Page 45 of Dance for Me

Guitars and Whiskey

Jack drove Vanessa back to her place before the club opened. She needed to grab more clothes and check on Sprinkles. So far, she hadn’t gotten anymore creepy envelopes but Jack still wasn’t convinced it was safe enough for her to be at her apartment. She talked to Doug here and there, but did not mention where she was staying.

She spoke too soon because when they opened the door, there it was, a nice shiny red envelope with her name on it.

“Fuck,” Jack spit out. Vanessa picked it up to read it but before she could, Jack snatched it from her hands. He read it out loud.

Dear Vanessa,

You haven’t been home in a while. I miss seeing you, you haven’t been on stage, either. Such a shame because I like when you dance for me.

With love.

“Son of a bitch!” Jack shouted out loud. “Come on, grab what you need and then we’re leaving.”

Vanessa couldn’t move, feet planted on the ground. She was tired of these stupid letters and just wanted it to be over so she could go back to living her life. She didn’t want to be looking over her shoulder all the time.

“Jack, we need to go to the police! Let’s just let them handle it!”

“Vanessa,” Jack stood in front of her. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Then, trust me when I say that I will not let anything happen to you. Besides, someone I know works for the cops.”

“Jack, who exactly are these people that you know?”

“People from my past.”

“That you can’t tell me about, got it,” she sighed. “Can I at least bring Sprinkles?”

He gave her a cute smile. “Yes, you can bring Sprinkles, babe.” Her heart fluttered. Did he really have to keep calling her babe all the time?

She grabbed extra clothes and scooped up her cat in her arms. Lately, Jack’s place felt more like home to her than her own.

They went back to Jack’s, got her cat settled, and then headed for the club. Vanessa would have stayed there, but she wanted to work some more and see Jazz and Owen.

Vanessa watched Trixie dance on stage in one of her designs and she couldn’t help but feel a little bitter that it looked good on her. She was hoping that, by some miracle, the outfit made her look fat. Which, because she was pretty much perfect and her lingerie was made for them, it sadly did not.

She glanced up at Jack who was standing next to her, arms crossed over his chest. He pretty much glued himself to her tonight, well mostly every night, but tonight especially since they found another letter.

She wondered, was there any spark in his eyes when he watched Trixie?

He must have sensed her eyes glued to him because he gave her a side glance with a smirk. Vanessa quickly averted her attention back to the stage. When Trixie was finished, she stepped off down the stairs and instead of going toward the back, she headed straight for Jack. She threw her arms around him, which even took Jack by surprise and planted a kiss right on his lips. Vanessa turned her head to pretend like she wasn’t watching. It stung right to her core.

Jack grabbed a hold of Trixie’s arms and guided them away from him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Just happy to see you.” She devilishly smiled while giving Vanessa a look over. Vanessa secretly wanted to take her head and bash it into the nearest wall, but she thought it was probably a bad idea. However, tonight she was already pissed off and annoyed, so what did she have to lose. Besides, if she had to watch her cling onto Jack anymore, she was going to go into a jealous rage. More than she already was.

“So, Trixie,” Vanessa shouted over to her. Trixie’s smile faded and she detached herself from Jack’s neck. “How do you like the new outfits? I mean you have to admit they are a tad better than the beach wear you picked out, right?”

Vanessa heard Owen snort behind her, and Jack tried holding back a grin.

“Well, since you’re asking for my opinion, they look like they could be bought from a discount store,” Trixie said in retaliation.

Liar, Vanessa thought, because Jazz told her Trixie liked them, a lot.

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