“I see.”
Turning my attention to the stage has my stomach flipping at the sight in front of me.
It’s Tulip.
She’s on stage and dancing. She doesn’t do much on the pole, at first, other than kind of hold onto it and walk around it, but she drops her ass down to the floor, her legs spreading. The only consolation is that she’s got little shorts on.
Her clothes don’t stay on for long though. She removes her top, exposing those tits that I’ve been dreaming of, to a room full of strangers. Then the little shorts she had on, she shimmies those off.
I watch in what can only be described as horror mixed with anger and a whole lot of fucking desire, as she rolls around on the floor in nothing more than a scrap of fabric covering her pussy. Everything else on her body is completely exposed.
When the lights go out and her dance is over, I watch as she collects her money off of the darkened stage before I turn to Ford. “That’ll be the last time you see anything,” I snap.
He turns to me, his lips turned up in a full-on fucking smile. “Won’t easily forget that little number, Louis.”
“Erase it from your brain,” I demand as I stand to my feet.
Ford throws his head back laughing. “Not fucking likely,” he calls out as I stomp away from him and toward the back of the club. Lifting my hand, I flip him off over my shoulder.
Once I reach what I assume is the dressing room of the club, I am surprised to see that there’s no bouncer here, no security at all. In fact, I haven’t seen anyone walking around that looks like they could be security, aside from the man at the door.
Frowning, I reach for the doorknob and twist. My suspicions are correct when I see a sea of flesh and glittery sparkles everywhere.
“Can I fucking help you?” a tall woman wearing a red wig demands, blocking my view of the rest of the room.
Smirking, I cross my arms over my chest and tilt my head to the side. “Need to talk to Tulip.”
She narrows her eyes on me and crosses her own arms over her chest before tilting her head to the side. “I don’t think so,” she snorts.
Biting my bottom lip in an attempt to keep from smiling at her, I shake my head once. She’s cute trying to be tough, but her act doesn’t work. I can tell that she’s scared. Her legs are shaking as are her hands.
Looking over her shoulder, my eyes search the room for the woman that holds my goddamn heart in the palm of her hand. She doesn’t know how much that one-night means to me, how fucking devastated that I was when she told me that she couldn’t be with someone like me.
She just doesn’t fucking know what she does to me. What she did to me after only a few hours in her presence, the way she made me feel. Like for the first time I felt whole, that this woman could see me for me, not for my profession. That I was more than a professional boxer. That I was more than a stepping stone to fame.
“Louis?”
Her voice is shrill, panicked and downright fucking terrified at the sight of me.
Dipping my chin, I see her standing shoulder height to the woman in front of me. She’s ditched her too-high heels and is wearing a robe to cover her nudity. Her makeup is too heavy, her hair too goddamn teased and styled.
“Tulip,” I clip. “Come here.”
Chapter Five
TULIP
The dressing room is so silent that you could hear a bobby pin drop. I’m frozen to my spot, unable to move even an inch as I stare at him over Charlie’s shoulder. He doesn’t even flinch, his gaze is focused on me and nowhere else.
I hear one of the girls clear her throat behind me and it breaks the staring contest that we have going on. Shaking my head, I take a step back away from him, instead of toward him.
“I can’t leave. If you want to talk after work, I get off at two,” I whisper.
To his credit, Louis doesn’t make a move at all. His eyes bore into my soul as we stare at one another. Then, as if something clicks inside of his head, he jerks his chin.
“I’ll be waiting for you outside,” he announces.
I watch as he turns his broad back to me and walks away, his arms swinging loosely at his side. I lick my lips as I take in every inch of the back of his body. Slowly, Charlie turns around to face me, her eyes wide and her lips parted in awe.
“Who. Was. That?”
Licking my lips, I look over my shoulder at the other six women who are staring at me, wondering the same thing and waiting for my answer.
Inhaling a shaky breath, I watch as Charlie closes the dressing room door behind her and places her hands on her hips, popping one hip out while she impatiently waits.
“That was Louis. We had a one-night thing almost a year ago. He’s back in town and he keeps saying he wants to talk. I just—”
“Just fuckin’ nothin’. That man is fine as shit. You’re going to go back for seconds, right?” one of the girls shouts behind me.
Looking over my shoulder, I shrug before I focus my gaze back on Charlie.
“Okay, leave her alone. He was fine as shit. Unlike the men we see around here, but Tulip has her reasons, I’m sure.”
Charlie thinks I’m stupid for turning him away, for not running into his arms. She doesn’t have to say it, I can feel it in the tone she uses and the way she’s looking at me.
“You don’t understand,” I whisper.
She holds up her hand. “And I don’t need to understand shit. This is your life, babe, you do whatever you have to do. It’s none of my business, but he’s hot, so if you wanted to get yourself a little somethin’-somethin’ for old time’s sake, nobody and I mean nobody, would judge you for that.”
I can’t help myself, I burst out laughing, because I know that she’s not wrong and if they knew just how good Louis was at somethin’-somethin’ they would be telling me to run, not walk, to get a little for old time’s sake—or maybe a lot.
The rest of the night, I worry about Louis waiting for me, about what he’s going to say to me. I wonder if this changes what he wanted to talk to me about yesterday.
I worry that he’s going to tell Wyatt, Beaumont or Rylan about what I’ve been doing and if they’re going to tell their women. I have a feeling that they wouldn’t want me hanging around them much longer if they find out.
When I’m finished for the evening, I throw my oversized hoodie on and slip back into my flip-flops before I head out the side door with my head down. Inhaling a deep breath, I let the warmth of the parking lot wash over me.
There’s a warm breeze that floats around me, and I exhale as I lift my head to look toward my car. Just like he said he would, Louis is waiting for me, leaning against the driver’s side door, his head turned toward me and his green eyes focused on me and only me.
Walking toward him, I attempt to square my shoulders. He smirks, which causes my belly to melt at the sight of his full lips turning up so effortlessly. I feel like it takes everything inside of me to produce a smile these days and he just has one at the ready.
“Follow you home?” he asks as his greeting.
Looking behind me, I notice that the sad excuse of a bouncer has his back turned to me and he’s talking to one of the girls who is pressed against the wall. Shifting my gaze back to him, I let out a sigh and nod once.