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So does Niki’s.
“You’re awfully quiet.” He smirks, his gaze landing on my breasts again. “Scared of cops? I must not be the first one to come in here.”
“Of course not.” I take the opportunity to turn away from him, giving him a different view as I work to school my expression. “I’m just careful about who knows my real name, that’s all. You understand, working in a place like this.”
I feel his hand against my hip, knuckles grazing the side of it. He’s not supposed to touch, but I’m too freaked out to tell him to stop, and I’m sure he’s counting on that. He’s a cop—of course, he takes what he wants. Who would tell him no?
Anger churns in my stomach, along with the fear. Cop or not, he’s just another man demanding things of me, whether I want to give them or not. And I’m so very, very tired of it.
It’s a risk, but I push his hand away. “You’re not allowed to touch,” I tell him smoothly. “Only watch.”
His smile is devious. “What if I want to touch myself?”
“You’ll have to wait until you leave.” I force the alluring smile back onto my face. “I hear a little teasing and denial makes it better, afterwards. Isn’t that why men come here? To be teased, so they can imagine it later?”
He chuckles, low and dangerous in his throat. He’s here for some reason, but I’m not sure what. I don’t know if I’ve been seen with the drugs, if someone has snitched on me, or if this has to do with Lorenzo. Regardless, I have to keep my cool, or I risk getting caught regardless. Even if he knows nothing at all, and he’s just being an asshole, he’ll pounce if he senses that there’s something he can latch onto.
“I don’t know about other men, but I’m not particularly interested in delayed gratification.” His hand rises to my hip. “But I’ll handle it myself, if you like. Isn’t that what that over there is for?”
He nods to the tissues and my blood pressure spikes. Is this a trap? Did he see me? I’m very careful about slipping them in there, every time. It’s a careful sleight of hand, but I’ve never been caught, and this man isn’t so eagle-eyed that I think he picked up on what I was doing.
“You look flushed.” His dark eyes flick up to mine again. “Nervous about something?”
I arch forward, sliding into his lap as I hover over him. His hand is still against my hip, but I do my best to ignore it. If he keeps pushing my boundaries, I’ll say something, but for now, it’s better to keep quiet—as much as it upsets me. “It’s not often someone as handsome as you comes in here.” The lie slips silkily off my tongue—it’s not entirely a lie, but it’s definitely not why I’m flushed and nervous.
He smirks—unsurprisingly, his ego is stroked by that. “Careful, Angel. I might think you’re starting to like me. Maybe if you’re real sweet to me, I’ll come back.” His fingers toy with the edge of my panties, and it’s all I can do not to grit my teeth. “Would you like that?”
“Of course.” That is a lie. But I’ve gotten good at those. All the while, I’m moving to the music, swaying and grinding without ever really touching him other than my hands on his shoulders. I’m certain he’s aroused—the game he’s playing is probably turning him on more than anything else—and I avoid getting too close. The last thing I want is to actually feel him pressed up against me.
“Maybe I’ll come back and see you again, then. Angel.”
The stage name comes off of his tongue like an endearment, and it makes me feel ill. The song is almost over, and I’m glad, because I don’t know how much longer I can take it.
“I’m sure you’ll always be welcome.” I purr the last words, forcing them out. His hand slides to my ass, a knowing look on his face that tells me he knows he shouldn’t be touching me like this, but I can’t find it in myself to tell him to stop. The song is almost over; he’ll be gone in a moment, and I don’t want to give him any reason to prolong it. I don’t want to give him any reason to stay, to upset me further, to make me slip and say something that would get me in trouble.
“We’ll just have to find out, won’t we?” He looks up at me, a predatory desire in his eyes, and I can see the lust for a chase there. Even if he does suspect me of something, I realize, he won’t say it outright tonight. He wants to hunt me, to play a game, to draw this out for his own pleasure. It makes me dizzy with fear, and I barely make it through the last few beats of the song before I draw back, keeping the alluring smile pasted on my face.
“Until next time, then. Unless you want to pay for another dance.” Please don’t. My heart is beating hard in my chest, afraid of what his response might be, but I have to say it. If Dick caught wind of me shuffling a customer out when he might want to stay, there’d be hell to pay.
“Not tonight, I don’t think. But we’ll be seeing each other again, Angel.” He stands up, tossing the folded bills to pay for the dance on the table next to the couch, and then walks towards me. I stay very still, until he’s close enough to touch, another bill folded between his fingers. He reaches out, tucking it into my bra. “Very soon.”
My heart stutters in my chest. For a moment, I can’t move as the man—who still hasn’t given me his name—slips from the room. It’s almost certainly a coincidence that he tucked the money where I keep the pills…but it also might not be.
With shaking fingers, I slip the money free. A fifty-dollar bill. Normally, I would be ecstatic, but this feels like a trap. Another part of the game.
Swallowing hard, I retrieve the pills with shaky fingers, tucking them back into my bra. I should go back out onto the floor, but I flee towards the dressing room instead, needing another moment to myself. And then, just as I’m nearing the door that leads to my momentary escape, I hear someone clear their throat.
I stop almost too quickly, teetering in my heels, and I know before I even turn my head that Lorenzo is there. I can smell his cologne, expensive and citrusy and herbal, over the cheap fog in the room—but it’s more than that. There’s a presence whenever he’s in a room, one too strong for anyone to ignore. It’s as if something shifts in the air, and I know where he is before I even see him.
“Mila.” His voice is low and quiet, and I flinch at the sound of my real name.
Quickly, in two strides, I close the distance between us. “Don’t say my actual name here,” I murmur, and I wish I could stop the quaver in my voice. The encounter with the cop left me far too rattled, and I haven’t had enough time to regain my poise before I saw Lorenzo.
“Is something wrong?” He frowns, and I swallow hard.
“Not here. Meet me out back.”
I slip past him, into the dressing room, and grab my dress to throw over my lingerie before anyone can say anything to me. Dick will be pissed if he finds out I’ve taken two breaks this close together, but at this particular moment, I can’t bring myself to care.
