Teased (The VIP Room, #1) (10 page)

“
I’m selling her for two hundred fifty
dollars. She’s a malti-poo.” Vida stroked the soft fur one more
time before regretfully giving it back.

“
I wish I could buy her, but right now
I don’t have a permanent home. It’s going to be a while before I
can have a puppy.” Reluctantly, Vida gave the puppy back to the
little girl, who took it back with a relieved smile.

“
I wish you could have taken her. I
can tell you two would have made a great match.” The woman smiled.
Vida glanced down at the little girl who didn’t try to hide her joy
at having her puppy back.

Vida said goodbye with a last look at the
wiggling puppy in the little girl’s arms. Her stomach clenched as
she tried to gather her emotions around her while they walked back
to the bike. Colton stiffened as they drew closer, not
understanding why until she saw two men touching his bike. One
kicked the wheel while another messed with the handlebar.

“
Get away from my ride,” Colton said
as he moved toward the men.

“
We’re just lookin’ at it.” The man
had tobacco in his mouth, spitting a stream of juice near Colton’s
foot. Vida assumed the man was an idiot until her gaze went to the
side and saw another large man leaning against the side of an older
model truck.

“
Go find something else to look at,
like your wife fucking your brother.”

The man cockily pulled up his saggy pants
and raised his hands in the air.

“
I don’t want no trouble. What make is
it? You get plenty of pussy ridin’ on those nut busters? Been
thinking of getting me one. If it gets me a piece of pussy that
looks like her, I might need to buy one.”

“
Shithead, you couldn’t afford what a
bike like that costs, but you go ahead and buy one you can afford
because a dumb fuck like you would be road kill in a
hour.”

The man turned red. Vida thought he might
have swallowed the wad of tobacco in his mouth, instead he let go
of another spew of juice and this time it landed on Colton’s
boot.

Vida was watching it and still didn’t see it
happen. One minute the man was standing there and the next his face
was planted in Colton’s boot with Colton’s hand in his hair. He was
using the man’s face to wipe the offensive stuff off his boot.

“
What the fuck.” His friends rushed
forward.

Colton used his other foot to kick the
downed man away from him. The first man to reach him had a fist
shoved in his nose and blood flew as he was knocked back into his
other friend that was also coming at Colton, causing them both to
lose their balance. Before they could right themselves, Colton beat
the men mercilessly.

Vida stood there, open mouthed, as people
from the farmers’ market tried to break the fight apart.

“
You need to get the hell out of
here,” the friendly mother told Vida and Colton. “Those boys have
several friends in town. They won’t like it that one man beat up
all three of them.”

“
We’re going.” Colton waited until
Vida was on the bike before he got on and started the
motor.

Colton drove them back to the city, and as
each mile brought them closer, Vida felt the return of all her
worries that she had been able to briefly put from her mind.

As soon as they were back in the apartment,
Vida took a quick shower before going back to her homework. The
life that mother and daughter shared was the future she was working
so hard toward. She had to keep her mind on that, not the reaction
Colton aroused in her. He was nothing more than a one-way ticket to
reliving her mother’s life.

***

Colton had watched Vida shut down her
emotions when she walked away from the small girl and puppy. She
had wanted that small dog so much it was almost tangible. Colton
had begun to notice during the short time Vida had been around him
that the more strongly she felt about something, the more she shut
down her emotions.

He couldn’t understand it. Goldie had been a
good mother, she had constantly talked about Vida when they had
been at the same party or hung out with mutual friends. He was sure
that she hadn’t secretly abused Vida, so he couldn’t understand why
she was so closed within herself. The only thing he could think of
was that with her mom dead and Sawyer gone, she was overwhelmed and
closing down was her way of dealing with the situation she had
found herself in.

He had to respect the way she handled
herself. Vida was determined to make a successful life for herself,
wanting her friend by her side when she accomplished her goals.

Colton remembered seeing Sawyer before he
went to prison. She had come into his shop for a small tattoo on
the inside of her wrist. She was tall and curvy. He could easily
see why she had been kidnapped with her fresh-faced beauty. Others
of a more corrupt nature would seek to destroy that beauty and
innocence that was easily discernable, even if all she was wearing
were cheap jeans and a t-shirt.

He didn’t know why, but for some reason, her
tattoo came to mind. He had given hundreds and actually remembered
only the ones he had created or he had done extremely well in spite
of their difficulty. Sawyer’s had been simple and straightforward.
She had only wanted a simple word on her wrist. Freedom.

Colton was beginning to think that the three
young girls he remembered playing outside when they were little had
been imprisoned much longer than he was.

Deciding to take a shower, he left Vida
doing whatever it was she did on her computer. Washing his body
then his hair, he thought about getting it cut, he always wore it
long, but now it was brushing his shoulders, and he was becoming
aggravated when he forgot to tie it back.

He leaned his head against the shower wall.
His cock was driving him insane after feeling her lush body against
his back all day. He had known it would be a mistake to spend the
day with Vida, but hadn’t been able to resist the temptation to get
to know her better.

Colton got out of the shower, drying himself
off and wrapping a towel around his hips before going into his
bedroom. Forcing himself not to check out what Vida was doing, he
shut the bedroom door behind him.

Picking up the cell phone on the table
beside his bed, he made a call that he hoped would keep him out of
trouble.

***

Vida heard the knock on the door and was
rising from the table to answer the door when Colton’s bedroom door
opened and he came out dressed only in jeans. Sitting back down,
Vida lowered her eyes back to the computer, already knowing it was
a woman at the door; it just remained to be seen which woman he’d
called.

Vida recognized the voice of the woman that
he had given a tat to last week.

“
What’s she doing here? I thought it
was just going to be the two of us. I’m really not interested in a
threesome.” Vida would have laughed if she weren’t so
miserable.

“
It’s just us. Vida is just my
temporary roommate. Let’s go back to my bedroom.”

Vida couldn’t resist looking up for a second
to see Colton take Lara’s hand and lead her down the hallway to his
bedroom. She turned away before they could catch her staring. Vida
continued working for another hour, having to turn up the volume on
her headphones to drone out the female screams and moans coming
from the bedroom.

From past experience, Vida shut down her
computer and made her bed, determined to be asleep before the woman
left. Inexplicably, she didn’t want to see her after she had been
in Colton’s bed.

Leaving on her headphones this time, Vida
didn’t put the pillow over her face. She lay quietly, listening to
her music, pretending she was far away in a new home with Sawyer as
her roommate.

For once, her plans of the future didn’t
comfort her.

Chapter 8

Vida had just finished scheduling an
appointment when her cell phone rang.

“
Hello?” she answered hesitantly, not
familiar with the number on display.

“
Vida?” a woman’s voice she recognized
answered.

“
Jazz?”

“
Yes, Vida I need a big favor. Cody
fell off his bike and broke his arm. We’re in the emergency room.
Vida, I can’t leave him.” Vida felt bad for the young mother who
worked as a body shot girl to keep a roof over her two young
children’s head. They had a deadbeat dad who refused to pay his
child support, but Jazz wasn’t deterred her from going to school
part-time during the day to get her kids a better life.

“
What do you need?” Vida
asked.

“
I’m scheduled to work a party. It’s a
divorce celebration.” Vida could hear the hiccup in her voice where
she had been crying. “If I miss it, King will fire me. I had to
miss so much work lately with the kids. He warned me if I cancelled
again, he would let me go. I can’t lose this job.” Another
hiccupping sob and Vida caved.

“
What time is it?”

“
In an hour. You don’t have to worry
about a costume I have an extra one; it’s in my locker. Juliet is
working it too, so you won’t have to do it alone.”

“
I’ll cover you. Don’t worry, Jazz.
Just take care of Cody.”

“
Thanks, Vida.” The worried mother
hung up the phone.

“
Ready?” Colton asked as he came into
the lobby with his keys in his hand.

“
Yes. Can you give me a ride to
Kings?”

“
You’re not scheduled for tonight.”
Colton stated angered that King was making her work an extra
night.

“
I’m not, but a friend’s child got
hurt and I told her I would work the party for her,” Vida
explained.

“
Have you worked a party before?”
Colton asked sharply.

“
No, but if I don’t, King will fire
Jazz, and she has two kids, Colton.”

Colton lips tightened as she grabbed her
backpack. Closing and locking the doors, he let his silence speak
as to what he thought about her working the party. The silence
continued even after he dropped her off at the back door. Assuming
he would go on to the apartment, she didn’t watch as he drove
around the side of the building.

Hurriedly, with not much time left, Vida
went to Jazz’s locker, taking a step back when she saw the outfit
staring at her. It was a thong with a little black skirt that every
time she moved would sway to show her ass. The top was a sheer
black lace bikini top that tied closed between the breasts. Anyone
barely tugging the string would expose her breasts.

“
Hurry up, Vida.” Juliet came into the
dressing room, already dressed. Applying her make-up, she gave Vida
a cold glare. “I’m not working those horny bastards myself. I
already told Jazz when she called you that you better pull your
weight.”

Crap. Vida disliked Juliet out of all the
staff King had. She used her body and wiles doing anything and
everything to score the big tips.

Taking the costume from the locker, Vida
went into the restroom to get dressed, not wanting to get changed
under Juliet’s scrutiny. Looking in the mirror when she was dressed
in the costume, Vida almost changed her mind. Stiffening her
shoulders and remembering the two children depending on their
mother had Vida stepping back into the dressing room to brush her
hair and apply her make-up.

“
Hurry up.” Juliet held the door open
and Vida followed her up the steps to the VIP room where the party
of men were waiting.

When Juliet opened the door, the group of
eight men sitting at a table on two couches at the back of the room
started calling for them.

Vida and Juliet both grabbed a tray of
drinks and walked to the table. Each man grabbed a cup of the
foaming champagne, toasting the newly divorced man. He didn’t look
heartbroken to Vida as he stared at her breasts and rubbed her ass
when she came near to hand him his drink.

Vida moved out of reach, but didn’t say
anything, following Juliet’s lead. In the VIP room, the men were
allowed to touch more, but they weren’t allowed to touch a woman’s
mound or pull his penis out. Other than those rules, the men paid a
higher cover charge to be given greater leeway with the women.

Juliet sat down on the couch next to several
men at the end of the table. She reluctantly sat down next to the
newly divorced man and his friends. For the next hour, Vida sat
listening as he complained about his ex-wife while she refilled
their drinks.

It was after their third round of drinks
that Vida noticed that Colton had come into the room and was
talking with the bartender. Ignoring him, she picked up her tray
and went back to the table.

“
I’ll give you five hundred for a dick
shot,” Vida overheard a man tell Juliet. The woman readily agreed,
placing a cup of beer between the man legs.

Juliet squatted between his legs, going down
with her mouth to the cup. Vida had to give the woman credit; she
acted like she was giving him a blowjob using the cup instead of
his cock. Grasping the cup between her lips, she took a sip,
placing it back between his legs before going back for more. It was
highly suggestive. The men got excited watching the woman
perform.

“
I’ll give you five hundred for a dick
shot.” The divorced man, Vida had learned was named Copper, offered
with a drunken smile.

“
No thanks,” Vida refused. Juliet
threw her a disgusted look. The men went back to drinking and
Juliet gave a couple more dick shots to the customers.

Vida escaped to the restroom when Copper
began tugging on the string to her top. Juliet followed her,
slamming the door closed behind them.