“I am, too.” I coughed. Our boss might keep his hands to himself and hardly say more than two words to us, but I had noticed the way he watched Kitty like she was the reason the moon and the stars existed in the sky.
And there was also the tiny fact that since right from the first day he stepped foot into the Velvet Leopard and took over, any time Kitty was on the floor, he was the one leading the way, holding her hand to the back room where the private dances were done. There hadn’t been a single other man whom she’d had to give a private dance to.
At first, I’d worried Porter was up to something, maybe making her do things she didn’t want to. But when I asked her about it, she’d looked… annoyed. Telling me how he never made her dance for him.
Never touched her.
Not once.
Jonas Porter just had her sit there for hours on end…
All while he read quietly from an e-book app he had on his phone and she read over his shoulder. After the first two weeks of this, he’d brought her a Kindle. How he knew Kitty, ourvoluptuous vixen, was a serious bookworm, I had no idea. But either way, I’d found it more than sweet.
“He’s annoying,” she complained, and this time, I couldn’t hold back my giggle.
“You get paid to read,” I pointed out. Kitty opened her mouth, ready to argue, when someone called out her stage name.
“That’s not the point,” she muttered. “I’ll see you out there.” I nodded and glanced towards my locker.
“School girl or nurse?” I asked over my shoulder, hoping she would help me out.
“School girl.” She winked. “Add some pigtails, and I’ll bet you get some serious cashflow going.” She wasn’t wrong about that. I was sure studies could be made about the ROI of pigtails at a strip club.
I walked up to my locker and made quick work of changing into the skimpy schoolgirl costume before looking at myself in the mirror and putting my hair up in the pigtails she’d suggested.
“Hey, Jade.” Maryanne waved shyly. She was the newest new girl, Jonas’ first new hire. The girl looked like she wasn’t a day over eighteen without makeup even though she was my age.
“Hi, babe.” I smiled. “How are you?”
“Here.” She gave me a smile that didn’t necessarily reach her eyes. I didn’t know much about her story, but what I did know was that she hadn’t had an easy life.
“You’re here early,” I pointed out, since she was usually at the club much later. She nodded. “I asked Mr. Porter if I could get in an extra shift today.”
“Money tight?” I asked quietly after making sure it was only the two of us in the dressing room.
“Isn’t it always?” she answered with a tight smile. My stomach tightened. How many times had I been there while I was in school?
“I can—“ I started to offer, but she cut me off, her voice a little louder than the usual quiet rasp.
“I couldn’t.” She shook her head, and I frowned.
“You can,” I pressed. “Consider it a loan, if you want.” There was something about Maryanne that made me want to help her out. Kitty would call me a bleeding heart, and my sister would tell me I was crazy. But just like I knew what it was like to be in Maryanne’s shoes, Opal and Kitty had their own reasons why they looked out for themselves.
“You’re really sweet, Jade, but I couldn’t.” She smiled, though her bottom lip wobbled.
Everything inside of me wanted to figure out a way to convince her, but I knew if she was anything like me, she wasn’t going to budge. Kitty had offered to help when my life had gone to hell, and I hadn’t let her do more than let me crash on her couch for a month. And even then, I’d insisted on paying rent.
“Okay,” I gave in calmly. “But if you change your mind or ever need to talk, I’m here. Always. Us girls have to look after one another.”
“You’re not this nice to Gretchen and Stef,” she noted, which put a genuine smile on my face. Gretch and Stef were bitchy mean girls who never grew up past the maturity of high schoolers.
“That’s because they don’t actually need any kind of help. And they’re bitchy.” I shrugged. “Just… it’s okay to lean on people when you need help.” I knew that if Kitty heard me, she would say, “Kettle, meet pot.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. “I have to go get ready.” I nodded.
“If you need a different costume, there’s a nurse one in my locker,” I offered. We were about the same size, though her breasts were bigger than mine. The nurse outfit would probably look a hell of a lot better on her than me.
“Thanks.”
