Page 10 of Collide

“No, Sir,” I replied nervously. A ghost of a smile touched his lips, but itwas gone almost as quickly as it had appeared.

“What’s your real name?” His deep, gruff tone left no room to denyhim the answer.

I was used to patrons asking me personal questions and sometimesgetting a bit handsy, but I always held my ground with them and refused to give them even the tiniest snippet about my life. That didn’t seem to be happening now though, my lady balls were nowhere to be seen.

“Riley…Riley Bennett.” The words tumbled from my mouth, leaving abitter taste. It felt like I was betraying myself by telling him my name.

He didn’t offer his name in return, instead, he started to fiddle with thecuffs on his shirt and a thought flashed through my mind that he was about to start taking his clothes off.

A fleeting moment of panic rolled through me but to my relief, hestarted rolling his sleeves up, revealing muscular forearms. Both arms were covered in black tattoos which started at his wrists and disappeared underneath the shirt that had now been pushed up to his elbows.

“Riley. Please, sit.” He nodded to the sofa, before sitting down at theother end of it, gracefully crossing one long leg over the other.

I didn’t dare argue. Diana had been one hundred percent correct: youdidn’t say no to this man. I perched on the edge of the seat, angling myself so that I could see him clearly. Whether it was accidental or intentional, he had offered me the end of the sofa closest to the door, something I was grateful for.

I was just about to open my mouth and ask him what his name waswhen Diana knocked on the door and walked in with a bottle and two glasses. She placed them down on the table, still looking nervous and refusing to meet my eye. Her nervousness did absolutely nothing to quell my own. Once she placed the glasses on the table, she stood up and straightened down her knee-length dress.

“That will be all, Diana,” the man growled without so much as castinga glance in her direction. In fact, he hadn’t taken his eyes off me at all since I had first walked into the room. When Diana didn’t immediately leave, he finally took his eyes from mine and glared up at her. “I give you my word that Riley will be safe in my company.”

A brief look of confusion flashed over Diana’s face when the man saidmy real name, but she gave him a small nod and then promptly turned on her heel, still without looking at me. Once again, I was left alone with the brooding man. I intended to have stern words with Diana before this night was finished.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked as he poured the amber liquidinto the two glass tumblers, pulling my attention away from the door Diana had left through.

“No.” It came out as a whisper and I internally cursed myself forsounding so unsure. Confidence was key when dealing with patrons who couldn’t take no for an answer, but this man had the ability to zap every ounce of confidence I possessed. He again smirked but didn’t elaborate on who he was.

“I watched you dance. You were magnificent.” There was an air ofpride in his voice which sent warmth flooding through my body. It was such a bizarre reaction to have from the words of a stranger.

“T-Thank you,” I replied, and then finally,finally,finding my lady balls,I added, “I’m not sure if Diana told you, but I don’t offer private dances or anything else that you might be here for. I could get one of the other girls for you if you like…..”

The words dried up in my throat when I saw anger flashacross his face, making me recoil in my chair. It was as though I had personally offended him by telling him I wouldn’t dance for him.

“Diana did mention it. But I believe that anything is available for theright price,” he said with atonof arrogance in his tone, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Fucking rich people.

When I didn’t reply, he reached out and took a glass before taking amouthful of the drink. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his throat as he swallowed the liquid down. His throat was thick and muscular, just like the rest of him. He didn’t return the glass to the table, instead, he kept it in his hand and swirled the liquid around.

“Consider this. I’m not your usual clientele that comes to this place. Infact, I’m pretty sure that after tonight I won’t be stepping foot back in here again,” he sneered in disgust. “I would guess the going rate for a private dance is what, a hundred dollars?”

I nodded when he raised a questioning eyebrow, but the truth was, Ididn’t know what the going rate was, and quite frankly, his arrogance was starting to get on my nerves. I wasn’t sure what more I could say to make him realize that I wouldn’t dance for him.

“What would you charge, Riley? For one dance, any fee you couldcharge, what would it be?”

I couldn’t help but snort.

This was utterly ridiculous. Evidently, the man had money, but if hewas not our usual clientele, as he put it, then why the hell was he here wasting both of our time? He could obviously afford to go to one of the more upmarket establishments, he probably could have even afforded the ridiculously expensive places in West Bay. I figured if I gave him a stupid amount, he’d realize I wasn’t being serious.

“Five thousand dollars. But not a single stitch of clothing would comeoff.”

I waited for him to finish his drink, thank me for my time, and hotfoot itout of here, because let’s be honest, who in their right mind would pay that sort of money for a girl to swing around a pole for them?

But instead, he smirked again and downed the rest of his drink beforeputting the glass down on the table. He uncrossed his legs and sat forward where he rested his elbows on his knees.

“I tell you what, Riley. Have one drink with me and dance for me, justonce, just as you are. Do that and I’ll give you ten thousand dollars, right here, right now.”

Ten thousand fucking dollars?!

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped open at his offer. The smugbastard poured himself another whiskey before he sat back on the sofa, re-crossing his long legs, and stared back at me.

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