Page 27 of The Daddy’s Girl

His eyes light up. “I’d love your number.”

He fumbles for his phone and hands it to me. I stare at it for a moment before he realizes it’s locked.

“I’m such an idiot,” he mumbles to himself, and I laugh again.

After unlocking it for me, he passes it over, and I type my number into it.

“Here you go,” I say as I hand it back. “Text me sometime.”

“I definitely will,” he says with excitement. “All right…have a good night.”

I wave again before turning toward the club. “Have a good night.”

Walking the rest of the way, I have a renewed sense of excitement. Suddenly things are turning around. Not only did Matis make a comment about me being sexy, a stranger in the bar wanted my number.

Matis, 1.

Amelia, 1.

It’s Friday night and I don’t want to go home. Freya is with my brother and Archer tonight, and my parents left town for the weekend, leaving me alone. Which I hate.

So instead of going back to an empty house, I head into the club. It’s in full force tonight, and I can’t stand being on the floor when the music and the lights are going. It makes me feel like someone is banging a metal pot over my head.

I head up to the offices; it’s quiet upstairs since most everyone is either downstairs or home with their families. Flipping on the lights of my studio, I drop my purse onto the table and dig out my noise-canceling headphones. Turning on some chill beats, I get to work, trying to focus on the spring line.

I don’t get far. The music downstairs vibrates through the floor. These chairs are terribly uncomfortable, and the lighting in here is all wrong.

Not to mention the sound of Matis’s laughter echoes in my memory.

Is he still with her?

Is he going to kiss her?

Coloring in the palm trees on the midi skirt, I can’t seem to focus, and my work is suffering for it. With exasperation, I toss my colored pencil down.

Then an idea comes to me. A few months back, when I couldn’t focus up here with everyone else working around me, I found a perfect place in the club for a little silence and dim lighting.

I doubt it would be open tonight, though.

Pulling out my phone I check the app we use to track room rentals and availability. It’s early enough that a lot of the rooms are still empty.

And lucky me…the voyeur room is still available.

“Yes,” I whisper to myself as I quickly reserve it for one hour before anyone can take it. I’m able to reserve it for maintenance for the next hour to save the cleaning crew from having to come in when I’m done. It’s not like I’ll be doing anything in there.

No one has to know I’m reserving a room on a busy weekend night for myself when we could easily rent it out to a member. It’s early and I won’t be in there long. I just want to get some work done. Besides, the voyeur room gets rented the least anyway.

Grabbing my things, I hang my headphones around my neck as I make my way downstairs. When I pass the street-level bar, I wave to Weston, who seems to be keeping busy.

The lower, basement level of the club is vibrant tonight, sexual energy seeping through the space as I meander through the bodies around the dance floor toward the hallway of rooms at the back.

Before leaving the main room, I sneak a glance back at the dance floor to see the movement of sex among the naked bodies. My stomach tightens and my thighs clench. I could never just sit here and watch, although I have definitely thought about it.

Mostly because I’m an owner and that would feel strange, I have never actually partaken in any of the activities down here. Never mind the fact that nearly every single one of the other owners have used the club for their own pleasure, I still don’t feel right about it.

I doubt Phoenix uses the club, though. But I could never see her enjoying anything at all.

Leaving the room of debauchery behind, I head to the voyeur room at the end of the hall. The voyeur room is sort of like two rooms in one. It includes a “viewing” area and a regular sex area. People can bring friends or lovers or whoever they want in here to get cozy and enjoy the show, movie theater style.