“Cowgirls, this is Nina,” a cigarette-roughened voice said over the blaring background music.
“Hey, is Kelsey performing tonight?” he asked.
“Oh, honey, Kiki isn’t here,” she said, smacking her gum loudly. “But if you like blondes with d-cups, Alexis is going on in about half an hour. She’ll get you going as well as Kiki could’ve.”
He sighed in mock disappointment, making sure the girl continued to believe he was a customer. “Is Kel—I mean, Kiki, on vacation or something?”
She laughed. “What is it with that girl? You’re, like, the third call I’ve gotten asking about her. I’m sorry, but she quit a few days ago. Said she got a better-paying gig.”
“Do you know where?”
“Ooh, you got it bad, huh? She didn’t say, but I know it’s not one of the clubs around here. I would’ve heard.”
“All right, Nina. Thanks for your help.”
“No problem, sweet thing.”
He clicked the phone shut and turned back toward the living room. Brynn was leaning on the back edge of the couch watching him, her lips pressed into a grim line. “She’s not there.”
He shook his head. “Quit a few days ago. The girl said Kelsey took another job.”
Brynn’s threw her hands out to her sides. “Why the hell wouldn’t she tell me she’d changed jobs?”
“I may have some idea,” Reid said, glancing at the background form again. “Do you know if Kelsey is into anything kinky?”
She glanced at the table, then back to him, a little crease between her brows. “Well, stripping isn’t exactly run-of-the-mill.”
He shook his head and met her confused gaze. “No, I mean, like the D/s scene.”
Her eyes shifted away and he could almost visualize porcupine quills popping out of her skin. “How the hell would I know that? ‘Do you let a guy use you like a whore?’ is not exactly a question that comes up in sisterly conversation.”
He cringed, the words wrenching his gut. “Is that what you think it was? You think I used you?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “What exactly would you call it, Reid? I bet you weren’t tying up and ordering around that debutante girlfriend of yours—you know, the one you forgot to tell me about.”
She was right. He hadn’t been topping Vanessa. She would’ve sent her father after him with a shotgun if he’d done so much as copped a feel. But he’d had to toe the line—parade around with the girl he was expected to date. He blew out a breath and raked a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t like that.”
“No, I get it. Do the depraved stuff with the chick whose mother is a hooker, do the respectable things with the girl you want everyone to see on your arm. It’s an old story,” she said, sounding tired. “I was just too naive to see what role I was playing in the game.”
His jaw clenched. “I don’t know how I ended up the bad guy in all this. I seem to recall I wasn’t the only one you were playing with.”
She sighed and all the fight seemed to leave her stance. “Look, it doesn’t matter, okay. What’s done is done. I just want to know what all this has to do with my sister.”
He stared at her for a moment, part of him wanting to hash out their past, drag everything out in the open, and deal with it head-on, but the lines of worry in her face stopped him. He crooked a thumb at the boxes. “I looked through some of your sister’s stuff. She filled out a background check form for Grant Waters’ company.”
Her forehead scrunched. “Who the hell is that?”
“He owns two big vineyards outside of town. And he runs The Ranch.”
“Is that another strip club?”
He shook his head, tension taking root in his shoulders. “No, and I’m not sure on the details. But what I do know is that it’s
a BDSM retreat. Elite, exclusive, and if someone wants to disappear for a while—a good place to hide.”
She chewed her lip, as if mulling over the information. “But if it’s so exclusive, how would Kels get in?”
He shrugged. “Your sister’s a beautiful girl who’s not afraid to show her body. My guess is that they probably hired her on as a server or attendant of some kind.”