This just goes to show that criminals really are all around us, hiding in plain sight—some better than others. Our scaly-skinned neighbors definitely have their own agenda.
Don’t even get me started on Conrad O’Neill.
As soon as I get my hands on this money, Otis and I are out of here.
That’sifI’m lucky enough to make it out of the auction.
3
CARMEN
“Four hundred dollars?”Sadie holds the cash in her hand like it still belongs to me. “I can’t take this much.”
“It’s not a tip. I need you to stay the night.”
“Where are you going?” Her eyes wander up and down my body, lingering on the shoes since it’s the only part of the outfit she can see.
They’re very dramatic. Eight inches to be exact.
There was a time before Otis when I was on the Strip six days a week, shaking my ass and going home with strangers.
It’s a good thing I saved these babies for a rainy day.
“Don’t take this the wrong way—I’m not trying to be your therapist—but are you sure about this?”
I frown. Is Sadie a mind reader as well as my go-to nanny? “What do you mean?”
“Stripping.”
I laugh, ready to shake my head and tell her she’s got it all wrong.
But then on second thought, stripping is probably better than the truth.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“But it’s dangerous, Carmen. What if you get hurt?”
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing, and it’s just for one night. Besides, I used to do it all the time.”
“Really?”
“Totally, when I was around your age. Twenty-one and free.” I stop myself before I sell a profession I actually have no experience in. “But I don’t recommend it. You’ll end up on the lap of a Chanel-wearing monster who claims to be a man. And then you’ll take him back to yours, and he’ll prove how self-centered he is the following morning when he leaves while you’re in the bathroom taking a pee.”
Sadie narrows her eyes. “Let me guess—Otis’s father.”
“You betcha.”
It’s not entirely the truth, but for the purpose of the story, I turned myself into a stripper.
I wish I had been a stripper that night. It’d be a lot less embarrassing if Carter had requested a lap dance. The real story is that I wanted to kiss him, so I perched in his lap and flirted until I got what I wanted.
Sadie folds the bucks away into her pocket. “Be careful.”
“I’m always careful. The only time I wasn’t was when I accidently got pregnant, and hey, look how that turned out?”
Sadie hitches her eyebrow. “I’m serious.”
“Don’t worry. It’s been a while since I let loose and had some fun. Feel free to help yourself to the pantry and refrigerator.”
