“Vinny …” I sighed. I could leave. If I did, I would have to pay the house more for missing my sets, but it was possible. But I needed every dime I made.
“Tess—”
“Scarlett,” I corrected.
He grinned. “Fine, Scarlett. How much for a private dance?”
My second song of the set was ending, so instead of prolonging our flirting, I whispered, “For you, I’ll do it for fifty.”
“Then I want two.”
I nodded and stood. After grabbing my top, I left the stage and went into the dressing room to change into a fresh red bikini and spritzed myself with my body spray that smelled like cotton candy.
When I came out from the back, Vinny was waiting near the door. As soon as he saw me, his face lit up. I had to admit I would never tire of that look on his face. I motioned for him to follow me, and I took him into one of the private rooms. Across from the entry, a red leather loveseat spanned the small space. Red wallpaper with black metallic roses lined the walls, and a crystal chandelier hung in the center of the room.
“Do you want a drink?” I asked.
“Can’t. I’m on my lunch break.”
I closed the door behind me. “Escorts get lunch?”
Vinny chuckled. “A man’s gotta eat Tess—Scarlett.”
I grinned back. “You can call me Tessa in here, and you’re not eating.”
He got more comfortable, spreading his legs as he leaned back on the couch. “You’re the one preventing that.”
“How?” I asked.
He furrowed his brows and cocked his head to the side as though I was an idiot for asking such a question, then he slowly grinned again. “Do your thing, Tess.” He motioned with his head toward his lap instead of answering my question. Then it dawned on me, and I swallowed.
I wasn’t nervous until now. I’d done plenty of lap dances in the past year, but none of them were for a friend. Taking a deep breath, I pushed my nerves aside and did what I always did by running my hands up my sides as I sashayed toward him. His brown eyes lowered from my face to my hips, and he licked his lips.
“No touching,” I reminded him and myself.
He held up his hands. “I’ll try.”
I chuckled and turned my ass toward him. I slowly rotated my hips in a circle and ran my hands under my hair, bringing the long brown curls off my shoulders and neck. “What made you come in tonight?”
“I wanted to see you.”
I stilled my movements.
“Friends visit friends at work.”
I turned and faced him. I was about to argue with him, but then I realized maybe he was right and I was reading more into it than I should. While some of Vinny’s actions and words implied he wanted there to be more between us, he hadn’t come out and said it, nor had he actually made a move. So, I went with it as I continued my dance on his lap.
“I like when you visit me at work.”
“You can visit me at work too,” Vinny stated.
I laughed, throwing my head back as I moved onto his lap facing him. “I can’t afford you.”
“I’d give you a discount.”
“Oh yeah? You have a friend’s discount?”
“Only for you.”
“I’m flattered.”
“Maybe we can do an exchange,” he suggested.
“How so?”
He shrugged and placed his hands on my hips only to remove them quickly when we both looked down after I’d stopped moving. “Sorry.”
Even for that brief second, his touch felt good on my skin, and I reminded myself once again that we were only friends and couldn’t be anything more. At least not now. “It’s okay. Just don’t let it happen again or I’ll have to tell Titus.”
Vinny grinned. “I’ll try not to.”
I started moving again. “So, Paul’s in love?”
“Apparently. He’s taking his roommate on a date.”
“Who pays for that?” I asked.
He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “I imagine he does.”
“I mean since they’re both escorts.”
“Oh.” He laughed. “I’d think he would because there are two things a woman shouldn’t touch on a date.”
“What are those?”
“The door and the check.”
“And what should she touch?” Because most of the time a man got an erection while I rubbed myself on his lap, I hadn’t realized that Vinny was hard until those words left my mouth. I usually tried not to think about it, but now I was all too aware how turned on he was.
“Don’t tease me like that because my imagination is already fucking you right now.”
I swallowed, not able to respond because I wanted his fantasy to be my reality.
I was playing with fire.
I couldn’t stay away from Tessa. I tried. I really did, but before I realized it, I was pulling into the parking lot of Red Diamond and then sitting in front of the stage waiting for her to come out. I didn’t have to wait long.
When I saw her, I wished I hadn’t. Not because I didn’t want to see her, but because all the other men in the room were looking at her too. I wanted to pick her up off the stage, walk out the front door and never let another man look at her again. But that couldn’t happen because she wasn’t mine. So, I did the only other thing I could think of to get her away from other eyes. I asked her to dinner, but she turned me down. I went one step further, not ready to give up on getting her alone, and asked her to give me a lap dance. And she did. Twice.
Now, I was hard as a fucking rock and on my way home, by myself, thinking about how I’d have solved my problem if it had been a job for S&R. Hell, even if Tessa hadn’t said she only wanted to be friends, I would have been able to fuck her in that tiny room, but she had said that—multiple times. I also got the impression she wasn’t one of the strippers who did extras because the moment I touched her, she’d stilled as though she wasn’t used to men touching her at work.
As I drove home, I made myself a promise that I wouldn’t ever set foot inside Red Diamond again because going home to rub one out, thinking about Tessa, was torture.
I wanted the real deal.
The following Wednesday afternoon, I was at school—my day job—preparing next year’s case load for all the incoming children transitioning into kindergarten. It was only the beginning of April, but a lot went into preparing each child’s education plan. I was so engrossed in the scheduling that I barely heard the faint knock on the classroom door.
“Come in,” I called out. The door opened, and I stood, smoothing down my tie. When I looked up, I shook my head slightly. Was I daydreaming?
“Mr. Reed, this is Teresa Stewart,” the principal, Alan Fitzgerald, stated. “She’s here for her three o’clock classroom transition meeting for her son, Colton.”
I blinked and stared at Tessa for a few beats, then cleared my throat and stuck out my hand. “Right. It’s nice to meet you.”
Tessa took my hand. “You too.”
There was an awkward silence until Alan said, “All right, if you need anything from me, Ms. Stewart, please come to my office, but your son will be in good hands with Mr. Reed.”
“Thank you,” Tessa replied, and we watched Alan leave and shut the door behind him. Her blue eyes locked with mine again. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a teacher?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a son?” I countered.
“Because I wasn’t ready. I thought you only worked—”
“The school doesn’t know,” I informed her.
She walked a few feet and sat on a mat where the kids played. “I get it now.”
“Get what?” I asked, confused.
“Why you use a fake name for S&R.”
I nodded. “Yes, but my picture is on the S&R website, so technically they could still find out.”
“Then why bother using a fake name?”
I shrugged as I sat next to her. “It’s just another step to hide it. And no one has fou
nd out—until today.”
“To be fair,” she chuckled, “I only found out because I’m a stripper.”
I felt hope in my chest at the sound of her laughter. At that moment she held my career in the palm of her hand, and I was preparing myself to do whatever I needed to prevent her from going to Principal Fitzgerald. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
She stared at me for a moment. “I would never do that to you, but what do we do?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re going to be my son’s teacher.”
“Working at S&R doesn’t affect my work here,” I assured her.
“I mean us.”
I cocked my head to the side slightly. “Us?”
Tessa laughed again. “I mean, I gave you a lap dance.” Her eyes widened as the words left her mouth. “Oh, God. I gave my son’s teacher a lap dance.”
I reached over and touched her hand and grinned. “And his teacher paid for a lap dance and frequents a certain strip club.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes?” I was trying to make her feel better. No one needed to find out anything. Tessa didn’t say anything further, so I continued, still touching her hand. “Look, Tess. I’m technically not your son’s teacher yet. So what if we have a friendship? So what if you gave me a lap dance? No one needs to know, and no one can know about S&R. I will lose this job, and I don’t want that. I love all my kids.”
“Why did you become a teacher?”
I chuckled slightly. “Let’s get off the floor, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
I helped her stand and then moved behind my desk. I motioned for her to take a seat in one of the chairs. Leaning back in my chair, I said, “All right, here’s the short version of why and how I became a special ed teacher. I went to USC on a full ride for volleyball. Specifically, I wanted to do beach volleyball, but I tore my ACL my sophomore year. I recovered after surgery and had a year of rehab, but in the end, the doctors didn’t clear me to play again, so I continued with my education to become a teacher.”
“Aw, that sucks. Why did you pick special ed? It has to be challenging, right?”
“It is. I couldn’t play volleyball anymore, but I wanted to coach. The Special Olympics in L.A. needed volunteers, and the rest is history. I got my bachelor’s degree, and I got credentials in special education.”
“That’s amazing. Do you still volunteer?”
I smiled. “I do.”
“What made you want to be an escort?”
I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the desktop. “Why are you a stripper?”
She snorted. “Because I need money to survive and raise my son.”
I nodded. “Right, because of the money. You could easily do something else, right?”
“Well …”
“Tess, I make a lot of money being a part-time escort. I like to travel, not live paycheck to paycheck, and I like to have fun. After I lost my scholarship in college, I was eating ramen to survive. I know how hard it is, and I get it. My buddy was working as an escort and needed me to help him one night—”
“Help him have sex?” She scrunched her face in confusion.
“No.” I laughed. “Well, yes, but not with him. He’d overbooked and needed me to take out one of the ladies. After that date, I realized it was easy money, I got laid, and I never ate instant noodles again.”
Her face softened, and I knew she finally understood why I did both jobs. “So, what do we do?”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.” Tessa shrugged and looked away from me.
“Can I tell you what I want to do?”
Her gaze met mine again. “Okay.”
“I suggest we go over what I have planned out for your son, and I won’t go back to Red Diamond anymore so there’s no line crossed.”
“And we’re no longer friends?”
I frowned. “We can still be friends.”
“How?”
“Friends go to lunch, dinner, movies, whatever. I’m sure we can figure something out.”
“Can you get in trouble once the school year starts?”
“Well, they can’t tell me who I can and can’t be friends with, but it’s probably best we don’t say anything.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah. I agree to everything you said.”
“Great.” I reached for the folder to go over everything with her, but then stopped. “You know, I was going to text you tonight because the Dodgers and the Giants play in L.A. next weekend. We should go.”
“I can’t leave Colton.”
“Bring him.”
“To L.A.?”
“Sure, why not?”
“But the drive, the noise.”
“I know what to do.” I smiled. “Remember, I specialize in this.”
“Right, but I don’t think he’ll be able to ride there and back in one day, plus a baseball game.”
“We’ll make it a weekend trip and get a hotel—”
“I can’t get a hotel room with you.”
I grinned. “Two rooms, of course.”
“Let me think about it. Our last road trip was when he was three and we moved to Vegas. It didn’t go so well.”
“We’ll make stops along the way. We’ll bring snacks, his favorite toys, noise-canceling headphones, an iPad, and whatever else I can think of. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay.”
I was starting to really love that word as it left her lips. “Okay?”
Tessa smiled, and after a few seconds she agreed. “Yeah, let’s do it. It will be good for him, and he loves the Giants.”
I smirked. “Not after he sees how much better the Dodgers are.”
She tsked. “That will never happen because it’s not true.”
“Only time will tell, Tess. Only time will tell.”
Holy shit. What the hell was I doing?
Before Tessa left my classroom, I told her I’d buy the baseball tickets and book our hotel rooms near the stadium. Sure, friends did that, and it shouldn’t be a big deal, but being friends with her was fucking with my head. I wanted to be more than friends. I wanted to only have one hotel room—alone. I wanted to know what she looked like fully naked, not just her tits.
I wanted her.
But now that I was going to be her son’s teacher, there was more of a chance it would never happen. Maybe it was the universe telling me we were only meant to be friends. I didn’t like that idea, but I was going to have to deal with it. I didn’t want to cross the line and lose my job. I was already walking on eggshells because it would only take one co-worker or a parent of a student to book a date with me through S&R and my career in education would implode.
I had a feeling shit was going to go down, and it wasn’t going to be good for me.
Since Tessa needed to work Friday night and tonight, I decided we would go to the Sunday game. That way, we could drive after Tessa got off work Saturday night, and Colton could sleep on the drive, which would make for a better car ride in general. Tessa gave me her address and asked me to be at her apartment an hour after her shift ended.
After parking, I made my way to her apartment number and knocked on the door. When it opened, I expected to see her smiling face. Instead, it wasn’t her. It was the stripper I’d paid forty bucks to tell me Tessa wasn’t working.
“Ah,” I stuttered, glancing at the apartment number on the door again.
She smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Duane.”
“Um …”
The door opened wider, and Tessa was there. “Hey.” She smiled.
“Hey.”
“This is Melony, my best friend and co-worker.”
“Oh!” Everything was making sense. I stuck out my hand and Melony took it.
“Should I call you Duane or—”
“Vinny is fine.” I winked.
She
smiled and blushed at our little secret joke. “It’s good to officially meet you.”
“Same, and thanks for the info the other week.”
“Not a problem.”
My gaze moved back to Tessa. “Colt is sleeping,” she said, “but if you want to carry our bags, I can get him.”
“No, let me.” I didn’t know how heavy he was, but for some mysterious feeling, I felt as though I should do it.
“Are you sure?” Tessa asked.
“Of course.”
“I’ll grab the car seat,” Melony stated.
I followed Tessa to a bedroom with a nightlight that projected the illusion of water onto the ceiling. “Wow, this is cool,” I whispered, looking up at the rippling image.
“It calms him.”
“I bet.” I was already in awe of her parenting skills. Sensory processing disorders for children with autism were a huge issue, and it was vital to find or develop what worked for each child, and many needed something to focus on while going to sleep. It was beneficial for his sensory therapy.
“Go ahead and grab him. I’ll unplug the light so we can bring it with us.”
There was an odd feeling in my chest as I picked up the sleeping boy. It was as though all the pieces of my life I didn’t know were missing were finally being put together.
But I didn’t know why.
I was nervous.
The man beside me made me that way, but at the same time, seeing him carry my sleeping son melted my heart. The only other man to hold Colton was my father, and it had been four months since we’d seen my parents at Christmas. I knew Colt would eventually need a father figure in his life—someone to teach him sports, how to shave, whatever. And while I thought Vinny could maybe be that person in a friendly capacity, I didn’t realize how much my heart wanted it to be more.
When I went to the school to have the meeting with Colton’s teacher, I never in my wildest dreams thought the teacher would be Vinny. He was shocked to see me, too, and to learn that I had a son. Colton was supposed to come as well, but he was having a meltdown and I couldn’t get him into the car. At the end of the day, I suppose it didn’t matter. Now Vinny would interact with Colt longer than thirty to forty-five minutes, and hopefully, that would make the transition better.
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