down hard."

"Hey, don't worry about me," Brock said with a smile. "I'm going home with you no matter who's here. She could come in here wearing only a smile and a pair of flip-flops and I wouldn't care. You look amazing tonight."

Meredith hugged herself to Brock tightly. She didn't really need the reassurance but she liked it anyway.

"I picked out your tie so it would match my dress," she said with a laugh. "I sort of figured that we'd find our way somewhere tonight."

"So that's why everyone got ready so quickly," Brock joked. Meredith didn't laugh.

"Yep," she said. "We put together our plan earlier. I mean, we all had clothes ready just in case. Mandy had the cars on standby. The only parts of the plan left to chance were you winning and us finding a place to go. We were pretty sure that we could show up just about anywhere tonight and they'd let us in. Randi was the one who pointed out that we would want somewhere relatively private."

Brock looked around at the people in the room and couldn't help but smile. Tiffany Wells was sitting with Matt Driesbach and was trying to get him to join her on the downstairs dance floor. Susan was chatting with Fred Hartman, who was laughing at something she said. Melanie was talking with Raphael Mendoza, who was nodding as she talked.

Randi and Beau Beaufort seemed to be enjoying themselves. Beau was pretty outgoing once he became comfortable. Brock figured that Randi and Beau would be the first to hit the dance floor. He was wrong. He saw Karen dragging Mr. MVP John Milton out of the room. Milton was laughing but didn't appear to be resisting too firmly. Hailey and Kevin Adams were also talking, which surprised Brock. Both were cursed with a terminal case of shyness around new people.

Tony DeLeon seemed to be eating up the attention being paid to him by a television starlet. Crosby, for her part, seemed to be happy with the company she'd selected, too. The others were hanging out with their husbands or boyfriends (or in Emmy and Zoe's case, girlfriend). All in all, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Brock found a chair and Meredith sat on his lap.

"Do you want something besides champagne?" he asked. "Particularly since you're drinking from a bottle provided by Jana Jones."

"Nope," Meredith replied, finishing his glass.

They talked for a few minutes and enjoyed the company of their friends. With the door to the room closed, the noise wasn't overbearing. A few people wandered down to dance. Jen and Chris went down with Zack and Tara and Randi and Beau. Even Hailey and Kevin took a turn on the floor but were soon back in the room.

"Off your ass, Miller," Esmi said as she walked over. "Meredith promised me the first dance with you. My husband says his knees are hurting. I told him he should stop blowing LaCross in the shower for playing time."

"She had a few drinks with dinner," Meredith whispered in Brock's ear. Brock glanced at Al who just smiled and held his hands apart helplessly.

Meredith removed herself from Brock's lap and joined a conversation with Mandy and Josh. Brock went downstairs with Esmi to the dance floor.

"I'm a lousy dancer," Brock admitted.

"I'm good enough for both of us," Esmi laughed, as she bumped Brock with her hip. They joined a group of their friends on the dance floor. The presence of Chris and Zack kept most of the unwanted attention somewhere else. At least away from the women.