Page 42 of Caden's Situationship

I stopped pacing and waved my hands in front of him. “Um hello? Cordelia, meet source.”

He shook his head. “I meant from a female. Brandy is one of the best, and she’s trained a lot of high-paying strippers. Besides, if you’re stripping for me, what fun is it to watch you do my moves?”

I giggled because, yeah, he had a point. We hadn’t talked about what would happen between us when I went back to Texas, but every time I was around him, I didn’t want to bring it up. I couldn’t even believe how much had happened in just a few weeks, and deep down, I didn’t even want to think about going back.

I loved what I did for Red Rose despite the fact that I didn’t get treated as well as others in my family. But it wasn’t all them either. Over the past couple years, I’d been hard to deal with, letting years’ worth of frustrations impact my personality. Being in Arkansas just felt … right.

“She should be here soon.”

“Okay.” I placed my hand on my forehead when a sudden thought came to mind. “Have you ever been naked on stage?”

“Fully?” He shook his head. “Nah, that’s not my style. I’ve been damn near naked though. The type of shows I used to be a part of were more like productions.”

I laughed. “If you could hear yourself right now. On the ride over here, you were telling me about Wild Valley Ranch updates, and now, we’re chatting about Black Lush and the difference between a stripper who works at a club versus a stripper who travels with a group.”

“What can I say …” He crossed his feet at his ankles and his arms over his chest. “I’m a cultured kinda dude.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. How did you get Brandy to give me a lesson tonight anyway?”

“She owed me a favor,” he replied. “I helped her boyfriend get a gig with Black Lush.”

“Because you have connections in the industry like that, right?” I teased. He didn’t respond, but his smirk told me everything I needed to know. Of course he did.

Just as I was finally beginning to get my nerves under control, the velvet curtain opened and in walked Brandy. She quickly scanned the room, her eyes landing on Caden.

“Ah, shit. Rodeo Savage has blessed us with his presence.”

He laughed and stood from his chair. “Nice to see you, too, Brandy.” Brandy was wearing a barely there black panty and bra set that made me feel overdressed in my yellow sundress.

“And this must be the ray of fucking sunshine I’m here to see tonight.” She grabbed one of my hands and twirled me around. “I love corrupting the girl next door.”

Lord help me.I was more anxious than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, but Caden was right. This was part of the process I wanted to experience while I was visiting.

“Okay,” Caden rubbed his hands together, “now that Brandy’s here, I’ll leave you to it.”

My eyes widened. “Wait, you’re not staying?”

Caden glanced from Brandy to me. “Of course not, princess. I figured you wouldn’t want me in the room.”

Well you thought wrong.“No, I want you to stay,” I pleaded. “Please?”

He looked to Brandy who raised her hands in the air as if to say she didn’t care.

“I’ll stay,” he concluded, kissing me on the forehead before sitting back down in the corner of the room. Tonight, he was still wearing one of his favorite black cowboy hats, but instead of his usual worn jeans and white tee, he was dressed in all black. There was something dangerous about his look, and had I not been so nervous about what the rest of the night would bring, I probably would have to try to figure out how I could convince him to head back to the hotel for some extracurricular activities.

Brandy walked over to the wall and began turning a knob, the music in the room growing louder as she did so. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” I confirmed, unsure exactly what I was ready for, but was as ready as I was going to be.

She adjusted the other two chairs so that they were facing one another and pointed for me to have a seat.

“I want you to watch me first,” she said, standing behind the other chair. I’d barely nodded before she began to move to the beat of the music, dipping her body one way while swinging her hips the other. I’d never been to a strip club before and Brandy’s moves were foreign to me. I wasn’t even sure my body could move the way hers was.

Her entire dance only took a few minutes, but when she finished the last move that resulted in her crossed-legged on the chair before dropping into a split and asked, “You got it?” I felt all the color leave my cheeks.

“No,” I told her. “I definitely don’t got that.”

She laughed. “It’s okay, sweetie. How about we take the first eight count?” Walking toward me, she placed her hands on my hips. “The most important thing to know about a good strip tease is that you are in control of what you do with your body.”

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