by Parker, Ali
“Oh sorry, man. She was fine as hell. That ass—” he stopped talking and blinked, realizing he’d just overstepped. “My bad.”
I smirked. “It’s fine.”
Samuel and a lot of the guys on my security team knew I was a Lost Breed member. They also knew I wasn’t to be fucked with, and talking about how hot my ex was fell under the “fucking with” category. Lucky for Samuel, I had the patience of a saint, and it took a lot to get me angry.
Which was a very good thing because when I was angry, shit got real too fast, and things happened that I couldn’t control.
Samuel smiled sheepishly and flipped his rag onto his shoulder. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on the bar. “So you’re heading back there now to talk to them?”
I nodded. “No better time than the present. Right?”
Samuel chuckled. “By now, they’ve all probably popped their half a tab, man.”
“Fuck.”
“You know, if I’m being honest, I’d do the same thing. There’s no way I could get up and do what those girls do without a little help from a certain inhibition freeing substance.”
“Nobody would want you to get up there in a thong and bralette, Samuel. It would be bad for business.”
Samuel laughed. “Yeah, fuck you, too, Caleb.”
I chuckled and finished the rest of my water before sliding him the empty glass. Then, I walked around the bar and headed for the saloon door. The girls may not want to hear what I had to say, but it had to be said anyway. Truth be told, I kind of wished I’d taken initiative and handled this before now.
At least then, it might have been easier to get them to stop using.
Maybe.
Chapter 6
Lauryn
I dropped my bag beside my vanity and fell into the chair with a huff.
Milly and Cassidy were already there getting ready, and they both shot me a nervous look as they shrugged into their outfits. Cassidy was stepping into a skin-tight bodysuit that was a brilliant shade of royal blue. It was covered in sparkling rhinestones along the collar and hips. She put her hand on her waist. “Is everything okay, Lauryn?”
I nodded and then shook my head. “No. I got in another fight with Cliff. I know you guys are sick of listening to me go on about him. He can just be such an ass sometimes.”
Cassidy pulled up a chair beside me. “What has he done this time?”
“Where do I start?” I groaned as I ran my hands down my face.
Milly pulled up the chair on my other side. “You don’t have to get into it right now if you’re not feeling up to it, sweetheart. But we’re here to listen if you need us.”
I leaned down and rummaged through my bag just as Sadie came through the door. She came up behind us, and both Milly and Cassidy gave her a look that warned her something was up. She put her stuff down at her vanity and turned back to us as I found what I was looking for, a small aspirin container. I pulled it out and popped the top off.
“What’s going on, you guys?” Sadie asked.
I peered down into the bottle. I’d taken it from Cliff when I was getting ready to leave for work. He’d been in a pissy mood about it and said he needed the Zandra for some of his other clients because he was short on cash. I told him I’d cover the price, which he said was a whopping hundred bucks. I’d promised him the money when I got back from work. I needed the high. Simple as that.
There were six blue pills rattling around in the bottom.
I poured two out and put them on my vanity counter. Sadie fished a small blade out of her bag and handed it to me. I cut the pills down the middle and passed out a half to all the girls, who thanked me.
“How much do we owe you, Lauryn?” Milly asked. She knew Zandra from Cliff never came free.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You girls have hooked me up enough times. I can return the favor. This is a new supply. He says it’s a little stronger than what we’ve done before, but he says we’ll all be fine with half a tablet each.”
Cassidy stared down at the little powder blue tablet. “You’re sure?”
I nodded. “Positive.” I popped the pill in my mouth and washed it down with a sip of water. “As long as you stay hydrated throughout the night, you’ll be good. Bring a bottle of water up to your platform if you have to.”
The girls took their tablets as well.
“So,” Cassidy said slowly, “what’s going on with Cliff?”
The Zandra hadn’t hit me yet, but I already felt better knowing it was about to. “He’s just a piece of shit, you know? Before I left for work yesterday, I whipped up some chili for Jayden. It’s his favorite, and now that it’s fall, I figured I’d make him a batch to warm up out of the freezer when I’m working. Turns out Cliff ate his dinner and Jayden was left with the sandwich I’d made for Cliff. He’s just such a selfish bastard. When I confronted him—” I stopped talking and shook my head. The girls didn’t need to know quite how bad things could get sometimes between me and Cliff. “When I confronted him, he got angry, and we had a screaming match.”
I stood up and rifled through my bag. I pulled out my outfit. Today, I was wearing one of my favorites. It was technically a swimsuit, but nobody could ever tell the difference. The top tied behind my neck and was semi-sheer except for the nipples, which had padding over them. Sometimes, if I was feeling up to it, I would take the padding out. I made a lot of money those nights. The bottoms were Brazilian-style, so they showed my ass and almost all my lady bits. I had decorated the suit with gold gems and fixed matching gold chains to the string between my breasts. I’d attached those to my hips, so the chains hung down my belly and over my waist. The effect was sexy, and I always felt like a million bucks in this outfit.
I got naked and pulled the suit on.
Sadie was stripping as well and putting on her outfit. She tossed her blond hair over her shoulder. “I’m sorry you have to deal with him, Lauryn. He really doesn’t seem to understand that Jayden is your number one priority.”
“Nope. And he never will,” I grumbled.
“You’re willing to put up with that?” Milly asked.
I shrugged. “For now. Yeah. I don’t have any other options. You know how shitty the area is that I live. I need Cliff around, plain and simple.”
“You could stay with Cassidy and me until you’re on your feet,” Milly offered. She was smiling sweetly as she plugged in her curling iron. “We don’t have a ton of space, but we could make it work for a little while. We’re family. You know?”
Had the Zandra not started working its magic, I would have started crying about her offer. I shook my head. “No. But thank you. I can do this on my own.”
“If things change, the offer still stands,” Cassidy said. Milly nodded her agreement.
“What on earth would I do without friends like you?” I said.
“You’d probably do less Zandra,” Sadie snickered.
I rolled my eyes. That was probably true. Sometimes, they could be a bad influence. And other times, like tonight, I was the bad influence. In the end, we probably all evened each other out.
I sat back down in front of my mirror and rummaged through my makeup bag. I started applying my foundation. “Zandra is fun.”
“No arguments there,” Sadie grinned.
“Feeling good?” I asked.
“I feel like there’s a really sexy guy rubbing his hands all over me.” Sadie giggled.
I laughed and so did the others. This shit was potent, and I was feeling great. My body was singing sweet praises, and my mind was taking a back seat. Soon, I’d be out there doing my thing, all this shit with Cliff would be way in the background, and I could deal with it later. Or never.
I borrowed Sadie’s curling iron and did my hair. I doused it in hairspray and let the curls sit as I painted my lips a dark shade of purple. I liked to change up my look every night. People didn’t give me money to show up wearing the same outfit as the previous night. The other girls had their go-to look
s, and I’d tried to talk them into changing it up, but they liked what they liked. There was no sense arguing with them.
I did a dark smoky eyeshadow and put purple stick-on crystals along my cheekbones. When I was done, I leaned back and admired myself.
The music was starting to play out front when the saloon doors swung open. All of us looked over our shoulders to see Caleb, the head of security and a total stud, walk into our prep room.
He was dressed in his usual black pants and T-shirt. He had a black watch on and an earpiece in his right ear. He looked around at all of us and said, in his deep, buttery voice, “Ladies.”
We all giggled. Damn the Zandra.
He knew what was up and sighed. He shook his head as he walked deeper into the room. Then, he took an open chair and dragged it between our vanities. Sadie and I were on one side, and Milly and Cassidy were on the other. He sat facing the back of his chair with his legs on either side. His forearms were on display when he draped them over the back of the chair. It took all the willpower I possessed to keep from drooling over the veins in his muscled arms.
Caleb looked at all of us. “We need to have a conversation.”
“Oh?” Sadie asked innocently. I noticed how she pushed up her tits and cocked her head to one side. She also batted her eyelashes at him. I couldn’t blame her. Caleb was one of—no, correction—he was the hottest man I’d ever laid eyes on. But he was so out of my league. Sadie crossed one leg over the other. “What conversation would that be, handsome?”
Caleb offered her a panty-soaking smile. “All this Zandra the four of you are taking every night. It needs to stop. The cops are all over this shit right now.”
I blinked and hoped he didn’t notice my shell-shocked expression. He wanted us to stop using? How the hell was I going to pull that off? Zandra was the only thing that made all the shit in my life okay. Except for Jayden. But he wasn’t here right now. He was far, far away, and I was so alone.
Luckily, Cassidy spoke up for me. “Has someone said something?”
Caleb nodded. “Yes. Cops have girls. I want you all clean. It’s fucking dangerous. I worry about you four.” His gaze drifted over to me when he said that last part, and I blushed.
I looked down at my lap as Sadie moaned. “We can’t just keep it our little secret, Caleb? You know that half a tablet does wonders for us girls. It helps us loosen up, and the looser we are, the more money we make. You know?”
Caleb nodded. “I know. I get it. But the four of you don’t need a drug to look sexy up there. Besides, this isn’t really a conversation. This is me telling you the rules going forward. I want you off of it. Period. Are we on the same page or not?”
Sadie pouted but nodded anyway. “Yes.”
Milly and Cassidy nodded as well.
Caleb turned his attention to me. “Lauryn? Is this going to be a problem?”
I shook my head. “No. I have it under control.”
“Good,” he said. Then, he tipped his head to the door. “Now, get your asses out there. There are some impatient motherfuckers hovering around your platforms.”
We all got to our feet, and I went to my bag to get my shoes. The other girls hurried out, leaving me alone with Caleb. He stayed where he was, his arms still draped over the back of the chair, and watched me as I stepped into my strappy purple heels and did up the buckles.
“How the fuck do you walk in those things?” he muttered.
I glanced over at him as I straightened up. “Practice, I guess.”
God, the way he was looking at me was criminal. His brown hair hung just over his eyebrows and dangled above his dark lashes that framed his baby blue eyes. He was the sort of guy who looked like he belonged in movies, not kicking assholes out of Kadia for feeling up women or causing a scene.
The fact that I’d seen him in action during a fight also contributed to how flustered he made me. He fought like an animal, and he was well-trained. Every person who worked at Kadia knew Caleb was not the guy to pick a fight with because he’d have you flat on your back faster than you could process you were even in a fight.
I’d let him put me on my back any time.
I blinked and shook my head. He was staring at me. “Sorry,” I said hurriedly. “I zoned out.”
I made to go by him, and he stood. His fingers wrapped around my elbow, and he stopped me from leaving. “Lauryn. I’m going to keep my eyes on you. I don’t want you getting on the bad side of the new management. I know you need this job. Truth be told, it wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t here. So don’t make my job any harder than it already is, all right?”
I nodded. “I hear you loud and clear.” That was when I noticed I’d put my hand on his chest. His pec was taut and firm beneath my palm, and the air around us was suddenly sizzling and popping with chemistry. I let my hand fall to my side and gave him a tight-lipped smile. “See you out there, boss.”
Caleb let go of my elbow, and I could feel his eyes on my back as I walked away. Or he was looking at my ass. I’d never know.
Part of me hoped he’d been checking me out, and I also hoped he didn’t know how high I was right now. What he didn’t know wouldn’t kill him, and if I could play it cool and keep my shit together, I could have the best of both worlds.
Chapter 7
Caleb
I waited until the sound of Lauryn’s heels clicking on the tiles faded away, and I was left alone in the back room. I looked around at all the makeup and girly shit surrounding me and wondered how much Zandra I might find if I was the sort of guy to go rummaging through their things.
I shook my head. I was not that sort of guy.
Lauryn had been high as a kite throughout our entire conversation, and I knew I was going to have to talk to her again when she was of rational mind. Samuel had been right. The girls had popped their tablets before I made it to them, and they’d all been staring at me like I was a piece of meat.
I knew what Zandra did to a person. I wasn’t stupid. The whole thing bothered me. I couldn’t help but think it was a way for women like our dancers to make bad decisions and end up with bad men who would take advantage of their irrational state of mind. Zandra made you crave the touch of another person like you craved water after walking for days through a desert. It wasn’t safe.
I raked my fingers through my hair and turned back to head out to the floor.
When I pushed through the saloon doors, the music met my ears. The club was filling up fast, and people were already crowding the bars. A few tables had been claimed, and a server was leading a VIP party to the private section up the stairs and to the back. She gave me a sweet smile as she passed, and I nodded my head to her as I wove through tables and cut across the dance floor.
Nobody was dancing yet, but it was only a matter of time.
I avoided looking at Lauryn until I knew she wouldn’t be able to see me. I stopped when I was by the emergency exit door and put my back to it. I sought her out and found her standing on her platform. She’d pulled on a pair of black gloves that went up to her elbows, and she was playfully snapping the waistband of her bottoms at a guy who was staring up at her like a drooling puppy dog. I knew how he felt.
Lauryn was the sort of girl who turned heads no matter what room she walked into. Her tanned skin and auburn hair gave her a golden look, and her hazel eyes only emphasized that. She was a combination of parts you didn’t see in one woman. The freckles and the upturned nose and full lips made a man question everything. She was perfection.
And the way she moved.
God.
It was pure madness.
I’d never met a woman who could move her body the way Lauryn did. She was a siren, hell-bent on bringing men to their knees all around her. How I’d managed not to fall for her song, I had no idea.
Then again, maybe I’d fallen a little.
When she was working, she was constantly on my mind. My gaze managed to drift over in her direction every couple of minutes, and she was the one I felt m
ost concerned about protecting, which was strange because our girls were always very safe. Our patrons knew the rules and never broke them. Kadia was too upscale, and if you were kicked out once, you were kicked out for life. Lauryn was safe here, yet if a fight was to ever occur, I sought her out first to make sure she was far from the fray.
I was losing my edge.
Someone cleared their throat next to me, and I glanced over to find Jack, one of the newer guys on my security team, standing beside me. He nodded over at Lauryn, who was doing a slow sensual dance on her platform. “She’s hard to look away from, huh?” he asked.
I nodded. Jack and I had worked a few shifts together already, and we’d become fast friends. He was friendly enough and vigilant. He never missed a red flag and had already caught a couple guys trying to smuggle coke into the bathrooms. “She’s something else, that’s for sure. Don’t tell her I said that. I’d never live it down.”
Jack chuckled. “Your secret is safe with me.”
I surveyed the room, keeping my eyes peeled for any funny business. Luckily enough, we were able to put down anything that rose up too high or too quickly, but it took effort.
“You’re here for the rest of the night. Let me know when you want to take your break, and I’ll relieve you,” I said, tapping my earpiece.
I walked over to the bar where Samuel was pouring drinks. He had a second bartender helping him now, so he was able to look up at me when I planted myself at the mouth of the bar where people could slip in behind it.
“How’s it going boss?” he called over the music.
I shrugged.
Samuel grinned. “That good?”
“Nose down,” I said.
Samuel sniggered and went about mixing drinks as I surveyed the bar. From here, I could see everything. Including Lauryn.
She had her back to me. She was swinging her hips from side to side as the music quickened in pace, and the gold chains hanging down her thighs danced across her perfect skin. There had been many times where I caught myself thinking about what it would feel like to run my hand up those legs of hers.
