Her jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
I nodded, pursing my lips. “He didn’t even care when I confronted him about it.” I muttered under my breath. “He was more concerned that I was holding him up from his very important life.”
“What’s he look like?”
Exactly like something I’d love to sink my teeth into and then ride hard the rest of the night. “Nothing special,” I lied. Kendall was never going to see him and heck if I felt like saying anything positive about that man.
“Really? Flo is so pretty, and I’ve seen pictures of her ex-husband. He was gorgeous. You’d think their kid would be, too.”
“Some homely, mutant, recessive genes must’ve popped up,” I said, holding in my snicker. It felt freeing to talk about Rhys—Dr. Jackass—this way. I didn’t know why I’d let him, and his bad behavior get to me. I wished I could erase this afternoon from my memory.
The way he’d looked at me with those stunning eyes had awoken something deep inside of me. I wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. But it needed to go back into the hole it came out of.
“You still okay with watching out for Maya tonight?” I asked her, already knowing the answer.
“Of course,” she said, placing her warm palm on my back. “You know you don’t have to go. Why don’t you just skip it?”
Here it came—the guilt trip she gave me before I went to the club. “I’ve got bills to pay, you know that.”
“Let us help you out. You’re almost done with school and then—”
I took a deep breath, looking over at my friend’s very concerned face. “I can’t let you do that.”
“But it’s not that much and it would mean you wouldn’t have to go there.” Her voice dropped on the last word.
There wasn’t exactly my favorite place. However, it made it possible for me make the maximum amount of money in the minimum amount of time. And I was good at it. “It’s fine and I won’t be gone that long.”
“You’ve got our support. I just wish you’d take it.”
“I do take it. I take too much of it. It makes me feel like a freeloader.” Wasn’t that the truth? She and Carter had done so much for me this last year. There was no way I’d ever be able to pay them back.
They had both offered many times to help me out financially. Carter had received a huge inheritance years ago. Even though what I owed would be a drop in the bucket compared to what he got, I still felt weird about accepting money from them. It was bad enough I didn’t pay rent—they had insisted on that. Having them dig me out of my problems seemed wrong.
Her hands went to my shoulders, turning me. “Would you stop? You’ve helped us out so much since you got here. My pregnancy wasn’t exactly the easiest. Having you here to hold my hand was more of a comfort than you’ll ever know.” Kendall’s eyes were glassy. She was such a sap.
“What would we have done without you when we brought home Bruce? Neither of us knew what to do with a newborn. You’ve been a godsend for all of us. You and Maya. I just wish you’d let us do this one small thing for you.”
I gave her a big hug. There was no way in the world I was going to take anything more from her or Carter. This was my mess and it was up to me to clean it up.
5
Rhys
If there was one thing I was tired of, it was strip joints. Swear to Christ, this was the last time I was going.
“Whoa, she looks new,” Chad said, raising his glass toward the stage. I didn’t even look. Honestly, to me they all started to look the same.
Every so often these guys wanted to come here and peruse the naked girls. You’d think doctors who had very little social time would pick somewhere else to go. I could normally talk them into a game of pool or a nice meal. Golf was often on the docket as well. But Chad had a love of strip clubs and it was his turn to choose so here we were.
Gazing down at my phone to check the time, I said, “Mm hmm.” Not caring to look just then, instead choosing to scroll through my emails.
“Man, are you seriously checking out your phone in a strip club?” Chad chided me then ripped the phone out of my hands. “Put it down, bro. Look at the beauty surrounding you,” he said, his arms out wide.
There was no way I could stop rolling my eyes. Yanking my phone back, I shoved it into my pocket. “Yeah, yeah,” I said, my eyes going to the stage when a new song that I quite liked started playing.
Chad was right. The woman on the stage was fucking hot. I didn’t keep track of the girls who worked here like he did. But if I’d seen her dance before, I would have remembered it. Her tits were barely contained in a bright, white, beaded bikini top. It shimmered as she moved but not as much as the matching, barely-there bottoms.
The strip up her backside accentuated the two perfect globes of her ass. Jesus. Her body was unstoppable. When my gaze reached her face, I took a deep breath. It couldn’t be. Could it? She looked exactly like my mother’s new caretaker, Chloe. The very woman I’d fought with twice today.
Another minute of watching her sexy moves and I was certain. That was definitely her. What the hell was she doing here? She had a good job. I’m sure she was making more money than a lot of people. Certainly, she wouldn’t have to stoop to stripping to get by.
“Glad I took your phone away now?” Chad laughed, slapping my back. Hard. It jarred me back into reality. I needed to speak to Chloe and find out why the hell she was working here. Did she have a nasty drug habit to support? If so, she didn’t belong anywhere near my mother.
Pushing my chair back as I stood, I said, “I’ll be back in a bit.” The other guys at the table laughed as I headed toward the exit stairs of the stage.
Chloe
I was seriously going crazy. There was no way I just saw Dr. Jackass sitting in the audience, staring at me as I danced. Since I’d left our meeting, I could not get that man out of my mind.
It was just my brain playing tricks on me. At least that’s what I told myself until I finished my set and took one step down the stairs. His electric eyes stared back up at me. Dammit.
Trying not to fall the rest of the way down was quite a feat after that. His gaze wouldn’t let mine go. Instead of running off in the other direction, I kept my eyes on him and winked as I gave him a small smile.
When you started dancing at a club, one of the first things they told you is to act cool if someone you know walked in. Up until now, it had never happened to me. We were never to engage in conversation with the person but if they spoke to us, we had to be cordial back. Most guys wanted to maintain their anonymity.
I hoped Dr. Jackass would get his eyeful and then leave.
No such luck.
As I reached the final step, I attempted to keep walking. “Hey,” he said, grabbing the top of my arm.
I jerked my head to the side, shooting him a look that could kill. “Hands off,” I said, glaring at his tight hold on me.
Almost immediately he let go. “Sorry. Shit,” he said, raking his hand through his perfect hair. “Look, I need to talk to you. Is there somewhere quiet we can go?”