Table of Contents
Title Page
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER ONE
Bourbon Street Royalty
Jaded Series, Book Two
Kimmie Easley
Wine Worthy Romance
COPYRIGHT © 2016
Bourbon Street Royalty
Kimmie Easley
Published by: Wine Worthy Romance
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This book contains material protected under the International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means either electronic or mechanical. Including but not limited to, photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the Author/Publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you received this book from any vendor other than Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, or Createspace, please go to one of the vendors listed and purchase the book legally.
Dedication
The moon and all of it’s magic.
Acknowledgements
Huge shout out to DeLaine Roberts and her stellar graphic design skills. Her talent never fails to blow me away. You are a colleague, a friend, my family, and an unparalleled inspiration.
To my PA and great friend, Tammy Becraft, thank you. You are a gift.
Daniel, we’re getting closer! Shiners all around! And P.S., I love you more than you know. D+K
H&H – just believe. In yourself, in your gut, in your dreams, and in your path. They’re yours to claim and mine to encourage. I love you both.
SIX MONTHS AFTER LEAVING NEW ORLEANS
“It’s oke, sweet tifi. Yo’ jus’ rest now. Leave ever’t’ing else to us. We gotch yo’, cher.” Ma’Linn leaned over Baby Jade’s lifeless body. Her thick, ebony hair fanned out across the stark white pillow where her bandaged head rested.
Ma’Linn hadn’t left her friend’s bedside since she had been life-flighted into the Tulane Medical Plaza. Doctors, nurses, and specialists drifted in and out mumbling technical terms and apologies.
There were no healing powers in their inept words. Only the confirmation of pain and loss.
As Baby Jade remained motionless, other than the miniscule rise and fall of her chest, Ma’Linn secretly chanted soothing words, saying prayers and caressing salve mixed with herbs and rubbing salt onto the bottoms of her feet.
What they didn’t understand was that Baby Jade knew.
The medical staff. Ma’Linn. Lucky. They all thought they were keeping her safe, dealing with one thing at a time, all the while thinking she was sound asleep, resting peacefully. Even though her life hung in the balance, teetering between life and death, they managed to find a little solace in not having to tell her about the accident.
But she knew. She knew everything. That’s why she had no fight left in her. She didn’t want to live. Not now, not like this.
Not without him.
CHAPTER ONE
Baby Jade
THREE MONTHS LATER
Baby Jade rolled her luminous, green eyes as Mickey spouted off orders while the girls attempted to get ready for the night’s set.
Same old shit, just a different day.
The man was a sleazebag, portly, with yellow teeth and armpit stains. He wasn’t exactly known around town as a business professional. He was the owner of the New Orleans strip club where she worked. Unfortunately, Bottoms Up was just as neglected as the day the doors opened almost twenty years ago.
Baby Jade had worked at the club on and off over the last few years. Now, at twenty-two, Baby had given up on finding anything better. She told herself that this was the best that life had to offer. God had blessed her with exotic looks that worked well in the tips department, and that’s about it. She might as well get used to the idea that she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Baby had tried that once. Believing in the whole happily ever after bullshit didn’t suit her. Not anymore.
She was stuck working in this shit hole. And Lucky, the man whom she thought would ride in on his iron horse and rescue her from this mundane hell was out doing God knows what with only God knows who.
Fairytales come true, my ass.
She had nothing to keep her motivated. The only thing that made her get out of bed in the mornings, or afternoons, was the undeniable fact that she had bills to pay. And with her mother in the best mental facility in the state, those bills were mounting at an alarming rate. Rozalie had been at Pecan Grove for the past few years and was finally showing some improvement. Not that Baby Jade got to see it firsthand. Her mother still refused to see her, and without offering any excuses or explanations. In order to continue to be able to pay the bills, Baby moved back in to her bug infested shit hole of an apartment and picked back up her shifts at Bottoms Up.
It was the hand she had been dealt; her fate to live alone and reap the life of misery that she had sown. Karma. In a way, she was thankful that things hadn’t worked out with Lucky. They were from two different worlds. Although they were both from New Orleans, she had grown up in the slums. He was from a rich family with every opportunity available to him. He was a Gauthier, and she was a nobody. Heartache was inevitable.
They gave it a shot, and now neither of their lives would ever be the same.
“Come on now, get your asses upstairs and make some fucking money.” Mickey waddled his way up the cement staircase that led up to the club. He had put on a few more pounds while Baby had been gone. He had also grown a mangy looking beard in an attempt to cover up one of his three chins.
Disgusting. Some things never changed.
Baby still didn’t socialize with the other dancers outside of work. Jewella was still a cokehead, along with her protégé Barbie, who was a bigger bitch than ever. Coral was still around and earning her street credit as a dancer. Lolli was gone, but that wasn’t much of a surprise.
Slade had sunk his clutches into her long before Baby had taken off. He was the worst kind of douchebag. He supplied the club with an endless line of drugs. In return, he was able to enjoy certain ‘perks’. Lolli was no longer a perk. She was now one of his employees, as Baby referred to them. He passed her around and pocketed a shitload of money, keeping her too doped up to care.
There were a couple of new girls on the schedule at Bottoms Up, which worked out well for Baby. The newbies usually got the worst shifts while leaving the veterans the prime spots. Tara was a young blond who had run away from Iowa and Velvet was a stunning
Hispanic girl from Texas. Baby Jade hadn’t quite figured out what she thought of either girl yet.
“Get your shit together, girls. You heard the man.” Jewella took a long drag off her cigarette, leaving hot pink lipstick on the dingy filter. Smoke had billowed out of both nostrils before she snapped her fingers, attempting to hurry the girls along.
Baby made sure to take her own sweet time. She had come to find a fair amount of pleasure in pissing off the old hag.
“Baby, get up there and make your rounds before your set. Shit, we ain’t got all night.”
She leveled her green eyes at Jewella. It had been less than a year, yet she appeared as if she had aged a decade. Her gaunt face was nothing but skin and skull. She had smeared her cheekbones with bright blush. Her dull, sunken eyes donned her signature Robin’s egg blue eye shadow, caked on until it flaked, sending speckles across her cheeks. She plastered on mascara, leaving black smudged under her eyes.
She finished touching up her own makeup before giving Jewella an ‘eat shit and die’ grin as she sauntered up the staircase. Most people thought she was the same old Baby Jade, but they were wrong.
Life had come along and bitch slapped her one too many times. She was harder. Colder, with no signs of changing anytime soon. It was the only way she knew how to survive.
Baby made her way around the crowded room. Mickey was still trying to get the most out of her homecoming, labeling her the headliner on the marquee. It was obviously paying off because every weekend resulted in a packed house with standing room only.
She could almost bank on the tips with the vast array of regulars she had collected.
She spotted a Bottom’s Up virgin nursing a beer off in the corner. “Hey, love, glad you made it out tonight. Having a good time?” She flashed her best smile and tossed her black waves across her shoulder.
“Oh, yes ma’am. Been waitin’ all week.” The man winked at her.
It was an innocent gesture, but she had never liked the winking. She didn’t know how to handle it. Let a guy grab her boob or squeeze her ass, and she knew exactly what to do. With a wink, it was too hard to tell if he was a douchebag or a gentleman. To save herself the trouble, she just assumed it was the first.
“In that case, my first set is dedicated to you tonight. How about that?”
He lightheartedly placed his hand across his chest. “I’d say it was worth the wait.”
Her eyes narrowed just slightly as she tried to figure the man out. She had never seen him in the club before. He was clean cut, with short ash blond hair, buzzed on the sides. He had a baby face and a broad jaw stippled with a five o’clock shadow. A single, tiny cleft was centered at the bottom of his strong chin. When his full, sensual lips curved into a smile, she saw a mouthful of perfectly aligned, white teeth.
He didn’t seem interested in what was going on around him. He didn’t look at the stage or gawk at the half naked women walking around. He didn’t even scan her body, although she was wearing a short, sheer robe that barely covered her skimpy lingerie.
For a brief moment, she thought he might actually be gay but quickly squashed the idea. Not the way his eyes were practically penetrating her. Even if she couldn’t figure him out, there was no denying that he was into her.
Baby Jade was skilled in the art of lust.
“Well, you have yourself another drink and enjoy the show. I’ll be up soon enough.” She backed away as he winked again with a slow nod. She sashayed across the room, but couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder.
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she realized that the mysterious man was still following her with his icy blue eyes.
She drew in a deep breath and tried to go about her business. Talking up the crowds and mindlessly flirting with her regulars didn’t come easily knowing the man across the room was fixated on her. It twisted her stomach into knots. Her body hadn’t reacted to a man since Lucky, and that thought made her stomach churn.
Baby bolted down the hallway and barreled through the bathroom door. She hurled herself into a stall and tossed the little bit of food she’d had earlier in the day. Her stomach sloshed as she rinsed her mouth with water and dabbed her neck with a wet paper towel.
Running her hand over her small tummy, Baby closed her eyes and inhaled, taking in a few deep breaths to steady her nerves. Her fingertips skimmed the rough scar running horizontally across her lower belly. She blinked back the hot flush of tears, willing herself to make it through the night. It had become a daily ritual, often more than once a day.
She had lost weight, and her once voluptuous curves were paying the price. She wasn’t eating much since the accident, and sleep was nonexistent without taking something. She walked a fine line, and Ma’Linn helped make sure she didn’t get carried away. There was a time she would have let a tragedy like this lead her back to her old lifestyle, but now she didn’t take anything for the pain, not even when the numerous doctors tried to shove prescriptions down her throat. She indulged in a glass of wine or a beer and only used her voodoo friend’s concoction as a sleep aid.
It was a daily struggle to say no to the drugs that drifted in and out of the club. However, since the accident, she viewed her body differently. Even though she was no longer pregnant, it didn’t belong to only her. It never would again.
Baby wiped the smeared makeup from underneath her eyes and attempted to pull herself together. She smiled as she headed backstage to prepare for her first set of the night, surveying the crowd from behind the deep purple drapes.
Jewella leaned against the bar tossing back shots and making ill attempts to flirt with the patrons. Barbie was always close by, mimicking Jewella’s every move, only younger and better executed. Baby was fairly certain that the girl had a plan, and Jewella was going to hate to see the day it finally played out.
Mickey stood behind the DJ booth, eyeballing the stage. He was always ogling the girls. You would think the thrill of seeing naked women would wear off after all this time, but not for him. He was disgusting, but at least Baby knew how to deal with him. She was one of the few in the club who could handle him and his never-ending pile of bullshit. Everyone else slunk away to the closest corner.
Baby listened as Mickey made his usual introduction, amping up the anxious crowd. She heard the first few beats of her set song, “Send the Pain Below” by Chevelle. She closed her eyes and allowed the smooth sound of Pete Loeffler’s seductive voice to wash over her. She slipped one long, toned leg through the drapes, coiling the other around the curtain. She worked her way up and down, causing the crowd to erupt with anticipation. She slowly backed her way down the stage, still wearing her black robe. Holding onto the pole, Baby leaned forward and ran her hand up her leg, giving a sneak peek of her bare backside.
She moved her hips to the beat, using the sensual lyrics to command her body. Baby Jade had always had a connection with music and dancing. It was one of the only things in the world that made her feel alive. She came to rely on the feeling of the way the music and lyrics dominated her soul. She found a way to lose herself in music. With Baby’s unconventional childhood, she knew early on that she never had a shot at being a professional dancer. Her mother was mentally ill. She didn’t have a father. They had no money and had to make do when it came to food and somewhere to rest their heads at night. It wasn’t a pretty scene. If it hadn’t been for Ma’Linn, there’s no telling where Baby would have ended up or if she would even be alive today.
Music was her soul mate, and she was content with that.
Life goes on.
Baby tugged on the sash holding her robe closed and allowed it to fall to the floor. She let it slip, exposing her light, caramel shoulders. Her Creole blood was definitely a gift when it came to the looks department. From an early age, attracting male attention had been all too easy.
The silky tone blared through the speakers and Baby’s body was now on automatic pilot. The robe slipped further as she shimmied out of it and let it fall away. H
er satin green jacquard corset formed to her body and sheer fringe hung from the bottom, just short of her matching jade colored thong. She stepped out of her stilettos and leaned forward to unhook the garters connected to her lacy, black thigh highs; teasing the already unruly crowd. She rolled the stockings down one leg and then the other, sending them across the stage. Baby deliberately took her time unlacing the front of the corset, pulling the satin thread seductively through her fingers. Just as the fabric started to slip, she held it with both hands concealing her breasts. Once the song hit the climax, Baby let the corset fall. She dropped to her knees, and on all fours, she slithered to the edge of the stage. Whipping her hair, Baby gyrated on the floor before flipping over and arching her back. Her naked breasts in the air, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
At the end of her set, Baby Jade stood and collected the skimpy pieces of fabric. She grinned and blew a kiss to the men lining pervert row, leaving them begging for more. As she sauntered off the stage, she glanced toward the mystery man’s table. He was still in the same spot, sitting up to a small, round table with his arms folded across his broad chest. His eyes examined her every move. Their gazes locked. His lips curled into a slight smirk sending chills across her bare flesh.
It was unsettling not to be able to get a read on the guy. Even if she had wanted to, Baby couldn’t give the hot, mystery man a fair chance. She had been trying for months to forget about Lucky, but it proved to be easier said than done. He may be gone, but he was still a part of her, their souls melded together, and their minds intertwined. Her heartbeat pounded against her empty chest as the blond hunk’s blue eyes seared through her, making her blush.
Lucky seemed so far away.
CHAPTER TWO
Lucky
Lucky stumbled backward, spilling over the table and sending cards, money, glasses, and empty pitchers of beer sprawling across the dusty floor.
“You som’bitch! I’m gonna kill you!”
Bourbon Street Royalty: Jaded Series, Book Two Page 1
