Bennett "Ben" Pachowski is a bouncer at Throwbacks. He likes his job, though he gets tired of being thought of as more brawn than brain. He loves books, prefers to be romanced before sleeping with a man, and has a crazy feline companion named Bessie. Ben's favorite band, Rebel's Ultimatum, plays at the club on weekends, giving him an eyeful of sexy bass player, Monty Mabuse. Ben is content to flirt -- nothing more. He knows the kind of person Monty is, and commitment is not something the bass player is interested in. When Monty resorts to something devious to get what he wants, it backfires, and Ben walks away. Before he goes on tour with his band, Monty finally gets Ben to talk to him, but if Monty really wants to have something serious with Ben, he’ll have to change his ways. A little romance could go a long way.

Romancing the Bouncer

That didn’t stop me from dressing in my tightest black top, the sleeves capping my deltoids as if to emphasize how big my arms were. My jeans, also black, were the ones that hugged everything the best, and biker boots capped it all. Yeah, I wanted to be noticed, even if I’d get nothing out of it except mild flirtation. It was enough. I’d need to take a change of shirt, though. I sweat a lot while dancing.


I gave Bessie some attention, brushed her cat hair off my clothes, and went to work.


“Ben, can you go unlock the stage door so the band can start setting up for the show?” Pearce asked as he passed me in the hallway.


“On it.” It was seven-thirty in the evening and Dawson was manning the door for the moment.


Chapter 3