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  No woman was going to derail me. I wasn’t as stupid as Mark or as desperate as Troy.

  I was a confirmed bachelor, and that’s the way I liked it.

  Britt

  The song started slowly, and I let the beat catch me up like a leaf in the current of a river.

  It was a song I’d never heard, with an exotic beat. The language wasn’t English, which added to the otherworldly sensation of the rhythm and the fact that I was dancing for men in a club, dancing for money.

  I swung my hips and felt each beat of the drum race through me. Thank god Dusty had given me a couple glasses of wine before I’d gotten dressed. It gave my limbs a loose, floating feeling.

  Before I even had a chance to shimmy up the pole or peel off my bustier, the song ended and wove into one I actually knew but didn’t understand. All I knew was the “despacito” part, but the rest was also exotic and exciting to me, having been raised in the middle of nowhere surrounded by boring religious folks who looked down on things like dancing and languages that felt sexy as they rolled off your tongue and vibrated your lips with their beautiful sounds.

  I slipped up the pole, gripped it with my thighs, and swung backwards, my thick curls dropping and sweeping almost to the floor.

  Eyes closed, feeling the notes and voices throb through my veins, I reached for my bustier and slowly tugged at the laces on the front, loosening it so it would fall away when I righted myself again.

  I couldn’t believe I was doing it, that I wasn’t falling on my face or humiliating myself in the club packed wall to wall with men, all their gazes locked on me. I needed the money, I told myself, but this powerful sensation of being in control and the absolute center of attention also whispered through my mind as yet another reason for me to be here.

  I’d never expected it though, never expected to feel so empowered or so amazingly sexy like this. I had expected to feel embarrassed and shy with everyone staring at me, but this…this was incredible.

  I opened my eyes and found myself staring directly at the most intensely gorgeous pair of deep, dark green eyes I’d ever seen.

  They were upside down of course—or more accurately, I was upside down.

  But I could still tell the eyes were gorgeous and the face they were set in was absolute perfection. The jawline was straight and rugged, and stubble darkened the hollow planes of his cheeks. His hair was thick and dark, long enough to show a bit of curl but short enough to be tidy and professional.

  And speaking of professional, he wore a white suit shirt that strained against his broad chest, clinging to him like it was jealous and didn’t want to let him go.

  His eyes widened with surprise when our gazes locked, and I had to tear mine away or I would have crashed down to the stage in complete shock at the intense chemistry that sizzled between us.

  I closed my eyes again, fell back into waves of the music, and slid down to the steady floor of the stage, standing on my impossibly high heels.

  And for the first time, I felt embarrassed, knowing that gorgeous man was watching me, but I flipped the last lace of the bustier as it separated and fell away, revealing my entire naked body.

  Well, all of it but my feet, covered in boots, and my bikini area, covered in a black thong. That small scrap of silk at least gave me the illusion that I was being somewhat modest—at least I wasn’t showing off all of myself to these strangers.

  Besides, I would have died if anyone saw the lightning bolt Dusty had talked me into getting on my shaved nether regions. It had seemed fun at the time, but now that I was here, dancing and enjoying the power I had over these men, it felt like it would skank up my image.

  And yet I rolled my hips to the music and extended my hands over my head, fluttering them like little birds as my breasts heaved with each deep breath I took.

  I fought the bashful feelings racing through me, kept my eyes shut, and danced, contemplating what image I really had. As it stood right then and there, I was a girl in transition. From naïve homeschooled farmer’s daughter to dancer who didn’t quite take it all off.

  But I might if Mr. Sexy commanded me to.

  Before I could think about him and the effect he had on me any longer, the music stopped, and my first ever foray onto the stage ended abruptly. And thank god, really. I would have seriously stumbled and fallen on my ass right in front of him had I kept thinking about that electric chemistry.

  I don’t even know where that chemistry came from. I’d been kept away from boys for as long as I could remember, and since moving out here, I’d been too busy to date. I hadn’t even been kissed, let alone all the rest of it…

  Thankful that the lights kept anyone from noticing my rising blush, I opened my eyes wide to finish my set. I forced myself to straighten my back proudly and sashayed around the stage, collecting the money tossed my way.

  As I reached the edge of the stage, I couldn’t help but peek at the man at the center of the group at the very end of the runway.

  All I saw were those deep, green, sizzling-hot eyes set in that absolutely perfect, handsome face. And that sexy, sweet smirk that seemed almost as shocked as I felt. He smiled, his full lips curved into a smile, but his eyes couldn’t seem to tear away from me.

  I bent to collect a pile of bills in front of him when an arm extended and waved rudely at me. It was his friend, a blond guy to the left of him with the typical look of an arrogant businessman. He waved the hand at me again, and I had to pull my eyes away from Mr. Sexy.

  The other man held a crisp, hundred-dollar bill, and even though my indignation rose like bile in my throat, I reached out and snatched it from his fingers.

  I hated that I needed the money, but that was part of my rent or tuition right there in the smug guy’s hand.

  “Give me a little extra shake for that much cash, sweetheart.” He laughed.

  “Come on, Troy,” Mr. Sexy said with unbridled disgust. “Just let her do her job.”

  And I just about melted right there. My legs turned to jelly at the deep timbre of his voice, and I had this insane sudden flash of hearing him say my name while I had my head on his chest.

  I moved quickly after that before the sensation of jelly legs and my head floating like a balloon above my head completely took over and I lost the last ounce of good luck I had.

  Gathering my bustier, I turned once back to the crowd, bowed dramatically, and let their cheers and applause give me the confidence I needed to do this again.

  And again. And again—until my schooling was done and I could pay my own way through the world, never relying on any man like my mom had done her entire life.

  But there could be stops along the way, like right into Mr. Sexy’s arms maybe, if I ever had the courage.

  Dusty was waiting for me with her arms wide open, and her voice squealed in a seemingly endless version of, “Oh mah gawd!”

  “You were amazing!” she screamed as she threw her arms around me. The club manager stood behind her, and she glanced back at him. “Wasn’t she amazing, Rodney? I told you my girl wouldn’t let you down.”

  “You did good, kid.” Rod handed me a roll of bills. “This is for tonight, and if you keep coming back, your tips will get bigger and this stack will grow. The more customers you bring me, the more money I give you. You got that?”

  I nodded, still wobbly on the heels and clutching the bustier to my breasts as if Rodney and Dusty hadn’t just watched my entire almost-naked performance.

  Rodney walked away, and Dusty looked at me with huge eyes. “He never does that, comes down to meet a girl personally on their first night. You did amazing.”

  “Thanks for this,” I said, pulling away from her. “Thanks so much, but I need to get out of this outfit.”

  “You need to get into something for lap dances,” said Amber, a gorgeous redheaded dancer with years of experience. She acted like more of a stage mom than anyone else.

  “Oh, I don’t do lap dances,” I said, sticking to the one rule I’d made for myself.
It seemed much too intimate and too close of a connection for me to handle.

  “Tonight you do.” Amber raised her eyebrow. “We just got in a special request for you. Five hundred dollars for fifteen minutes. When are you ever going to earn that kind of cash again?”

  “Can I say no?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “Not if you want to keep dancing here.” Amber flipped her hair and walked away.

  “Come on. I’ll help you get ready,” Dusty said. “This isn’t going to be bad, I promise.”

  But I wasn’t sure if she could promise anything like that, the way my stomach flopped around and I felt like I was going to be sick.

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