Midnight Ballerina (14 page)

Something didn’t sit right with me, though, so I made my way down the hallway that she had just come from, trying to put two and two together. What exactly had she been doing back there?

Everything clicked into place pretty quickly.

Randy was headed in the opposite direction, hurriedly out the exit that led to the parking lot. The door Bianca had just emerged from opened again, revealing a customer that I’d seen around a few times. Clothing slightly disheveled, he wore a satisfied grin on his face, the expression sending my stomach rolling with the idea of what went down in there. My whole body shivered in disgust, and when the customer saw me staring and waggled his eyebrows at me, motioning toward the room with his thumb as if ready for round two—but this time with
me
—I felt the bile rise in my throat.

I jumped in place, quickly spinning on my heel, and got the hell away from that man. How stupid could I get? I actually believed Randy when he tried to convince me that I was confused about the whole situation. I sensed something was definitely sketchy about it, yet I kept my mouth shut.

Well, I wouldn’t be working at Pure much longer, but if Miller was involved, I couldn’t work for him at Buchanan Builders, either. I prayed he was clueless. One, I didn’t think my bank account could take another bout of unemployment. And two, given my ridiculous crush on him, I didn’t think my heart could handle it. He seemed so genuine, and caring.

Either way, if these people were doing something so illegal and wrong, that was just a disaster waiting to happen.

SO, IT WAS my last night at Pure and possibly my last night working for Miller ever again, too, and I wasn’t so sure how to think or feel about that. I still couldn’t believe that stuff like
that
actually went on. After sleeping on it, I woke up with more questions than I had answers. While I could totally see Randy doing these illegal things—sometimes there was just something about him that seemed a little off—a thought occurred to me. It was completely possible that it was all Bianca. Randy could’ve only been setting up private dances, and she seemed like the type to go above and beyond to make an extra buck.

But Miller? I just couldn’t see him having
anything
to do with it.

And there was also the whole needing money issue. Yeah, that was a bit of a big deal. I actually went on the search for a new job before work and got a few bites, but nothing solid, so I figured it best to come in for my last shift in case those maybe’s never came through.

I answered a message from Carter quickly before going in, letting him know that I wouldn’t be home for Thanksgiving.

Carter:
Really? I needed my Monroe fix.

I grinned at my screen, glad that Carter could manage to make me smile. I tapped a message out to him before sticking my phone back into my purse.

Me:
Sorry! You’ll have to wait till Christmas.

“Hey, hon.”

I jumped a mile backward, Vanessa scaring the hell out of me because between the mess with everything here and then talking to Carter, I was a little distracted.

“Oh, hey.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “What’s up?”

“Not much.” She squinted her eyes at me. “Is something wrong? You’re here super early. Did Randy call you in or something? He was looking for you.”

Every hair on my body stood on end at the memories the question brought back. What had happened the last time Randy was “looking” for me, what I am pretty certain Bianca did last night.

“What? What do you mean did I talk to Randy? No, I actually wanted to ask you about something. I’m pretty sure I saw…
inappropriate
things going on last night, between Bianca and a customer. And I think Randy’s in on it, too. I didn’t think this place was like that.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good.”

“Do you know what’s going on exactly?” I asked, praying she didn’t because I couldn’t see Vanessa getting involved with that, but I guess there was always a possibility.

“I’m really not sure.” She shrugged both shoulders and turned to drop down onto one of the couches. “I try to keep my nose out of that stuff because seriously, I really don’t want to know that it’s going on. But Randy’s been acting kind of strange and I see him by the back rooms lately an awful lot. I have my suspicions but I’m keeping my mouth shut. I can’t afford to lose this job.”

“Do you think Miller knows what’s going on?” I was bracing myself for her answer, hoping beyond hope that he didn’t. Miller was a good guy, at least that’s what I thought, and I really didn’t want to be wrong about him. The guy
does
own the strip club, though. So, maybe I was wrong.

“I don’t really know which is why I haven’t said anything. I like my job, I like working here. It’s really a good place. Some of the other clubs out there are just horrible. So, if Miller does know it’s going on, I really don’t want to get fired for causing any trouble. I know that sounds wrong, but I need to support my daughter.”

“That’s understandable. And I need the money, but not that bad. Either way, I’m going to talk to Miller about it now, if he’s here.”

“Well, good luck.”

I groaned as I stood up. Randy was the last person I wanted to see. Maybe after I saw Miller I wouldn’t even have to deal with him.

I honed in on my secret spy skills as I left the makeup room and headed in to the club so I could make my way over to Miller’s office. Somehow I got lucky and Randy was actually doing the job he was paid to do, helping Bianca with a table near the stage so he didn’t even turn my way. But then I started thinking about what they were probably doing. Maybe Randy was setting up Bianca for her next “gig.” The thought made me sick to my stomach. I was all for people doing what they wanted. Whatever life choices you decided to make, then go for it. But what they were doing was
illegal.
I had to do something, especially if Miller wasn’t aware of the situation. Something like that could cost him his business or get him in a whole lot of trouble.

I made it across the floor and into the hallway without anyone spotting me, and I sighed in relief when I saw Miller’s light on and his door open. I poked my head in and almost wished that I hadn’t. Miller was there but he wasn’t alone and my heart sank at the sight.

The blonde from the restaurant was there, sitting on his desk with her long, perfect legs draped over each other, her hand placed on the desk just inches from Miller where he was sitting in his chair. They looked pretty deep in conversation, so I was thankful that Miller didn’t see me and I pulled my head out of his view, but immediately heard his voice.

“Monroe?”

Of course I couldn’t get away without being seen. I felt stupid. I’d been crushing hard on Miller the past couple of weeks, I’m sure he knew it, too, and all along he had a girlfriend. I figured because he never mentioned having one that I had seen him on a one-time date or something.

Might as well get this over with then. I poked my head back around the door and he motioned for me to come in. Perfect.

“Hey.” I waved wildly, feeling like a complete idiot before tucking my hands behind my back before they did something else stupid. The blonde, Miller’s girlfriend or whoever she was, had swung her legs around to the other side of the desk and was now once again inches away from Miller, where he had moved to stand in front of his desk.

“This is Tara. Tara, this is Monroe.” That was it. No explanation of who Tara was or anything. Typical guy, I swear.

I was about to stick my hand out to Tara, but then I thought better of it. I could see the wheels turning in her head, that fake smile pasted on her face covering up what she was really thinking. She assumed I was a stripper here, probably judging by what I had on, and thought I was trash.

“So nice to meet you…Monroe.” Her nose crinkled slightly and I knew that I was completely right. I hated when people judged others so quickly when they first met them. But I guess, I wasn’t really a big fan of hers either since she kept popping up around Miller. Actually, it made me feel pretty territorial though I had no idea what their actual relationship was. They could’ve been dating for years for all I knew.

“Did you need something, Monroe? Tara and I were getting ready to head out.”

Great.

It wasn’t like I wanted to bring up what had happened in front of Tara. It was bad enough having to tell Miller what I witnessed between Bianca and her VIP customer. I didn’t know what Miller’s reaction would be when I told him, and I most certainly wasn’t going to find out in front of
her
.

“Um…no. We can talk about it later. You two have fun.” I tried not to sound sarcastic when I added that last part. It took everything in me and I don’t think Miller caught on, but Tara did.

“Oh, we are definitely going to have some fun,” she responded with a giggle and pushed Miller lightly on the shoulder, and he at least had the decency to look uncomfortable before he waved at me.

“I’ll catch up with you later, Monroe.”

And then I made my way straight back out of his office, envisioning all of the different ways they were going to have “fun” tonight, and my heart plummeted straight into my toes.

IT HAD BEEN another long day at Buchanan Builders, but I cut it short to come into the club, mostly to see Monroe. And now, I watched her walk out of my office, her head hung low, and I hated seeing her like that. She was an independent girl but sometimes she lacked a little bit of confidence. I would’ve given anything to see her just tell Tara where to shove the attitude she had sent her way.

“What kind of fun are we going to have?” I asked Tara as soon as Monroe disappeared around the corner.

“Oh well, you know….” She trailed off, giggling nervously, and I groaned, not looking forward to having to spend any more time with her. She seemed to be getting on my nerves even more lately, especially since she popped up tonight when I planned on pulling Monroe off the floor to “clean” my office some more. I wasn’t sure exactly what she had left to do in here, but I could find something so I could spend some time with her.