by Aimee Laine
Wyatt sauntered his way to the club. Charley matched Candie’s come-hither gait with Wyatt’s hand on her back. Together they turned down the alley between the two buildings. He gave her a nod before he left her to enter alone.
Charley moved toward the sounds of mass hysteria behind a doorway.
“Where’s my eyeliner?” A voice pitched across the din and clatter.
A screech followed. “My costume is ripped!”
“Dammit! Where are my shoes?” The third voice, deeper but still feminine, proceeded with a curse.
Charley swayed at the onslaught of information that hit her.
“Candie! Oh my god! Your first off-site private! How was it?” A girl walked up to Charley, squeezed her arms together in a girlish hug Charley’d only ever seen on television.
Holy shit! That was her first? “Reeeal good.” Charley winked.
“Kate. Leave ’er alone.” A woman sat at a lit booth, applied a thick coat of the same bright red lipstick Candie wore.
“It was good, Kate, reeeeeal good.” Charley mimicked Candie’s giggle to impress upon her the obvious.
At quick glance, she counted four women to her left and four to the right in a room the size of her kitchen. The walls held tables and lights set to best apply garish makeup appropriate only to the skimpy attire.
Apparel flew in every direction as a gentle, calm voice interrupted Charley’s moment of observation. The smile didn’t fit the blue hair, extra-long lashes, or neon-painted blue lips—nor the blue getup she wore.
“You didn’t forget any of your gear, did ya?” Lady-in-Blue shifted her wardrobe, revealing one very taught nipple in the process. Charley looked over at Kate, who continued to hover, preventing her from moving.
“Dance order sign-ups with Boris tonight.” Lady-in-Blue pointed to a desk where a rather large man—Boris by his hand-drawn name tag—sat. She looked Charley up and down before she popped her one in the shoulder. “No need to kiss and tell unless you wanna,” she said as Kate bounced with giddy excitement. “You actually got back on time. Hope you pleased him.” She flung her hair around and walked back to her table.
“Lola’s in a tizzy ’cause she didn’t think you’d get back,” Kate said. “C’mon, tell me all about it!”
Charley let Kate lead her to her table, where she found photos of Candie with various people, taped to the mirror. She dumped her bag underneath and sorted through items Lily suggested she pull out.
“Boris has lines up, and I gotta get ready!” Kate held her hands between her knees. “My set is first—and last—tonight. I am going to rake it in.” She winked at Charley.
“That’s great!” Charley lied with a smile plastered to her face. “Let me go get my times.”
“Oh, yeah, ’k.” Kate turned back to her own mirror.
“The energy, perfume and hairspray alone in this place are going to give me a headache.” She knew James and Cael would both hear her. “Hey, did you guys set up Wyatt, too?” She received an affirmative from the man himself.
So they can all hear me. She pushed her way through to Boris, who had already taken notice of her arrival. His eyebrows wiggled as she approached.
“How’d it go, sweet thang?” Boris’ croon continued on well past the end of his sentence. One plump finger tilted her chin up. “You don’ look no worse for wear.”
“Nope. Good as gold.”
“You want in early, ’case them guys want you back?”
“Yeah. Totally.” She winked at him, added a smile.
While Boris jotted her name down, Charley listened to the women screech, gripe, and complain. As they called each other by name, Charley committed them to memory. Once she had names to faces, the evening would flow much smoother.
Boris gave her a nod and a fist to her jaw with no more a threat than the bat of a kitten’s paw, his toothless smile as wide as a river. He turned his watch toward himself, adding “You done good, chick,” and waved her off.
A bleached-blonde giant of a woman sidled up to Charley with a smile across her face. “Hey there! I’m Cyndyee!” She extended her hand. Her southern drawl added to the unforgettable effect. “I just started.”
Oh, thank god I don’t have to be her.
Cyndyee adjusted the strap that ran from her shoulder to her crotch. Comfort must not have entered the designer’s mind.
“Hey, Cyndyee!” Kate’s voice wafted over. She motioned for them to join her. Charley followed as well to touch up her already perfect makeup.
She dropped her jacket, revealed the red ensemble Lily had selected, and added a pair of silver heels that gave her another six inches as the conversations started.
“Gina’s a no show,” Kate said to Charley.
“Damn! ’Cause she was good. Got her cell?” Lola said from across the room.
“Yeah. No answer. Anyone check her flat?” Kate asked. “I’m goin’ over after shift. Check on ’er.”
“You’re so sweet, Kate,” Cyndyee joined in.
“You hear those two rich guys are back?” Kate asked Charley as if the conversation hadn’t just transitioned from Gina.
“No, seriously?” Charley turned her attention to the conversation while she faked her makeup application. Finally, something relevant. With two taps on her ears, she signaled James.
“Oh yeah. Rhonda said that Joe saw them take a seat at the center of stage one.” Lola sneered. “You gonna hook up with them again, sugar plum? Don’ wanna share with anyone else?” Lola shifted her breasts under the straps that semi-covered them.
“If they ask for me.” Charley batted her lashes. “Can’t help it if they go for sweet.”
• • •
“Sweet?” Wyatt withheld the chuckle. “You play the part well, Charley.”
One of the servers leaned over his shoulder. “What can I getcha?”
For the third time since Wyatt found the table at the edge of the main circle, he raised his full glass up and scanned the room. The club hadn’t changed since his visit a month before. Hips gyrated and skin grew more obvious with each woman who made her way to center stage. In front of him, one dancer spun while three more did the same at the edges of his vision.
“Charley’s coming out next,” James’s voice cleared the airwaves.
Wyatt relaxed further into his seat. Another pass through the room revealed Cael with one elbow on the bar, his hip leaned into it. Lily had dressed him well. He wore more casual attire than Wyatt—a suit, minus the jacket, his tie left askew. The elegance would appeal to women across the floor.
Wyatt counted at least four who made their way toward Cael from opposite corners. “Cael’s got visitors.”
James’s laugh and Lily’s sigh echoed back at him.
“Cael is not the focus,” Charley said. “I’m at the entrance. Main stage.”
Wyatt turned but directed his gaze beyond the nude dancer to the curtains at the back. As the music came to a stop, she disappeared.
Speakers rumbled with a pending announcement until “Candie!” screeched from the emcee. Loud applause, catcalls and whistles followed. Bass vibrated the floorboards as men surged to open edges, sat upright in their seats and other dancers slid to the floor.
One silver stiletto peeked through the curtain to a wild swell of cheers. Those with table views lost sight of the stage’s edge as it filled with bodies and the color of the local currency.
Wyatt couldn’t stifle the laugh that built within him. “Candie has apparently gotten popular since last I was here.”
“I’ll say,” Cael said.
With the music’s crescendo, Charley extended her leg through the curtain, followed by one arm. She grabbed the edges and pulled open the curtain, showing off her height.
“Lots o’ guys.” She pointed her toe in the direction of the crowd.
Cael snickered. “Lookin’ good, Charley.”
She moved to the center of the stage, leapt to her toes, grabbed the silver shaft and spun. If the crowd could have gotten
closer, they would have. She pulled one leg around and slid up again before she fell with grace back to the floor.
“She’s got the crowd pretty wired,” Wyatt said.
“She’s really good.” Cael tilted back his beer and nodded at Wyatt. “Two o’clock, stage left.”
In their Italian suits, they pushed away drink offers from two servers and sauntered to an empty table, their backs to Wyatt.
“Ten o’clock, Charley.”
She turned her body toward the table. “Got it.”
With half-closed eyes and hair falling around her shoulders, Charley slid back and forth from the edge to the pole. She hit every beat of the music. Excited patrons slipped ones and fives into her G-string.
Chants of “Lose it! Lose it!” ran through the crowd like a wave at a football game.
“You’re not really going to do it?” Cael asked.
“Why not?” Charley spun again. “Three of the waitresses are topless.”
“It’s not her body.” James began to chant as well. A slap and a quick ‘ow!’ resonated through the earpiece.
Not her body?
Charley leaned into the pole, legs spread, heels dug into the floor, and slid down while she played with the straps of her top. She unhooked the two strings from around her neck, swung them whip-like while keeping her nipples hidden.
Wyatt stole a glance at the two men again. A third stood at the table. One pulled cash from a wallet, slipped it in the direction of the third, pointed at Charley, and got a nod in return.
“They just booked Charley privately,” Wyatt said. “Cael, you see?”
“Yes.”
The ripple and uproar brought Wyatt back to Charley. “You did it?” He stared up at her and held her eyes with his. I will not look down.
“Just do it already,” Charley said.
Cael’s laugh broke through.
Wyatt held her gaze a second more and dropped it.
“There ya go.” Another five slipped against her hip. She shook her breasts between her hands and tempted everyone around her, though touch they could not.
Wyatt couldn’t help the smile he let free.
“Get your fill?” Cael asked.
“Like you’re not lookin’.” Charley spun around the pole again.
“The guys are leaving,” Cael said.
“Keep us posted,” Wyatt said.
Charley rocked cowboy style, her breasts bouncing to the beat in time with hair that flew in a circle. As the song came to a close, the crowd’s groan of disappointment rumbled. She dawdled as she stepped back toward the curtain.
“See you soon, boys.” A wink back at the crowd elicited another round of groans before she disappeared.
“Follow her?” Cael asked.
“Not yet, let’s just listen.” Wyatt sipped from his glass of water again.
• • •
“Candie!” Boris’s bellow, when she stepped from the stage, came with his guffaw.
Charley handed him the bills she’d pulled, hoped they’d make it to the actual Candie. She deserved it if for no other reason than Charley didn’t need it.
“You got company in bay three,” he said.
“Thanks, B.” Charley used the name she’d heard repeated by the girls. “Hey!” She turned back to him before she started. “What’d I clear?”
“Eighty-five! You showed it all, didn’t ya?”
Charley winked and moved to her dressing table to change into more suitable attire for a private engagement.
“You get invited back?” Kate asked. “That was quick.”
“Yup.” Charley stripped, no concern for privacy as none of the rest had. She switched her costume from the red to a silver-blue—Lily’s second-favorite selection.
Boris yelled to Candie to get a move on.
Charley headed straight through double doors she’d only seen on a screen, hopping on one foot to finish the tie behind her ankle. Once through the first set, she turned to details. “Hallways are colorfully decorated. There’s some beautiful artwork here.”
“I can see it,” James said. “Second door should be the entrance to the stage and the third bar.”
Charley began her trek down the private hall. “Going through door number two.” She took a quick peek into one of the open doors. “Office.” She waved at a man behind a desk and continued on. Muffled moans and groans penetrated the walls. “I believe they are gettin’ it on in that one.” She pointed to a door marked ‘One’ from which the sounds emanated. That can only be Lola.
A door swung open behind her. “Door three, then.” She’d have to skip any additional eavesdropping as the hallway became less private.
“I’m going to order up my dance now,” Cael said.
“Ask for Kate. She’s sweet.”
Lily’s groan came through with perfect clarity. Charley smiled at her exasperation. One of these days.
The flat paneled door, labeled with gold vinyl, didn’t fit the rest of the club’s interior of color and bright art. “Here we go.” She pushed the unlatched door open. Anticipation warred with duty. She knew she had to play the part, so as the door creaked, she slithered up the frame, one hand extended beyond the top.
“Hello.” Her moan escaped as the guy stared back at her from the corner of the room.
“That isn’t one of the guys Candie described,” James said.
The room, decorated from top to bottom in red, reminded Charley of the inside of a mouth. A wide bed draped in satin of the same red took center stage, flanked by two couches on either side, with little to no leg room. Someone has bad design skills.
“Am I in the right room?” She added a deliberate purr to her voice.
The man before her nodded; his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down once, hard. He waved her toward the bed. “They … uh … they’ll be here in a moment.” He clenched his hands together and licked his lips.
Charley ambled to the bed, sat in its center. She crossed one leg over the other, leaned back on her hands and turned to give James and Lily a complete picture.
“The red might have been a better choice,” Lily said.
Voices grew louder outside the room.
“That them?” She leaned forward to adjust what little she could and raised her hands to fluff her curls.
He shrugged.
“Remember the goal, Charley,” James said.
“I’m in the back, bay four,” Cael said. His voice came through her earpiece and the wall.
“The walls are thin in here, aren’t they?” Charley said for Cael’s benefit.
Two beads of sweat adorned the silent man’s forehead.
“Nervous?” she asked. “Here to watch or participate?”
He shook his head.
The clip of heels, her trill ‘hello’ and a giggle told Charley that Kate joined Cael.
“What is taking so long?” Wyatt asked.
“No idea,” James said.
“What’s your name, big boy?” Charley asked through puckered lips. She crossed and uncrossed her legs a la Sharon Stone.
He shook his head again.
“I don’t like the feel of this,” James said.
Through the walls, Kate and Cael laughed. What had he said to her?
The man checked his watch, pulled on his tie, and crossed his ankles as he leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets.
“Married?” Charley caught sight of his wedding band. “That’s okay by me. Should we start without them?”
He ignored her.
“Wyatt, you need to—” James began.
Charley tuned him out as the quiet steps of rubber against tile made their way in quick succession and stopped at her door.
She adjusted to a more casual position, recrossed her legs and dangled her foot.
“What took you so lon—” She stopped, tensed.
“Hello, Candie.” One walked through the door, followed by a second.
They stood, shoulder to shoulder. Unmistakable. Their suits shon
e with the silk that infused the weave, shirts half buttoned, ties askew and smiles derisive.
“Oh my god.” Lily’s words echoed Charley’s thoughts.
“What?” Wyatt’s whisper hissed.
“Get them to the hotel, Charley,” James said. “Wyatt, get over here.”
“Not until I know she’s safe!”
“Do it now, Wyatt. She won’t have any problem convincing them,” James said. “Cael, wrap it up with that girl.”
“Hi again.” Charley plastered a shy smile on her face.
With one finger, she motioned them forward. The one on the right did as she expected. His cologne permeated the room, the very same fragrance he’d worn so long ago.
He approached unabated. She stood and met him halfway.
“Don’t do it, Charley,” James said.
With one hand, she grabbed his lapel and pulled him forward, let him put his hands behind her back and lean over her. His mouth crushed hers before she could speak.
“Damn. She did it,” James said.
“Did what?” Wyatt asked. “What the fuck did she do?”
“Get over here, Wyatt!” James said.
Charley let their contact savor, let him feel, let him touch, so he’d know. When he broke their lip-lock, she pointed to the silent man still in the corner.
“An associate,” he said. “Scram.”
The man scurried like a rat from a cage.
“I have a better place if you buy me for the night.” She kept her eyes fixed on his.
His eyebrow raised. “Oh yeah?”
She nodded.
“Buy her for the night, Kevin.” The second man disappeared through the door.
“Small world.” Charley straightened.
“What are you doing, Charley?” Wyatt hissed through the earpiece.
13
“What the fuck is going on!” Wyatt checked for cars as he ran across the street to the hotel.
“You’ll see,” James said.
“I want to know now.” He slowed his pace as he entered the lobby, not bothering to rein in his outward signs of fury.
“Uh, no,” James said.
“Tell me, or you’re fired.”
James laughed.
The elevators wouldn’t come fast enough. He continued to listen for more from Charley and the two men she’d so easily convinced to buy her.