Page 17 of Loving Lex

Tracy gave me a quick once-over and tilted her head with a wink. “Because you’ve never waited tables a day in your life, had the worst night from hell, and still came back.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m tired of ramen.”

She gave a mini shrug. “Okay. There’s your motivation. You just have to get used to it. And until then,” she added, pointing at my tank top. “It’s like ripping off a Band-Aid.”

I exhaled a long breath and pulled the top carefully over my head. “Okay.”

“Tip?” Tracy said, raising an eyebrow as she reached for something on a shelf. “Wear simple button-downs you can throw on during a break without messing up your hard work.” She sprayed my neck and chest with a light dusting of body glitter.

“How’s that gonna help me not get mauled?” I asked, looking down.

“It won’t,” she said. “But your tips will bring you out of the ramen aisle.”

Lex was upfront. I watched the back of his head most of the night—probably way more than I should have since my tables didn’t face that direction.

He didn’t come over to talk on a break, or turn around to findme, so that was most likely my sign.Great, Shay.Took less than two days to lose one of my first friends in town.

I tried the tray balancing thing. Lex was right, it did work better, but I was so focused on it that I messed up orders, and then so gun shy about toppling over, that the slightest wobble still sent me into a bob-and-weave with projectiles.

When Bailey summoned me, I figured my gig was up.

“You’re going upstairs tonight,” she said over the bar, however, surprising me.

“What?”

“VIP area has two bookings, and I’m going to try you up there,” she said. “They have a set up in each room already, but your job is to make sure it’s stocked and get them anything else they might want. No trays necessary.”

“Um, okay,” I said, unsure. “Why are you—”

“Because I’m trying like hell to help you out, sweetheart,” Bailey said. “You don’t make it easy.” She gestured upward. “Head up there and look for Mariah. She’ll walk you through it.”

I sighed and nodded and tried not to feel dejected, but the slow stroll up the curving staircase felt a little like walking the plank.

I walked around the atrium-style balcony, watching the main floor from the different perspective before I curved around to the VIP area. It was different up here, in both a good and a scary way. Removed from the chaos, but that chaos was very surface. Up here, everything was private, and the holes of decadence ran much deeper, like it might be harder to escape. The panic settled just under my rib cage like an acid burn, until the sight of a familiar face halted my steps.

Lex stood with his arms crossed, his back to a wall between two closed doors. He didn’t see me, and I just stood there, watching him breathe. God, he was beautiful, with his dark-blond Thor-ness and piercing blue eyes. Those arms—they were good arms—were crossed over the chest I’d felt under my fingertips last night. Those full lips had branded my skin. His hands—oh fuck, I couldn’t think about what those hands had done.

“Shay?” a female voice said from behind me. I saw his head turn as I spun to answer.

“Yes.”

A gorgeous woman with dark-brown skin that shimmered with fine copper body glitter smiled down at me. She was tall and sleek, with nothing on but a black thong and black platform heels. Her dark hair rippled like water over her shoulders. She was mesmerizing.

“I’m Mariah,” she said, her voice warm. “Bailey said you wanted to give the second floor a shot?”

Bailey said I wanted to? Okay, sure.

“Just tell me what I need to do,” I said with a smile I didn’t feel.

She gave me a once-over. “Lose the nerves and relax,” she said smoothly. “You’re hot. Wear that knowledge like a second skin and work it.”

“Work it,” I said, nodding. “Awesome.”

Mariah laughed. “Okay. The rules are the same on touching, but it’s a different vibe up here. You go in these rooms, and the intensity is already amped up. Sometimes, in the deluxe rooms—where there’s a bed—it gets tricky—”

“There are rooms with beds?” I asked.

She chuckled and pointed. “On the other side, that’s the semi-private areas. Little closed off nooks with couches and chairs. More private than downstairs, but still just a really intimate lap dance.” She gestured to where we stood. “This side is the VIP area. Private view rooms like these two.” I turned to where Lex stood, still unmoving, and my stomach clenched as his eyes burned into me. I crossed my arms over my chest and blinked my focus back to her. “There are poles inside, couches, chairs, soft rugs... whatever the client wants to utilize. They can watch the floor below with a private dancer to enhance the experience, or...” Mariah tilted her head toward two more dark windowed rooms on a half-level above us. “Pay for a deluxe private suite withall the trimmings.”

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