Take a Risk (Risk #1)

by Scarlett Finn

  When she got there, Blaser was at the bar as always. He was with a blonde who towered to five eleven in her heels. As beautiful as she was, the blonde certainly wasn’t too young, more like in her late twenties. Her platinum blonde hair had red inserts and her breasts were barely contained in her white wet-look two piece and matching thigh-high boots.

  ‘This is Crystal,’ Blaser said to Lyssa with his attention on the waitresses approaching the bar. ‘She’ll show you the ropes.’

  Blaser vanished to fill the new orders and Crystal looped her arm through Lyssa’s. ‘Cherry is a great pick. Blaser says he hired you as a favour to Colt. Are you guys friends?’

  ‘I guess you could say that,’ Lyssa said as Crystal directed her toward the door by the stage.

  ‘The other girls will notice if you’re cosy with management. But Blaser is good to all his employees, I’ve been working here since day one, I know him pretty well.’

  A bassy tune came on the speakers and two scantily clad women came onto the stage at her side. But Crystal opened the backstage door and took Lyssa through.

  Crystal pointed to a curtain on their right. ‘That’s the stairs to the stage. There’s a corridor at the end that leads around to stairs for the other side.’

  ‘I won’t be on stage.’

  ‘Not yet,’ Crystal said. ‘But it won’t take you long to get up there. Blaser is a soft touch for his girls. If you don’t already know, he and Colt don’t always get along, so I’d advise you to stay out of that sticky hot mess, if you can.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Lyssa said.

  ‘Those stairs you won’t ever use,’ Crystal said, pointing to the stairs Colt had taken Lyssa up to his office. ‘Here’s our office.’

  Opening a door just beyond the stairs Lyssa entered to see a communal changing room. Two rows of lockers with a padded bench between them stood in front of the door. Further to the left was a wall of mirrors with a host of makeup spread across it. To the right were rows and rows of hanging rails covered in underwear and costumes.

  ‘Past the outfits are restrooms,’ Crystal said and produced a small key from her cleavage. ‘Your locker is number twelve.’ She handed over the warm metal key.

  The women hung around the mirrors on stools and lounging on a long couch. None of them paid much heed until Crystal shouted. ‘Gals! This is Cherry, she’s new around here, so y’all make her feel at home.’

  Around here few people had such a southern twang, but Crystal obviously wasn’t local. Most of the women checked Lyssa out, but they quickly went back to their conversations.

  ‘They’ll warm up to you soon enough,’ Crystal murmured with a glittering grin. ‘Blaser won’t hire anyone under twenty-five. We’re mostly a good bunch, bad apples get weeded out quickly, but that doesn’t mean we’re exempt from enjoying a good gossip and a giggle.’ She took Lyssa to the clothes rail. ‘Do you need something to wear?’

  Lyssa took the clip from her hair to flip and fluff it, then removed her coat to show the baby blue halter plunge bra and matching micro mini. Dressing up was lots of fun and although she knew her outfit covered more than most of the outfits the women wore, she had complied with guidelines.

  ‘Excellent.’

  ‘I need you to know that I don’t expect preferential treatment,’ Lyssa said. ‘Because of my connection with Colt.’

  ‘You’ll probably get it because the brothers are big on family.’

  ‘Do you think that the other girls will resent that?’ Lyssa asked in a low volume.

  ‘They won’t say anything to your face,’ she said. ‘If you’re nice to them and they like you then they’ll get over it. They’re used to mine and Blaser’s friendship and they like to use it to their advantage when they can.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘If they want something, or they screw up, they come to me. That way, I can handle Blaser.’

  ‘Handle him?’ Lyssa asked, wondering just how Crystal did that and how close the pair were.

  ‘Up until now no one has been able to handle Colt, he does things his way, maybe you can change that.’

  ‘Don’t put any money on it,’ Lyssa said, Colt and her weren’t as close as Crystal obviously thought.

  ‘We’ll see. Put your purse and coat away and I’ll show you the private dance area, you might have to take drinks in there sometimes.’

  Lyssa did as she was told and Crystal took her back to the bar and showed her the communal lap dance area and the six private rooms leading off it for the privileged private dances. Blaser approved her outfit, gave her a rundown of the routine, and she was shown the different zones of the room. Each night she’d be allocated a zone, which the girls organised on a rotational basis. Crystal introduced her to some regulars until Lyssa was already feeling at home.

  Not much more than an hour must have passed when she caught sight of a familiar figure at the bar. Her smile joined her on her return to the bar and she slid her tray to Blaser who took it and slunk off.

  ‘Quite a change of routine,’ Colt said, having watched every step of her return.

  ‘I did as I was told, rule number two.’

  ‘This wasn’t exactly what I meant. What made you choose this?’

  ‘Research,’ she said. ‘I’m interested in what men who frequent these places get.’

  ‘What they get is a good time.’

  ‘But why?’ she said, drumming her fingers on the bar as she surveyed the room beyond him. ‘Sexual behaviour fascinates me.’

  ‘Did you tell Blaser that?’ Colt asked. Remaining in his stool, he leaned back against the bar to follow her line of vision.

  ‘No, he thinks I need the money. The research only works if the participants are unaware of it.’

  ‘So why are you telling me?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m here because of you and trust works both ways, right?’

  ‘So you want me to keep your secret from my own flesh and blood?’

  ‘You and Blaser don’t often get along for long,’ she admitted, continually checking the customers in her zone, but Crystal had taken to the stage so there was more drooling than drinking going on. ‘He hired me as a favour to you anyway.’

  ‘Who told you that?’

  ‘Crystal,’ Lyssa said. ‘I came in last night and talked to Blaser. Didn’t he tell you about this?’

  ‘I didn’t come in here last night or today. I’ve been watching you.’

  ‘And you didn’t see me come in here last night?’

  ‘I did, but I figured you were looking for me.’

  ‘Well you did say that you would call,’ she smiled. ‘This works out better for us both anyway. You can’t keep coming in as a patient. This stalker will see you and you could run into Suzette. Also, my patients stay for a whole hour; they don’t run out after ten minutes like you did. My admirer will see your departure as suspicious. And if he’s bugged my place then we can’t talk freely, I’m guessing that you’re confident he hasn’t bugged Risqué.’

  ‘He hasn’t bugged this place or yours, no one is listening in your office.’

  ‘In my office?’ she said, turning to Colt in a slew of concern. ‘What about the rest of my house?’

  ‘I didn’t go upstairs,’ he said. ‘But the stairs on the left, inside your front door, they go up to your residence, don’t they?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘My office door is just on the right of the lower floor, as soon as you come in the front door, you know that.’

  ‘Your front door is unlocked and unattended all day.’

  ‘My clients have to be able to come in.’

  ‘And anyone can wander upstairs,’ he said.

  She knew her clients and trusted them not to go snooping, it had never occurred to her that strangers might come in while she was in session.

  ‘Are you trying to freak me out?’ she asked.

  ‘Not my job.’ He took a sip from his glass on the bar.

  ‘Should you be drinking? While I’m here you’re technica
lly working.’

  ‘I would just love it if our stalker turned up here,’ he said, taking another drink. ‘If he does, all I have to do is recognise him, I’m not going to go ninja on his ass. I only work security for Blaser when I absolutely have to. Anyway, it’s just soda.’

  ‘Great,’ Lyssa said, noticing a table in need of service.

  Taking his glass away from him she drained the rest of the drink and went to work. Polite as could be, despite the inebriation of the customers, she took the order and relayed it to Blaser who went to work filling it.

  ‘You’re doing good so far, do you need a break?’ Blaser asked.

  ‘Maybe in a bit,’ she said, trying not to watch one of the podium girls cosying up to Colt.

  ‘Pay no mind, him and Kitty have been over for a long time,’ Blaser said, putting the first drink on the tray.

  ‘Sorry? Oh, what? No! Don’t be silly. I told you there was nothing between Colt and I.’

  Blaser kept working, but his knowing smile crept higher. ‘He’s been watching you since he came in. That outfit you’re sporting made his eyes bug from his head. I can tell when my brother’s interested, comes from being twins I guess.’

  ‘Twins?’

  ‘All our lives,’ he said. ‘Not identical.’ Obviously. ‘We’ve always butted heads, but we’re there for each other when it counts.’

  ‘What about Ruger?’

  ‘Colt’s protective of the squirt, but he can hold his own. Has a tendency to disappear without warning for periods of time, but he’s alright.’

  ‘Why did Colt leave the police force?’

  ‘That he’ll tell you when he’s ready,’ Blaser said and pushed the tray towards her.

  After she’d delivered the order she returned to the now alone Colt whom she was acutely aware of. Blaser was right, every time she checked Colt was looking right at her.

  ‘What has you so interested, Mr. Warner?’

  ‘I’m an ass man, Doctor Cutler,’ he said. ‘And you have one worth looking at.’

  ‘Do you have no shame?’ she asked.

  ‘Turn around and let me see again.’

  And the thrill that zipped through her made her do as he told her, then she tipped her chin to her shoulder. ‘Looked your fill?’

  ‘If we weren’t in public I might be tempted to touch.’

  ‘Seeing your ex-girlfriend must have had an arousing effect,’ she said, resting back on the bar she disturbed his view.

  ‘My ex?’ he asked, propping his elbows on the bar.

  ‘Blaser said you and Kitty used to—‘

  Colt laughed. ‘Miss. Lys, my brother is messing with you. I’ve never been with any of the girls in this place.’ His fingertip met her shoulder. ‘Question is, Miss. Lys… Why did you give a damn?’

  The finger trailed down leaving goose bumps in their wake. ‘Cherry,’ she said, bringing her gaze to his. ‘In here, that’s what they call me.’

  ‘I like it, you came here to pop it.’

  ‘I came here because I had confidence I’d be safe. You gave that to me. I used to embrace the experience of my behaviour research projects and I relished compiling my book of observations. I looked forward to the day it would be published. I had a lust for life… but recently I’ve been putting my life, my confidence, on hold. You made me see that this guy is closer to breaking me than I realised. I need this. I need to get back to being me.’

  ‘You’re relaxed and not as distracted as I’ve seen you. It’s interesting to see you lighter.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she said. This guy spoke about her like he knew her. If he’d been researching and watching her then maybe he did. ‘So you haven’t answered the sixty-four million dollar question.’

  ‘I haven’t?’

  ‘Who is the guy? The crazy?’

  ‘When are you due a break?’ Colt asked.

  ‘Soon,’ she said.

  ‘Come up to my office and we’ll talk.’ He got off the stool and got a step away when she snagged his wrist.

  ‘Should I be worried?’ If he wouldn’t reveal the identity of her stalker here in public then it was possible he was worried about her reaction.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘You’re being stalked, that would worry most rational people.’

  His arm slid out of her grip and he stalked off through the ogling drinkers to the backstage door. It closed in the shadow and she was left alone to speculate.

  ‘Cherry!’ Blaser whistled and she turned to see him nodding towards patrons in need of service so she hurried off to do her job.

  Colt had always liked having the big screen TV in his office because it gave him a distraction when he needed a break from a case. It was easier and cheaper to work from here, a premises he partially owned, than to rent somewhere else. He needed privacy and didn’t need to see many clients in official premises. The last thing he needed was a shop front to draw attention to what he did.

  But while waiting for Lyssa he couldn’t relax in front of the TV and working on her case was out. When he had followed her here last night he thought it was her pathetic and desperate attempt to get in touch with him, hence why he’d avoided Risqué like the plague.

  Tonight, when she’d returned he’d wondered if it was the same thing. But for more than an hour he had sat outside waiting for her to exit. When she didn’t come out, he came in to find her and got the update from Blaser. Then he’d seen her.

  That tiny skirt was a second skin that just managed to cover her high, tight ass. The smooth skin of her toned waist took his eyes up to those voluptuous breasts usually showcased in a white cotton shirt, tonight they looked ready to party.

  Craving a client was firmly against the rules, but she gave him trust and lit up in his company. He gave her hope and for the first time in his life, failure wasn’t an option. Except so far that was where he was headed.

  A tap on his door alerted him to her imminent entry, but it didn’t diminish the effect of seeing that body again, this time in a quieter, lighter environment.

  ‘Is this a good time?’ she asked, helping herself to a seat on his couch and kicking off her shoes to lie her legs along his furniture. ‘How much extra do I have to pay you for a foot massage?’

  ‘You’ll get used to wearing the shoes… if you’re here long enough.’

  ‘Did you get used to them?’ she teased, spreading her hair over the arm of the couch behind her.

  ‘That’s what the girls say.’

  ‘How long have you guys had this place?’

  ‘A couple of years,’ he said. Leaving the desk, he moved to join her on the couch, choosing to sit on the arm of the couch beyond her feet.

  ‘Do you enjoy it?’

  ‘This is Blaser’s bag,’ Colt said, admiring her legs while her eyes were closed. ‘Ruger and I just ponied up some cash to get him started. I help out when I’m needed and Blaser lets me work from here.’

  ‘Why don’t you two get along? You seem friendly with each other.’

  ‘We’re brothers so we’ll always watch each other’s back. We butt heads sometimes, that’s all.’

  ‘I’m an only child,’ Lyssa said.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Of course you do,’ she smiled and her eyes parted to sleepy slits. ‘You’ve been learning about me, watching me.’

  ‘I have.’

  ‘And what have you found out?’ She sat up in the centre of his couch, bending her knees to the side and tucking her feet by her ass.

  ‘That you don’t sleep well, that you toss and turn then get up to make hot milk or read, which makes you feel guilty for being awake so you go back to bed only to go through your insomnia again. Because of your restless sleep you struggle to wake up in the morning, but you always do your yoga and shower before going down to your office at eight thirty sharp.

  ‘You see your first patient at nine thirty, and stay in the office until one, when you either go to lunch with Suzette at the Wright Bite or have salad in your kitchen while talking to her on spe
aker phone. You’re back in the office by two, your last patient leaves by six and you’re upstairs immediately after a brief stint on the computer. Then you change from your work clothes, go to the gym, out with Suzette or you read, work and eat alone.’

  From the silent shock written all over her face he wondered if he’d said too much. ‘You know all of that?’

  ‘You asked. You’ll always get the truth from me.’

  ‘Who is he?’ she asked. ‘That’s what I want to know.’

  ‘Your stalker? The man who brought us together.’

  ‘Stop vamping and tell me,’ she said, sliding closer and taking his hand. ‘You’re starting to really worry me.’

  She and Suzette held hands regularly, or linked arms, so he took it that Lyssa was a tactile person. That knowledge didn’t lessen the effect of her delicate digits between his clumsy ones. ‘Colt?’

  ‘I haven’t seen a soul. Whoever he is, he’s not watching you, at least not pathologically.’

  ‘So he’s gone? I’ve not had any calls or flowers this week.’

  ‘You told the cops that he’s done this before, disappeared for a while. Maybe he works away or has other commitments.’

  ‘Thank you for not believing I’m just a nut.’

  ‘A nut who made up a stalker just to get close to me?’ he smiled, which caused her hand to squeeze his. ‘You have no reason that I’ve seen so far, to make this up.’

  ‘Thank you not for giving up on me either.’

  ‘You’re paying for a service and I intend to deliver. It might just take us longer to get results. We’ll have to wait for this guy to spring up again, and he will eventually.’

  ‘You’re committed,’ she said.

  ‘We signed a contract. I intend to do my job.’

  ‘This might be an everyday occurrence for you, but it’s not for me. I’ve never met anyone like you with such patience and a singular concentration.’

  ‘I’m focused,’ he said, grazing her jaw with the back of his fingers. ‘I won’t let you down.’

  ‘I believe that, Colt. I know you’re capable and I’m glad that Chavez recommended you.’