Josie gave a nervous laugh while my insides froze in panic. "Sure thing. Ah, David—he looks familiar. Is his last name Webb by any chance?"
Doubt registered in Stony's eyes. "We never ask their last names. They're here to have fun and forget about real life for a while." He leaned forward on the bar. "Have you entertained this guy before?"
"Not me," Josie admitted. "But I think a friend of mine has. Her name is Coco."
She was so much better at this lying gig than me. "He has a deep voice, right? Like a smoker's?" I asked.
Stony nodded and grabbed a notepad that was sitting next to the register. He pointed to his nametag. "I'm Stony, by the way. Roger didn't leave your names, so go ahead and give them to me."
My mind was drawing a blank. I'd never thought about stripper names before. What was a good one to use—Shauna? Candy? Maybe Bambi?
Josie kicked my shin again, and I was positive it was black and blue by now. "I'm Cinnamon," she giggled. "And this is my friend, Sugar."
The customer who'd tried to pick us up threw back his head and laughed. "Did you ladies work at a bakery in a previous life?"
Josie impishly batted her eyelashes at the man, but I watched her hands ball into fists at her sides. "It's Cin for short. As in sinfully delicious."
Okay, now she'd gone a bit too far.
"Nice." Stony laughed as he wrote the names down, then gave the customer a scornful look. "Wes, how stupid are you? You know that strippers never give their real names." He glanced up at us. "You brought your G-strings, right?"
Oh. My. God. How were we going to get out of this mess? There was probably a greasy pole in the seedy back room waiting for me to slide off it. Or with my luck, I'd try to wrap my leg around the pole and both would break in the process. Where was my mother when I needed her?
"Ain't got mine," Josie said cheerily. "The dude I was with earlier wanted to keep it for a trophy. Got any extras lying around?"
My stomach flip-flopped as I listened to her. Josie seemed to be a natural at this whole stripper lingo thing, which was making me a bit uncomfortable.
"Roger won't put up with a customer doing that here," Stony assured her. "Those outfits cost money, especially with all that glitter glued on them. Yeah, you'll find a couple of extras in dressing room A." He glanced at Josie then at me. "I'm not sure if the ones in there will fit Sugar, though. She's got a little more meat on her bones than most of the other ladies. No offense, honey."
Stony had succeeded in lighting a fire under me. "What does that mean?" I asked in a shrill voice. It was one thing to refuse to wear a G-string but quite another to be told that I was too fat for one. "That was totally uncalled for."
Stony held up a hand in defense. "Hey, no need to take it personally, love. I'm sure David will prefer you to saggy Indigo. You're the type he goes crazy over. He loves cute-looking brunettes, especially those with a little extra beef on them."
"That's not beef, it's cheesecake," Josie whispered to me.
"Wow, that's cold," I snapped back.
Indigo walked off the stage and toward us. She had light brown, feathered hair and a face with such tightly stretched skin that I figured she must be one of Botox's biggest supporters. It was difficult to ignore the fact that she was still topless, and Stony's remark about her sagging body parts seemed to be correct. Embarrassed, I averted my eyes.
Indigo accepted the glass Stony slid across the bar to her. "Stone, I gotta go. I think I'm coming down with the flu. Chastity should be here soon. Is it okay if I head out?"
"No problem," Stony assured her as she drank down the contents of the glass in one gulp. It smelled like straight vodka to me. "These two ladies can cover until she gets here."
Indigo glanced casually at Josie, and then her eyes scanned me up and down. She exhaled sharply. "Great. You're going to ruin everything."
I braced myself for another insult. "What do you mean by that?"
Her white teeth gleamed in a smile as she leaned her ample chest against the side of the bar. "Davey in the back room is one of our best clients, and you look like his type. If you're any good, he's going to request you from now on, and then the rest of us will be left out in the cold."
Okay, Brian needed to get here now.
"Don't keep him waiting," Indigo cautioned as she turned on her stiletto and moved in the direction of the dressing room. "He won't tip as well if you do."
Stony nodded at Josie. "You can take the pole out here, Cin, while your friend entertains David."
Josie's face froze at his words. Self-assured Cinnamon seemed to have lost her spice.
"Uh, we prefer to work as a team," I said quickly. "You know, a package deal. Roger said we could stay together."
Stony scratched the top of his head thoughtfully. "He did? That's pretty unusual."
"Hey." My tone was sharp and surprised everyone at the bar, including myself. "We're not your ordinary strippers. Roger knows this and said we could make our own rules for the day. We've got a busy schedule, ya know? We're doing him a big favor by being here, and don't forget it."
Stony stared at me in amazement, and so did Josie. "Okay, okay," he said, holding up his hand in defense. "Hurry up back there and get changed." He turned to refill Wes's beer glass and shook his head in disbelief. "Jeez. Equal rights for strippers now. What's next?"
"We're not strippers. We're exotic dancers," I called out as Josie practically dragged me into dressing room A.
Once inside, she raised an eyebrow at me. "What the heck is wrong with you? You almost ruined everything."
"Gee, I don't know." Sarcasm dripped from my voice. "Maybe the thought of having to give a stranger a lap dance has something to do with it? Jos, I can't do this! It's disgusting! I can barely slow dance!"
She glanced at me in disbelief. "You've never even given Mike one?"
It was far too warm in here. "Okay, that's private information. Plus, what if David expects something—else?" I might drop dead of fright.
Josie stared at me like I was some type of moron. "He's a man, Sal. Of course he's going to want something else."
"It was a mistake to come here," I admitted. "I didn't know we'd end up—doing this! Isn't there some other way that we can keep David Webb here without having to take our clothes off?" I wasn't sure whether to throw up or run screaming out of the building.
Josie checked her watch and frowned. "Brian should be here soon. At least I hope so. Try not to panic."
Too late.
Indigo walked past us, and I was relieved that she was now wearing clothes. She had on a dark blue tweed coat and carried a large black leather Louis Vuitton bag. "Have fun," she told us. "There are some extra G-strings in the dressing table. Don't worry. They've been washed."
Gross. After she left, Josie and I examined the garments inside the table. The G-strings all looked incredibly tiny in size, but Josie and her size six figure could easily fit into one. I was a different story, though.
I gingerly picked up a red one that had blue and white stars glued on it. Maybe Indigo wore this one on the Fourth of July. "There's no way that I'm wearing this," I said, "even if it's been soaked in bleach. What is this—a stripper's bargain basement?"
Josie pointed a finger nervously at the adjoining door that was marked Private. Customers and Dancers Inside. She swallowed hard. "David Webb is in there, waiting for his lap dance. We can't afford to have him leave, Sal. This might be your only chance to nab him."
Bile rose in the back of my throat. Although I was usually comfortable with my weight, there were times when I became self-conscious, especially during bikini season. Mike always assured me that I looked gorgeous in everything, but I wasn't sure that I could carry this off. If I'd known we were going to chase some guy to an exotic dancer's club, and that I'd have to wear a G-string to entertain him, I would have done my homework first. At the very least, I would have talked to my mother. Maria Muccio was no stripper, but she'd once modeled for a lingerie magazine, and I had no doubt she co
uld have provided me with a few pointers. Or at least advised me to run for the hills.
"Let's see if we can try this with clothes on first." I looked inside the dressing table again and found a short white skirt tucked away in the back of one of the drawers. It came to about midthigh on me and was sheer, covered with red, blue, and green feathers. Yeah, I'd heard that the ostrich look was in this year.
I pulled off my jeans and squeezed the skirt on over my underwear. It was a little snug, but I made it work. Then I proceeded to tie up the ends of the pink, V-neck T-shirt that I was wearing to show some bare skin. We'd just had these shirts made for the bakery. In blue lettering across my chest, the shirt read Get a Free Fortune. Good grief. What would David Webb think when he read my shirt? I didn't want to find out.
I watched in envy as Josie slipped on a pair of Daisy Duke–type jean shorts she'd found in the closet. They looked like a size zero to me and made her shapely legs even more fabulous. She tied up her T-shirt same as me and then glanced down at the rubber-soled black boots she was wearing. "These aren't going to cut it."
There was a shoe rack in the bottom of the closet that contained a few pairs of cheap stilettos—covered in glitter, of course. That seemed to be a requirement for everything at Bottoms Up. Josie winced in pain as she shoved her feet into a pair of red sandals. "These are at least a size too small for me."
I glanced down at my own knee-high, black leather boots with a low heel. "I'm leaving these on. This way I'm armed if I have to kick him in the face."
Josie looked impressed. "You go, girlfriend. That outfit is kind of cute on you. Different, but cute."
"Hey!" We both jumped at the sound of a deep male voice bellowing from the other side of the door. "Another gin and tonic, Stony. Now. And if I've got to wait any longer for my dancer, I'll take my business and money elsewhere."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"I'll get the drink," Josie whispered. "You entertain him."
Panic rose inside me. "Wait—what? How am I supposed to entertain him?"
Josie rolled her eyes and gave me a slight push toward the door. "Go show him some of that special Muccio charm." She shoved a plastic bag with two fortune cookies into my hand. "Danny asked me to bring these home. Use them to distract him. It's all I've got, Sugar."
"Well, thanks a lot," I snapped as she ran out of the dressing room and back to the bar. I can do this. No problem. Brian will be here any second. With a deep breath, I opened the door to the private room. My mouth opened in surprise. I wasn't sure what I expected, but certainly not this.
The lighting in the room was dim, accompanied by the Barry White tune "Ecstasy" playing seductively in the background. It was as if I'd stepped back in time. David Webb was lying on a leopard-design couch, something that looked faintly reminiscent of the 1970s. From the stale smell in the room, it might have even been that old. David was watching a porn flick on the flat screen television mounted to the wall. On the opposite side of the room was a small wooden dance floor with another pole in the center of it. Gee, that was a surprise.
David set his drink down on the vomit green-colored coffee table and sat up when he heard me come in. His eyes scanned me up and down, and then a broad smile broke across his face. A smile that sent chills through me.
"Well, well. That's quite an interesting outfit," he said. "And who might you be, gorgeous?"
His voice was exactly as Mike had described the gunman's—husky and deep. Even from a few feet away, I could smell cigarette smoke on him that mixed with the scent of Aqua Velva. Did men other than my father still wear that stuff?
David had on a zebra-print Speedo and nothing else. I cringed inwardly at the sight of him and desperately wished that I was on another planet. His upper arms and chest rippled with muscles, and I could imagine him crushing me with one single blow. Then I stared down at his wrist and froze.
There it was—the tattoo. A cobra with red eyes. Creepy and original. Bingo. I was convinced this was our guy.
David waved a hand in front of my face and grinned. "Checking out the merchandise already, huh? Come closer, sugar. What'd you say your name was?"
"Yes."
He stared at me blankly. "Yes, what?"
"Sugar. That's my name," I said in a feeble tone.
He patted his lap. "Well, come on over and let's get to know each other better, Sugar."
I glanced back at the door in a blind panic. Where the heck was Josie? How long did it take to get a drink in this dive? In desperation, I tried to laugh, but it came out sounding more like a wheezy cough. "Um, I thought maybe we could play a game first."
He stared down at my hand with the fortune cookies and grinned. "I like games. What kind of toys did you bring?'
"Fortune cookies." I tried to giggle seductively. "They're part of my act."
David looked at me like I'd been smoking something. "You're a little strange, but it doesn't matter. You're hot, and I happen to like a lady who's a bit different. Whips and chains get boring after a while."
Dear Lord. Josie, did you get lost?
David eyed the fortune cookies with mild curiosity. "Wow, what do you do with those? Is it painful?"
Heaven help me. I tried to avoid looking at his exposed skin and, instead, stared down at the floor. Mike was in great physical shape, thanks to constant running and weight lifting, but David had him beat by a mile. This guy was like a bear on steroids. He had muscles everywhere I looked—or tried not to look, that is.
"Um, I'm going to tell your fortune." My voice trembled as I stretched my hand forward to give him a cookie.
David didn't take it. His dark, calculating eyes were pinned on me, and I didn't like the expression I read in them. "You open it for me, sexy."
Having no choice, I cracked open the cookie and stared down at the message. Holy cow. Was this some sick joke? You should have stayed home. This one is going to cost you. What I really wanted to know—was the message for me or for David?
"What's it say?" he asked.
"Oh, that." I shoved the message into my boot and tried to giggle, but my nerves were getting the best of me. "It says that you're charming and all the ladies love you."
His dark eyes scanned me up and down again, lingering a bit too long on my chest. "Got that right. Damn, you're way better than saggy Indigo. What's your nightly rate?"
Did Josie forget me and decide to go home? "I doubt that you can afford me," I said lightly and walked across the room to pick up the remote for the television. "How about we watch a Friends rerun?"
"Whatever gets you in the mood, Sugar. I once had a dancer who liked to watch Scooby-Doo during her act. And no worries, I can definitely afford you."
"Oh, yeah?" I clicked through the channels, trying to gain some much-needed time. "What do you do for a living?"
"I build homes," he said in an arrogant tone.
"Really?" You also steal and kill people. "Do you mean modular ones?"
"No, not the manufactured kind. I've built a few in the area, and they were profitable, but it's time to move on and find a new location. I'm coming into a nice sum of money very soon. After it's safely tucked away in my pocket, I'll be taking off for a warmer climate. I hate Northeast weather."
That's why he was still in town. Had Trevor been keeping the money from his partners? If so, where was it now?
"Enough of the television," he said. "Put that remote down and come sit on my lap."
Having no choice, I whirled around to face him. Although he still wore a smile and his tone was friendly, his dark eyes were ice cold. They seemed incapable of emotion, and I shivered. I'd seen eyes like that before—on killers.
"Here I am," Josie said breezily as she hurried into the room with a drink in one hand and a bowl of peanuts in the other. She placed the items down on the puke-colored coffee table and gave David a superior smile. "Hi there, handsome. I'm Cinnamon."
David looked her over without comment, his eyes lingering on her perfect, lithe legs in the tight short shorts,
and then he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "You're nice-looking, but I prefer brunettes. No offense, Cin."
Josie whispered in my ear. "It took forever for Stony to get off the phone and make the freaking drink. I was about ready to fix it myself."
David came up behind me, placing his hands on my waist while I was pretending to watch television, and I tried not to stiffen. "Dance for Daddy, Sugar."
I locked eyes with Josie, and the panic in mine must have mirrored her own. Josie knew that I had two left feet. Mike always teased me about stepping on his toes when we slow danced. This was not going to end well.
Josie cleared her throat nervously. "Hey, hot stuff," she said to David. "We're having a special deal today. Two dancers for the price of one."
He frowned at her. "You can leave now, Cin. Tell Roger thanks, but no thanks. Sugar here's exactly my type. We're going to have fun tonight. Just don't tell the girlfriend," he laughed.
My mouth dropped open. "You have a girlfriend?"
He shrugged. "Yeah. So what? Hey, a man has needs. One woman can't take care of all this." He flexed the muscles in his arm.
"Boy, that's the truth," Josie mumbled.
David pulled a fifty-dollar bill out of his wallet. "My girl is quite outspoken. She loves it when I call her boss. I'm crazy about her, but every guy needs a little variety now and then." He waved the bill at me. "Now, I said to dance. Cin, I think there's a pole in the bar with your name on it."
"Where the heck is Brian?" I whispered to Josie. Maybe he thought I was like the boy who cried wolf one too many times and had decided to let me deal with this on my own. If that was the case, stick a fork in me because I was done.
I did some simple moves with my feet and jiggled my hips back and forth while David burst out laughing. "Okay, stop with the jokes, Sugar, and lose the outfit."
"Oh, but she's just getting warmed up," Josie said. "The best part is yet to come."
"That's right." I attempted a spin, and my left boot caught the leg of the coffee table. With a gasp, I tripped and went sprawling across the floor. Josie started toward me, but David beat her to it. He reached down and lifted me from the floor with one hand.
Sprinkled in Malice Page 14
