23
NINA
“So,how’s it going at the strip club?” Keshia asks, taking a long sip of her green smoothie.
We’re sitting at the new juice bar the gym installed this week, claiming a small round table while Austin finishes up in the children’s room.
“It’s...” I pause, searching for the right word. “Complicated.”
Keshia raises an eyebrow. She’s been covering extra yoga classes for a teacher on vacation, so this is the first real chance we’ve had to talk since I went back to work. And there’s a lot to unpack.
“Complicated how?”
“Things with Alessio are in a weird place.” I lower my voice even though most of the other customers are leaving with their drinks. “We’ve been...”
Keshia leans forward, abandoning her smoothie entirely. “Last I heard, you were keeping things casual.”
Casual. Right.
But there’s nothing casual about the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention. Nothing casual about what happened in his car last night. The memory hits hard, vivid, as if I’m still there…
“You like shaking this tight ass of yours on stage in a thong, Temptress?” His voice is pure gravel as his hands clamp on my hips, dragging me into place in the backseat of his SUV. “Do you know how fucking hard you make me while you spin around that pole?”
The windows fog, the car rocks, and I’m bent over the leather seat in nothing but my heels and the thong he couldn’t wait to shove aside. His grip bites into my skin, holding me open, relentless. He’s been like a man possessed lately, pulling me into dark corners and empty offices like he can’t stand the thought of other men looking at me.
“Alessio!” I cry out when his finger presses where I’ve never been touched before. The shock is sharp, overwhelming, my whole body jerking against him.
“One day I’ll take your ass,” he growls, rough with hunger. “You’ll take everything I give you.”
The thought should terrify me. Instead, pleasure tears through me, blinding and jagged, stars bursting behind my eyes as I come hard against him.
“Nina?” Keshia’s voice cuts through the memory. “You’re doing that thing where you zone out and look like you’re having impure thoughts.”
Heat crawls up my neck. “We’re sleeping together.”
“At work?”
“Among other places.” I clear my throat. “But that’s not the confusing part.”
“What is?”
I swirl my straw through the green juice, trying to find words for the whiplash that is Alessio DeLuca. “He’s acting like... like he cares. Walking me to my car, bringing me coffee, getting possessive when customers get too friendly. But he still insists we’re casual.”
“Men are idiots.”
“This goes beyond standard male stupidity.” I lean back in my chair. “This is PhD-level emotional constipation.”
Keshia laughs, but her expression grows serious. “Nina, I have to ask. Are you sure getting involved with him is smart?”
There it is. The question I’ve been avoiding.
“Smart?” I let out a bitter laugh. “Kesh, I’m a single mom stripping to pay for my kid’s heart medication. Smart flew out the window months ago.”
“You know what I mean.” She reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “Eric nearly destroyed you. What if Alessio turns out to be just as bad? What if he really is involved with the mafia like you said?”
The mention of Eric sends a shiver through me. Not because I miss him—God, no—but because she’s right to worry. My track record with men is about as impressive as my credit score.
But Alessio isn’t Eric. That much I know.
