by A R Steele
So Jesse tried to walk by as the woman at Shade’s table waved him over. It was about half an hour into the shift, but there were already enough customers that Jesse could easily have found some others to talk to.
This woman looked determined, though. As Jesse passed, she stood up to beckon to him. “You finally saw me!” she exclaimed. “I thought you were going to just walk by. We’re dying to talk to you.”
“Sorry,” Jesse said. “I just assumed my colleague here would be taking care of you. He’s very good at what he does.” He glanced at Shade, who pursed his lips. Shade didn’t look like he particularly wanted him there, either.
“We want both of you,” the woman said. “You’re just my type, and Shade is my friend’s. She’s just coming back from the restroom now, actually. Pearl, over here! Look what I got for you.”
The second woman gave them a big smile as she came to the table. She was a pretty-ish girl in her late twenties, the type of girl Jesse might have gone for before Shade flipped his head upside down. He hadn’t slept with a customer since their night together. He hadn’t been with anyone, actually, or even seriously thought about it.
As the woman named Pearl came closer, her smile faded. She blinked as she looked at Shade. “Well, you look familiar,” she said, swirling the cocktail pick in her martini. “You look just like someone I used to know.”
Jesse was ready to go into his normal seductive routine, but he hesitated when he saw the look on Shade’s face. Even with the neon lights, he could see how Shade had just gone white as a ghost. His eyes were blank and his jaw had gone slack.
After a second, he collected himself, but not before Pearl had also remarked on his reaction. “Wait, is it actually you? It couldn’t be. Sheldon?”
Shade gave a tight smile and shook his head. “No, it’s Shade.”
Either Pearl was too drunk to realize he’d said no, or she was too smart to fall for the lie. “Oh, you’re going by a nickname now. Wow, it’s been years since I’ve seen you. Who would have thought I’d run into you here, of all places?”
Jesse thought Shade might continue to protest, but he gave up the act instead. “Oh, yes, I do remember you. How are you?”
“I’m great,” Pearl slurred. “Who would have thought you’d be working in a strip club? I thought you went to school for… for…”
Shade looked absolutely panicked. Jesse wondered why that was. Hadn’t he gone to school for finance? That was what he had told him, anyway.
At last Pearl shook her head. “Something smart, that’s all I remember.”
“Of course,” Shade said, still looking pale. “But tell me about you. How have you been?”
“No, no, tell me what brought you here,” Pearl said. “You were doing something completely different in Haberdee.” She tilted her head and squinted at Shade as if trying to see him better. “I never would have guessed you’d end up in this kind of place.”
Jesse was getting a peek into Shade’s past – even if it was a completely perplexing one. He listened carefully, his ears alert. He knew he wouldn’t get a chance like this again. He might get some new clues about all the things he had been wondering about.
Maybe Shade actually was a cop. He had hardly thought about that possibility recently, too caught up in getting to know Shade. But had he been getting to know him at all, or just his act?
“I should be going,” Shade said. “It’s been lovely to see you. I’m so happy that you’re doing well.”
Pearl stood up, tipping slightly over the table. Her drink splashed onto her fingers, and she wiped at them with a napkin. “Don’t go,” she said. “We were just starting to catch up. Can’t we have a drink together like old times?”
“I’m sorry, I have to… to go onstage,” Shade said. “I’ll see you later. I hope you ladies have a wonderful night. I’m sure Jesse will be happy to stay with you.”
Jesse raised both eyebrows at Shade. As if he was going to sit here with these girls right after this had happened!
As soon as Shade left, Jesse leaned forward. “None of you ladies knew Shade before, is that right? Only your friend did?”
The customers nodded.
That settled it. Jesse stood up. “One of the other gentlemen will be around to entertain you in just a second, then. I need to speak with Shade.”
When Jesse reached the change room, Shade was leaning against a locker, breathing heavily with a hand on his forehead. He looked up at Jesse when the door swung open. His expression was that of a deer in the headlights. “Jesse!” he exclaimed.
“Sup, Sheldon?”
He put a grin on his face so that Shade would know he was just teasing, but Shade only looked more upset.
“Huh?”
“I guess I knew Shade wasn’t your real name, but Sheldon? I would never have guessed that one. It doesn’t suit you at all.”
“Look…”
“It’s cool,” Jesse said.
Shade shook his head. His nostrils were flared, his breathing ragged. He was on the verge of becoming hysterical.
“It’s not a big deal. I’m just teasing you, that’s all. I don’t care what name you go by, okay?”
“I’m just freaked out,” Shade said, sinking down onto the bench.
Jesse glanced over at the mirror, where he caught a glimpse of his own face. He looked as concerned as he felt. Shade’s behavior was truly bizarre.
“Why are you so upset?” he asked. “Who is that girl?”
“She’s just a chick from Haberdee,” Shade said.
So she really was from Shade’s past. “And why does she freak you out?”
“We went on a few dates in college,” Shade said. “Four or five.”
Jealousy seized Jesse, and he forced himself to focus. This could be important.
“So what happened?” he asked.
“Well, she was pretty into me,” Shade said. “I didn’t return the feeling. At least, not enough to have sex. She took it poorly. She kept harassing me for a while, and it took her months to finally give up.”
“That’s all?” Jesse asked.
“What else would it be?” Shade shrugged. “I blocked her from everything. I thought she was out of my life, and for a couple years, she seemed to be. Then I run into her here? I’m upset because I don’t want that crazy chick anywhere near me.”
“I see,” Jesse said. “I guess we had better get back out there. I’m sure it’ll be okay if you keep your distance from her.”
Shade nodded. Jesse offered him his hand, and he pulled himself up from the bench. The touch turned Jesse on. Even if Shade was a cop, which he still wasn’t sure about, he was one damn sexy cop.
They walked out together, Jesse’s head still spinning with a million questions.
Twenty
After convincing Lev to trade turns on the side stage, Shade was still decompressing from the shock of seeing Pearl. The side stage was almost relaxing, with few people looking directly at him. Of course Pearl stared, her eyes boring into him for the duration of the song.
Seeing her was a blast from the past, and not a pleasant one. Shade could happily have gone the rest of his life without seeing her again. He wondered how he had ever been attracted to her. Now that he had fallen for Jesse, he didn’t see the appeal of just about anyone else.
He knew that his college major was still somewhere in the back of Pearl’s mind. If she remembered that he had studied journalism, she could guess what he was doing here. She just had to make that one small leap to figure it out. Every second that she looked at him was dangerous. He needed to get away from her.
Unfortunately, when he climbed down from the stage, she was there at his side. “Hey, Sheldon,” she said, reaching out to stroke his bicep with her too-long nails. “Great dancing.”
“Thank you,” he said, stepping away from her. If he could get to another group and start talking to them, surely she would respect that they had a claim on him… as long as she didn’t get the chance to stake her claim f
irst.
She hurried after him, not letting him get even a step ahead. “I want to talk to you,” she said.
“I can’t talk right now.”
“What if I wanted a lap dance?”
“I don’t think I should give you one. We have history.”
Although he turned away from her, he could still see her pouting. “Hardly history,” she said. “Nothing happened between us, or do you not remember that?”
“Well, it’s all in the past,” Shade said smoothly.
His smoothness was wearing down. He didn’t feel like Shade when he was with her. Being near Pearl was making him feel like the same old Sheldon he had always been.
“What if we went to the champagne lounge?” Pearl asked, coming closer and wrapping her fingers around his wrist. He shook her off, but she was still standing too close to him.
“We don’t have one.”
“One of the other strippers said you do. He told me all about what it is… and what goes on in there.”
“I can’t take you in there. That… that would be too weird,” he said. His voice cracked. His old, unconfident self was back. She had brought it out of him.
All the angry emails and text messages were still front and center in his mind. He remembered how she had accused him of being cruel, of being gay, of a million different things that didn’t make sense. He had dodged a bullet by not sleeping with her. Why did she have to be here?
“But I want to see what it’s like,” she said. “I’m dying to go in there with you.”
“Pearl, you’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk, and besides, I don’t care. I want the champagne lounge!” She stomped her foot, emphasizing her words.
Shade had to get away from her. “I’m sure any other stripper would be happy to go in there with you. What about…”
She cut him off before he could think of which coworker he would want to put through that torture. “I don’t want any other stripper. I want you. What’s the going rate for an hour in there? I’ll double it.”
Shade exhaled, staring at her. “It’s normally a hundred dollars.”
She shrugged. “I’ll give you two hundred.” When he didn’t respond, she heaved a sigh. “Okay, three hundred.”
“I can’t do it. It wouldn’t feel right.”
Her voice rose. “Come in there with me.”
“No, Pearl.”
“I want to go in the champagne lounge. I want you to come in the champagne lounge with me. Come on, Sheldon Jeffries.”
She had gotten seriously loud now, and people were beginning to stare. Shade hoped none of them had heard his real name. He narrowed his eyes at her, wondering how far she would seriously go. He needed to shut her up before she did attract more attention. As horrible as it was, his best bet was to give her what she wanted.
“Fine,” he said, grabbing her by the arm. “We’ll go in the champagne lounge if that’s what you want so bad. Just keep quiet and don’t make a scene.”
“Finally,” Pearl cooed as he practically dragged her toward the bar.
He grabbed a bottle of champagne from Wright. “Wow, you look pissed,” the bartender said.
No kidding. He really didn’t want to be doing this. He would have rather been here with just about anyone else. Better yet, he would have stayed out in the main room where he was supposed to be. Or, better yet, he could have been where he was supposed to be, working as a regular reporter instead of foolishly going undercover.
Why had he thought this was a good idea? He was going to get caught. He wished he could speak to Krista, but Krista wasn’t here. He had to rely on himself.
As they walked into the lounge, he made sure to leave the door open behind him. Nothing untoward was going to happen back here. But as he walked in, Pearl shut the door.
“We’re finally here,” Pearl said, taking a seat and reclining on the leather couch. The room looked much less sexy than usual when she was in it. Shade wished he could be here with someone else – namely Jesse.
“Yeah, sure. Sit down and I’ll dance for you,” Shade said.
“Sounds great,” Pearl said. “I’m glad I managed to get you alone. I used to think about you a lot, you know. I couldn’t find anything about you online, so I stopped looking. But it must mean something that I ran into you here.”
Shade grunted. He had thought about her too, but not in the same way. Every time she’d crossed his mind over the years, he’d been filled with revulsion.
“Here, have some champagne,” he said, popping the bottle as quietly as possible.
She didn’t need to be any drunker than she was, but he would make this a decent experience if he could. He just needed to get through this, and then he could go back. He would talk to Jesse, and everything would be normal again.
“Thank you,” Pearl said, accepting the fluted glass from his hand. “It’s hard to believe that I’m finally here. I should have gotten all of this for free five years ago.”
“Well, you know…” Shade trailed off, with no idea what to say to that. This might be difficult to handle. She was a little too crazy.
“I want to see you dance,” she said, squirming in her seat. “You look so damn good, even better than you did back in college. I can’t believe you were hiding such a sexy body all that time.”
She reached out for Shade’s arm, then dragged her claw-like fingernails along his chest. He did his best not to recoil at the touch. It made him sick to let her do it, but she was still a customer, and he had brought her in here. He needed to at least go through the motions.
“Shame on you for keeping that gorgeous body hidden,” she said, biting her lip as she looked at him.
Pearl didn’t even realize that this body belonged to Shade, not to Sheldon. He had only developed these muscles once he had come here. If he had stayed his nerdy journalist self, he would never have looked this good. He was a stripper now, and he was different.
He stood awkwardly in front of her, finally remembering that he was supposed to be dancing. He took a step away from the couch and got on the small stage. The pole was there, and he swung around it. He could keep his distance from her here. At least she wouldn’t be able to touch him.
Except that she came right onto the stage, stood next to him, and put her hands all over him. “Pearl, you need to sit down,” he said.
“I want to touch you,” she whined. “I’ve always wanted you. You know that. Now I’m going to have you.”
“That’s not what this is about. I didn’t bring you back here to have sex with you.”
“It’s the champagne lounge.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t mean anything except that we drink champagne back here. And I gave you that, so take your hands off me.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she took a step back. “Are you seriously telling me that you don’t want me?”
“Yes.”
She took her seat again. “Fine!”
He swung around the pole with his heart pounding. Hopefully she had gotten the idea at this point. He could just dance for her, and then they would get out of here. This was ridiculous, and he wanted this hour to pass as quickly as possible. He would have cut it short, but he already knew she would complain.
For a minute, things were fine. He danced while Pearl sat back and sipped her champagne. He swiveled his hips, watching as her lips turned slightly upward. Okay, she was enjoying this now. She had gotten it through her head that this was only a dance. He was going to be all right.
He turned around, placing both hands on the pole and shaking his ass at her for a good minute. Women always loved this, which had shocked Shade when he had first come here. Apparently women were into male asses. Who would have known?
When he turned back, Pearl had her top off.
Shade’s eyes widened. He froze, choking on his own breath. She was really sitting there in nothing but a bra – thankfully she had kept the bra on. She picked up her champagne and sipped it again, giving him what she must have thought
was a seductive look. “What are you waiting for? Come over here,” she said.
Springing into motion again, Shade covered his eyes with his hand. “Put your top on.”
“My gosh, you’re bossy,” Pearl said. “I like that. Want to tell me what else I should do? Maybe take off my pants?”
“You’re literally crazy.”
“Tell me,” she said, her hands at her waistline.
She may have had a nice body, but Shade was way, way beyond caring. This woman couldn’t have tempted him even if he wasn’t head over heels for somebody else.
“Let’s have sex,” she said. “We were supposed to do it five years ago. We were brought back together for a reason. That’s why we’re here alone. I waited so long for you. I need you on me.”
“Pearl, no,” Shade said, peeking through his fingers to see if she had put her clothes back on. She hadn’t.
“What’s the matter? It will feel so good. I’ll make it so good for you. Don’t you want me?”
“We’re in the middle of a public place. There’s people all around us.”
“The door is closed. Nobody will have the slightest idea of what we’re doing in here. Come on, get on top of me.” She lay back on the couch, lifting her legs in the air. “Or would you rather do it from behind? I don’t mind.” She climbed onto her knees.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said. “I’m not interested.”
“What, are you saying you have someone else in your life?”
Shade thought of Jesse, wondering what someone as crazy as Pearl might do if she thought he did have someone. “That’s not relevant. I’m not interested. I’m just not into you like that, and I never was. I didn’t have sex with you back in college because I wasn’t feeling it. That’s all.”
“You’re single, I’m single, we’re alone,” Pearl said, her eyes glazed over. “Let’s do it, Sheldon. I know you want me, even if you say you don’t. I can see your hard-on from here.”
Hard-on? His cock had never been softer. He was absolutely repulsed by this woman. Thankfully she couldn’t remember what he had studied back in Haberdee. She was just hung up on his looks, and didn’t care about his mind. That spoke to what kind of person she was.