to mix up the acts she books. Ya know, some full-on nudity mixed in with a more go-go vibe where you wear a sexy bikini or lingerie if you want. You’ve got a rocking body. They’d love you.”
Me? A rocking body? Dancing nearly naked?
But it was when she told me how much money she made that she really got my attention.
In five years’ time, Godiva had told me, she planned to retire and have enough money for her little boy’s college education. She’d still work doing something low-key, maybe as a salesperson at Crate and Barrel or something like that, but she’d really be set.
And I was sold.
However, because I wasn’t getting completely naked, and because I was the club’s newcomer, I learned I’d only get a couple shifts a week. But the potential was there. I said goodbye to the daycare center and bought some sexy new outfits.
As she watched people come in and out of the gym, Patti’s eyes suddenly widened. With strange reverence, she stepped aside to make room for none other than Ty, the jock from my English class who’d admitted he’d never read a book.
Who did that?
“Hey,” he exclaimed, shaking his head at me like we were buds. “We have a class together. What’d you think of that dick professor? Christ, does he have a stick up his ass.”
Ty looked at his friends who, following his lead, cracked up like he’d said the funniest thing ever.
Shit. Were these the kind of people I’d have to deal with every time I worked here? The dining hall was beginning to look better. I might have had to wash dishes or something disgusting like that, but I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone.
“Yeah, I’m in Professor Adler’s class. I think you sat next to me,” I said in a flat voice, not looking up while I scanned each of their cards.
Patti, meanwhile, was about to have a heart attack that a football player was chatting me up.
She could have him.
With his friends heading for the men’s locker room, Ty moved closer to me. Patti took the hint and made herself scarce.
“Hey, why don’t you take a spin in my convertible with me sometime?” he asked.
I choked on my Diet Coke.
I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He had no idea what a cliché he was.
But I reminded myself to not be a bitch. I didn’t bother to tell him I saw men with nice cars all the time.
And, I might not have my own fancy vehicle, but at least I wasn’t a fool who admitted out loud he’d never read a book.
I looked around, wishing Patti would come back. “Thanks, but that’s not really my thing.”
He raked a hand through his dark hair, his eyebrows knit in confusion. “Right. Gotcha. First week of school is pretty busy. All right then. I’ll hit you up in another week or so.”
What? Was he deaf? Was he actually was so conceited it didn’t register in his little brain that there was a woman not interested in spending time with him?
He wandered off, all confidence and cockiness. I sat and scanned ID after ID.
My shift was ending, thank god, when my replacement came. He smiled at me resignedly, settling into an on-campus job that he probably would rather not have, just like me.
“Hey, Patti. I’ll see you Friday, okay?”
She jumped up from her desk. “Yeah, right. So glad you’ve joined the team, Senna.”
As I clocked out, I saw Professor Adler enter the gym with a backpack on his shoulder, accompanied by a beautiful woman. She could have been a student, but I wasn’t sure.
As the Sexiest Professor in the West, he probably had women hitting on him all the time. Even without that tribute, he was probably besieged by women anyway, he was so stunningly perfect.
I waited for him to pass through the badge scanner, and then sneaked out so he wouldn’t see me.
Chapter 7
SENNA
I had some first day homework to get home and tackle, but I first wanted to check out the bookstore Professor Adler had mentioned, the one with the special editions. I really had no idea what he was talking about—wasn’t a bookstore just a bookstore?—but he’d grabbed my attention with the promise of some sort of next-level literature. Like it wasn’t enough to own my old tattered paperback copy of a Somerset Maugham book. If I were a real fan, I’d find one that the author had actually touched at some point in his life.
Plus, I guess I