Dance For Me (Club Avalon #1) - Kay Elle Parker Page 0,1
was long and shuddering. “Yeah, well, there’s nothing left for them to exploit. Bank account is reading a big fat zero and I’m just...so fucking tired. I need this job, Liam, but I don’t know if I have the guts to step up there and dance in front of...”
Liam’s hand settled on the side of her head, a comforting weight. “Don’t think of the club as being full of perverts, Bodie. That’s a huge mistake and it does an injustice to every single member who walks through that door. You’re not that small-minded; I know you’re not. Think of it as performing for a crowd of people who will appreciate your gift. Making people happy, entertaining them. That was always your dream when we were kids.”
“I had a lot of dreams as a kid. They all died, burning to ashes.”
“Then make new ones. I recommended you for this because Fitzpatrick wants a performer with the confidence to wow his clientele. He wants vibrancy, passion, the motherfucking wow factor. I can’t think of anyone who fits the bill better than you.”
“Thanks for that,” she muttered. “At least one of us has faith in me.”
Liam’s hand fisted in her hair, sending prickles of pain radiating over her scalp. He tugged her head off the bar and made her look at him even as her hands flailed to try and loosen his grip, ignoring her squeals and yelps. “I’ve always had faith in you, Boadicea. From that day you took me under your wing in kindergarten, my faith in you has been unshakeable. If you told me you could fly to the top of Mount Everest, I wouldn’t doubt you.”
Goddamn him. The more she struggled, the harsher his grip became. It wasn’t the first time he’d used hairpulling as a method of making her listen to him when she was so miserable she passed into the whiny stage of living, but knowing now where he worked and why, she had to figure he was high up in the ranking system or whatever BDSM used.
She went limp after several painful minutes of struggling, and her reward was the release of her hair and the skim of his knuckles over her cheek. It made her feel...weird. She didn’t know much about this stuff, didn’t want to. She had far too much on her plate right now to even think about the details of what went on here beyond what she needed to know about the job.
“Now, pull your big girl panties up, get your head out of this funk, and think. You have the power to change your life, my little Boadicea. Yes, you might not have two nickels to rub together right now, and that sucks. But if you want to get back on your feet, I’m offering the hand that can do that.”
“Fitzpatrick,” she said, shoving herself into a sitting position and cautiously touching her head. With a disgruntled sigh, she undid the casual ponytail and shook out her mane of shoulder-length black hair, straightening out the locks her asshole friend’s fingers had ruffled. Within a minute, she’d restrained her hair back into order. “Why the hell does he want a dancer for exhibitions anyway? Surely he’d be better having sex demonstrations.”
Liam laughed and tugged her ponytail before nudging the glass toward her. “Sex demonstrations. Now why didn’t I think of that?”
“Liam.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “Bodie,” he mocked lightly. “The boss decides what he wants, and he wants a dancer on Friday and Saturday nights. Maybe more if you go down well with the regulars. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, take the goddamn opportunity.” He mentioned a number that made her sit up straight and gape at him.
“He’s paying that for two nights dancing?” It was appalling and yet so very tempting. That figure would fill her gas tank, her cupboards, and her depressingly empty refrigerator.
“That’s per night,” Liam corrected. “You’d have to be here at eight and you’d finish at maybe two a.m., but with plenty of breaks between your sets. He’s offering carte blanche on your routines as long as they’re sexy and keep the customers entertained.”
Her teeth bit into her lower lip as she chewed it over. Everything was conspiring into edging her toward taking the gig. Even if it was only for a few weeks, it would solve her hunger issues and pay the rent for a little while longer. She sipped her drink and scowled at Liam. “This isn’t double jack.”