Page 12 of A Billionaire Gentleman

Or, sometimes, get off to now.

“Sofi, there’s a customer asking for you.” Sanders leaned against the wall next to me, everything about him completely at ease with being in a room full of half-dressed women. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him in here, and it wasn’t the first time I’d noticed that he didn’t leer at any of us. If anything…

My observations screeched to a halt as I processed what he’d said. “What?”

“Someone wants a private dance.” He straightened and stuck his hands in his pockets. “He wants that costume.” He gestured to the skimpiest one.

Big surprise there.

“I’ll help her get ready,” Pasha said. Sanders nodded and headed back out to the club floor while she picked out a sheer wrap from the rack of general use accessories. “The key to a good dance, if you don’t want any of the extras, is to put on a couple of these layers, so you have to take them off to get to what they want to see.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice to stay steady. My pulse was racing, and my chest was tight. I’d never had a panic attack, but I had a bad feeling that, if I didn’t get ahold of myself right now, I was about to have my first one and end up getting fired on top of it.

“Breathe, Sofi.” Pasha kept her voice low, but all of the other women knew what she was doing.

Calming the newbie before sending her in for some sweaty old leche to ogle and grope.

“It can be harder one-on-one,” she said. “Without the lights, you can see them. And they’re closer.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it,” I muttered, annoyed.

She laughed. “Better now? Not freaking out?”

I grinned at her when I realized what she’d done. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “Now get changed and get out there before he decides on someone else. As much as you may think you want him to, just remember that you’ll get a nice bump in your check. I’m sure you need it.”

I hadn’t told her why I was here, but it wasn’t too much of a stretch to guess that I needed money. Most of us here did.

She was right, though. Ihadto do this.

I finished changing my clothes, and Pasha helped me arrange the extra wraps, then showed me where to go. The man was already inside, sitting in the shadows. I took a slow breath and then reminded myself that this was for Dallas.

And that meant I could do this because I could – and would – do anything for my child.

I walked through the beaded strands that hung in the doorway and hoped I looked sexy rather than silly.

“Hey there.” I sounded like an idiot but pressed on. “Do you have a song preference?”

He shook his head, thick tongue sticking out to wet his lips. “Something sexy.”

Duh.

I didn’t say it, though. I just walked over to where the song selection was and pushed the button for the first song that I knew. I hadn’t practiced for anything solo, but if I closed my eyes, I could pretend I was just goofing off like I’d done sometimes in high school. Dancing with my friends. Laughing. Joking.

I managed to make it through the first minute without actually acknowledging what I was doing, but then I heard the squeak of the man shifting in his seat, and the illusion was broken.

My eyes opened when his hand brushed my thigh. He tugged the scarf I’d just released onto his lap, drawing attention to the erection tenting his pants. I looked away immediately, but his grin told me that he’d seen me notice it.

“Like what you see?” He dropped his hand, and I didn’t need to look to know he was grabbing himself.

I just smiled and turned, making my movement away from him seem like part of the dance. Unfortunately, he took the response as encouragement and took the opportunity to grab my ass.

Making a scolding noise, I wagged my finger at him, hoping he’d take it as flirty. If he grabbed my boobs, however, I’d be seriously tempted to break his hand, and that would probably not go over well with my probation officer.

I needed to play smarter and nicer if this was going to work. And it had to work.

“Come on, baby, let me see those big tits of yours.” He grabbed my hips.

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