Page 2 of Dancing Diva
I'm so distracted by all the music and the people that when I return my attention back to the table, I realize that half of them are gone. Jesse and Beth are nowhere to be seen. Bridget and Veronica are in some kind of argument that I can't hear because of the music. Bridget storms off with Veronica hot on her heels just as a waitress sets down a tray of shots in front of me.
“Excuse me, but we didn’t order these,” I tell her.
She responds, but I only catch about every other word before she turns and disappears back into the crowd. I wait a moment to see if any of the grils are going to come back. When no one returns, the flames of embarrassment heat my cheeks. I can’t believe they all bailed on me so quickly.
“Bottom’s up,” I say to myself, picking up a shot and throwing it back like the way I’ve seen in the movies.
I start coughing as the hard liquor burns my throat, but that doesn't stop me from taking another one. I may have only a little bit of experience drinking, but I know enough that eventually, it starts to go down easier, and by the third shot—it does.
2
ADAM
Club Dominion is packed with bodies like sardines in a can as I push my way towards the bar. I'm hoping this is a good sign, and it might up my chances of getting hired on as a bartender a few nights a week. I'm buddies with one of the guys currently working behind the bar, and he said to come in tonight to see if he can set up a face-to-face with the owner of this place. My day job working construction isn't cutting it when it comes to covering my bills and helping my sister out.
I recently gave up my apartment and moved in with her to save money, but it's still not enough to cover the tuition for my niece. The little genius had to go and get herself accepted into some elite academy for gifted youngsters, and no, it's not run by a mind-bending, bald man in a wheelchair—I already asked.
A few months ago, Eva’s ex drained their bank account and ran off with a struggling showgirl to Mexico, leaving behind my sister to care for my niece and all the tuition costs on her own. It was a no-brainer for me to step in and help her out. Eva practically raised me. But without the small chunk of money our father left for Chloe's education, that meant that we were going to have to find the money somewhere else.
“Adam!” Jake calls out to me from behind the bar.
I turn away from the beautiful woman a few tables away from where I’m standing as she downs a tray full of shots on her own. Jake yells at the people pushing their way to the bar, trying to get his attention. Eventually they part for me, and I ignore the annoyed looks sent my way as I pass.
“Thanks for doing this, man,” I say to him over the music.
He nods and shrugs like it’s no big deal that he’s helping me out. Jake knows about my situation, and I'm pretty sure his motivation to help is more for Eva’s sake than for me.
“I spoke to the owner when I got in. He said that he couldn’t talk to you tonight and mentioned something about a big business deal going down. But if you want to stop by next week, then he’d make time to talk about having you work a few nights a week.”
It’s not a no, but it’s not a yes either, at least until I hear it coming from his lips. But I’m not giving up hope that this second job might work out.
“I’ve got to get back to this—” Jake nods over his shoulder to the people standing around waiting to put in their order. “Let’s talk next week.”
"Sounds good," I say and turn around just in time to see the woman from earlier who was downing shot after shot, now trying to climb up onto one of the high-top tables.
With a quick glance at the people standing around her, it appears that she isn’t here with anyone. I watch her ascend with the grace of a baby deer on ice as she manages to get on top of the table and start dancing to the music. The hackles on the back of my neck rise when I notice two guys standing nearby pointing her out to one another. It’s not amusement in their eyes that I see at her tipsy antics—it’s something darker.
I don't wait to see what they do before I find myself pushing through the crowd in her direction. She's so lost in the music that she doesn't notice me when I walk over.
“I’m going to need you to get down,” I say to her with all the weight I can muster over the heavy bass but with zero authority to back it up.
"Hey man, if she wants to dance, don't stop her," one of the guys says to me. I know he’s trying to sound nonchalant, but I don’t miss the warning note in his voice. I straighten to my full height, which is a few inches higher than both of them, ready to make this physical if I need to when I notice his friend has his phone in his hand, and he's recording her. The overwhelming need to protect her hits me tenfold as I see the angle he’s holding the camera. I don’t have to look at the screen to know that he’s trying to get a video up her skirt.
“Give me that!” I yell over the music and snatch the phone out of his hand.
I’m able to delete the video before he can even react to what’s just happened.
“Asshole!” He starts to lunge for me, but I hold up his phone like I’m about to throw it down on the ground.
"Another step, and you'll need to be asking your rich daddy to buy you a new one of these,” I threaten.
“I’ll take that,” the girl plucks the phone from my hand and tosses it into the unsuspecting crowd out on the dance floor.
The three of us are all too stunned for a moment to move, trying to process what just happened. I figured she was too into her dance routine to be paying attention to what was going on, but I guess not.
“Did she really just throw my phone?” he asks his friend but doesn’t wait around for an answer. His friend flashes an angry glare in her direction before he follows after his friend to help him look for his phone.
I turn and look up at the dancing diva. Shimmying her hips, she lowers herself down, singing along with the lyrics. She may be dancing on a tabletop in the sin city capital of the world, but she looks more like she could be an elementary school teacher or a quiet librarian. There's a sweetness about her that you can't fake. Her soft hazel eyes and pink glossed lips have my dick twitching with excitement as I think about what those lips would look like if she were to use them on me.
