Scarred - The Complete Series (Scarred #1-6)

by Kylie Walker

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The next day would be Chloe’s first day “on” as Derek Stark’s private dancer. She and Lexi got to the club a half hour before he was supposed to make his appearance. Lexi went behind the bar and began her shift and Chloe went into the back, hoping that the other girls were already changed and onstage so that she could have some privacy.

  “Hi, Chloe,” Gretchen, a pert and bouncy red-head greeted her as soon as she walked into the dressing room.

  She wasn’t going to get lucky today.

  “Hi, Gretchen. How are you?”

  “Oh, you know same old.” She was trying to stuff her gigantic boobs into a bra that looked two sizes too small as she was talking to Chloe. Her puffy brown nipples protruded over the top, and every time she tried to clasp it in the front, it would pop right back open.

  “Damn this thing!”

  Chloe tried to slip into her corner before Gretchen decided to ask her for help, but she was too late. “Chloe honey, help! Please.”

  With a sigh, Chloe hoped she didn’t really notice she went over to where the other girl was standing in front of the mirror. She knew she would only have the torture device on for a matter of minutes once she was onstage, but Chloe had her doubts as to whether or not she’d even ever agreed to wear it in the first place. It was made of black lace, and the area where her nipples were supposed to sit was cut out in a circle and studded with rhinestones. It was the most ridiculous piece of lingerie she had ever seen.

  “What do you want me to do?” Chloe asked her.

  “I’ll pull on the elastic from the sides, and you see if you can clasp it for me.” She had her head bent forward towards her, and her long, curly red hair tickled Chloe’s face as she struggled to snap the bra with her fingers while pressing down on her giant wiggly boobs with the sides of her palms. If anyone got a video of this, it would be either a pervert or a lesbian’s wet dream. Since Chloe was neither, the whole thing made her ridiculously uncomfortable.

  “There you go, Chloe! You got it girl, thanks!”

  “No problem,” she lied. She proceeded to her locker and took out the ‘Peek a Boo’ pole fit top and ‘Sneaky V’ pole fit shorts she had bought last week and hadn’t worn yet. She had a little black-netted kami that would drape over the top so that her sides were not bare. It was black and slinky, and it fit like a tailored glove across her boobs, and butt…but nothing had to be stuffed into it, thank God. She glanced over her shoulder. Gretchen was gone. Chloe could hear the set that was playing when she came in still playing outside. That meant she had about ten minutes to change before those girls came off stage and filed in to the dressing room.

  She slipped off her blouse and then the kami she had underneath. She left her bra on and slipped off her pants next. She was always nervous when she changed in the dressing room. There were no private dressing areas, so it was pure luck that not many people had caught her naked so far. The scars across her back were plentiful and could have even passed for those of someone who had been publicly flogged.

  She had been flogged all right, more times than she cared to remember. By the only two men in her life that were supposed to protect her. Jesse was always really good at keeping the scars and bruises where no one would see them underneath her clothes. He used to like telling her that if she was ever stupid enough to try and cheat on him, any other man would be sickened by the sight of her without her clothes on. That didn’t matter now. She couldn’t even imagine the day when that would happen again.

  The scar that ran itself from the top of her breast down her side, along her ribcage was the last one he had given her. It was the last one any man would ever give her. It was the one that she let her fingers play across sometimes to remind herself how far she had come since that night. She was lost in her thoughts and slipping into her shorts when she suddenly heard voices. She tried grasping for her blouse before they got close enough to see her, but it was too late. Two of the girls had walked into the dressing room and stopped dead in their tracks.

  “Oh my God, Chloe! What the fuck happened to your back?” Delilah, who had just turned old enough to dance in the club and still had some of her baby fat, wanted to know.

  “Jeez girl, if your man did that, you need to get his ass charged.” That was Margo, an African-American beauty who refused to tell anyone how old she was and nobody could tell. She looked about twenty-seven, but she had been dancing already for ten years.

  Chloe took a deep breath and turned to face them, buttoning the shirt she said, “I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

  Margo gave her a ‘fuck-you’ then look, but Delilah wasn’t mature enough to realize when to keep her mouth shut just yet. “I wondered why you didn’t strip. I thought it was a moral thing or something. Chloe, if someone is hurting you, we should tell Roxi. She can help you. She kicked my tweaker ex-boyfriend out of the parking lot last week without even taking the bouncers out with her.”

  Chloe knew that this kid had no idea the kind of memories that even thinking about the scars brought up, much less talking about them. That didn’t serve to make her any less pissed off however as she said, “Listen, Delilah. I asked you once to mind your own fucking business, okay? I’m not going to ask nicely again.”

  Margo looked over at her and said, “Why are you being such a bitch? The girl was trying to be nice.”

  “What’s going on?” Roxi walked in to the room, and as she did, she looked her up and down. “Chloe, aren’t you on in five minutes?”

  “Yeah, I was trying to get ready.”

  “Then she had to stop so that she could act like a bitch,” Margo said.

  “Roxi, Chloe has terrible scars on her back like someone’s been cutting her,” Delilah the rat said.

  Chloe glared at her as Roxi said, “You two go get something to drink and mind your own damn business.”

  When they had scurried out, Roxi looked at Chloe and said, “One of these days, you’ll have to talk about it to someone. When you’re ready, you know where to find me. Now get your ass dressed and get out there. I just saw Derek Stark walk in.”

  “Okay, thanks.” She left, and Chloe hurriedly finished dressing. She glanced in the mirror long enough to fluff her long brown hair and reapply her lipstick. She slipped on her “hooker-heels” on her way out the door.

  As she passed Lexi at the bar, her friend winked at her. Chloe heard Lexi’s words reverberate in her head, “Don’t over-think it.” She made her way past Mike and said, “Track 5 again, Mike.” He grinned and gave her a finger to finger touch. She saw Jake near the outside of the curtain as she slipped inside.

  Derek Stark was sitting in his chair. Tonight he wore a black button-down shirt that was undone slightly at the neck. Chloe could see just the top of what looked like a toned and tanned chest. His jeans were black, and he had on black brushed leather boots. The whole look was way too appealing to her. She wished he wore one of those three piece business suits with the shiny shoes. Those things at least left a lot to the imagination.

  The music came on, and as she draped her long leg around the pole she chanted in her head like a mantra, “Don’t make eye contact…don’t make eye contact…” She swung around with her head tipped back and before she knew it those ice blue eyes were locked onto hers. His full lips looked like they were playing with a smile but they hadn’t given it the okay just yet. Dancing was usually easy for her, like second nature now but those eyes completely distracted her, and she had to actually count the beats out in her head to find her place.

  Derek sat there this time until the music stopped. He still wasn’t touching himself which compared to the other guys she did private dances for, made him a saint. He was still staring at her though, and that gaze was just so unnerving, almost haunting. She finally cleared her throat and said, “Are you ready for me to begin another song?”

  “I was wondering if I could ask you for something else instead.” His voice was deep, and the words rolled off his tongue with ease.


  Shit! I knew it, she thought. Adonis or not, he was a pervert like the rest of them.

  “You can ask,” she said, knowing that her tone was probably diminishing her tip as she spoke, “But I can pretty much assure you if it’s not dancing on this pole, that it’s not going to happen.”

  The smile won the battle with his lips then and splayed out across his gorgeous face. His teeth were so white that she almost couldn’t look directly at them.

  “I like a woman who sticks to her convictions,” he said. “I wasn’t going to ask you for anything…that might compromise your values or our arrangement, Chloe.” The sound of her name on his lips gave her a chill down her spine. “I was just going to ask you to have a drink with me and talk. You can sit an arm’s length away.”

  “I don’t drink at work,” she told him. That was the truth. She wasn’t going to do anything that would alter her thought processes where so many horny men were involved.

  “Then just lemon water. Isn’t that what you drink between sets?” He asked arching an eyebrow.

  She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be flattered that he knew what she drank between sets or not, but she wasn’t. It kind of gave her the creeps that he knew that.

  “I’m not really thirsty yet,” she said. “Look, I don’t want to be rude to you. I know you’re paying a lot of money to watch me dance. But that’s really all I do here…is dance. I was hoping that Roxi went over that with you.”

  “She did,” he said. “I would just like to know more about you than the fact that you’re beautiful and you can dance like an angel when you’re really into it. Maybe you would agree to dinner or even lunch sometime?”

  “No, thank you. Would you like me to dance again?” He looked like he was trying to control his amused expression as he said, “Yes, Chloe. Thank you.”

  She yelled the next track out to Mike and then she tried to get back into the mode.

  Unfortunately, all she could see were those beautiful eyes surrounded by the longest lashes she had ever seen on a man and all she could hear was how sexy her name, ‘Chloe’ sounded rolling off his lips.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Derek didn’t say anything else to her that first night. But when their eyes locked several times, she sensed such a haunted look of sadness in their depths, and it made her curious. Then he just smiled at her before he left and once again, left a thousand bucks on the table. At this rate, she was going to make more than she did in a month just off tips.

  “So, how was it?” Lexi asked as they watched him go out the front door.

  “It was fine,” Chloe said.

  Lexi could hear how distracted her voice sounded and she said, “Fine? Are you sure there isn’t something going on back there between the two of you?”

  “Lexi! Why would you say that? You know me, I don’t play.”

  “Look, in the two years that we’ve been working here, you have never once said it was “fine” when I asked you how it went. You’ve been creative with it, you’ve said, “creepy” and “disgusting” and “worse than swallowing my own vomit,” but you’ve never said, “fine.”

  Chloe laughed, Lexi was right. She never really thought of dancing for these creeps as “fine.” “He’s just different,” Chloe told her. “He doesn’t even seem like he’s picturing me naked at all. It’s weird…it’s almost like he’s here just to get to know me or get me out on a date.”

  “A guy like that could walk into a laundromat and get a date,” she said.

  “I know, weird, am I right?” That was exactly why she had to wonder: Why was he here? What were his motives?

  “Give me my smokes, will you?”

  Lexi handed them to her along with her lighter, and she slipped out the back. She was hoping to be alone, but as soon as she stepped out the door, she came face to face with Roxi.

  “Oh. Hi.”

  “Hey. How did it go with Derek Stark?”

  “Good. He was a perfect gentleman. Roxi, do you know him at all?”

  “No. I know of him and his family. It’s hard to live in Rhode Island long and be around the elite set and not hear the name. Why?”

  “I’m just still trying to figure out why me. There are a lot of girls here who would love to strip down to nothing and give him a lap dance.”

  “Some men aren’t into that,” she said. “You would be surprised at what some of them are into.”

  “Probably not,” Chloe told her, taking a deep drag off her cigarette. She glanced away for a second and when she looked back, Roxi brought her eyes from Chloe’s back to her face.

  “Chloe, you know if you ever need to talk about anything, I’m here to listen.”

  “I know. Thanks.” She said. Chloe knew she was talking about the scars. Roxi had seen them before, and Chloe had made it clear that she didn’t want to talk about it. Today when Roxi walked into the dressing room, it must have reminded her.

  “You don’t have to do everything alone, you know?”

  “I know,” Chloe told her. It was a lie though. Being alone for the past two years had given her the confidence to know what she could accomplish and what she could change. It had brought at least a semblance of peace to her soul. It had meant that she didn’t have to worry what she said or did or even looked like it was going to piss someone off enough that by the end of the night she would be sporting two black eyes and a bloody lip. She was finished with that, for good. Chloe Green wasn’t going to be anyone’s punching bag ever.

  **

  Chloe woke up on Friday morning and found herself actually looking forward to work. She tried to lie to herself and say it was just because she was used to the regular exercise that she got when she went in every day, but the truth was that she was looking forward to seeing him. It wasn’t that she was even considering going out with him, or ever having anything pass between them other than a pole dance or two…but damn he was nice to look at.

  She took her morning run and on the way back she stopped at the juice bar to pick up an energy drink. While she was standing there waiting she saw one of the regulars from the club. His name was Gregory Branson, and he’s the administrator of the biggest hospital in the city, or so Roxi and Lexi had told her. She didn’t keep up with who the jerks really are. She didn’t care…usually. But she stood there today leaning on the juice bar and watching this pig have breakfast at an outdoor café with his wife and kiss his toddler son on the cheek and act like he had a right to be any part of that family. She knew for a fact that he was in at least three times a week and he always paid for a private dance with Gretchen, and he wanted her to wear knee socks and put her hair in pigtails. Not just a regular pig, a pedophile pig at that.

  “Here you go, Miss.” The barista sat Chloe’s drink on the bar. She slid the five dollars across to him, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the family. She felt almost compelled to go over there and tell his wife what he was doing…where he was when she probably thought he was working.

  She finally grabbed her drink and forced herself to walk away. She didn’t know what came over her lately. His problems and his wife’s problems were not hers. She had plenty of her own to deal with, like how she ran past the billboard with Derek’s photograph on it this morning for no logical reason at all. She only went that way if she had a class which she didn’t today. But something about those eyes.

  **

  She wore a hot pink one-piece suit cut high on the thighs and low in front. Her heels were black again, matching the lace strip along the side of the suit. She took more care than usual with her make-up, and she made sure that her long-straight hair was just-so. Lying to herself once again on the way in, she said it was just to make sure her customer was getting his twenty grand and tips wort since he wasn’t getting to touch anything.

  “Hey Mike,” she said on the way back, “Tell Jake I’m ready and give me track three tonight.”

  Mike whistled, “Track three and hot pink! Baby, I love you!”

  Chloe knew he was k
idding. Mike was a great guy, and he never hit on any of them for real. He knew they already had enough of that to worry about. She winked at him and stepped onto her private little stage. Derek sat patiently at his table, sipping his drink.

  He was wearing a light blue button down tonight. It made his eyes look that much bluer if it was at all possible. The other difference was that next to his drink was a tall glass of ice water with lemon. Chloe was most definitely not naïve, she knew full well how these guys worked, but for some reason, that glass of ice water gave her a warm feeling inside.

  Mike turned on the music, and her pole lit up and came to life. She let the beat run through her, trying to forget that Derek was watching and she went to work. She started out by lifting her leg and doing a standing split against the pole as she began to gyrate her hips to the music. She let the top leg slowly wrap itself around the pole and then she reached up and grabbed it with two hands. She pulled herself up so that she was about a foot off the ground and then leaned back with her eyes closed and she whipped her long hair in time to the music.

  When she opened her eyes, Derek’s were immediately locked onto hers. His facial expression was still neutral, and he still had both hands on the table like a perfect gentleman, but she could see desire burning in those eyes tonight, and it made parts of her ache that she hadn’t really given much thought to over the past two years.

  She made herself re-focus, and she used the strength in her arms to swing completely around the pole and lower herself gracefully to the floor. As soon as her heels were on the smooth marble of the mini stage, she looked back over at her customer. His beautiful, full lips were curved at the edges, and as he looked at her, he lifted the water up slightly and offered it in her direction. She shook her head slightly. Again, she wasn’t naïve. She never took anything from any of these guys, even the wealthy good-looking ones. He could have put anything in that water. No thank you. I’ll wait until the set is over and Lexi will fix me a drink.