I hit the dressing room.
Desiree caught sight of me holding a shopping bag and she put her hand on her hips. “Well, all right! Baby-bird’s ready to fly. Girls who come in here with shoes on their first day - if they ain’t comin’ from some other club - they think they know what they’re doin’ and trip on stage.” She glanced meaningfully at my bag. “You comin’ in here with new shoes on day two, that’s a good sign.”
“That’s bullshit,” Heaven said from her corner.
It sounded a little out there to me, too, but I liked Desiree, and I wasn’t going to quibble.
Desiree waved a hand at Heaven and kept her eyes on me. “Point is - these shoes are as sexy as I expect them to be - you’re on stage solo in T-minus fifteen minutes. You better slather up and put your game face on, Miss Ava.”
Mid-makeup routine, Desiree touched up my blush. “Yes! That makes your sultry brown eyespop! Stand up.”
I stood in my new shoes and towered over Desiree since I had an extra inch on top of the two inches I already had on Desiree’s frame.
“Yowza,” Desiree whispered.
I turned to the mirror and froze. Then I said, “I need to remember about the blush. You’re right - it’s a game-changer.”
Desiree nodded. “I hope you got a good song, chickie, because you are purefire.”
I nodded and left the room.
At the end of the hall, I found Tundra and told him my song choice.
He gave me a long look. “That song doesn’t normally do well.”
I cocked my head to the side. “I didn’t get the best look at everyone, but this crowd is older. Something tells me they’ll dig the Stones. Besides, ‘Saint of Me’ came out in the nineties. It’s older than me, but not older than most of them.”
Tundra chuckled. “Think you just used some warped math on me, but break a leg, Ava.”
With the right song, I could ignore the fact I was swinging my ass in front of strangers. Until they slid dollar bills into my G-string, anyway. I spun around the pole and extended my legs in opposite directions and continued twirling until I hit the floor in a full split. One of the men in the front row hollered and I slithered his way across the stage but pulled back in time to be a little bit of a tease.
All in all, I made the most of the four-minute song and almost forgot to grab my top before leaving the stage.
Moving along the backstage corridor, I clasped my top and heard someone call my stage name. I turned to see Punc at the mouth of the hall.What was he doing here? He said he wouldn’t be working today.
He crooked his finger at me.
That made my breath catch, it was such a turn on. Except in this environment, it didn’t mean what I wanted it to mean, and I teetered on my new shoes toward him.
“Is there a—”
“Three men want lap dances. One’s been vetted and is in room one. I’ll have the other two ready by the time you finish with the first.”
His words were professional, but the tight sound of anger underscored his tone.What did he have to be angry about?
“Room one?” I asked, my voice small.
He turned his head just an inch. “You did a lap dance yesterday…” He raised his chin slowly as realization dawned. “You did a floor lap dance.”
I nodded.
His lips pressed together, and he twisted up his hands. “This gives you privacy and should get you a better tip. Tundra will be in the room for security, but remember,they don’t touch.”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, Desiree made that clear first thing.”
“Good.”
Punc told no lies about private lap dances. They cost more, and all of that money went straight to me. Plus, all three men tipped me a hundred bucks each… though one copped a feel and got Tundra’s wrath. By the time those dances were done, I was up to dance on stage again. Following that song, I had two requests for lap dances on the floor. Those were not ideal compared to the private set-up, in part because there was less money and because there was less security.
