"No worries." His voice was deep as he stood there in front of me, his hands still on my arms. His fingers pressed into my skin and I shivered slightly at the feel of his cool hands on my warm skin. "Do you need a hand?"
"No, I'm fine. Thanks." I pulled away from him and then looked for Crystal and Starr to see what I should do now. However, they were both busy giving two guys lap dances. Hmm.
"Do you need help?"
"I'm fine." I shook my head and bit my lip. I could see my five grand going down the drain if I just stood there. "I'm trying to figure out what to do."
"Maybe you should give a lap dance?" He suggested with a hint of humor in his voice.
"I don't think so." I shook my head as I looked around the room at all the men in their business suits.
"Dance then?"
"I guess so." I sighed. "This sucks." I muttered
"Sorry what?" He leaned towards me and I stared into a pair of bright blue eyes that were mere inches from my face.
"Nothing." I swallowed as I focused in on his face. He was hot.
"Your friend is looking at you. I suggest you get to work." He whispered into my ear and I turned and saw Crystal giving me a death stare. I sighed and started moving back and forth to the rap song.
"Hey sexy." An overweight balding guy whistled at me from a few yards away. "I'll have a lap dance for a stack."
"A stack?" I repeated back at him and took a step back.
"A stack of hundreds." He grinned and held up a wad of cash. "What's your name?"
"Peaches." I said hesitantly. I really didn't want to give him a lap dance.
"Come on over Peaches. I like my peaches with cream. You can be the peaches and I'll provide the cream." He joked and I froze.
"She's with me." The guy in front of me pulled me into his arms. "Right Peaches?"
"Uh, yeah." I nodded slowly. "Sorry, he asked me for a dance first."
"Whatever." The bald guy turned away.
"Thanks." I whispered to the guy in front of me and tried to step back. "That was a close one."
"Where are you going?" His voice dropped and his expression looked serious. "I want my dance."
"Oh, you were serious?"
"I'm always serious." He smiled at me for a few seconds and then spoke again. "What's your name?"
"Evie." I said as we walked back to his chair. "I mean Peaches."
"Evie Peaches." He grinned as he sat down on a couch in the back of the room.
"Peaches." I made a face. "That's my dancer name."
"Okay." He patted the seat next to him. "Sit down Peaches."
"I thought you wanted a dance?"
"We can get to that later." He patted his chair again. "Let's talk first."
"Uh okay." I sat down next to him, feeling awkward in my bikini. I sat back and tried to hold my breath in to make my stomach look flat.
"You okay?" He frowned as he looked at me.
"Yeah, of course." I said stiffly, my body burning in shame as he stared at me. Not only was I feeling self-conscious, I was also feeling embarrassed and like I wanted to cry.
///
"Are you new to the dancing business?"
"You could say that." I nodded.
"Don't worry." He grabbed my hand. "You can relax."
"You don't want a dance?" I asked hopefully as I looked back at him. Maybe he'd just let me sit here and talk to him the whole night. Maybe he'd feel bad for me because I was new and obviously not in the same class of girls, like Crystal and Starr. Maybe he'd be one of those nice guys that thought stripping was degrading to women.
"No, I want you to dance." He grinned and licked his lips. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Oh okay." I sighed and made to get up.
"Not yet, though." He shook his head. "And not here."
"Huh?" I frowned at him. "When and where? I'm not a hooker, if that's what you're thinking. I'm not about to go to your car and do anything." My voice trailed off as I looked back at him. This man looked gorgeous and rich. Surely, he didn't need to pay for any favors from someone like me. He could get a lot more for free from much more beautiful women.
"I don't want you to go to my car." He shook his head. "Tell me, Peaches, why are you working here? You look so uncomfortable."
"I'm working for a friend." I sighed and made a face. "I know how that sounds. Cliché right? Broke, college girl, trying out stripping for fun or whatever. But I'm not in college, and this isn't fun. But I am broke and my roommate told me I can make five grand for the night." I shrugged. "And she said no sex or anything, so I figured how hard could it be?"