CHAPTER ELEVEN

Chloe picked out a light blue leotard and a sexy little pair of spandex shorts that was just a shade darker to go over it for her dance that night. Her hair still smelled like citrus and flowers from the treatment they had put in it at the spa, and she loved how it felt like silk now as it cascaded across her bare shoulders and down across the back of her neck. It made her feel pretty and like it or not, right or wrong— she wanted to be pretty for Derek tonight.

She put her own clothes on over her little outfit and went into work a little early. Lexi already left for her date, and Chloe was feeling too anxious to sit alone in the condo.

She saw Jake as soon as she walked in the door. He didn’t look happy.

“Hey Jake, what’s going on?”

“It’s already been a long ass day,” he said.

Jake was Roxi’s best and most loyal bouncer. He was six foot five and had to weigh at least three hundred pounds without an ounce of fat anywhere. He kept his head completely shaved bald, and his black eyes rarely showed any expression. He was handsome in a scary sort of way. He rarely had to put his hands on anyone. Ninety-nine percent of the time all it took from him was one smoldering look, and the scumbags were scrambling out to their car on their own. Then there was that one percent who were too drunk, stoned or stupid to realize the pain that a man like Jake could unleash on them. That was usually the only time she heard him complain about it being a “long ass day.” In spite of his appearance, Jake wasn’t a violent guy by nature, and it pissed him off when he was backed into a corner and left with no other choices.

“You had to throw someone out already?”

“Two someones. Some asshole lawyer and his son thought they were going to have a threesome with Sadie in the back room. When she balked and yelled for me, Daddy went for his wallet first, and when that didn’t work, sonny boy tried throwing a punch. I swear my little sister hit harder than that when she was a toddler. I hooked the little bastard up and as I was throwing his ass out the front door when Daddy tried to play the lawyer card and tell me how he was going to sue my ass for assault.”

The sound of “a lawyer and his son” sent a chill down Chloe’s spine. Jesse’s dad was a district attorney— a powerful, arrogant son of a bitch. But he was in New York, and Jesse was still in prison. Nevertheless, Chloe had to remind herself to breathe.

“So what happened?” she finally said.

He chuckled and said, “Roxi happened. She gave the son of a bitch her card and wrote my name on the back. She told him to “feel free” to file a suit. She would be more than happy to provide the judge with the tapes of him and his golden boy waving their tiny dicks in poor Sadie’s face.”

Chloe couldn’t help but laugh too. “Go, Roxi! I take it they left then without further incident?”

“They did,” he said with the scowl returning to his face, “But they ruined my fucking day when it was just getting started.”

“Sorry Jake, I hope it gets better.”

“Yeah, me too. They should all be as respectable as that guy you dance for. I don’t know why the rest of them have to act like cavemen who never saw a woman before.”

Chloe realized after it was too late that she had felt a quiver of pride when Jake mentioned how ‘respectable’ Derek was. She immediately told herself how stupid that was. First off if he was entirely ‘respectable’ what was he doing in a place like this, and second off she had absolutely nothing to do with his “respectability” and therefore no right or reason to feel pride over it. Jeez, this guy was jacking her all up.

She left Jake and went into the back to change. Then before she went to her spot, she took one smoke out of her pack and her lighter, left the rest of the pack with Lexi’s relief Callie behind the bar and went out back. She was about halfway through her smoke when Roxi stepped outside.

“Hey you, last night of the private dancing gig, huh? Are you regretting it, or looking forward?” Roxi asked her.

“Well you know I mean no offense when I say this, Rox but I hate this fucking job whether it’s one guy watching me or fifty.”

Roxi laughed and said, “No offense taken. I asked around about Derek Stark.”

She said and let it hang, waiting to see if Chloe would ask her what she had found out. Chloe sucked down the last drag of her smoke and stubbed it out.

“I should get inside,” she said.

Roxi laughed again. “I know that you’re dying to know what I found out, but you’re too stubborn to ask, so I’ll tell you. He’s a good guy according to absolutely everyone. He works hard and plays very little. The first time he ever set foot in this club was the day he asked me about you. He wouldn’t tell me what brought him here, but I have a gut feeling that it was you.”

Chloe started to protest, and Roxi said, “I believe you when you tell me that you don’t know him, I’m just telling you what my gut is telling me. You know my gut is usually right. My point in telling you all of this is that when he asks you out if he hasn’t already, I’m not going to object if you say yes. I know dating the clients is a no-no here, but as I said, I don’t think Derek Stark is looking to be a client. You have my permission to live a little if you choose to do so.”

“Live a little, huh? Lexi said those same words to me this morning.”

“Hmm, the same advice from two smart, savvy women who care about you. Imagine that!” Roxi looked at her diamond studded Cartier and said, “I think it’s time for your set.”