“My friend Dexter is into you,” I said, motioning toward the kitchen with my free hand.
“But I'm into you.”
Shit.
“Whoa, those are some scars.”
I looked down, horrified to see that my shirt cuff had ridden up, exposing my wrist tattoos and the web of mangled flesh of my forearm. Cursing under my breath, I quickly yanked the fabric down.
“Don’t be self-conscious, I think your scars are cool. I have some of my own.” She rolled down the top of her black fingerless gloves, revealing horizontal scars lining her forearm from wrist to elbow. “I used to be a cutter. How did you get yours?”
I shifted uneasily. “A car accident.” Hoping she wouldn’t dig any deeper, I gulped down the rest of the jungle juice and pulled out a pack of cloves. “Mind if I smoke?”
It was kind of ridiculous to ask her permission since it technically was my house, but my mom had drummed politeness into me.
“Of course not. Can I bum one?”
“Sure.” As soon as I handed her a clove and lit it, she took a long drag.
“Damn, that’s good.”
I made a non-committal sound, enjoying the spiced cigarette. A hit from the bong in the kitchen would have been better, but Lee wasn’t a fan of pot, so I was trying to cut down.
Aubry took a drag of her clove and leaned back against the couch cushions.
I tried not to notice her ample cleavage, but it was kind of hard with her low-cut corset.
Lee had a few tops like that she wore for her shows. Sometimes she was so tired she didn’t bother changing, and I got a chance to see her in them.
My dick hardened as I remembered how incredible she’d looked wearing that black leather one. One day, when we were together, I’d ask her to wear that one for me… and only me.
Aubry let out a husky laugh and ran her hand over her chest. “Like what you see?”
With a start, I realized I was full on staring at her tits and my boner was obvious. Embarrassed, I choked on a mouthful of smoke.
Seeming amused at my coughing fit, Aubry smiled. “Ronnie said this was your place.”
“Yeah.” I was surprised he didn’t call it his place as often as he crashed here.
“He also said it was your birthday.”
I shrugged. Birthdays weren’t really a big deal. Not when Lee forgot most of them.
Aubry cocked her head to the side as if she was waiting for me to say more.
I noticed her irises were pale green.
Eyes like desert sage… That might be a good lyric in the song I was working on. I glanced around for the pad of paper I always kept handy.
Eyes like desert sage. Fill with rage…
Nah, that didn’t work. Eyes like desert sage. Imprisoning me in a cage… Hmm. It had potential.
Unable to find my pad and paper, I pulled out my phone and started texting myself.
Aubry pursed her lips. “Is there someone else you’d rather talk to?”
“Nah. I just thought of a line to a song.”
“Yeah?” Aubry leaned over to look at my screen. When she saw what I’d written, she grinned. “Is that about me?”
“Kind of.” I wished she’d go bother someone else. Dexter would probably give his left nut to be sitting this close to her. I opened my mouth to tell her so, but she pressed her lips against my ear.
“I’d like to imprison you in a cage.” She bit down.
“Ah!” I jerked away, my earlobe stinging. “Why did you do that?”
She gave me a smoldering look. “What fun is pleasure without pain?”
Shit. I was clearly out of my depth with this woman.
Laughing, Aubry blew a smoke ring around my head. Then, flicking the rest of her clove into my empty cup, she stood and reached for my hand. “How about you show me your room and I’ll let you bite me back.”
4
Lee
My breath came out in a quick gasp. Javier wants to see me? In all the weeks he and his men had been coming to Eros, he’d never asked to meet any of the dancers. Of course, he never looked at the other dancers the way he looked at me.
Cami swiveled around in her chair. “You’re not planning on pimping Lee out to the drug lord, are you?”
Max jerked as though she’d punched him in the solar plexus and rubbed his hands together nervously. “No. Nothing like that. He just wants to meet her, okay? I don’t like it either, but money is tight. We need his business.”
I don’t need that kind of business.
I stood up and headed toward the lockers. “I’ve already done two sets. I’m off the clock. Besides, my ride is waiting.” I couldn’t keep Uncle Duncan sitting in the parking lot all night.
“Please, Lee.” Max tugged at his candy-cane striped tie as if it was strangling him.
I sighed in resignation. “Okay, but I’m not doing any lap dances.”
He bobbed his head up and down so fast, his jowls shook.
“And I’m skipping my first set tomorrow.”
It wasn’t as if I’d make any money with the early set, anyway.
His eyes narrowed. “Friday’s our biggest night and you’re our headliner.”
“I’ll be there for my ten o’clock.” I slid my heels back on, trying to ignore the protest made by my feet. “Look, do you want me to meet Javier or not?”
He threw his hands up in the air. “Fine.”
Cami grabbed my arm as I followed Max to the doorway. Her face pinched with worry.
“Be careful. Javier Diaz is a dangerous man.”
Great. If Cami, notorious for her less than stellar taste in men, was worried, Javier had to be really bad news.
My stomach became a writhing ball of snakes. “I’ll be fine. I left your phone on my chair.” I gently tugged away from her. “There’s a party at the house tonight for Reed’s birthday. If you’re not doing anything after your set, why don’t you swing by?”
Her heart-shaped face brightened. “That’d be fun. Maybe I’ll give that sexy birthday boy a present he won’t ever forget.” She winked.
Something inside me balked at her interest in Reed, but before I could analyze my feelings, Max threw us an aggravated look.
“Come on, Lee. Time is money. Cami, have you seen Jess?”
I couldn’t hide the revulsion on my face. The auburn-haired stripper had made my life a living hell ever since Max gave me her time slot and moved her sets later.
Cami shared a knowing look with me. “No evil-bitch-of-the-West sightings here, Max. When are you going to fire her ass? Last week, Jess poured baby oil all over the stage steps, Havana hurt her back, and Lee nearly broke her leg.”
Remembering the nasty fall I’d taken made me wince. Jess’s mean-spirited pranks were going to get me killed one of these days.
“I don’t know why you ladies can’t just get along. Hurry up, Lee.” Max huffed out of the room.
So much for his begging and pleading act. I hurried to catch up with my boss.
Max was uncharacteristically quiet as we walked backstage and took the side stairs down. It added to my nervousness.
Javier seemed to inspire fear in everyone around him.
What did a man like that want from me?