Teased (The VIP Room, #1) (8 page)

“
Because Tessa knows that I like to
fuck. She won’t believe there is the slightest chance that you
could live with me and not have me put my cock in your tight little
pussy.” Colton’s voice became intimately suggestive.

Shocked, Vida looked up into his face. For
the last two weeks he had completely ignored her presence, treating
her with cold indifference, now he was talking to her in a way that
was sexually explicit. Something didn’t add up and Vida was pretty
sure she knew the answer to Colton’s big change.

“
King wouldn’t let you get rid of me,
would he?” Mischievous laughter erupted as Vida was unable to hold
back. She could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.
Desperately trying to dampen down her amusement before he strangled
her, Vida gathered her control. It wasn’t easy, but she finally
succeeded.

“
You think you have it all figured
out, don’t you?” Colton questioned, neither confirming nor denying
his plan.

“
Damn, Colton, I think I’m smart
enough to know that the last thing you want is me in your
apartment. If King refused to let me leave, your only other option
is to get me to want to leave,” she mocked him, leaning back in the
swivel chair and placing her arms across her chest.

“
What you didn’t think about is that I
actually don’t mind living with you, despite your revolving bedroom
door. It’s better than sleeping in the same room as one of King’s
women, who are giving blowjobs or fucking before I can get out of
the room. It’s damn sure better than letting Digger get me and it
sure as hell is better than leaving before I find Sawyer.” Vida’s
voice was practically yelling at Colton as he stood dumbfounded at
the woman he had mistaken for being a timid little
mouse.

Vida almost started laughing again at his
expression, but decided she had pressed her luck far enough for the
day. The bell rang, letting them know a customer was coming in the
door. Seth came towards the counter with a genuine smile on his
face, carrying his computer.

“
I’m off today. I thought if it’s okay
with you that I would hang around and. when you weren’t busy, you
could help me code?” Seth nervously waited for her
reply.

Vida returned his smile with one of her own.
“I’d enjoy it, Seth. I get bored between customers now that most of
my classes are finished.”

Colton just stared back and forth between
the two for several seconds.

“
Make sure you keep track of the
clients,” was all he said before disappearing.

The day was much better with Seth keeping
her company. Tessa merely eyed Seth when she came out front. Vida
could tell she was wondering just what their relationship was, but
she didn’t ask and Vida wasn’t about to volunteer the
information.

Colton came out with his client; a woman,
not much older than Vida, who had wanted a tat of an owl on her
shoulder. She had gushed her admiration of his tats when she had
caught sight of him. It wasn’t much better now that her tattoo had
been completed and wrapped.

Colton had been about to call his next
appointment when the woman grabbed his arm, keeping him by her
side. “Call me?” Vida had become used to the forwardness of the
women that came into Colton’s shop.

“
Sure thing, sugar.” Colton gave her a
smile that looked insincere to Vida, but she was also sure that she
would see the bleached blond doing the walk out of Colton’s front
door during the wee hours when he was done with her.

“
Colton, my man, I see you still have
the touch.”

Everyone’s eyes turned towards the loud
voice to see a middle-aged man standing in the doorway, letting the
door close behind him as he came further into the room. He was
extremely attractive with hard angles, yet laugh lines were leading
away from his amused eyes as they took in the young girl pleading
for Colton’s attention.

“
I see three years in the state pen
hasn’t hurt your mojo any.” The man was as large as his
voice.

“
Shut-up, Max,” Colton said, trying to
disentangle himself from the grip, which had tightened on his
arm.

“
You’ve been in prison?” Instead of
fear, Vida clearly saw arousal on the woman’s face.

“
Yeah, I just got out a couple of
weeks ago,” Colton answered.

“
You sure you don’t want me to wait
around until you get off? I don’t mind waiting.” She moved closer
to Colton.

“
I’m sure, Lara. I’m busy tonight.
I’ll call you next week.” Vida rolled her eyes, more like he had
another woman scheduled for tonight.

Lara paid her bill then left when it became
obvious that Colton wouldn’t change his mind. Vida sat beside Seth,
reaching out to point to a figure he had missed, feeling the eyes
of the newcomer on her. She steadily ignored the curious eyes on
her as she heard him talking to Colton.

“
Have I met you? Your face seems
familiar to me for some reason.” The silence in the room forced
Vida to look up, knowing the voice was addressing her.

“
I don’t think so, I would have
remembered.” It was the honest truth; the man was very striking,
both in features and in the way he dressed. By his looks and from
the motorcycle he owned that was parked outside the glass door,
Vida assumed he was in a motorcycle club. He had on jeans and a
t-shirt with a leather jacket that had several patches on it, most
held a club name that was constantly in the news for the criminal
activities it was said they had committed.

“
I think we have. You seem too
familiar…” Vida knew the instant he recognized her, amusement and
admiration lit his face.

“
Trouble?” He laughed and hit his hand
against Colton’s back. “I have died and gone to Heaven.” Holding
his arms out, he gave her a devilish grin. “Come to
daddy.”

Blood rushed up her from her chest to land
with bright flags of shame on her cheeks as Seth stopped coding to
stare at her as if he had never seen her before. His mouth dropped
open.

“
You work in King’s club?” Before Vida
could reply, Max barged into their conversation.

“
She sure does. You have the pleasure
of sitting next to one of King’s gloriously divine exotic dancers,
Trouble.”

Seth looked at her with horrified eyes, as
if the computer he had in front of him was about to be stolen.
Vida’s emotions closed down. It was a look she was very familiar
with, she had seen it dozens of times when she was a child,
whenever someone found out her mother was a stripper.

Seth closed his computer, gathered his
papers and shoved them unceremoniously into his backpack.

“
I better be going. I’ll talk to you
later, Vida.” Seth jumped from his chair, taking off from the shop
as if the hounds of hell were after him. Vida swallowed down the
hurt; she had thought they were friends. Seth hadn’t made any
sexual overtures towards her and it had made her relax in his
easygoing company.

“
I take it the kid didn’t know.” Vida
could see remorse in Max’s eyes.

Vida shrugged, refusing to let them see she
was hurting. “It was my fault; I had plenty of time to tell
him.”

“
Who gives a fuck, if something like
that runs off the little pussy. You’re better off without him,” Max
stated.

Vida shrugged again, Seth had surprised her
by his abrupt departure. It wasn’t Max’s fault he had inadvertently
let it out that she was stripping, it was her own for entangling
herself in the mess her life had become. Not for the first time,
Vida questioned whether she was doing the right thing, wishing she
had other options where Sawyer was concerned. Maybe she should go
to the police again?

Vida ran her hand along the computer,
feeling the cold metal against her fingertips. She gathered back
her control.

King was her only hope of getting Sawyer
back; she knew that in her heart. She had taken the only road open
to her, so now she had to tough out the repercussions. When Sawyer
was back, she could leave and move somewhere where people had never
heard of her mother and wouldn’t have to be constantly on guard
about being recognized as a stripper. She just had to hang on to
her tattered pride until then.

Pasting a fake smile on her lips that she
was unaware didn’t reach her eyes, she forestalled any other
comments. “You’re right. I was only doing him a favor anyway,
helping him with his video game. Are you wanting to get a tattoo?”
she asked Max, trying to change the subject.

“
Only if Colton has an opening. I
don’t want that bitch of a wife anywhere near me with those needles
of hers.” Max shuddered, giving her a wink.

“
Colton’s free; you can go on back
with him.” Vida smiled at the man’s antics.

“
Thanks, I am sorry, sometimes my
mouth spouts out shit before I think.” Max moved closer to the
counter.

“
It’s really okay.” This time Vida’s
smile was much warmer. “But I’m still not going to give you a
private dance,” she teased. She could tell he was upset with
himself for being responsible for Seth leaving.

His heartbreak lasted three seconds. “I
guess I’ll survive. Any chance you’ll give me the redhead’s number
that comes on the stage after you?”

Vida studied Colton’s friend, he seemed like
a really nice guy. “I’ll give her a call. If she says it cool, I’ll
give it to you. I will warn you, though, she does have a
boyfriend.”

“
Trouble, you just made my day. I’ll
make sure we name our firstborn after you.” Vida couldn’t hold back
her laughter at his silly response.

“
I’ll hold you to that,” she mock
threatened.

“
Go on back to my room, I’ll be there
in a minute,” Colton told Max, staring intently at Vida.

Colton waited until Max had left the room
before questioning Vida.

“
You sure you’re okay?” His eyes
searched hers.

“
I’m fine. It was only a matter of
time before Seth found out. The semester is almost over and when
Sawyer comes home, I’ll be leaving. So it’s really not a big
deal.”

“
Leaving? Where will you be going?”
His sharp voice surprised Vida. Just minutes ago he had been trying
to get rid of her.

“
I want to travel. Just get in a car
and drive until I come to a place I want to stay,” Vida
answered.

“
It’s not safe for a woman to travel
by herself.” Vida stared at the big, bad, tatted man staring down
at her. Wherever she went was safer than Queen City,
Texas.

“
I won’t be by myself, Sawyer will be
with me,” Vida countered his argument.

“
I hope everything works out, Vida, I
really do,” Colton said doubtfully.

Vida replied with resolve in her voice. “It
will.”

Colton turned, but Vida saw the pity in his
expression. She knew he thought that King wouldn’t get Sawyer back,
however Vida had put all her faith in him. He had promised Vida
when her mother died that if she ever needed anything, she only had
to ask. She never expected to need King, but with Sawyer’s
disappearance, she had no choice. He had agreed to help her, and
Vida knew it was because of her mother, yet a look had momentarily
crossed his ruthless face when she had told him of Sawyer’s
disappearance.

It had been fear.

***

They grabbed a bite to eat on the way home,
neither saying much. Vida wanted to maintain a distance between her
and Colton; a distance she felt slipping away. Colton seemed to
feel the same way, with his familiar cold expression in place; he
didn’t attempt any conversation to fill the uneasy silence between
them.

When they arrived back at the apartment,
Vida went into the bathroom to get ready for that night’s
performance. She shaved her legs, made sure her bikini area was
cleanly shaven and then rubbed an erotic smelling cream onto her
skin, giving her skin a golden sheen.

She curled and fluffed her hair, making sure
she used extra hairspray so that the bike helmet didn’t do too much
damage. Dressing in sweatpants and her college jersey, she put her
make-up and brushes into her backpack. Finally finished, she went
back out into the apartment to find that Colton was still in his
room.

A knock on the door had her going toward it,
looking through the peephole she saw Henry. She opened the door and
stepped back to let him inside the apartment.

“
You ready?” he asked.

“
You’re taking me tonight?” Vida
asked, surprised. Colton hadn’t mentioned that he wasn’t taking her
as he usually did after they ate dinner.

“
Colton called King and asked if I
could give you a ride tonight,” Henry replied.

“
Oh.” Vida tried not to feel hurt, but
did, not knowing why. “I’m ready. Let me grab my bag.”

Henry waited patiently by the door as Vida
picked up her backpack from the table. Unable to stop herself, her
eyes slid to the closed bedroom door. Turning back to Henry, she
closed and locked the door behind them. The ride in the back of
King’s car seemed confining after becoming used to traveling on the
back of Colton’s bike.

Henry opened the door for her when they
arrived. “You’re quiet tonight, Vida. Anything wrong?”

Vida shook her head. “Nothing, just wish
this was all over.” Henry looked back at her in sympathy, although
he didn’t say anything as he escorted her inside. His loyalty to
King was without question. In the dressing room, Vida changed into
her black, sheer outfit, her tiny black bra exposed under the sheer
material. She liked this three piece set better than the red. The
three piece set gave her less time to spend naked.