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I gave him the polite smile I had perfected over the years. “No.”

He laughed like I had told a joke. “What, you booked already?”

“No.”

“So what’s the problem?” His voice carried that tone men get when they think money should solve everything.

“I don’t do that anymore.”

He offered more cash, waving a thick roll like it would change my mind. I turned it down again, firmer this time. In the dressing room Tina overheard the exchange and leaned in while fixing her lipstick.

“What happened to you? Found god?” she asked.

I laughed. “No.”

“You got a boyfriend?”

“No,” I said immediately. Then I caught myself smiling without meaning to.

“Oh my God.” She pointed at me, eyes wide. “You totally have a boyfriend. Is it that rich guy who’s got you acting like this?”

“I don’t,” I insisted. Because technically I didn’t. Richard had never said the word. Never promised anything. But the smile refused to leave my face.

Ron kept watching me all night. Every time I glanced toward the bar there he was, ordering another drink, eyes tracking me across the floor. The irritation rolling off him grew thicker as the hours passed. By the end of my shift the tension felt heavy enough to choke on. I was gathering my things when he cornered me near the dressing room.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said.

“I’ve been working,” I replied.

“I’ve spent thousands on you.”

“I know.”

“So what’s changed?”

I hesitated. “I’m just done.”

He laughed. “You don’t get to be done.”

The way he said it made my blood go cold. I backed away slowly, heart pounding, then slipped out through the side exit.

He was still at the bar when I left. I walked several blocks home with my arms wrapped around myself, heels clicking too loud on the sidewalk. Footsteps echoed behind me once or twice. I spun around. Nothing. Just empty street and my own paranoia. I laughed at myself.

Get it together, Maggie.

Inside the apartment I locked the door and checked it twice. The uneasiness stayed with me anyway, crawling under my skin like something alive.

Then twenty minutes later came the knock. Not frantic. Confident. Three slow knocks. My heart leapt. I almost ran to the door, smiling so wide it hurt. Richard. Finally. I opened it without thinking.

Ron stood there.

His smile was not friendly anymore.

“You forgot to tell me where you moved your after hours business.”

I started closing the door. He slapped a hand against it, pushing it open.

“I said no.”