Diana, who knew how much I needed the extra money had brought my name up when a representative from this new company came in to visit. She had spoken about the virtues of her friend and how she would be a great addition to the roster. It was agreed that she could come in for an interview and it was left at that.
The new ownership seemed very interested in ensuring the safety of its patrons and staff. They had also doubled the security, added cameras, and now each girl was escorted to the stage by security. Which was one of the only reasons why Savana was even considering dancing at the club.
Samantha was always pushing me to my limits, and never failed. I wasn’t nearly as confident in my ability to get up in front of hundreds of strangers half-naked and dance all night, but for her sake, and my own, I agreed to give it one night.
I walked into the dimly lit bar, well ahead of the patrons. All of the lights were on. A man walked over to us and began speaking,
“Hi Samantha, I take it this is your friend?”
“Hi Sam, yes, this is Savana.
Sam reached his hand out to shake mine. I looked at him, then reached out and shook his hand.
“Well, aren’t you gorgeous?”
“Why thank you.”
“So you want to dance for us?”
“Well, I need the money, so ya.”
“I can’t have you here unless your heart is in it.”
“Trust me, my heart is in it.”
“OK, well, you are definitely hot enough, so let’s give you a try.”
Diana, took Savana back stage and began getting her prepared for the evening. Savana was not a thin woman, she was curvy with all the right curves in all the right places. She dressed and outfitted her and gave her a few tips on how to ‘do it.’ As the night drew closer Savana became more and more nervous about her performing, and then in a flash it began. People streamed in, dancing, loud music drinking.
“C’mon Savana, we are on!”
Samantha pulled me up onto one of the stages and then left me to go dance on her stage. I let my hips move along with the music. I glanced over towards Samantha across the bar. Her stage was surrounded by onlookers, as she moved, in just the right ways to draw attention from everyone around her. She was captivating and she knew it. I, on the other hand, was failing miserably and feeling utterly out of place. I felt more like a circus clown than a seductive dancer.
My feet ached from the high heels, the skin-tight black pants were too tight, and the red plastic top chaffed like crazy. It took most of my concentration to keep from adjusting it.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise with the distinct feeling that someone was watching me. Of course someone’s watching you, you’re onstage half-naked. I wasn’t able to shake the feeling, so I began moving around the stage to change my view point of the room.
There. In a shadowed corner in the back, sat a man in a beautiful suit. It was too dark to make out his features, but I knew he was the reason for the goose bumps forming over my arms. My heart skipped a beat and I bit my lip.
I could see the whites of his eyes and could not be sure he was looking at me, but there was no doubt in my mind I had his complete attention. His intense gaze fueled my dancing. I dropped down and threw my head back, letting my hand find a path down my neck, over my breasts and down the inside of my thigh. His head lowered as he stood, as he began walking towards my stage.
The crowd around me had grown considerably as my inhibitions drained away, fueled by an intense need to please the anonymous onlooker in the corner. From my position on my knees. I didn’t have the heat of his stare and craved it again. I stood slowly, arching my back and receiving several cat calls, from the audience. A hand from the crowd reached out and grabbed at my behind. Jerking away, and noticeably disturbed, I stopped dancing, looked at the stranger and frowned. However, as they say, the show must go on, I held up my parental finger and waved it from side to side.
Moving along with the beat, I let my eyes scan the crowd. I couldn’t explain why I felt such a strong need, to know that he was still searching for me, but I knew as long as he was, the rest of the crowd didn’t matter and I could dance for just him.
My heart thundered in my chest when I caught sight of him again. He was standing with one of the body guards by the bar. He shook his head angrily and pointed in my direction.
“Ms. Reynolds?”
I heard someone shout over the crowd. I looked down and saw the body guard who was assigned to my stage leaning closer.
“I need you to come down, there’s someone who needs to talk to you.”
I took his outstretched hand, hopping off the stage. I had no idea what this was about, but all the fire I had felt on stage. Had fled and shivered with fear. The tone the body guard had used and his pitying expression did not bode well. Was this to be my first and last dance at this place? Damn it! I needed the money!
The bodyguard led me through the pumped up crowd, to the back area. As he took me off the stage the crowd let out a collective aww! The bodyguard paid the crowd no attention.
“The new owner would like to have a word with you.”
“The new owner!?” I squeaked.
“Well, I like to refer to myself as Shawn, but yes, The Mr. Marks works too.” The velvet voice came from behind me.
Turning around I came face to face with this gorgeous man. It was quite dark in there but his striking features overtook the room, making him even more breathtaking in person. My eyes wandered downward, trying to drink him all in. I avoided his gaze as best I could and I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick.
“You are the new dancer? This is supposed to be your trial night, if I am correct?”
“Yes sir.” I hunched my shoulders and looked at the floor. I didn’t have a good feeling.
“We need to talk about a few things. I don’t know what kind of place this used to be, but it’s under new management.”
I knew what was going to happen. In my hormone fueled dancing, I had stepped over the line. Worse, I had done it specifically under the scrutiny of Phantom’s new owner. Dread and embarrassment made my flight reflexes kick in. I had to get out of there.
With that I turned on my heels and ran into the dressing room. I quickly got dressed and rushed out of there, called a cab I could not afford, got home and went to bed. The next morning I woke up, got dressed and headed to the Diner where I still worked in the mornings.
“Long night, Savana?” Betsy asked. Betsy was the owner of the diner. Despite my four cups of coffee this morning, I was apparently not hiding my exhaustion well.
“Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Well dear, if you need to go home early just let me know. You work so hard at school and have been such a blessing to us here, but you need to take care of yourself sometimes.”
I gave her a genuine smile. Betsy and her husband, Earl, had two of the biggest hearts I knew of.
“Oh, and Savana. If you’re up for it, we’re having the boy we told you of, stop by for a visit sometime today. Earl and I both know you’ll really hit it off. We’ve told him so much about you and he’s excited to finally meet you.”
Betsy had taken on the position as my personal match maker. Over the years she had introduced me to several nephews, friend’s sons, even the boy who delivered their newspapers. I couldn’t remember exactly who she was talking about, some guy who had started working for them when he was in high school and had kept in touch ever since. According to Betsy, he was “quite the looker and had a very good job.”
I really wanted to tell her I wasn’t up for it, but her hopeful expression stopped the words in my mouth. I then thought of my family life and wondered about my step brother. I had not seen him since he was 17, when we left. I know we never really spoke, but I felt like now I needed help more than ever.
“Of course Bets, I’ll hang around for a little bit.”
My mind went back to the previous night and I could feel heat rising to my face. I couldn’t
believe how much I had enjoyed myself last night, while I had been dancing. I was it the wine, or was it the intoxicating feeling that came from being the most desirable woman in the room. Even if I had made a complete fool of myself.
I hadn’t even made it through a full night, before I royally pissed off the new owner. Leave it to me, to mistake his disgust at my dancing for seduction. He probably thought I was better suited for a stripper pole than a Go-go dancer. It didn’t matter, I had no plans on returning for another night.
The door chimed and I could see someone walk in out of my peripheral vision. I didn’t turn my head, I never turn my head, I just pull out my order pad and walk over with my head down. At least I have the diner. My assets aren’t on display for the world, and I get to wear comfortable shoes!
A man sat at the table, I could tell by the shined shoes and suit pants. Definitely not someone who frequented the diner regularly.
“What can I get for you, sir?” I stared at my pad and struggled not to yawn.
“A name, for starters.”
A silken voice grabbed my attention and I raised my eyes to the familiar voice from my childhood. It was Shawn. More than the fact that it was Shawn, that voice was the same voice from last night.
I froze. I don’t know how long I stood there, mouth hanging open in shock, but it was entirely too long. The owner of Desire, and multi-gazillionaire sat in my booth and he was my step brother! I was turned on by my stepbrother watching me. It felt wrong now, but it felt right last night. His eyebrows were raised, waiting for an answer to his question. Any of the heat that I had felt last night was long gone, and now left me terrified.
Does he recognize me? I had lost the mounds of makeup, my hair was in a modest bun, and everything that had been on display last night was thankfully covered up.
“Oh Shawn!”
Betsy’s voice broke me free and my mouth slammed shut with an audible ‘click’
“I didn’t know you were back in town already! Earl just ran out, he’ll be so happy to see you!”
My brother stood and engulfed Betsy in a bear hug. Shawn. That had been the former employee’s name Bets had told me about. She never mentioned it was Shawn.
“Ah, Savana, is it? We’ve met,” his eyes narrowed mischievously and I assumed a deer in headlights look. “I was just about to order some coffee from her.”
“Oh, you! Now you be nice to her, she’s the best waitress we’ve had in years! Even better than you, young man!”
Betsy put her hands on her round hips. “Savana, if you could grab Shawn a cup of coffee, I’m going to whip up some lunch for all of us.”
Without another word the older woman flipped over the ‘open sign from the window and wrote ‘closed for private lunch’ in black marker.
“I’ll go see if Betsy needs my help.”
Before I could make my escape a grip tugged at my hand. Electricity shot up my arm, all the terror of Shawn telling Betsy, of my late-night endeavors evaporated into intense heat. I could feel heat rising to my cheeks again.
“You ran out on me last night, Savana. Don’t think I’m going to let that happen twice in as many days.”
His hawk-like gaze zeroed in on me. I shivered, partially from fear but mostly from pleasure knowing he did recognize me.
“Shawn, what the hell! What are you doing here?!”
His grasp on my arm loosened and he motioned for me to sit across from him. I hesitated, giving him a narrow look.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, I’m not going to bite you. Sit down, we are just talking!”
I complied, crossing my arms in front of me, after all I seemed to need to protect myself. He was always a good looking boy, but now he was a very good-looking man, who Betsy and Earl had said such good things about. Although, now that I knew who they had spoken of, I was seriously questioning their judgment.
They spoke so highly of the young boy, who had started working in their diner, who had a rough upbringing, but eventually turned his life around. They never said he was a billionaire strip club owner, never mind the fact that he was my brother.
“I wanted to tell you that you were mistaken, about last night. Whatever put the notion you were going to be fired into your head was terribly wrong. The crowd was thoroughly enjoying your performance, and the bar tab had jumped 30% last night while you were dancing. Do you think I would let someone like that go?”
I shifted uncomfortably, what was he on about? He thinks I was responsible for the bar tab increase? That doesn’t make sense. It was a coincidence. I could not help but be flattered though.
“What do you mean? How can you attribute that to me?”
“Each stage has its own count of drinks and income. The tab of your stage on the same days historically was 30% lower at the exact time you were on stage. Hence, you were making us 30% more. I do this for a living, it is pretty scientific.
“Well, it was only my first night. I told my friend I would try it out. I tried it and I didn’t like it. I’ve decided to pick up more shifts here instead. One other major problem Shawn, I am your sister!!!”
“You are my step sister! He let out a huff, “Listen, Betsy and Earl are two of the best people in the whole world, I owe so much of who I am to their kindness and generosity, but I think we both know picking up an extra shift isn’t going to make much of a difference. I am not here to pressure you, I am here to offer it as an opportunity. Once we parted company, these people helped me on my feet, and I am here now to help you. I do not want to give you charity, I know you won’t take it. So dance at my club, make a killing.”
His fingers tapped his coffee mug. I realized my hand was rubbing the spot where he had grabbed me earlier. His hands were surprisingly rough, more common for someone who works with their hands, than someone who worked in an office all day. I imagined what they would feel like, caressing the rest of my body. I mean, let’s be honest, this is a sexy man.
“I spoke with your friend this morning. Samantha, is it? Everyone at the club thinks very highly of her. And she thinks very highly of you, so much that she threatened to quit because of how upset you were last night.”
“She quit?! If she quit because of me…”
He held up a hand, “I explained to her my side of the story. I had no intention of upsetting you last night, and no plans of firing you either. In fact, I was quite enjoying your performance.”
Shawn lowered his voice and leaned forward, “And I have a feeling you did too.”
He cast a smile in my direction, the kind of smile that said, I know what is in your mind. He was right, I did like it. I swallowed and tried to ignore the warmth spreading between my legs.
“Look, Shawn, I don’t think this is…“
“Just wait, I’m not done.”
He backed off, and the intensity of his gaze smoothed over to business.
“You were grabbed last night by a stranger. That’s unacceptable. The stage you were on is too low and needs to be positioned in a way that you are close enough to be enticing, but far enough away so you cannot be touched. That is being changed today.”
“Tell me this, did you come down here to see Betsy and Earl, or to convince me to come back to work for you?”
“I always try to make time for them when I’m in town. They changed my life.”
He shrugged one shoulder.
“When Samantha told me where you work every morning, I couldn’t resist the opportunity. Imagine my surprise when I learned the Savana who Betsy has promised to introduce me to, is the seductress who has plagued my thoughts all night. So, Savana. Will you dance for me?”
The devilish grin in his eyes made me thankful I was already sitting down and what did he mean plagued his thoughts? Was he turned on by me? I was surely turned on by him, but this all felt so wrong. I was hoping he meant to dance just for him, for him alone and no one else. I wanted to show him more than my dance moves. Yet how could I, it was unholy!
Earl burst in from the kitchen, cutting our conversatio
n short and breaking the tension in the room. Shawn jumped out of his seat, changed expression and then hugged Earl, the two men were slapping each other’s backs in greeting, when Betsy brought out lunch for all of us.
Step Brother Anthology: Bad Boy (BBW Taboo Billionaire Romance) Page 9