Masquerade (8 page)

“What’s the matter with
you?”

“I don’t know.
I’m
just— Crap, Hol. Sally’s making me dance.”

Holly smiled. “Well, that
ain’t nothing, girlfriend.” She eyed Beth from head to toe. “You’ve got the
body for it.
And
the tips are really great. I’d do it
myself, but I’ve got a bump starting to show.”

Beth congratulated her.

Holly beamed. “Yeah, Mike
and me, we’ve got plans. It may sound corny. Heck, you might not even believe
me, but we want to do the whole thing.
Marriage, white picket
fence, all of it.
He’s
working a lot of hours
right now. We both are, and saving all the money we can to get married and buy
a place of our own.” She patted her stomach. “We want junior here to have a
real home.”

“That’s great, Holly. You
know,
I’m
headed back home to
Cape Girardeau
soon. If you ever thought
you’d like to move down that way, I’d love to have you close by.”

Holly nodded. “That would
be cool.
It’d
be nice to have a friend around. Now
you,” she fluffed Beth’s hair. “You just gotta get through this dance. I know
you’re
nervous, but remember, Sally don’t allow no funny
business. One of the bartenders will be nearby making sure no one gets too
close.
And
you won’t see anything except a light
shining in your face and some shadows beyond. Get into the music.
And
grab a hold of that pole in the middle. Make believe
you’re
dancing in front of your mirror at home and you’ll be
fine.
I’ve
seen you walk.
You’ve got
a natural rhythm. You’ll do just fine.”

“I doubt that,” Beth said
as a customer got her attention and she took their drink order.
I doubt that very much.

****

Half an hour later, Beth
gave up trying to serve drinks and disappeared into the locker room. Her hands
shook so much it was no wonder the drink tray had toppled. Anger and fear were
at war within her.
And
fear was winning.

She
couldn’t
get up and dance. It was too much to ask. This
wasn’t
what her benefactor had in mind for her. She felt certain of that.
And
it sure wasn’t what she expected.

Beth pulled off the damn
spiked heels and threw them across the room, then yanked her locker door open
and cringed as the clang of metal on metal reverberated through the room. She
was done. She
didn’t
know any of these people.
And
she didn’t owe them anything.

She tossed her mask into
the locker. She had a good job back home.
A good life.
Who
had she been kidding, trying to find some elusive emotion
that she’d been fine without so far.

With legs shaking almost
as much as her hands, Beth slumped onto the bench. Her hands wrapped around the
smooth wood. Wood
she’d
laid on just last night, when
Anthony had given her a small taste of what making love could be like. Even
now, she could feel herself growing damp thinking about it. His lips treasuring
her breast with kisses, licks and even a nip or two...

The
same Anthony who was about to lose a bundle because she refused to dance.
Beth knew she
couldn’t
do that to him. She
wouldn’t
ruin his life like that.

Beth stood. The locker
cooled her flaming cheeks as she leaned into it, struggling with her decision.

She would dance on stage
tonight. This would be a first.

Holly poked her head in. “Hey,
you’re on in a couple minutes.”

Beth nodded and reached
for her mask. Settling it in place, she glanced in the mirror, remembering
Masquerade’s motto.

Leave your identity at the door.

Squaring her shoulders,
she prayed she was capable of doing that exact thing.
She’d
need an out-of-body experience to get through the next few minutes.

Feeling as though she
was being led
to the guillotine, Beth slipped into her shoes
and walked back into the lounge.

Sally gave her a nod that
said
“get your ass up on stage.” Beth glanced at
Anthony, busy pouring drinks behind the bar.

You really owe me, man.
The sad thing was
he’d
probably never know it.

She walked toward the
stage, unable to place the first beats of the song. Would it be slow or fast?
It
didn’t
really matter. Either way, she
was screwed
.

Recognition hit her as
she climbed the steps. She had listened to this music so many times after
Steve’s hurtful departure, trying to find her sanity. Hell,
she’d
danced to it over and over in her living room, trying to force the words to
sink in, to believe them. Always though, his “frigid bitch” comment overlapped the
strains of the song,
Beautiful
.

Beth stepped onto the stage.
She dragged a toe behind her, then stepped, dragging the other toe. When she
reached the pole in the center, the spotlight hit her and she froze.

The lyrics reminded her
that everyone is beautiful.

She circled the pole.

Frigid bitch.

She faltered and grabbed the
pole to keep from falling.

The music swelled toward
the first chorus.

She began to listen to
the beat, leaving the words to fend for
themselves
, letting
the song drift into her subconscious.
Letting go of
everything but the melody and the beat.
She swayed her hips, moving to
the music, dipping as the pole became her dance partner.

****

The spotlight came on,
and Anthony glanced up almost automatically.
What the fuck?
Was that Beth up on the stage? He
tossed his bar rag down and stormed over to Sally.

“What is she doing up on
stage?” Fuck. He could see her wide eyes and shaking body from here. “Get her
off there.”

“No. We needed a fill-in
and Beth was the only one available.”

“Bullshit. Get.
Her.
Off. That.
Stage.”

He had eyes on Beth as he
spoke.
She’d
circled the pole in the center and seemed
to be stepping in time to the music. Then she lost her balance and grabbed the
pole.

“Damn
it, Sally.
I mean it.”

Sally, right next to him
by this time, only had to whisper to chill his soul. “In case you may have
forgotten, I make the rules here. And you have a lot at stake.”

“What the hell do you
mean by that?”

“I mean I
know
about your contract. I
know
what you stand to lose. And I
know—
” Sally nodded toward the stage, “—you
screwed around with that girl last night after hours.”

He tore his gaze away
from the woman on stage, whose hips had started to sway back and forth.

“How the fuck do you know
that?”

He could
see by the look on Sally’s face she knew she had his balls in a
vise
. Thinking he could get through a few days in order to have the
future
he’d
always wanted, he’d signed the simple
contract when it had arrived as a precursor to this job: screw around and he’d
lose his construction company. Technically, he and Beth
hadn’t
screwed.
But
close enough.

Fuck.

“This is my club, boy.
Nothing happens here that I
don’t
know about. The girl
stays on that stage.”

Anthony was too stunned
to notice the smile on Sally’s face as she turned away. He turned back to the
stage, defeated. Beth would have to dance.

Have to?
Hell, she already was. Her eyes were closed and
she’d
picked up the rhythm of the song. He glanced at the audience, three-quarters
men.
Damn it.
He
didn’t
want
them watching her. Her dancing, her sensuality,
was meant
for him. At least, he planned to convince her of that.

He moved closer, ready to
stop anyone who might get too amorous. This
wasn’t
a
stage where you held out twenty-dollar bills for special treatment. This
was meant
to be entertainment.
A dancer
helping you to live the masquerade.

Beth grasped the pole
with both hands and arched her back. When she did, hair
she’d
loosened from its clip fell almost to the floor. Her eyes remained closed, but
with her head bent back, it showed off the column of her neck and...

Anthony went rock hard as
he watched breasts
he’d
had wet dreams about almost spill
out of her costume. He heard the collective gasp of the men as she swayed back
and forth. Still keeping time with the slow, sensual beat of the music, Beth
rose to meet the pole, slid to a squat, and stretched one leg behind her. With
the stage elevated and that tiny uniform she wore, there
wasn’t
much left to the imagination. Half her ass was bare for the whole place to see.
A glance around the room proved that
she’d
captured
the attention of the entire place.

She stood and pushed her
ass out toward the audience.
Jesus!
Was that a scrap of red he saw?
Was she really giving them a
view of her panties? Anthony wanted to kill the fucking spotlight that
showcased
Beth.

He could see the satisfaction
all over her face, in the slight upturn of her lips, and in the lack of
tension. It looked like she was getting off on this.

Beth arched back, slid
her leg in a semi-circle, and then raised it up until it spanned the pole.
Holy shit.
Where
had she learned a trick like that? She leaned back and pushed one leg up until
she was damn near doing vertical splits.

Anthony’s cock twitched as
his jaw hit the floor. It took a limber woman to pull something like that off.
Limber and strong.
He wanted those legs wrapped around him, clinging
to him, loving him.

As Beth wrapped the pole
with her leg and leaned back again,
showcasing
tits
still on the edge of full disclosure, a man in front of Anthony stood and moved
toward Beth.

Anthony sprinted to catch
up to the
guy
, who was now trying to climb onto the
stage. He grabbed the man’s shoulder but
was brushed off
.
So
Anthony grabbed hold again. The
guy
whirled on him, fist first, and managed to connect with Anthony’s jaw. The force
spun him around.

With Beth at risk,
Anthony
rebounded
lightning fast. He grabbed the
guy’s
shirt from the back, yanked him off the stage, and
plowed his fist into the guy’s gut. The man went down just as the bouncer
showed up, but Anthony no longer cared. He jumped onto the stage, grabbed Beth,
threw her over his shoulder, and left to the catcalls of everyone in the place.

She pounded his back, but
he
didn’t
set her down until he’d made it through the
employee door and down to the end of the hall.

By the time he did set
her on her feet, they were both huffing like bulls circling in the arena.
And
both appeared just as mad, standing toe-to-toe in the
hallway.

“What the hell do you
think you’re doing?” Beth shouted.

“Stopping you from making
a fool of yourself,” he shouted back.

As soon as he said it, he
knew
he’d
fucked up. Anthony
didn’t
need the slits her eyes had become, or the steam he swore he could see coming
out of her ears to tell him how badly he’d screwed up.

Her voice, when she
spoke, was dead calm.
And
Anthony knew that was never
good.

“You think my dancing was
that lousy, do you?”

No one should be able to
talk that quietly with
their
chest heaving from
exertion like hers. Anthony glanced down, then quickly back up to eyes that
were flaming angry. He
didn’t
need multiple strikes
against him.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“That’s what you said.”

“Damn it, Beth. You know
why I pulled you out of there.”

She put her hands on her
hips, drawing his attention back to the skimpy bra that rose and fell with a
pronounced need to get air in her lungs. Fuck. He was hard as a rock and now
was
not
the time.
He’d
screw everything up if he gave in to his need.

“No,
Anthony.
I
don’t
think I do. Why don’t you
explain it to me?” Her eyes, wide open now, were fire and ice as she glared,
waiting for his answer.

Damn
it.
He
didn’t
want to explain
why
. It was too complicated.

She crossed her arms over
her chest, pushing an already strained bra to the limit. Was that the edge of a
nipple showing? Anthony licked his lips.

Beth tapped her foot. “I’m
waiting,” she said when he focused again on her face. A face
he’d
loved for what felt like his entire life. A smile he wanted to see again. Eyes
he wanted to stare into for whatever future he could grab with her.

And
she was going to make him beg, it appeared. “Fine,” he ground out. “I’ll tell
you why.” He backed away from her.

“You were so good up
there.
Too good.
Sexier than anyone
I’ve
ever seen dance. I’ve got a hard-on so fucking painful I can’t think straight.”

She stepped toward him
and he whipped her around, flattening her against the wall next to the pop
machine and pinning her arms.