The Escape Collection: (The Escape Collection) (21 page)

She snorted and covered her mouth. The noise was so unexpected that they both broke out into laughter. It was good to see her laughing. The moment diffused the tension and seemed to ease some of Whitney’s jitters.

When she regained control, Whitney said, “A situation? You could say that. My mother and I don’t have what you would call a typical relationship.” She didn’t offer any more information and Reid got the distinct impression she wasn’t going to. “Turn right up here,” she said.

Reid glanced at his GPS. “Are you sure? It doesn’t tell me to turn for a few more blocks yet.”

“I’m sure.”
 

Reid did as he was told.
 

“I know a shortcut,” she said. “Besides, this way you can park in the back.”

“The back?”

They were in an older part of the city and there wasn’t much open. The few stores there were had bars across the doors and didn’t look very inviting. There were a handful of tattoo parlors and pawn shops and one or two liquor stores, but not much else.
 

“Turn left in to the alley. It’s on your right.”
 

Reid turned in to the dark alley and pulled in next to a dumpster directly under the single light in the small parking lot behind a nondescript brick building.

“This is it?”
 

“Were you expecting glitz and glamour? It’s not Vegas.” She raised an eyebrow at him but he only shrugged. Whitney grabbed her purse and put her hand on the door. “Do you want to come in?”

The battle that went on in Reid’s head was quick and dirty. If he told her he didn’t want to go in, it would look like he wasn’t supporting her. But if he said he did want to go inside, it would look like he was excited to go inside a strip club. And he definitely got the impression that Whitney wouldn’t be happy with that answer. It was a no-win.

“Why don’t you come in,” she said, making his choice easy. “You can wait in the back hall.”

Reid nodded in agreement, but Whitney didn’t wait for a response. She had one leg out of the car before Reid could get the keys out of the ignition. It had been a shock when she’d told him originally her mother was a stripper because it just didn’t fit with what he thought he knew about Whitney and her grandmother. But if there was one thing he knew, it was that people weren’t always what they seemed. There was always more than what met the eye. He slammed the door behind him and caught up to Whitney.
 

They crossed the parking lot and Reid glanced around. “Do you carry pepper spray or anything?” Logically, he knew she’d been here by herself before, but when his protective instincts kicked in, it didn’t make it any easier to picture Whitney alone in the dark parking lot, surrounded by who knows what.

“Why would I have pepper spray?”

“Well, maybe I’ll get you some for the next time you come alone.” Reid made a mental note never to let Whitney visit the Lusty Lady by herself again.

She gave him a look as they reached a steel door at the back of the building.
 

“Sometimes it’s easier to come in the back,” she said.
 

Reid nodded and pulled the heavy door open before following Whitney into a dimly lit hallway. It was empty, with a staircase off to one side. Reid nodded, because there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t sound completely stupid. “If I’m lucky, I can catch her in the change room,” she said. “Then I don’t have to go out there.” Whitney nodded down the hall, in the direction that Reid could only assume was the main club. “Look, just wait here while I go check. You probably shouldn’t come upstairs, though. You never know what you’ll see up there.”

Reid nodded again and then catching himself, he cleared his throat and said, “I’ll wait right here.”

Whitney started up the steps, but stopped before going any farther. She turned and gave him a small smile. “You aren’t nervous to be here, are you?”

 
Reid swallowed hard and leaned back against the wall. There’s no way she could sense his anxiety, could she? But how could he not be a little freaked out? There was no handbook for how he should act in this situation. If she caught him looking at a woman, she’d think the worst of him. So he wouldn’t look. But he couldn’t make that promise. After all, he was a man and men were programmed to look. If he got lucky, he could wait alone in the hallway and it wouldn’t be an issue. “Nervous?” Reid shrugged and hoped he was coming off much more relaxed than he felt. “That’s crazy. I’m fine.”

“Uh huh. Whatever you say.” Whitney smiled again and nodded. “Now don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

“Yes, ma’am.”
 

Reid watched her disappear up the stairs. And then he watched a little longer, hoping she might come back. He hadn’t counted on being left alone and he really didn’t know what to do by himself in the back hallway of a strip club. He waited another heartbeat and when it was clear Whitney wasn’t going to be turning around and coming back down, Reid pushed off the wall and started looking around. For a strip club, the back hallway was pretty nondescript. Not that he’d been in many strip clubs or had much in the way of comparison. But Duncan had dragged him to one when they were in Vancouver for business. It wasn’t Reid’s thing, but Duncan seemed to enjoy it and if he remembered correctly, Reid had left early, leaving his friend there to partake in all types of lap dances and whatever else the club had to offer. He’d never asked Duncan for details, though. Some things were better left not knowing.

 
Reid walked down the narrow hall but turned around before he got to the curtain that separated it from the main room. The music filtering through was loud and heavy with bass, although he couldn’t quite make out the words. It was no secret what was on the other side of the curtain and despite a certain amount of natural curiosity, he was pretty sure he didn’t want to make the move past the thick velvet barrier. It was definitely better if he just waited. Whitney wouldn’t be long and then they could leave. And talk. He still had a lot of questions for Whitney about her mother and their relationship and none of the explanations he was making up in his head were doing a very good job answering them.

“Well, hello there.”

The voice made Reid jump and he turned to see a petite woman dressed in a lime-green tube dress and clear heels that put her almost at the same height as him. Her dark skin contrasted sharply with her white-blond hair and her stained red lips blazed out at him. There was something about the way she was looking at him, as if she was the cat and he was the mouse cornered in the barn, that caused him to take a few steps back toward the stairwell Whitney had disappeared up.
 

“Are you lost, sugar?” The woman’s voice was soft and velvety. She walked closer to him, her hips swinging unnaturally with every step. Reid couldn’t back up much more or he’d be out the door. He glanced towards the stairs. Still no Whitney. “Or were you waiting for me?”

“I’m…I’m waiting for someone.” He barely managed to get the words out. Reid swallowed hard and pulled himself together. He never got nervous around women. But there was something about the way she was looking at him that was causing his words to tangle around his tongue.

She giggled, but it didn’t sound sweet, or funny. “Well, your wait is over, sugar. I’m here now. And Ruby is always worth the wait.”
 

“Ruby.” Reid extended his hand, trying a different approach. “Nice to meet you.”

She ignored his hand and ran her own down his chest, fanning her fingers across his abs, trailing them dangerously close to his waistband. “You’re not supposed to be back here, ya know?”

“I’m waiting for someone.” Reid glanced up the stairs. Still no Whitney.
 

“You broke the rules,” she said. “And you gotta be punished.” She narrowed her eyes and Reid had a vision of how exactly Ruby planned to punish him. “But you can make it up to me,” she purred. “How about a dance?”

Before he could protest or slip away, she grabbed his hand and led him down the hallway. “I really shouldn’t I’m honestly just waiting for someone. She’ll be worried—”

Ruby spun on her heel and put her finger to Reid’s lips. “Her loss is my gain. Isn’t it, sugar?” The grin slid from her face, replaced by a scowl. “Besides, ya don’t want me telling Brutus that I found ya back here waiting for the girls, do ya?”

He had no idea who Brutus might be, but Reid was pretty certain he didn’t want to find out. Whitney probably wouldn’t find out, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to be upset with him under the circumstances. It wasn’t as if he went looking for it. With one more glance back to the still empty stairwell, he let Ruby lead him through the velvet curtain and into the pulse of the Lusty Lady.
 

***

I stood in the door for a moment, and watched her. She was the only one in the room, the other girls likely in the middle of a shift. While I watched, she stared into the mirror at her dressing table. Just staring, not moving. After a second, she closed her eyes against her image and slowly opened them again.
 

“Mom?”
 

She startled and turned. For a brief second before her face transformed into the overly bright smile she always used with me, I could see a sadness in her eyes. But it was gone so fast I could only wonder if I’d imagined it.
 

“Whitney, baby.” She didn’t get up, but held out her hand to me, which I took as a cue to enter. The heavy scent of perspiration, cloying perfume and desperation hung in the air and assaulted my senses as I stepped around piles of discarded clothing and shoes, picking my way over to her. I took her hand in mine and squeezed.

“How are you, Mom?”
 

“It’s been too long.”

“It’s only been a few weeks.”

“Too long.”

“Well, I’m here now.” It was best to get her off the track to a guilt trip as soon as possible. “I heard you spoke to Reid,” I said.
 

Her face split into a smile. “I did. He sounds like a nice guy.” Without letting go of my hand, she turned to stare in the mirror again. “He’s your boyfriend?”

I tried not to roll my eyes. “You know he’s not,” I said. “He’s my roommate. But you’re right, he’s a nice guy.” I stopped short of telling her he was one of the few people who knew about her and I was actually okay with it. Well, not really okay. But…with Reid it didn’t seem to matter. But I wouldn’t tell her any of it, because I knew it hurt her that I was embarrassed of her. She’d never said so. She didn’t have to.
 

She held my eyes in the reflection and her brow furrowed up. “What else?” she asked. “Is he cute?”
 

I shrugged, trying for casual. “He’s my roommate.”

“Is he cute?”

“Mom.” I pressed my lips into a line. “I didn’t come all the way down here to talk about Reid.”
 

She opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again and went back to examining herself in the mirror. She was dressed in her house-mom clothes, wearing a long silky black dress with a slit up her leg and deep cleavage.
 

“I like your dress,” I said. “You’re not dancing tonight?” It wasn’t really a question because I knew that despite the performance I’d witnessed a few weeks earlier, she didn’t take the stage much anymore. Her hair was done, and she had her usual mask of make-up in place. But even under all the layers of eye shadow and mascara, she looked tired.

She shook her head a little. “Not tonight.”

“What’s wrong, Mom?” I reached for her other hand and spun her around on the bench so she was facing me. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing.” She blinked and shook off my hand long enough to dab at an invisible tear with a tissue.
 

I squeezed her hand and urged her to talk.
 

“You know the new manager? Leon?” I nodded, remembering my not-so-pleasant run-in with him the last time I’d visited. “He hired three new girls.”

I tried for a moment to see what the problem was. I looked around the room searching for a clue but the discarded hair pieces and hot pants didn’t give anything away.

“And?” I finally asked.

“And they’re pretty and young.” She pulled away from me and twirled in the chair until she was facing the mirror again. While I watched, she tugged and pulled at her skin, forcing it into completely unnatural and slightly grotesque positions. She stretched her cheeks back so her skin was tight and she could barely blink. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re being ridiculous.” I gently took her hands away from her face and forced her to look at me. “You know you look amazing. Everyone says you could pass as my sister.” I hated saying it, but I knew it would make her feel better and predictably, she smiled and nodded. Sometimes it was hard to remember who the mother was in our relationship. “Now, are you going to tell me what’s really going on?”

My mother’s face crumpled and she dissolved into real tears. She wasn’t a pretty crier and soon mascara was running down her face in thick, black streams. I handed her the box of tissues and rubbed her back. For a moment, the thought that something really was wrong crossed my mind and my breath caught in my throat. I don’t think I could handle it if something happened to both her and Grams. The thought of Grams caused a wave of guilt to course through me. I hadn’t even told her what was going on with Grams yet. I squeezed my mother’s shoulder and gradually her sobs started to calm down. It was probably better to wait until she was in a better frame of mind.
 

“Mom, tell me. You’re scaring me.”

She looked at me, blinked back tears and snorted loudly into a tissue before saying, “Stan asked me to marry him.”

“What?” I withdrew my hand and backed up. “You’re kidding me?” I should have known it would be something totally ridiculous that had her all worked up. If she asked me, which she never would, she should have married Stan years ago. Anybody could see how much he worshipped her. Frankly, I had no idea why he still stuck with her after she’d strung him on for so long.