Doable.
The money is nice, too. One hundred grand for each of us.
There’s no debating sex sells.
I chew at my nails, a habit I thought I’d broken back in sixth grade. Apparently, not entirely. I pace one way and retrace my steps back. Does this make me a hooker? An escort with benefits? Do I care if I get to have them?
Hot and cold flashes hit me with knock-out punches.
I fling the door open and cross a small hallway and duck inside a kitchenette area with a small sofa, a table in the middle, and a refrigerator in the back. The hostess who showed me back here said this room is for the performers and workers of the club. I give a chin nod to a couple of ladies in Club Sin uniforms lounging on the couch and zero in on grabbing some cold water. Anything to cool off the overheating happening on the inside. I can’t believe I agreed to this. I don’t know what I am more nervous about. Seeing the men after our text messaging last night or the show.
I mentally reach for the jittery butterflies beating up my stomach.
Definitely the show.
I crack the lid open and down the chilled water. I go for another when I finish the first tiny bottle.
The ladies are speaking in hushed voices but honestly, it’s so quiet back here they might as well be speaking normally.
“The men of the Southern Alliance are looking for a breeder and we are in neutral territory. I don’t see how we cannot accommodate them.”
I tune in and listen a little harder, drinking my water a bit slower.
The Southern Alliance. Sapphire’s men. Well, not hers but she’s been in lust with them for two years.
The blonde one says, “If we can’t help them, they’ll go somewhere else.”
I have to let Sapphire know. My heart stops but I keep my feet moving like I haven't heard a single word. Should I mention something to the women? Hell no. Sapphire will kill me if I do something rash.
I grab my water and head back to my dressing room with ideas of how to play cupid firing off in my head.
Every single one of them is a bad idea but hey, what are cousins for?
And then I remember Cassius and Polaris. Harlon and Santi. Fuck. I didn’t see Polaris this morning after Cassius told me he would handle everything. If Harlon sent her away, I’ll kill him.
I throw myself into the seat in front of the dressing mirror and look myself dead in the eye. “What the fuck are you doing, Belle?”
“Helping my brother not be stupid and mess something up for himself,” I answer my own question feeling a little stupid for talking to myself. But at least I make sense. Men have a track record for fucking things up before they have a chance to really get started.
The chick in the mirror staring back at me thinks women do too.
I play what I heard last night over in my mind. Harlon wouldn’t make her leave, right? Polaris sounded hurt and turned on at the same time.
Ugh. My stomach is in knots and I am not sure if it’s for Sapphire, Polaris or for me.
There’s a knock at my door and I ease it open.
The second I see the blue of Sapphire’s eyes I yank her inside. I’m tempted to divulge the news about the Southern Alliance but I can’t handle that conversation right now. But soon.
“I can’t do this,” I blurt out, speaking of the show.
Sapphire steps inside and I close the door. “Where did you go last night? After my meeting, I came back and you were not in your room. You didn’t sneak out again, did you?” Her eyes narrow.
To keep myself from running back to Gage, Aziel and Rush, I locked myself in my art studio and painted. I used the alone time to wash Polaris’ moaning sounds out of my head and wrap my brain around the possibility of her leaving despite what Cassius said.
I show my hands. Yellow, oranges, and purples from my acrylic paint still sling to my fingers.
“I went to the roof apartment and painted the sky over the water behind the guy’s house.” My little studio isn’t large, but it’s perfect for me and out of the way from anyone wanting to interrupt my painting. I don’t get to relax into my art and let the emotions flow often but last night I couldn’t stop the brush strokes if I tried.