by Sarah Peis
My brain stalled, my hands held on, and my mouth opened for him. As with the last kiss, I got completely lost in him.
When he pulled back, I heard a mewled protest that seemed to be coming from me. I didn’t think I’d ever sounded more desperate.
“You’re too tempting to resist, and I don’t know how much longer I can stay away from you,” he rasped.
I was too dazed to do anything but stare when he stood up, the move making me take a step back. I was breathing hard, and my heart was beating out of my chest. I think I had a mini orgasm just from kissing him.
“Nora?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Go to bed.”
“Yes, bed. Splendid idea. Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” I said, escaping to the safety of my bedroom, wishing for once that I’d been smoother. Because there were just some things you couldn’t come back from. And talking about bed bugs was one of them.
CHAPTER NINE
“Are you throwing up again?” Elle called through the bathroom door.
“Go away,” I replied between dry heaves.
It was Monday, five minutes before I was supposed to go onstage, and I was hanging my head in a toilet.
“If you don’t come out right now, there won’t be time left to fix your hair and makeup,” Elle tried again.
“I don’t care,” I groaned. Another dry heave followed, and I slumped back on the ground. I shuddered at the thought of what was on the bathroom floor. The toilets were gross, and I never planned on getting this up close and personal with them.
“I’m coming in,” Tia announced before the cubicle door opened and two arms lifted me up.
Once I was upright again, Tia took my hand and led me in front of the bathroom mirrors. She handed me a bottle of disinfectant and a bottle of mouthwash and started brushing my hair. “Disinfect anything that came into contact with the toilet, and then wash out your mouth with the mouthwash.”
As soon as I finished cleaning up, Elle powdered my face and reapplied my makeup.
“Just leave the hair,” Star said, joining us in the bathroom. “Nobody will notice. It’ll get all tangled anyway once she starts dancing.”
I watched my face blanch in the mirror as my eyes widened.
“We don’t have time for more upchucking. You need to move or you’ll be fired before you even have your first performance,” Elle said, blocking my way back to the toilets.
“You can do this,” Tia encouraged, taking my hand and walking with me.
“I don’t think I can,” I muttered, tightening my hold on her.
“Just remember, no upside-down stuff.”
I nodded, my steps slowing the closer we got to the stage. The music from the previous act was so loud, it made it impossible to say anything else.
Tia stayed by my side and waited for me to go on. As soon as Becca came through the curtain, it was my turn.
Becca gave me a thumbs-up on her way past, and I froze in front of the entrance. I’d find another way to make money. There had to be something else. Maybe I just hadn’t looked hard enough. This so wasn’t for me. I couldn’t—
My rant was rudely interrupted when Tia pushed me and I stumbled out onto the stage. I blinked into the lights, grateful I couldn’t see anything besides the stage.
I could just pretend this was another practice. The music was already playing, and I nearly missed my cue to start moving.
Luckily Tia was on it, and when something hit me in the back, I snapped out of it and started to dance. And after a few awkward movements, I began my routine. It all went well until I got to the pole.
I’d lost half my clothes along the way, like we’d planned. I had no hope of undressing myself while anywhere near the pole. The girls said once I wasn’t wearing much, nobody would care if I fell on my head. I was about to do my first move, the front hook spin. It was one of the few moves I could halfway master.
I was holding the pole with one hand when there was a commotion near the stage. I wasn’t sure if I should stop, but since nobody shut off the music, I kept going. There were fights at the club all the time.
I was just about to spin myself around the pole, my legs at an awkward angle, ensuring I would screw up the move. But if nothing else, I saw things through. And even though it was a certainty that tonight would be an epic failure, I was determined to give it my all since I was already onstage.
And the urge to vomit had disappeared as well. Now I felt like I would pass out from the lack of oxygen instead.
But better to faint than throw up in front of people.
I didn’t get a chance to show off my newly acquired move because someone grabbed me from behind and I found myself slung over a shoulder. I screamed, kicking my legs and pounding on the person’s back.
And there was the urge to vomit again. The sounds faded the farther away from the stage we got, and I lifted my head, trying to see through the curtain of hair covering my face. I struggled to free myself, not sure if I was being kidnapped again or if this was an initiation to stripping.
This better not have anything to do with Jim.
“Guess you won’t be a stripper after all,” Elle said when I passed her. She didn’t seem concerned over my current situation, so I decided not to panic. Yet.
“Put me down,” I said to whoever was carrying me.
“Fuck no,” a familiar voice responded.
“Sebastian? What are you doing?” I asked, feeling a lot less worried about being manhandled.
I was really questioning my sanity about not being scared when a member of a motorcycle club carried me off the stage. Half dressed, mind you.
“Don’t talk,” he growled.
Okay, then. Someone was grumpy. Guess my dancing was worse than I thought.
“Incoming,” he said and then knocked on a door before opening it. Shortly after, I found myself back on safe ground. I brushed my hair out of the way and locked eyes with a red-faced Sebastian.
I opened my mouth to ask him again what was going on, but when I saw his dark, angry expression, I wisely shut up. I forced a demure smile on my face instead, hoping he’d either let go of the strong and angry routine or explain what just happened.
He did neither. Instead, he stalked to my dressing table and collected my clothes. I followed, confused.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I yelled at him. “You have no right to manhandle me like that.”
“Get dressed,” he barked and held out my clothes.
There were still a few girls left, all of them staring at us. This was sure to get back to Smitty, and suddenly the only thing that mattered was that I couldn’t lose my job.
If I couldn’t strip, I had to at least keep my waitressing gig. And Sebastian had just made sure I didn’t have either.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done? I need this job. My kids need me to have this job,” I yelled, waving my arms around. “You ruined everything.”
When he didn’t respond, I jerkily pulled my clothes on, the anger making my hands shake. Once my clothes were back in place and I was wearing sneakers instead of the sky-high heels I could barely walk in, I grabbed my purse and stalked past the son of a gun.
His arm shot out and stopped me. “I hope you’re on your way to my bike.”
I pulled free and stepped back. “Definitely not,” I spat out. “I need to fix what you just broke.”
He reached out for me again, but I turned and sprinted down the hallway to Smitty’s office. Once there, I knocked just as Sebastian reached my side.
“We’re going home,” he ground out between clenched teeth.
“You can go home. I’m going to talk to Smitty and pray I still have a job.”
He didn’t get a chance to answer when Smitty called out from behind the closed door for me to enter.
I did so without delay, and once inside, I pushed the door shut behind me. Sebastian followed, stopping the door from closing when his big body collided with it.
/> Instead of an apology, I shot him a glare. Head held high, I walked up to Smitty’s desk.
“What the hell is so important that you need to interrupt me?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the papers on his desk.
“Please don’t fire me,” I pleaded, deciding to skip reasoning and go straight to begging.
Smitty looked up, his beady eyes landing first on me, then moving to Sebastian and widening slightly.
“Why would I fire you?” he asked.
The gossip hadn’t reached him yet. I still had time to tell my side of the story. Which was probably not much better than the reality, but I had to try. Losing this job would be a colossal hit to my income.
“There was an incident,” I began.
“As long as you stay off the stage, you’re not fired,” Sebastian cut in, his voice barely controlled.
I turned to him. “Since when is that your decision?”
“It’s always been my decision,” he said, turning to my boss. “Smitty, tell her she’s not fired so we can all get on with our night.”
“You’re not fired,” he said, then looked at Sebastian. “But I wish you’d reconsider letting her on the stage.”
Sebastian took my hand in a tight hold and pulled. “Nonnegotiable. And you have to find a replacement for her tonight.”
“On such short notice? Are you insane?” Smitty sputtered.
Sebastian shot him a look that shut him up immediately, and he put his hands up in surrender. “Of course. No problem.”
Next thing I knew, I was getting dragged down the hallway by an enraged hot guy who thought he had the right to tell me what to do.
His hold wasn’t painful, but it was strong enough that there was no escaping. And instead of looking at me with concern, everyone we passed had a smirk on their face.
“Where are we going?” I huffed, my short legs working hard to keep up with Sebastian’s angry strides.
“Home.”
“But I could still help out at the bar. They could swap me and Crystal. She sometimes goes onstage. In turn, I could cover her shift.”
Instead of a response, he dragged me through the door, nodding at Kai, who was manning the entrance tonight.
“I’m off for the rest of the night. You’re in charge,” Sebastian barked on his way past.
“You got it,” Kai called to our backs.
Well, tonight could have gone worse. And I thought I did a pretty good job up on that stage, right up until I got dragged off it. I didn’t even get to show off my favorite move where I swung around the pole. Shame.
I’d debrief with the girls tomorrow. I was sure they’d let me practice a bit more with them.
Sebastian got on his bike and helped me up. I strapped the helmet on and slid forward, winding my arms around him. And despite his jerkiness tonight, sitting behind him on his bike was still my happy place.
And I hated myself for it.
At least this way we couldn’t talk to each other. Less chance of one of us getting pissed off.
One thing the short ride back to my house did manage was to give me time to think. And the more I thought about tonight, the angrier I got.
How dare he push me around and tell me I couldn’t dance onstage.
Wait, why am I trying to defend something that I didn’t want to do in the first place?
But it was the principle of it. I was a grown-ass woman, and I could make my own decisions. Nobody else made them for me. And if they were terrible decisions, I would be the only one to blame.
When we got back to the house, I was fuming mad. I hopped off the bike and ripped my helmet off, needing to walk away before I did something I’d regret later. Like kick a member of a motorcycle club in the balls.
I pushed the helmet into Sebastian’s stomach and stormed off. Not the most mature thing I’d ever done, but I wasn’t feeling very mature right at that moment.
When I crashed through the front door, Stella came out of the living room. She saw me and stopped in her tracks, putting her hands up. “Whoa, what happened?”
“I need a drink,” I growled and went to the kitchen.
I didn’t drink much anymore, not since having the kids. A hangover was made much worse by little voices yelling in your ear.
But I stashed a few emergency bottles in the top cabinet. Since I was so small, I had to climb on the counter to reach them. Which was exactly what I did.
Heaving myself up on the counter, I stood up, balancing on the small area. I reached up to the cabinet, the bottle of wine within reach, when I was pulled back.
I shrieked, but no amount of wiggling got me out of being lifted off the counter and set back onto the ground.
I whirled around and glared at Sebastian, who was still standing closer than necessary.
“I’ll give you a free life lesson, buster. Don’t come between an angry woman and her wine,” I ground out between clenched teeth.
“You won’t get to drink your wine if you fall off and break your neck,” he replied, raising an eyebrow at me.
“I’ve done this many times before and never fallen off. And if I did, it wouldn’t be your problem. At least then you don’t have to babysit me anymore.”
He stepped closer, invading my space like nobody else’s business. If he thought he could intimidate me, he had another thing coming.
“Seems to me you need someone to keep you out of trouble. Tonight being the best example of your inability to take care of yourself.”
We glared at each other, our noses inches apart.
“Ahem, excuse me,” Stella cut in. “Anyone care to enlighten me with what happened tonight?”
I pulled myself away from Sebastian and took three steps back to look at Stella, who was watching us with rapt attention.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Nora thought it would be a good idea to become a stripper,” Sebastian chimed in at the same time.
I was ready to maim him. How dare he?
“You did what?” Stella whispered, looking at me with an expression of pure shock.
“It doesn’t matter now. Sebastian dragged me off the stage, and I nearly lost my job.”
My voice was reaching high notes, and I took a deep breath to calm myself down. The thought of that possibility gave me heart palpitations and a rash.
“You nearly lost your job?” Stella gaped at me, disbelief heavy in her voice.
“Thanks to this corn nut,” I said, pointing at Sebastian.
“Nora, why did you go up onstage? You hate being the center of attention.”
I deflated, knowing I needed to fess up. She would find out sooner or later anyway. “I need the money.”
Stella came closer and took my hand. “Why didn’t you ask us to lower the rent? Mason won’t mind.”
I pulled back. “No way. I’m already paying way less than what this place is worth. I would never ask that of you.”
“Damn it, Nora, we’re your friends. Of course we would want to help out.”
She sounded hurt, her face drawn tight. I knew she just wanted to help. But my money was gone because I’d been careless. I was the only person who was going to get myself out of this mess.
“It’s my problem, and I’m going to take care of it,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“But you’re so good with your money. You never buy anything you don’t need. I thought you were doing well.”
I sighed, deciding it was time to fess up. “I was. Until Jim cleaned me out.”
Stella recoiled at my words, her face turning into a mask of fury. “He took your money?” she yelled, and I shushed her.
“Don’t wake the kids. And yes, I’m pretty sure it was him. The money was gone after he’d been at the house. And it’s not like this was the first time he’s taken my money.”
“What a dick,” Stella cursed and put her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.
“It’s okay. Shit happens,” I said, my voice muffled from being squashed against her shou
lder.
She squeezed me tight, and I wheezed out a breath. “Shit like this doesn’t just happen. You know you can be angry about this. Or cry. Whatever you need to deal with it.”
“I was trying to drink away my problems. But someone interrupted my date with wine,” I said into her shoulder.
Next thing I knew, Stella pushed me onto a chair.
“We need wine,” she instructed, and to my surprise, Sebastian pulled it down for us. He even got out the glasses and filled them. Why was he still there? I would have thought by now he’d have disappeared to do whatever he did late at night.
He was never at home after the kids went to bed. I wondered if he thought this might lead him to Jim. But since my ex had already gotten what he wanted, there was no way he’d contact me again anytime soon.
I gulped half the wine and exhaled. Things would be fine. Nothing to worry about. I’d put my head down, continue to work, and maybe I’d be able to build my savings up again in this century. At least I knew I wouldn’t get kicked out of the house if I couldn’t pay the rent.
“You got her?” Sebastian asked, his back to me as he looked at Stella, who was grinning.
“Of course. Go forth and do your thing. We’ll be fine.”
We both got a chin lift, and then he walked out.
“I’m right here, you know,” I yelled after him. “And I don’t need a keeper.”
He ignored me, and the front door slammed shut. God, he was infuriating. As if I needed someone at the house all the time. Even if he seemed to think otherwise.
I turned my glare at Stella, who put up her hand, a smirk on her face. “Hey, don’t direct your misplaced anger at me. I’m just here to help you drink wine.”
My head dropped on the table with a loud bang. “Ouch, that hurt.”
“Just drink your wine and tell me how I can help.” She put her hand out when I started to protest. “And stop being such a martyr and instead tell me what’s going on. Not sure if you still remember this, but we’re friends.”
I didn’t lift my head; instead I talked into the tabletop. “I’m sorry. I’m a terrible friend. And I don’t mean to make you feel like you’re not good enough. You’re the bestest friend a woman could wish for.”