Thinking she was coming to her senses and abandoning this hairbrained scheme, I let out a sigh. “Good. We can stake out Jean and see what she’s up to.”
Addison unbuttoned the top button of my blazer.
“What are you doing?” I asked jumping back.
“Trying to make us look the part.” Turning her attention on her own blouse, she unfastened two buttons,revealing the top of her lacy bra, and fluffed up her boobs. “Undo a second button. Show some cleavage.”
I gaped at her as she pulled a small compact and makeup out of her purse and freshened up.
“Come on, Dylan, are you in? Or are you in?”
“I’m concerned about what being ‘in’ entails. Do you happen to have a breakdown?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s a strip club. We must look like the typeof women who’d frequent one.”
Greg opened the door, blasting a twenty-foot radius with rock music as he slipped inside.
“We’re going to lose him, Dylan. Now, undo your button so we can catch up or I’m going in without you.”
There was no way I was letting my best friend face whatever dangers the club held alone, so I unfastened my second button. Looking down, I could see the top of my whitecotton bra.
Addison snorted in disgust. “We have to get you sexier underwear before you bang my brother.”
“First of all, there are so many things wrong with that sentence I can’t begin to address them all, and secondly, I wasn’t anticipating that we’d be busting out of our clothes and into a strip club when I dressed this morning.”
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Shocked, I stared at her. “Are you quoting your mom at me?”
“No. I’m quoting Benjamin Franklin at you. And my mom. Now come on. We’re wasting valuable cheater-catcher time.” She turned on her heel and marched past blacked-out windows toward the club doors. Struggling not to break my neck on the uneven concrete in the heels she’d dressed me in for our interview, I followed. When we reached theentrance, she took a deep breath, smoothed down her clothing, and pulled open the heavy metal door.
I felt the wisps of hair hanging down from my French twist fly away from my face in an air-conditioned blast that smelled like the combined aroma of food, alcohol, and perfume. Blinking rapidly, I tried to get my eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness, but the instant my sight returned, I wantedto run back outside. A completely nude girl hung upside down from the pole on the stage, and a bunch of big, scary looking bikers were surrounding her, making catcalls and throwing bills on the stage. Addison grabbed my arm and tugged me behind her as she made a beeline for Greg, who was standing at the bar waiting for a drink.
Pausing right before she reached him, she pointed at my purse andmouthed, “Camera.”
I tugged it out and hit record, holding it like I would a cell phone since it was about the same size. Looking around to make sure nobody had noticed I’d brought a camera into a strip club like some sort of freak, I nodded.
Addison grinned before sidling up to Greg. When he didn’t immediately notice her, she bumped into him. “Oh, sorry,” she said with a giggle.
His gazeraked up and down her body before focusing on her cleavage. “No problem. No problem at all. A beautiful woman like yourself can bump into me anytime. Here, let me buy you a drink. What’ll it be?”
She eyed the liquor behind the bartender before ordering a whiskey sour. “I haven’t seen you around here,” Greg said, still speaking to Addison’s boobs. “Trust me, I’d notice.”
“Do you come here often?”she asked.
“Often enough. It’s not far from my office, so I like to pop in and get a drink to relax after work sometimes.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire, I sang quietly to myself.
“Oh? What do you do for work?”
“I’m a doctor.”
Addison’s eyes widened and she leaned forward as though his fake profession piqued her interest. “You are?”
“Yep. I work at the hospital just down the street.”
“Impressive. What do you specialize in?”
