Page 15 of The Betrayal
CHAPTER FIVE
ARIZONA
I close my locker and exhale a shaky breath. Nerves were rippling deep inside of me and everyone could tell my mood was a little sour.
“It’ll be fine, you’ve got this,” Luce pulls me in for a hug and holds me a little tighter.
The thing is, and don’t laugh, but I am still a virgin. It has just never happened. And yes, I know I work in a gentleman’s club, but let’s call it what it really is, a strip club, dressed up and wrapped in an emerald, green bow.
I am grateful for Sage, Dex and Rhaegar, but this is not what I had envisioned for myself when I was the little girl in my doctor costume and stethoscope wrapped round my neck.
“I don’t feel like I have this,” a nervous giggle bubbles out of me as Lucy lets me go. Tilting her head to the side I see a slither of sadness weave through her opal eyes.
“Do you not want to go there?” she asks as she turns her head to look behind her to the narrow corridor that leads towards the back exit.
“I do… but I don’t,” my head is nodding towards her, but my insides are crippling with anxiety.
“Ross will be on the door, three bangs and you’re out.”
My nodding grows a little faster, my pulse racing under my skin.
“You’re right,” I stand a little taller and roll my shoulders back, “it’ll be fine,” I swallow the large lump down and ignore the way it burns as it lodges itself in my windpipe.
Dressed in a light pink bra and G-string, I pull a white silk kimono over my body and wrap myself up as if it’s my security blanket. Taking two small steps, I look at myself in the mirror and blink away the tears that are threatening to leave.
I know what is expected of me in that room. My eyes drag down my body to my silver platform heels before they glide up and focus on my face. Heavy make-up, hazel contacts, long extensions making my hair end at my waist.
“You ready?” Lucy asks as she stands beside me, giving me a warm smile.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“That’s my girl, the car is waiting out back,” she gives me an encouraging slap on my bare ass cheek. I turn and begin walking away when she steps up beside me. “Don’t forget…”
“Three knocks, yeah I remember,” I give her a reassuring smile and disappear down the corridor towards the back of the club.
A blacked-out Mercedes is waiting, and a driver opens the door for me. I give him a curt nod as I slip past him and nestle myself into the seat. My door closes softly before the engine starts and he drives me across town to the smaller club that hosts these kind of private sessions.
The ride isn’t long, but it feels like a million miles away when you’re nervous. We pull curbside and the driver lets me out and walks with me to the hostess. My eyes land on her for just a moment, my lips part ready to announce my name but she looks down at her tablet in her hand.
“Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome told me to escort you to the room.” She gives me a smile and nods goodbye to the driver who disappears behind me.
With each step that brings me closer to him, my heart beats a little harder inside my chest causing my whole body to vibrate with every pound.
My nerves settle slightly when I see Ross. He bounces between both clubs, and I adore him.
He steps forward and gives me a curt nod. Tall, extremely handsome, too handsome to be working as a bouncer in a strip club. Dark curly hair, sharp jaw and crooked nose. He is every bit delicious.
“Ari,” he smiles warmly at me, his dark brown eyes glisten as they sweep over my body. My cheeks blush. “When you going to let me take you out?” he asks just as I get to him.
“How about Friday, five o’clock? It’s my day off,” I give him a shrug of the shoulder as I try and fail miserably to act nonchalant.
“I’ll see if I can get my shift changed.”
“Perfect,” I flash him a wide, toothy smile as he hovers his hand over the doorknob.
“Three knocks, remember?”
“Three knocks,” my voice trembles as I swallow the nerves. I turn to face the dark green door, his fingers finally tightening round the gold brushed doorknob and my heart is in my throat.