“Come with me. We can go back to the club and get you set up with the costume designer. You’re going to need something to dance in.”
“Really? You’re going to let me dance for you?”
I nodded and forced a smile, even though the idea of Abbi dancing made my chest tighten. “Yeah, so let’s go.”
She stood and threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. “Oh, Kane, thank you! I promise you won’t be disappointed. I’ll be the best dancer you have.”
All Abbi could talk about on the way back to the club was how much she looked forward to showing how she could dance, but with every minute that passed I regretted my offer. Club X may have been a hundred times better than that shithole I found her dancing in, but I still didn’t like the idea of her dancing, even for my club’s members.
I left Abbi with the costume designer for the dancers and headed back to my room to clear my head. Something about this woman made me think things I shouldn’t, and I had to try to push them out of my mind before we went further into something neither of us needed. The sight of my shirt she’d worn last night laid out on my bed made all those ideas about how much I wanted her rush back, but I needed to fight the urge to let myself want what I shouldn’t have.
By five o’clock I’d talked myself into believing I could have her dance for me and not need to be with her. That the idea of other men watching her dance, even fully clothed, wouldn’t drive me out of my mind with jealousy.
Then she walked into my rooms and reality crashed down on me, forcing all those ideas out of my mind. There, right in front of me, she stood in the costume members would see her in. A white dress that accentuated every sensual inch of her body and was meant to make her look sexy and innocent both at the same time. The costume designer Janie knew her stuff, and one look at Abbi made me want to grab my shirt again to cover her. It wasn’t pasties and a G-string this time, but the effect was the same.
“What do you think? Isn’t it gorgeous? Janie said she’d been waiting a long time to make a costume like this. Do you like it?”
Abbi twirled around to show me the back of the dress, and my cock stiffened at the sight of her perfect ass filling out the costume in a way meant to make men go out of their minds with desire.
She spun around again to face me, those blue eyes looking up at me filled with hope. “You don’t like it? She said it would be perfect.”
“It is,” I said quietly. “It looks great.”
“Are you angry at me? You look just like you did the day you interviewed me. You haven’t changed your mind, have you? I really need this job, Kane.”
I shook my head slowly. “No, I haven’t changed my mind. If you want to be a dancer, the job’s yours.”
Abbi smiled, lighting up my dingy rooms with her genuine happiness at my gesture. “I have something to ask you. I hope you say yes to that too.”
“What’s that?”
“Gemma has a new boyfriend, and I don’t want to be in the way at her house. You know how it is at the beginning. Nobody wants a third wheel around. Would you be okay with me staying here until I get the money for my own place? From what Gemma said, I should be able to make enough in a week or so since I’m only looking for a one bedroom or even a studio.”
She wanted to stay with me there in my tiny rooms I kept to hide away from the world. Unable to say no, I mumbled, “Sure.”
Again, she threw her arms around me and hugged me close. “Thank you! I’ll sleep on the floor so you don’t have to give up your bed anymore. It wasn’t too bad last night, so don’t worry.”
For the first time since we’d gotten up that morning, I held her to me, loving how she felt against my body. When she looked up at me, I loved seeing the happiness in her face. Pressing my lips to her forehead, I kissed her softly, closing my eyes to enjoy the warmth of having her next to me.
As I let myself get lost in the quiet joy she gave me, I felt her lips gently touch mine. Opening my eyes, I looked down to see her mouth open slightly in a kiss. My body came alive, reacting to the softness of her lips as they caressed mine, and my cock grew hard against her. Just a small kiss and everything I feared I’d want raged inside me.
She was so close, so tender, so willing…
And so not someone I should be kissing.
Pulling away, I pressed a smile onto the lips she’d just thrilled with a kiss and tried to calm myself. “I left your clothes on the table there, so feel free to hang them in the closet since you’ll be staying.”
She looked confused by my reaction, but after a moment she nodded and gave me one of her sweet smiles. “Okay. Thank you. I promise it won’t be long. I’ll make sure to work as many shifts as you’ll let me so I won’t be intruding for too many days.”
Abbi moved toward the table to gather her new clothes, leaving me there wanting so much more than just a mere kiss and knowing even desiring her was wrong. As she made herself at home, I wondered how the hell I was going to deny what my body already craved and my mind was quickly becoming obsessed with.
How would I spend night after night with her right there next to me and not give in to what would undoubtedly end up hurting us both?
I WATCHED as Abbi and the other dancers readied themselves in their dressing area to perform their first dances of the night, most of them calm and almost bored, except for her. She and Gemma stood next to one another laughing and smiling about something, and only Abbi seemed truly eager to enter the hallway to go her first room.
Of all the costumes they wore, Abbi’s alone seemed sexy to me now. Even the dancers who wore just pasties were nothing next to her. My gut knotted up thinking about her dancing for some of our members even as she seemed thrilled to begin her first night of work.
All my people filed into their break room, and walking in, my very presence there made everyone go silent. All eyes focused on me, as they did every night, but all I could see were Abbi’s blue eyes staring at me from the corner of the room.
“We’ve got some new dancers here tonight, so you veterans keep an eye out for them. If they have any questions or run into any problems, help them out. I’ll be out there like always keeping an eye on things, so those of you who are new I want you to know I won’t let you get hurt. Anyone have any questions?”
One of my dancers who’d been with me for nearly three years raised her hand. I nodded in her direction, and with a silly grin Simone, the dark haired beauty with a body all our members loved asked, “When did you get so nice, Kane? I’m just wondering since last week you didn’t speak to any of us for two days straight and the best we could get from you was a grunt anytime we asked a question.”