Page 18 of Strip for Me

“A crazy, old man who owned a few nightclubs and strip clubs. Eric had told us his family was rich but dabbled in illegal things. When a lot of them died, he still had a lot of money and just started taking in people who needed help. There were other guys who he had gotten other jobs for, and they moved on, but we worked in his club and looked after him as he got older,” Kaiden says with a smile, I can see how much he must have cared for Eric.

“So, is he?” I ask gently, the way Kaiden described him suggests that he passed on.

“Yes, he passed away around two years ago, and we inherited this club. Andre inherited a house from his parents, and he offered to let us move in. By that point, we all had a lot of money from the work and could have bought our own houses, but we just didn’t,” he tells me.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” I tell him softly.

“Tell me something about you, Ellie,” he asks me as he goes back to playing with my hair, his finger skimming down my back and making me shiver.

“There isn’t much to tell,” I say, and he smiles like he doesn’t believe me. There is stuff to tell, but it’s not interesting. Honestly, my life was boring when I was stuck in a dead-end marriage and rarely left the house other than to go to work.

“Well, what about your childhood?” he asks.

“My parents are, well, they are good parents most of the time. I had a decent childhood, but they’re clouded in their beliefs,” I tell him. My parents love the church more than most things, including me. If they aren’t speaking to me because I got a divorce, I think they will disown me when I tell them I’m pregnant and living with a house full of strippers.

The thought of their horrified faces drifts into my mind and makes me chuckle a little.

“So, why is someone as beautiful as you, single and living with us?” he asks me.

“I was married until three months ago. I walked in on my husband of eight years fucking his secretary, so it was over,” I tell him, and his eyes widen.

“What a fucking douchebag,” he says. He looks fuming mad, and it makes me smile. Those were close to the words I called Drew.

“It was a good thing; our marriage was over years ago, and I had become a pretty thing he kept on his arm at parties. I don’t know why I didn’t leave him sooner,” I tell him, and we both go quiet for a little bit. I wonder what he’s thinking.

“Why do you think you stayed?” he asks me.

“Because I had, and still have, no idea what love is,” I tell him, and he looks down at me. His expression is clouded in disbelief and something else.

“Ellie, you may not know what love is, but you’re so easy to love,” he says and kisses me as my eyes widen.

His lips move gently across my own as his hand finds the back of my head, his other hand pulling my waist closer againsthis hard body as the kiss deepens, and I part my mouth to let him take control.

“Andre is going on stage soon,” the words are spoken behind us in a clipped, angry tone, and Kaiden breaks his lips away from mine.

“Dom,” he says looking behind me, and I hear a door slam shut.

“I–” I say but can’t finish the story.

“Don’t overthink this, I’ll talk to Dom,” Kaiden says and brushes his lips against mine before he leans back.

“Andre wants you to watch him, you should go,” he says with a small smirk. I don’t get him, why would he kiss me one minute and then send me off to watch another man strip.

“Okay,” I say to him and get off his lap. I walk a little shakily to the door, my mind still reeling from that kiss.

“I hope you enjoy the dance,” Kaiden says behind me just as I walk through the door, and I choose not to reply.

I hope I do, too.

Sixteen

ELLIE

I settleinto a seat at the bar of the strip club, the stage is empty and sensual music is blasting through the room. I look out of place here, next to the tables full of gorgeous women. The club is completely full of staff members running around handing out drinks. The barman comes over to me after serving a few women who are sitting at the bar.

“What can I get you?” he asks me. The man is young, maybe just eighteen with ginger hair and a cute face.

“Just a lemonade please,” I say and offer him my bank card when I pull it out of my phone case. I literally don’t have a purse, so all my cards are in my phone case. I really need to get one when I get paid from this job.

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