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“Why?”
“I’m going up on stage.”
“Are you drunk already?”
“No.” She pinches my arm and opens two of her blouse buttons.
My pulse quickens. “You’re serious.”
Her grin is all naughty fun. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my clothes on. I just want to see what it feels like to be up there.”
“Not easy to swing around the pole.”
“As if you’d know. But I took dance and gymnastics for ten years. I can hold my own.” She dives in to kiss my cheek and nibble at my earlobe for one tantalizing second. “So enjoy the show.”
I’m still kind of dazed over how the gears got shifted so rapidly when she struts away, joining a crew of giddy hopefuls waiting for their turn to play at being strippers.
Tess never has an issue with talking to strangers. She strikes up a conversation with the woman standing behind her and within a minute three other women join in. Tess does a lot of the talking and she’s very animated, using her hands a lot. Laughter ripples through the small group.
I can’t stop admiring her. Compared to Tess, I’m like a wolverine with rabies. Not an ounce of charm.
While I’m watching Tess, Haven materializes out of nowhere and takes a seat. “Lyonne.”
Haven’s somewhat erratic. I brace for a surprise.
But she seems to be in a friendly mood. She nods to Tess. “I have a feeling her fuckface of a father doesn’t know about you two.”
“Don’t give a shit what he thinks.”
Haven mulls that over. “My own father keeps writing checks to that bastard. Thinks he will be good for business.” She toys with a purple string around her neck and frowns. “I don’t agree. He used to come in here sometimes, before he went high profile and started running for city mayor.”
“Yeah?” It makes no difference to me if Stuart Ballerini likes to drink and stare at tits.
Haven leans in and narrows her eyes. “I kicked him out once. Took a lot of shit from my father for that but I’m not changing my mind.”
“What did he do?”
She points to one of the dancers who parades around in a red string bikini with a tray of drinks. “You know her?”
I have to think about it for a second in order to summon her name. “Keely, right?”
“Yup. Who does she remind you of?”
Easy question to answer. “Dani.”
Not as pretty as Dani, but the resemblance is still strong.
Haven examines her talon-like nails. “Ballerini offered to pay any price for a night with Keely. Who happens to look very much like the girl who’s been his daughter’s best friend since high school. Funny, that.”
Her disgusted expression says she doesn’t find it funny at all.
Neither do I.
Haven sighs. “Anyway, you know I don’t sell women. A man who’s looking for that kind of action will be lucky if he doesn’t leave here through a plate glass window.”
The music changes. An old tune by the Beastie Boys.
Tess is being encouraged to take the front of the line. She laughs and lets herself get ushered onto the stage, kicking off her shoes before seizing the pole in both hands. She scans the crowd in search of me and smiles when our eyes meet.
