Lust (The Stripped Bare Series Book 1) (10 page)

Wow, she looks beautiful. Her hair is tied up in a bun, little wispy tendrils are hanging down her face. She blows one away as she walks towards the booth of men who are on a stag night. She balances the tray of drinks with precision, placing each one down delicately. Smiling her thank you when one of the men tips her, she walks back towards the bar, her pert arse swaying back and forth. I think about everything that Ma said as I look at her. Maybe it is lust and I just need to fuck her to get her out of my head. I don’t know anymore. I realise I’ve been stood gawping at her for a while when the music stops and Jo walks past me. Gathering up the money on the stage, I head back to the staff room.

“Jake wants you.” Vicki calls on her way past, looking disgruntled. I place the money in Jo’s box and head off to see what the boss wants.

“Sit down,” his voice seems strained. He pinches his eyes with his fingers, as I take a seat on the sofa against the wall. “I’ve sacked Vicki. Can you make sure she leaves the premises? I need a new dancer as soon as possible. D’ya think Jasmine is up to the task yet? She must have had at least fifteen hours worth of lessons by now? What’s Scotty said about her?” He’s talking too fast, I can’t keep up, and my mind is racing. Fucking Vicki, why didn’t she listen to me when I told her to quit?

“I’ll contact Scotty and ask him how she’s getting on.” I hope he says that she’s crap. Maybe, if I find a new dancer, he won’t need Jasmine. Think, Max, think. I don’t know anyone else who can do the job. Damn it!

“Good, let me know.” He dismisses me. Making my way towards the dressing room, I start to panic; I don’t want her to dance. I’m being ridiculous, it’s not like she’s my girl.

“Vicki, get your stuff, quickly, and get out,” I shout, my anger bubbling over. I’m seriously pissed off now. Why does everything have to go so wrong, and why does everything have to be so hard? No one teaches you this stuff in school. They teach you all sorts of shit but real life isn’t about Maths and English, it’s hard and it sucks.

After escorting Vicki off the premises, I make my way to the staff room to call Scotty.

“Hi, Mate. Jake asked me to give ya a call to see how Jasmine’s getting on.” My stomach lurches at the thought of her up on that stage, taking off her clothes.

“She’s amazing, Max, a real natural. She could probably do with a few more lessons on techniques and choreography, but it shouldn’t take long for her to grasp the concept. She could pull off a three to five minute performance.” FUCK!

“Okay, thanks, I’ll let Jake know. Can ya come in this week if you’re needed?”

“Yeah, sure. Let me know.
”
He’s always so damn cheery. He makes me want to puke with how cheery he is all the time.

“I’ll call you back.”

Hanging up the phone, I make my way back to Jake’s office to tell him the
good news.

Jasmine

“It’s perfect, we’ll take it.” The estate agent shakes my hand as we leave the property. Austen runs down the steps and onto the pavement, waiting when he gets to the car door.

“Great, I’ll have the documents drawn up, if you could pop in and see us this week to sign the forms and we will get your references dealt with.” Her blonde hair swishes in the wind and I notice she has one of those strange ear piercings, you know the one where it looks like you could fit a butt plug through your ear lobe.

“Thanks, I’ll speak to you soon.” I go round to the driver’s side of the car and climb in. “Do you love it, baby?” I ask Austen. He seemed pretty bored whilst we were viewing the new flat. Although, I don’t blame him. I’ve dragged him around several different flats over the last week.

“Yeah, it’s cool, and it’s near my new school so I can make some new friends.” The flat is just down the road from the new school and only a ten minute walk to my parents
’
house. We have come to an arrangement that Austen will sleep at Mum and Dad’s house when I’m working and he will sleep at home when I’m not. It’s a bit of a messy situation but if it wasn’t for this job, I wouldn’t be able to afford the flat at all. Rent is a hell of a lot cheaper than it is in London, but it’s still a stretch, or at least it would be if I had a lesser-paid job. We make our way back home, and I make Austen some lunch before having a quick nap. I’m so exhausted lately and I have to work again tonight. I keep telling myself that I’m doing all of this to give Austen a better life. It won’t always be like this.

I wake with a start, sweat pouring out of me. Turning over I glance at my phone. Crap, I need to get ready for work. The nightmare that has been haunting my sleep daily, still clinging to me. In it, the man with the gun is chasing me. He knows where I work, he knows where I live, he even knows about Austen. He want’s to hurt us both. He wants to shut me up, Permanently. I beg for my life, I plead with him and promise to never say a word. Then the gun goes off and I wake up.

Jumping in the shower, I try to dissipate the remnants of the nightmare before getting ready and heading off to Lust.

“Hey, Piper, how’re things?” I call out as I walk through the bar towards the dressing room. She’s sitting on one of the bar stools talking to Harry. Harry is a new doorman; he’s replacing Dexter while he’s at his parents’ house in Yorkshire. He’s a nice lad, young, I’d say early twenties, he’s got short black hair and a tattoo of a woman on his forearm. I keep meaning to ask him who it is, but I always forget.

“Good ta. You okay?” She replies.

“Yep, be out in a minute.” I make my way into the back and start to get dressed. I’m startled when there’s a tap on the door. “Who is it?” I call out, one leg in my jeans, one leg out. I hop around trying to decide if I should pull them back on or take them off completely.

“It’s Max. Can I come in?” Crap!

“Give me a sec,” I call. It’s not like him to knock; usually, he comes barging in without a second thought. I decide to take the jeans off and quickly slip my skirt on. “Come in.” He opens the door, sticking his head around the side. He looks shy; things have been slightly awkward since ‘the kiss’ and we haven’t really spoken much.             

“Jake wants you to nip in his office for a chat before you start your shift.” He looks nervous, but there’s a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“Okay, as soon as I’m dressed I’ll go see him.” He doesn’t move. Shifting uncomfortably, I ask, “Is there anything else?”

“Oh, sorry. No, that’s all.” He shuts the door carefully. Well, that was strange. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so timid. As soon as I’ve finished getting ready, I make my way to Jake’s office. Knocking on the door, I hear him clear his throat before he booms his ‘come in.’ I open the door and make my way inside. Jake sits behind the large desk, looking at his computer screen. He lifts his head slightly to acknowledge me, then continues to read whatever is on the screen in front of him. Taking a seat, I wait to hear what he has to say.

“So, I’ve had to let Vicki go. Yo
u’
ve probably already heard the gossiping.” I nod my head in reply. Piper had called me to let me know what had happened. Apparently she had been taking some of the punters back to her flat for a bit of extra money. I don’t blame Jake for sacking her, he’s trying to run a respectable establishment. “Well, anyway, as a result of this I need a new dancer. You’re the first person that came to mind. Max has spoken to Scotty and he thinks you’ll be ready to go with a few more sessions.” Oh my! My heart rate increases as he talks. I’m not sure I’m ready for this. I love the dancing, and I’ve enjoyed the pole work, but I don’t think I’m ready for an audience. Shit!

“I’m not sure, Jake. It’s easy when it’s just me and Scotty stood up on that stage. I don’t know if I’m ready for an audience yet.”

“Nonsense. Scotty has been asked to come in tomorrow morning to do an hour session. Can you come in? If he thinks you’re ready by next week we will arrange a dress rehearsal. You can dance for the girls so you know what it’s like.” I nod my head, because frankly, I haven’t a clue what to say to him. I know it’s just nerves but I’m scared shitless.

“Okay, thanks, Jake. Is that all?” He nods his head dismissing me. Exiting the room, I run to the bathroom. I splash cold water on my face and try to calm myself down, before touching up my makeup and heading behind the bar to work.

“You need to point your toes further, they’re looking sloppy.” I’m exhausted. Scotty has had me working on the pole for over two hours now. I don’t think I’m ready, but he does. We have yet to get to the stripping part but he has told me that we can work on that at a later date. I’m glad because I’ve been so nervous about taking my clothes off. I want to speak to Jake and ask if I can just work the pole without the actual stripping part. Maybe Max will help me to convince him? “Right, now let go of the pole.” Doing as he asks, I squeeze my thighs tighter round the pole and let go. Gracefully, I fall back and grip the pole above my head. I point my toes and lift my legs to a straight position. It’s taking all the strength I have in my aching arms to keep myself upright. “Great, now smile. You can’t grimace like that in front of the punters.” I give him my best seductive smile and hope that he’s satisfied. “Excellent.”

Climbing back down off the pole, I walk over to my bottle of water and take a big gulp.

“Are we done today?” I ask, hopefully.

“Yes, I want you back in tomorrow to work on a few other things. I’ll arrange with Jake for you to do your dress rehearsal Thursday morning to give you time.” I’m so anxious. Even though I’m not taking my clothes off, I’m worried that I’ll make a mistake and look stupid in front of all the other girls. They’re all so amazing when they’re up on that stage. I’m an amateur; I doubt I’ll ever be that elegant. Heading into the changing rooms, I knock on Jake’s office door on my way past. My heart does that little jumping thing when I hear Max’s voice coming from the other side. Opening the door, I poke my head round.

“Is Jake in yet? I need to see him about a reference?
”
The estate agent had called late yesterday evening, after Jake had left, to say I needed to arrange for two references to be brought in next week. Max looks up from the computer screen and his eyes light up when he sees it’s me. He gives me a tight smile and I want to run over to him and jump into his arms. We haven’t really talked about what happened in Cruise. I respect his decision, even though I don’t agree with it. It’s not like Dexter and I were dating.

“What do you need a reference for?” He looks baffled. It’s cute.

“It’s for a flat I’ve been looking at, they just need my work details and a reference to say that I’ve got a steady job so that I can afford the rent.” He stands up and walks towards me. I push the door open further and walk through it. I’m still in my gym gear and I realise that I’m probably covered in sweat from the punishment Scotty dished out this morning.

“I’m sure it wo
n’
t be a problem. I’ll make sure Jake gets it to you as soon as possible.” He walks closer now, taking in a deep breath as if he’s smelling me. I subconsciously pull my arms down to my sides, afraid that I stink. He leans against the wall in front of me with a smirk on his face. “Was that all?” he asks. He’s only a couple of feet away from me, but I can feel the magnetism pulling us closer. I don’t know how we’re ever going to stay away from each other.

My eyes never leave his lips as I inch further forward. I want to taste them again. I can still taste his minty breath on my tongue. His mouth straightens and his face turns serious, his eyes glaze over, and he moves even closer to me. We can’t be more than a few inches apart now. I can smell his musky aftershave. He has on a black t-shirt and I can just make out the tip of one of his tattoos. It looks a bit like a mermaid tail, but I could be wrong. I’d love to find out what it is, though. My tongue instinctively darts out but I catch it in between my teeth. I so desperately want to lick him all over his well-structured body. I wonder where he works out? I should make myself a member.

“Hey, Max,” I hear Scotty’s benevolent, sing-song voice behind me. My face flames, and I’m sure I’ve turned a lovely shade of red.

“Yeah, that was all. Thanks, Max.” Turning around, I bow my head so that Scotty doesn’t notice my embarrassment and leave the office.