I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Besides, the money at Compass beat all those other jobs.
I closed my eyes, and the crowd faded out as I began to move to the music. It took a few minutes and then it happened. The world no longer existed. Nothing did except my body alive and tingling with exhilaration as I danced, letting the beat vibrate through me.
It didn’t matter that I was in a club. What mattered was I was dancing and I loved it.
I heard the catcalls and cheers and inwardly smiled. And I’d never felt sexy before. Even dancing with David in the studio doing demos for students, I hadn’t felt sexy. It had always been all about him, and I’d been worried about doing something wrong. He never wanted to look bad in front of his students.
I grabbed the cage bars as I shimmied down to a crouch, smiling at the men surrounding the cage who watched me. I noticed the security guy standing with Mars at the steps of the cage glaring, but he made no move to force me to leave.
I danced until my skin was damp with sweat. I wasn’t tired. Actually, I was just warming up when I saw the dancers return.
I slowed my body, smiled at the guys watching me, then opened the cage door. The group of guys whistled and cheered, and two of them came over to talk to me when I walked down the steps, but the security guy blocked them.
“Nice moves,” the girl, whose cage I’d hijacked said, smiling.
“Uh, thanks,” I replied. “Sorry about stealing your cage. But I was hoping to gain enough attention to maybe have a chance at a job here.”
“Oh, you gained attention. Talk to Frankie upstairs. She hires the dancers. Tell her Bree sent you.”
My chest swelled as I pulled off my mask. “Oh, my God, thank you.”
She shrugged. “No problem. Any girl who just did what you did deserves a chance.” She nodded to the stairs on the right of the bar. “Frankie is in the VIP section. She and the boss saw you.”
Boss? My eyes widened then darted to the VIP section. Brett Westhill was here? Had he seen me? Was that good or bad? I could only hope he’d seen me and liked my performance.
Bree opened the cage door. “Come by Wednesday afternoon at two. We go over our routines with Frankie.” Bree raised her voice. “Hey, Greg. Let this girl pass on Wednesday. She needs to see Frankie.”
The security guy in the black T–shirt that had Compass scrolled in white on the top right corner nodded to Bree, but he was scowling. He looked unimpressed with my little incident.
Mars passed me my purse then grabbed my hand excitedly, jumping up and down. “Oh. My. God. You were incredible. Amazing. Sexy as hell, and I swear you made a few guys come in their pants.” Gross, but I smiled, acknowledging the compliment, and I loved it. “Even Greg here was drooling. Weren’t you, Greg? Wasn’t she amazing?”
His scowl hadn’t let up, but there was a brief flicker of amusement in his eyes. “I’ll have to escort you ladies out of the club.” He glared at me. “No matter how good you were, you broke a club rule, and that’s not tolerated.”
“Yeah, okay.” I was getting a chance at the job and didn’t care we were being kicked out.
He ushered us off the dance floor, and a smiling Olivia met up with us, her eyes sparkling as she went on about how amazing I was.
Greg’s cell vibrated as he opened the back door for us to leave. He put it to his ear. “Yeah?” He didn’t say anything for a second, but his eyes darted to me. Olivia and Mars had stepped outside, but I didn’t get the chance as Greg snagged my arm.
“Sure thing, Kite.”
What? Kite? Did he say Kite?
He tucked his phone away in his back pocket. “Need to take you upstairs.”
Oh, fuck. “Did you say Kite?” God, please say no.
Mars and Olivia turned, realizing I wasn’t walking with them. “What’s wrong?” Mars asked.
“Need to take her upstairs,” Greg stated. “You girls can wait here.” Mars and Olivia came back inside. “Give her ten minutes. You’re not here when we get back, I’ll put her in a cab.”
“We’ll be here,” Mars proclaimed, and Olivia nodded.
He pulled me away from the door, but my feet weren’t moving, so I stumbled. “Did you say Kite?” My voice cracked on his name.
He ushered me toward the stairs that led to the VIP section. I had to have imagined him saying Kite. What were the chances he’d be here tonight, two days after I talked to him about working here?
But if he was friends with Brett, then he could be here. He could’ve seen me and that was why he asked Greg to bring me upstairs.