Private Dancer (7 page)
"No, I don't have a heart remember? I think you said that to me after you slapped my face." She turned around and Cori saw the depth of her hurt.
"Come on, Reece. Look at me. I’ve known you how long now? It’s okay to feel something besides anger and release once in a while. I know you have it in you somewhere. Love is a beautiful thing. If it’s gonna take a little blonde haired bartender to pull it out of you, why argue? If you want to know what I think..."
"Not really."
"...I think she's just what you need."
Images of the night before came back to her, and she started to blush.
Oh, she was what I needed all right!
she thought.
Exactly what I needed.
Chancing a look at Cori, she winced at the look of amusement.
"Boss, why does she make you blush? Honestly."
"Honestly?"
Oh, this will be good for shock value.
"You might not have fucked her last night, but I did."
"You what? Ohhh, you didn't?" She saw the smirk and the wink. "You pig. Did the woman know?"
"She had already gone." She wiggled her eyebrows and leered.
"I have news for you...the way I left our little friend...I bet she let you."
That ought to do it. One candle burning at both ends...coming right up.
Reece just swallowed really hard. The thought of Faith pleasuring herself, calling her name...
Oh god, repeat performance, my bed, tonight
*
It was getting windier and colder every day. Reece finally admitted to herself that it was time to put the motorcycle away for the winter. Never really being without the bike for more than a few days, she felt like she was saying goodbye to a part of herself.
I suppose I have to buy a warmer coat too,
she thought with a frown. It had been so long since she spent a winter up north, she forgot how cold it could get. Shopping was not her favorite pastime, and was usually avoided. A fifteen minute trip to The Levi's Store was considered a spree. Tying the last of the heavy tarp over the machine, she sighed loudly, catching Pepe's attention.
"Don't worry, I'll keep it safe," he said reassuringly.
"No doubts, amigo." She shivered a little.
Well, lets go get that coat.
She wandered towards the closest area to shop, Times Square. It was a tourists' haven, and she deliberately avoided any slow moving groups of people with cameras. Anything you can possibly purchase can be found on
42nd street
. The tall woman was amazed how people could be fascinated by neon and some billboards.
After a long while, many elbows and a few growls later, the scowling woman settled on a jacket, hailed a cab, and plopped her aggravated self in the back seat. The vat of vile car freshener and near deafening foreign music added to her mood. Closing her eyes and laying her head back, she tried to relax and think calming thoughts before she had an aneurysm. Deep breaths would only kill her at this point. In moments, an image of the gorgeous blonde named Faith, lounging in a bubble filled tub danced across her eyelids. While not exactly calming, it was a welcome thought, and she smiled despite the blaring horns and lurching cab ride.
Reece melted willingly into the green eyes in her mind; she was horny in an instant, only to be jolted into reality by a recording of Jackie Mason reminding her to take her belongings.
How does he listen to that crap all day?
she wondered and shoved the money into the little drawer in the partition. Taking the steps two at a time, she headed straight for the Jacuzzi, leaving a trail of clothing in her wake. There was some unfinished business to tend to with a certain green-eyed lady, and she was eager to get to it.
*
Cori managed to fall back to sleep after the boss had left. It wasn't long before the phone rang and she answered it with a growl. It was a very perky Faith asking her to come shopping with her. "Oh hey! Sorry, sure," the sleepy dancer agreed. "If I may, why the hell are you so damned cheerful?"
"Oh, no biggie."
My fantasy Reece had me screaming like a banshee....
"Anything to do with our talk last night?" Cori was crossing her fingers.
Yup, thanks to your details.
"You can say that." The grin was almost audible. "C'mon, you said something about dressing me up?"
"You bet!" She remembered Faith's monetary situation and though of the best place to barter. "Hey, let's go to
14th street
, they have tons of street vendors and it's a bargain hunter's dream."
"Cor, I heard everything there fell off the back of a truck. I'm not so sure I want "hot" stuff on my body." Too late. It was out of her mouth before she could stop it.
"I beg to differ. And I'm sure Reece has been called worse."
"CORI!"
"Stop blushing like that, my phone is melting." She heard a groan.
They met at the coffee shop from last night. Faith got there first, grabbed a window booth, and ordered a giant coffee for her friend. Her thoughts drifted immediately to Reece. Walking up the stairs from the subway, Cori saw her friend's dream like stare and the coffee waiting for her and smiled.
"Large, black, three sugars." The blonde pushed the cup towards the dancer.
"Oh, bless you, child." She took a large swallow of the brew. The blissful expression on her face was like looking at dope addict getting a fix. Her friend matched her expression. "What's up, Mary Sunshine?"
"Nothing, can't I enjoy the day?" Her friend gave the eyebrow. "I'm excited about getting a new job and shopping okay?"
"Uh huh. That's the ‘I can't wait to go shopping' glow if I ever saw it. Oh wait, maybe it's the ‘new job' blush."
"All right already! I did some thinking about what you said last night." She didn't know where to start.
"And...."
"Um, well, I guess I admit to being attracted to Reece. " She blushed again. "While that's all well and good, I don't think I know how to do anything about it, I mean, um, what do I do now?"
Cori was very amused at her friend's admission. "So in other words, you want to know how get Reece into your bed. Right?"
"Uhm...well, no. Before that...I want more than sex," she struggled to explain herself.
"Oh, I see. You want to be her friend. Reece doesn't have friends."
"You're her friend, aren't you?"
Cori frowned. "I like to consider myself her friend, but I don't think you'll get that much out of her."
"I'm not going to be one of her whores. I want her to know me. After all you told me about her, I feel like I know her already. It would be different if I didn't. I'm not a toy."
"You're serious? I'm sorry, honey, but Reece doesn't have relationships; she fucks and moves on."
"I think I could be different." Faith looked confident
"Listen, please don't romanticize about her. She'll break your heart. While I know for a fact she wants you, and you might actually have a chance at getting closer than many, Aphrodite isn't about to descend on her. And if she saw it coming, she'd be sure to push it away. My advice is to get what you can."
"I intend to get what I want, not what I can." Faith stood up and put on her coat. "C'mon, I have some convincing clothing to buy, and you have to help me."
"Faith, you don't want to start this. Not with her, please, none of us can take the backlash," Cori pleaded
"Don't worry, trust me, everything will be fine. Now, no more talk about it. Let's shop!"
The dancer frowned. As much as she wanted to see these two together, she couldn't help feeling like someone was going to get hurt big time. She'd have to have a talk with Reece, and she wasn't sure this was a good thing.
*
The Lounge was pretty crowded when Reece arrived. She was feeling rather cocky tonight and decided to wander around the club, taking in the scenery for a while before locking herself away in the office. Monica noticed her first and she elbowed Debbie, who elbowed Honey, who in turn skittered off to the dressing room to tell the others. It was very rare that the boss prowled around the club like this. It reminded Monica of when Reece was a fixture at the bar, running collection errands for Frankie, or bouncing some asshole out on his ear.
The dancers loved her and she took full advantage of that, never at a loss for pussy. Monica swore that Frankie encouraged her to sleep with them, always disappearing into a secluded corner with a dancer, and sometimes not so subtly right there in your face. The tall, dark woman had a certain air around her. It was almost like you could see the electricity crackling off of her body. But it was her eyes that captured the attention. Some of the girls swore it was like being hypnotized; they never had a chance. She laughed a lot more then too.
God she was gorgeous when she smiled.
Monica grinned at her memories.
Since Frankie died, the spark was gone and the fiery blue faded to dull and sad. She had always kept to herself and, in those days, you could probably find her staring into space lips pursed in thought. But she was never sad. Since she became owner of the place, she was hardly ever out of her office, if she came in at all, and she never fucked the girls any more, either. Monica was silently hoping that this was her big chance to have the boss, never having the opportunity of being "picked" in the past.
*
"Shit, Faith! We are so late! Reece is going to kill me!"
"She wont actually
kill
you, Cor. Calm down, we're almost there. Besides, how do you know she'll even be there yet? She's probably stuck in traffic anyway."
The dancer didn't look any less upset. "I'm going to call. One of the girls will have to cover for me. Oh, and she locked up the bike for the winter, so traffic isn't the answer." She dug into her backpack for a quarter.
"Oh, she did? Yeah, I guess you'd have to. I mean you can't ride in the snow."
Crap!
Faith really wanted to be on the back of that baby so she could wrap herself around that woman. After the dream she had this morning, she wanted so bad to work out the details of foreplay on a moving bike.