She Came From the Shadows (James and Tera: book 2)

16

She looked over at me with eyes that penetrated mine. "Try again."

I looked around, and nodded. "Black tank." The guy was in a black tank with ripped jeans and tattoos all over his ripped arms."

She shook her head. "Nope. Not into ruffians. Can't you tell by the tattoos? He's always in trouble and in jail."

"Tattoos mean you've been to jail now?"

"I can tell by the way it's made. There's always a different style of tattoo when it comes to prison."

I sighed in defeat. "I give up. I am not looking for a toy for you in here."

She laughed. "Wise choice."

We chatted a bit after that, talking about different things. Weather, politics, and even biology. I told her the largest living thing on our planet is the blue whale, and she argued saying that it's actually a wide forest of interconnected trees. We talked about the places we've been, and the people we've met.

Eventually, we saw a room that we didn't notice until now. It didn't say if it was the bathroom or if it was employees only, and we did see random people going in and out, so we decided to go in and check it out. I didn't even notice she had her feet in my lap until we had decided to go check out the room.

After getting up, and making our way to the door, we opened it and I was surprised. What I saw was something I had never seen in real life, only in some movies. There was a little stage, and there were people at tables and at the edge of the platform, throwing money at the topless lady dancing on the pole in the center of it.

I immediately felt embarrassment, and tried to turn around. Victoria put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me. "Let's stay." She said with a smile.

I didn't feel comfortable, but changed my mind and followed her lead inside. The music and atmosphere was different than the main room. The music was slow and steady, and so was the dancing lady. She moved to each beat of the song in a routine, like it was part of her life.

Victoria and I grabbed a seat at a little round table and watched the stage. While doing so, another woman, wearing a cutoff white tee, came up to the table. She made it clear that she wasn't wearing bra, and she had really short shorts that were cut all the way up to the top of her thighs.

"Anything I can get you two?" She asked in a voice that sounded older than both of us.

I shook my head, staring at the table instead of her. "I'm good."

I felt a pair of hands on my shoulder. The woman was behind me, rubbing my shoulders. "How about a little private dance? I'm even considering it being half of what I charge because of how cute you are."

I stayed silent, feeling utterly nervous. I didn't move or anything. I looked at Victoria, who had a satisfied look on her face. She waved the lady's attention over to her. "Sorry, but he's only here to watch the show on stage."

"Oh really? Well, what a shame. I would've loved to see his face with just us alone." She told Victoria. "What about you? I like dancing for girls, too"

Victoria smiled a seductive grin. "Tempting offer, but I'll pass. Although I'm into females, the only one I'm seeing naked is a man tonight." She looked at me, and winked with the same smile on her face.

The stripper over me let out a sigh. "I see. I didn't mean anything by it. I didn't know you two were together."

"Oh, no. Don't apologize. It's your job, and it's only professional." Victoria reassured her.

The lady walked away, leaving Victoria to continue watching the dance, and Victoria leaving me in confusion. "'the only one I'm seeing naked is a man tonight'?" I repeated. "You found someone?"