Romance in Vegas - Showgirl! (5 page)

Then the parade began. Dani counted fourteen
dancers including her. Now, one by one, like models, they walked to
center stage, turned around, then walked back.

Adriene, the dancer with children, seemed a
bit flustered when he drawled, "You staying away from cheesecake,
Enny?"

"Yes, sir." Then she grinned at him, as she
made her way back.

When it was Dani's turn, she tried to
remember everything Nat told her the night before. She glided,
posture good, posed with weight on her back left, right foot up,
made a graceful turn then walked back. No comment was made by
Scaletti, he was serious, and had his elbow resting on the chair
arm and his hand over his mouth now while his eyes raked over her.
But Dani thought she heard a hiss from one of the dancers. It was
really very disconcerting.

Kim walked up to her after Scaletti left.
"That was Lorali by the way."

Picking up her towel, Dani replied, "You mean
the hiss noise?"

"Yeah," Kim laughed, "she's a cat alright.
Don't let it worry you."

They went on to practice the dance routine.
The music was a soft rock number with a good beat. Dani kept up,
staying in back of the women, then realized pretty soon she'd be in
front and her mind went into overdrive to memorize it.

On a fifteen minute break, she found Nat
Davis.

"I think I have it down now," she told him,
still breathless from the exertion of dancing. "Could I be in
front, then?"

He looked surprised and set his clipboard on
a stool. "Sure, let me show you the positioning and area on stage.
We'll see how it goes."

After the two of them went through the whole
salsa-type routine, the women wandered in and stood watching
them.

"She's good," Kim said to Adriene, "she is
really good. He'll probably use her in the Saturday shows."

Lorali stood eavesdropping, with a smile on
her face. She'd just thought of the most wonderful way to get rid
of the new one.

Later that afternoon, Al stopped by the
rehearsal and stood in back of the theater watching Dani. He leaned
against the doorjamb with his arms crossed.

And he realized he'd picked a winner in Dani
without even knowing it. She was extremely light on her feet,
graceful, and yet he could tell she felt the pounding rhythm of the
songs. She led the rest of the dancers perfectly, beat on beat,
turn on turn. From the posing with arms up, to the end, she was far
superior to any of the other dancers. "Quality," he muttered to
himself, "real quality."

His cell phone jangled. "What?" he said
impatiently.

"Boss?" Lefty's voice.

Al laughed and let himself out of the theater
into the hallway. "What's going on?"

"It only gets worse."

He knew what Lefty meant. Dani.

Sighing, he said, "Go ahead."

"My contact in Buffalo said she was in the
hospital two years ago and CPS was involved."

Al's face was grim now, and he was
silent.

Lefty continued, "Broken arm, spiral
fracture, like when someone grabs you and twists. Sprained ankle.
Black eye, with a detached retina."

"Christ, what happened?"

"CPS came in on it because the foster father
turned up with a black eye too. The guy said they both fell down
the stairs together."

"My God," Al breathed, "she must have been
trying to fight him off. Did they move her after that? To a
different home?"

Lefty replied, "Yeah. But she ran away a few
times." He paused. "The more I look into this boss, the worse it
seems. And the sorrier I feel for her."

Al looked up now, blankly staring at the
showgirl sign down the hallway. "She's okay now, my friend. We'll
take good care of her."

Once back in her room, Dani realized she had
nothing to do until the show started that night. Nat wouldn't let
her dance, although he'd almost promised her to dance in the two
Saturday shows. But they both agreed she should watch one show from
the audience, so tonight was the night for that.

A knock sounded, and a bellhop stood in her
doorway, then handed her a cell phone package. "This is from Mr.
Scaletti," he said, grinning at her.

"For me?"

"Yes, ma'am. He said to keep it with you at
all times." He grinned again, then waved and took off down the
hallway.

She flipped open the phone, tried a few
icons, and realized there was only one phone number listed. Al
Scaletti.

Chapter 5

Dani showered and washed her hair with a new
shampoo Kim recommended. Toweling off, she thought the scent of her
hair was lovely, like roses.

Donning a hotel plush white robe, she walked
to the dinette table and noticed a light blinking on the new phone.
"How odd," she said out loud. "Yes?" she said after she called the
number.

"Miss Troubix," Scaletti said smoothly, "how
are you?"

She found herself clutching the robe tighter
to her chest, then she relaxed and smiled at her foolishness. After
all, the man had seen her in her underwear. "I'm fine thank
you."

"And how did the rehearsal go today?" She
heard him rummaging through papers, and wondered if he was even
paying attention to her.

"Fine, thank you," she said shortly.

He said, "I thought we could get a bite to
eat tonight before the nine o'clock show."

She hesitated. After all, she was under
contract now. "The contract...with the casino. It says I can't date
employees or have men here in the suite."

Laughing softly now, he replied, "I think
they'll make an exception for me. I'll write you a note if you
like."

"Well, I just got out of the shower..." her
voice trailed off and she realized that was none of his business
and she shouldn't have said anything.

"Okay," he said briskly, "I'll come by your
suite around seven. We're going to Le Fleur. See you then." And he
hung up in her ear.

She began to panic. She had nothing to wear
and she'd never heard of Le Fleur. On the house phone, she called
the backstage number and asked for Kim.

When she told Kim what had happened, Kim
screamed in her ear, "You're kidding! Le Fleur? That's like the
best restaurant in the city!"

"What should I wear?" Dani said, still in
panic mode, "We're going to the restaurant then to the show to see
you all afterwards."

"Don't freak out now. I'll have housekeeping
bring you a dress. In the mean time, do your hair and make-up."

They hung up and Dani felt like she was on
autopilot as she dried her hair and fixed it in an upsweep, tried
to control a few wayward strands loose around her face, and dashed
on mascara and red lipstick.

Housekeeping brought her dress, a
form-fitting light green cocktail length gown with gems along a low
bust line sweep. Kim had also included heels, size seven, in a
matching hue.

But she was dismayed to see how very low the
neckline was on the thing, and she hiked up the straps to no avail.
Well, she thought, it would just have to do.

Too soon for comfort, a knock sounded on the
door. She opened it to see him standing casually in the hallway.
His hair was combed neatly back from his face, and he was dressed
impressively in an expensive tailored black suit and white shirt
with a burgundy tie and vest. A burgundy and black handkerchief was
tucked into his upper pocket. His blue-grey eyes were warm as they
looked her up and down.

Seconds after she opened the door, his
aftershave wound around her senses, and made her weak in the knees.
He had power, this man; it flowed from him, even as a slight smile
appeared on his lips now.

"Miss Troubix, are you ready then?"

She just took her room card, and held it out
to him. "Yes, do you mind holding this?"

"Not at all." He slipped it in his
pocket.

They walked out into the noisy casino, and he
led her to the back entrance, where a limo waited in the stifling
Vegas heat.

After the driver let her in, and Al sat next
to her in the backseat, she said, "I've never been in a limo
before." She looked around at the bar, then the sunroof, and her
eyes came back and met his. The heated gaze in his eyes left her
breathless.

But a minute later he caught her unaware, and
she stiffened, as he reached up and smoothed an errant hair back
from her face. His hand lingered there for seconds before he took
it away again.

His aftershave was so pleasant; she felt in a
haze as they rode along the twinkling Vegas Strip. Neither of them
said a word for a while. She had the feeling his mind was
elsewhere.

"Would you like a drink?" he said with a
smile. "Although they'll probably arrest me for serving a
minor."

Her back straightened and she realized he had
privy to her HR records, driver's license, everything. She wondered
how much he had found out about her past. Would it make a
difference to him? "Yes. I wouldn't mind a few sips of whiskey.
Thank you."

Still smiling, he poured her two fingers of
an expensive whiskey from a tumbler in the limo bar. As she sipped,
she realized he probably wanted some conversation from her. "Is Le
Fleur a nice restaurant? I'm new in town, I've never been
there."

She turned to watch him now.

His expression looked very far away, as he
said, "My wife used to like Le Fleur." Then his eyes trained on her
again. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

The neon lights of the strip reflected back
to her as she tried to read his eyes. Nothing more was said,
though, as she sat back and they continued to the restaurant.

When they arrived, the posh surroundings told
Dani this was indeed an expensive restaurant. And the maitre d'
scurried around, seating them in an intimate nook towards the back
of the restaurant. It seemed as if the man knew Al Scaletti very
well.

The light was muted in the restaurant giving
a faint glow to everything Dani saw. Her eyes moved to the plants,
the waiters, people at the other tables, the candle glinting on the
table, then to the man in front of her.

A smile quirked his lips again, and she
thought it was probably the sexiest thing she'd ever seen in a man.
So, she smiled back.

Al thought he must be a very lucky man
sitting with this beautiful vision called Dani. With the shining
red hair pulled back, her neck was deliciously in view. He'd had to
hold himself back in the limo from kissing the length of it, as her
scent of roses hit him. And now she had that delectable little pout
on her ruby red generous lips as she perused the menu. It was
driving him crazy. But he was a patient man, if anything, so he
searched his mind for something to say that would not indicate he'd
researched her past.

"How did rehearsal go today?"

That seemed to do the trick. As the waiter
took their drink orders, she opened up on the subject. He watched
her gracious hand gestures and saw she wore pink nail polish. Idly,
he wondered if she had it on her toes as well.

"So you like it then?" he asked.

"Oh, I do Mr. Scaletti."

"Please, call me Al."

She flashed him the thousand watt smile.
"Then call me Dani."

"Absolutely."

The waiter brought their drinks. But, he
noticed she was shifting in her seat. "Everything all right?" he
asked solicitously.

"Yes, thank you. I think I'm having some
cramps from today's workout. In my legs. Nothing major, though. I
can handle it."

They ate their dinners after that, she had
filet mignon, and he had salmon. The food was delicious, as usual,
and he noticed with humor that she really had a healthy appetite.
But, she still shifted all during dinner.

"I am so sorry," she finally said, as she
looked close to tears, "my legs are cramping something terrible.
Would you mind if we went back to the casino? Maybe if I walk for a
while it will go away."

"Of course." He drew her up from the seat and
steadied her by one elbow as they left.

In the limo, she continued to shift
uncomfortably. As they pulled up to the back entrance, he said,
"We'll go to your suite. I have an idea. Don't worry about the
show. We can go to the eleven o'clock."

Dani nodded, wondering what he had in mind.
Although, the way her legs felt now, she'd do anything to make the
cramps stop.

He used her room key, and he guided her
inside, led her to the bed. "Wait here and lie down," he said, "I
need to make a call."

A few minutes later, he let someone in, as
she lay face down on the bed.

"This is Charlene, Dani. She's a masseuse."
She felt him unzipping her dress, and tried to stop him, as she
wasn't wearing any bra.

"Don't be so prudish," he said firmly, "I've
seen plenty of breasts in my time, and so has Charlene." They
undressed her then, except for her panties. The cramps were so bad
now, she didn't even care what they did to her.

But then she felt the strong hands of the
masseuse on her legs, calves, thighs, and it was heavenly.

"She's really bad," the woman said, "knotted
up like crazy. Did she drink enough water today?"

Dani saw Al drop down on the bedroom chaise.
"Well?" he asked.

"I don't think I had any water," was Dani's
muffled reply, "but I had some coffee with breakfast."

"Christ," he said.

Charlene added, "She's probably dehydrated to
begin with, then had some coffee and I suppose drinks before
dinner?"

"Christ," he said again, "I didn't know,
Charlene. Never even occurred to me to ask her."

"Moron," she told him crossly, "look at her
back. Solid knots. I don't want to see this again, Al."

"Oh, you won't," he replied, chagrined. "I'll
talk to Nat about it."

But the massage was feeling so lovely to Dani
that she grew hazy and almost fell asleep under the expert hands.
She wasn't sure how long it lasted, but when it ended she couldn't
move.