“Sir? Put her drink on my tab and close me out,” I said.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she said.
“Consider it a ‘congratulations’. You were phenomenal up there. I expected you to change your costume, but it worked for a second time. It’s hard for a performer to pull that off.”
“Ah well, I try my best,” she said playfully.
“Is this what you’ve always wanted to do? Perform in a cabaret club and sway your hips to hungry men whose eyes are full of you?” I asked.
“I’ve always wanted to perform, period,” she said. “And now that I’ve officially been hired, this will provide for me the money I need to live the life I want.”
“Well, then actual ‘congratulations’ are in order,” I said as we clinked glasses. “To the future.”
“To the future,” she said.
“So, what is this glamorous life a beautiful woman like yourself seeks?”
“An apartment I can afford on my own so I don’t have to have roommates and a little labradoodle that curls up with me at night,” she said.
“I didn’t realize men were being called by dog’s names nowadays. I mean, I know some of us have high sex drives, but that’s a bit much,” I said.
She giggled and the sound flowed over my body like hot caramel. It was deep and chested. Like the low notes that flowed like melted butter from between her lips.
Holy hell, I was never going to want her sounds to go away.
“Clever. I meant an actual labradoodle. They aren’t the cheapest dogs to own, but they’re beautiful and incredibly loyal.”
“So is the right man, if you play the game correctly,” I said.
“Are you putting your bid in the hat?” she asked.
“I could be convinced, for the right price,” I said.
I watched her cheeks flush red, and for the first time her innocence pulled to the front. I caught of glimpse of just how round her cheeks were and just how doe-eyed her blue eyes were. She obviously contoured her makeup to make her features seem slimmer on stage, but the way her petite little nose crinkled when she laughed flooded my system with a sense of relief.
And I honestly wasn’t sure why.
“And what price would that be?” she asked.
“Why don’t you join me on the third floor and we can talk about it without all the hustle and smoke around us?” I asked.
I watched her smile, and the sultry maiden from the stage was gone. In her place was a flourishing young woman who had just been handed her dreams. She’d been handed a way to fend for herself in the way she wanted, and the unadulterated happiness in her eyes that sparkled only added to the innocence I was slowly pulling to the surface.
“I think I can do that,” she said.
4
Ella
I didn’t understand there was another floor to this place, and as we walked up the back staircase I could feel my hands shaking in anticipation. I knew there was a main floor and a VIP balcony, but that was it. Where was he taking me? The bouncers in this club had a stark reputation for protecting their performers, so if someone thought I was in trouble they would’ve come to get me.
Right?
We stopped at the third floor and he pushed the door open, revealing a decadent room with incredibly low lighting. There was a separate bar with a bartender in a suit as well as leather furniture peppering the main room. There were people on the couches writhing all over one another. One woman was taking off her own shirt while a man sank to his knees in front of her, and I saw another man pull out his dick right there on a leather chair before someone started sucking it!
“What the hell is this place?” I asked.
“This is Expose. The Rose Club is where you perform, but this is a secret hideaway that was built above the club and bar itself about ten years ago,” he said.