Page 17 of Marcus-stiltskin

My heart drops for the second time. “The Wild Hare, yeah.”

“Are you a bartender? Cocktail waitress?”

I search his face. “Lugh didn’t tell you?

He shakes his head. “He said we should talk about it.”

I sigh. “The Wild Hare is a regular bar from lunch until dinner. After that, they have dancers on the stage until two in the morning. That’s what I do.”

“Dancers? Like…”

“Topless. Strippers.”

“Oh.”

Neither of us says anything for a long moment, the “oh” hanging in the air between us. Finally, I work up the courage to say, “I’m actually running late for work, so I should get going.”

He nods. “Drive safe, Sarah.”

I nod, but I’ve already turned away, the disappointment bitter in my belly. I’ve been down this road so many times I’ve lost count. I’m not sure why I thought it’d be any different with Marcus.

Maybe because you thought he knew you?my brain reasons. That’s a dumb line of thought. He told me himself the other day he was trying to get to know this version of me. He doesn’t know me and he’s obviously not willing to look past my profession to see this go any further. I get back into my car, but all my motivation is gone. I drive slowly and carefully to work. I wouldn’t want such an “awesome” week to end with me hitting an animal for real.

“Steely, are you eating tonight?” Ginger asks as I step into the dressing room a lot later than I intended.

My stomach is in knots still, but we’ll be here until two, so I need something in my belly before I step on stage. “Yes, please. If you’ve got anything left.”

As the house mom, Ginger has a million tiny jobs–keeping the dressing room clean and stocked, fixing broken shoes, runningout to grab emergency tampons. For that, we tip her like we tip the DJ at the end of the night. But some things she does to make an extra buck. One of those is cooking a big meal every night and selling plates to the staff. Ginger’s setup has evolved over the time I’ve worked here–from a crock pot in the corner to a full on warmer and trays as if she’s catering. She pulls back the foil on a huge tray revealing tater tot casserole.

Years ago, I would have stuck my nose up at the thought of eating anything of the sort, but tonight it smells heavenly. I hand her a five and she plops a big portion on my plate. “There are sodas in the cooler over there. Do you want a brownie or a cookie?”

“Get the brownie,” Marti advises from her dressing table. “They are to die for.”

I’m picking up a sandwich baggie with a brownie just as a loud knock comes at the dressing room door. There’s a short pause before Madison, one of the cocktail waitresses, sticks her head in. “Hey Steely, the boss needs to see you in his office.”

I sigh and take my plate with me. At least I’m still in my sweats. Randy Lamar, the Alpha of the Lamar pack, has his office at the very end of the hall that holds the men’s and women’s restrooms, a utility closet, and our dressing room. I knock twice before I enter and find that this is going to be a lot more involved than I had hoped. Randy isn’t alone. Zach, the future Alpha, sits at his desk. Zander Lamar, Zach’s younger brother and the future Beta, lays sprawled out on the couch. Zander nods his head at me in greeting. “Hey, Steely,” he says as Randy stands. I step inside and shut the door behind me, not sure what to do next.

Randy motions to the front of his desk. “Steely, come in and have a seat.”

Zach moves over to the couch, shoving Zander’s legs out of the way, as I sit in one of the uncomfortable chairs in front of Randy’s desk.

“I wanted to have a little talk about what happened Wednesday night.”

I bite my lip, not sure what to say. He meets my eyes as he leans back in his chair. “Relax, kid, we’re not here to let you go. Just to make a plan. Darla told me what she saw from her point of view. Can you tell me what happened from where you were?”

I sigh. “Marti and Cara came off the stage ahead of me and warned us all that the groom in the bachelor party that night was a little too much, so I started on the pole closest to the dressing room.” I look up to find all the wolves staring intently at me.

“He was right up against the stage. I knew I couldn’t stand on that side forever. He would just come over there, so I made my way to center stage and then he grabbed me by the foot and pulled. I fell on my ass and he started trying to get into my pants.”

Zach starts to growl low in his throat. “Fucking assholes. I’m never going to trust the Fines pack to do shit again.”

Randy nods. “Agreed.”

Their reaction makes me feel slightly better as I continue on. “Darla was still dressed up from the party, but she started shoving guys out of the way to get to me. I just had so much anger boiling up inside me at the man. It felt like something inside me exploded and then suddenly he was on the ground screaming.”

Randy leans back in his chair. “Darla told us that the spell you cast was incredibly strong and indicative of a very strong propensity for fire magic. Her exact words were that you had a very rare gift.”

I snort. “That’s not what she told me. She said I was like all the other girls.”

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