of my locker before my next shift.
Mason let go of my arm. “Okay.”
Gabriel frowned. “We don’t have time—”
“Couldn’t we spare her a minute?” Mason asked, interrupting the taller man.
I beamed at the blond, deciding I liked him more than his gruff partner.
Gabriel gritted his teeth and nodded. “Just one minute.”
Relieved, I rushed up the stairs. When the men tried to follow me, I held out my hand to stop them. “You can’t come back here.” Max was the only guy allowed in the dressing room and it was only because he barreled his way in like a bull whenever he felt like it.
“Hurry,” Gabriel ordered, looking down at his watch.
Wondering what crawled up his butt and died, I headed backstage and made a beeline for the empty dressing room.
It wasn’t much, just a row of vanity mirrors and a bank of lockers. I went straight to my locker and pulled out the duffel bag that held my purse, makeup, toiletries, spare dance outfits, the wad of ones I’d milked out of the professor earlier in the night, and most important, the bottle of pain pills my back would soon be begging for. I quickly chewed the pills and dry swallowed down their bitter taste.
After throwing a skintight black dress over my skimpy dance outfit, I shrugged into my long charcoal wool jacket. My aching feet pleaded with me to ditch my boots, but I’d neglected to bring other shoes.
My cell rang as I was closing my locker door. I answered it to the shriek of my roommate, Sydney.
“I can’t believe you talked me into this, Vana!”
“What?” I drew a blank for a moment before remembering she was covering a private party for me. “Are you at that bachelor’s party?”
“I’m hiding in a freaking stranger’s closet wearing nothing but a thong and some pasties.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “There are worse ways of making two hundred bucks.”
“You know how I hate dark, cramped spaces. I owe you big-time for this."
“Yeah, like twenty percent,” I reminded her. Thinking of how little I’d made tonight, I sighed. Serves me right for ditching that job in favor of Max’s request to work late tonight. Family before work, I would’ve reminded myself if he and Donna hadn’t just bowed out of the one event I asked them to attend all year.
“It smells like mothballs in here,” Sydney said, returning my focus to our phone call. “This has to be the worst night ever.”
“At least you don’t have two cops waiting to take you down to the station.”
She gasped. “What? Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Crap, girl. Are you in trouble? Do you need me to blow this gig? I could—”
“No, you stay in that closet,” I said with a tight laugh. “You need the money. We need the money. Besides, they aren’t arresting me.” At least right now. I looked down at my bag, unzipped it, and reluctantly put the pain pills back in my locker. Back pain or no back pain, I couldn’t afford to get busted with illegal meds. “And they’re the hottest cops you’ve ever seen.”
“Hot enough to make you forget about that asshole Nathan?”
Not this again. I rolled my eyes already anticipating the lecture.
Syd took a deep breath. “I know he was rich as Midas and gorgeous as hell, but Nathan was also a cheating son of a bitch. It’s been three months since you two broke up. Time to get back in the saddle.”
“Right,” I said, agreeing to end the conversation. There was no point in me trying to explain heartbreak to someone who’d never been in love.
“You need to promise me you’ll give the next guy who goes after you a chance.”
“And what if the next guy is Phil?”
She laughed. “Okay, obviously not our pervy neighbor. But you know what I mean.”
Knowing she could be as tenacious as a Gila monster when she set her mind to something, I sighed. “I promise. Look, I’ve got to go, but I’ll text you when I figure out what’s going on.”
“Okay. I’m heading right to the airport for my red-eye after this, but I’ll call you as soon as I land.”
“Have a safe flight,” I said feeling a stab of envy that she had parents and siblings to share the holidays with. It seemed everyone had a family, but me.
Jade walked through the dressing room door just as I hung up the phone. “Heading out?” she asked with a sniff. Her heavily kohled eyes swam with tears.
Now, she’s definitely having a worse night than us. “Are you okay?” I didn’t know much about the green-haired woman other than she’d started last night.
She pressed her trembling lips together and shook her head.
Damn. I’d been there before. Setting down my bag, I walked over to her side and put my hand on her shoulder. “It’s not always like this you know. There are good nights and bad nights.” Just more bad nights lately. “Things will pick up after the holidays.” I hope.
Her expression crumbled. “I didn’t make jack tonight.”
Anxiety ate at me as I glanced at the empty doorway. I’d already made the cops wait far longer than a minute. Torn between the need to comfort the girl and the need not to piss off the officers who might hold my fate in their hands, I chewed my lower lip.
Jade let out a loud sob.
Screw it. The cops can wait. I led Jade to the nearest swivel chair. She sat, her chest heaving. “I’m sorry. I’m such a mess.” She swiped a hand across her face, smearing her makeup. “I never thought it’d come to this. Me taking off my clothes for money. And when I finally get desperate enough to do it, I don’t make a fucking cent.” Tears trekked down her face. She was an ugly-crier, something that made me like her even more.
“It’ll be okay,” I said squeezing her shoulder. Desperation drove a lot of girls to dancing. Me included.
Jade let out a heavy sigh. “I thought for sure I’d make some good money. I’m so broke I can’t even pay the sitter.”
“You have kids?” I asked, grabbing a tissue from the counter and handing it to her.
She gave me a watery smile. “Payton just turned two.”
My chest tightened. I was a sucker for little ones. Forbidding me from seeing Mira had to be one of the cruelest things Nathan could have done after breaking up with me.
I gave Jade a once-over. She was pretty in that girl-next-door kind of way. With the right makeup and outfit she’d kill it. “Look, how about I give you some pointers tomorrow night?”
Her raccoon eyes widened as she studied my face. “Seriously?”
“Until then, take this.” I fished out two twenties and gave them to her.
Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “For real?” Like most of us, she’d probably been kicked around by life to the point she had a hard time believing that anyone would do something nice for no reason.
“Yeah, consider it a welcome-to-the-club present. I was new once too, and I barely made anything my first night,” I said, lying. “I’m Havana, by the way.” I held out my hand to her.
She shook it. “Melody.”
“Nice to meet you, Melody. Now don’t waste any more tears on this shithole. Go home and enjoy your baby.”
She smiled for the first time. “I will.”
I walked back over to my bag and slung the strap over my shoulder. As I walked through the doorway, I stopped and said, “Hey, if you and Payton aren’t doing anything Christmas Eve you’re welcome to come to my place. I cook a mean turkey with all the sides.”
She blinked up at me. “Thanks, but we’re going to my sister’s.”
Of course. It was destined to be me and me alone this Christmas. “Well, I'd better not keep those cops waiting any longer. See you tomorrow assuming they don't throw me in jail.”
She blinked. “You mean the pirate-looking guy and the hot blond that came in a little while ago?”
“Yeah.”
“They aren’t cops.”
I whirled around. “What do you mean?”
She dabbed her eye with the tissue. “My stepdad was a sergeant with SVPD before he died. If there is one thing I know, it’s law enforcement and those guys aren’t it. Not by a long shot.”
My stomach dropped to the floor as I looked toward the side stairs. If Mason and Gabriel weren’t cops, who were they? And what did they want with me?
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