“Hello, suga’, how are you? Those men of yours treatin’ you right?”
“Oh I’m fantastic, and they treat meperrrfectly,” she exaggerated the last word. “This is Kadence. She’s gonna help you waitress and bartend if you're up for training her on that.”
“Hey there, pretty lady.” He extended his hand, and I saw the black nail polish on his nails. I smiled, taking him in a firm grip and shaking his hand. “Don’t let the polish fool ya, I am very much a ladies’ man and a man's man.”
“Nice to meet you,” I beamed.
“I’ll bring her back to you in a minute. I’m going to introduce her to some of the girls.”
Annika brought me to the dressing room where it was filled with feminine voices, soft pop music, and laughter. A spunky brunette galloped to Annika and pulled her into a tight hug before a few more came and hugged her, too.Was this what it was like to have friends? People who were always happy to see you?
“Girl, you look hot as usual,” the brunette said. “And who’s your friend?”
She eyed my body in a way that made my skin heat. Annika laughed. “This is Kadence, she’s waitressing here. If she’s comfortable dancing, we can show her the ropes.” She turned to me, letting me see the gorgeous, tattooed woman. “Kadence, this is Ivory.”
“Hi!” I chirped. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine. If you ever want to share a dance, hit me up, gorgeous.”
“Always the flirt.” Annika grabbed my hand, bringing me towards a redhead, and I knew this one. She was the girl dancing with the cute blonde when Hawke brought me here. I saw why this place was so busy—the women were gorgeous.
“A!” the woman exclaimed excitedly, pulling Annika into her arms. Then her eyes met mine. “Woah there. Wow, you're hot.”
My cheeks heated. The women here were not shy with how they met new people, but it was nice. Hunter’s words echo in my head:consent is key. It was nice to be admired, but not in a lustful way.
“Everly, this is Kadence. Blaize hired her after finding her working at Roadhouse.” That was far from the truth, but I’d let her tell it how she believed. Her brow arched as she looked at Annika and then back at me.
“Blaize hired you?” I nodded. “Wow. She must like you or something.” My laugh rumbled out of me and I covered my mouth, causing Annika to roll her eyes and shake her head.
“No. Kadence believes the boss hates her, but Blaize is just like that,” Annika said.
“Blaize does have a tendency to rub people the wrong way,” Everly insisted. “It’s nice to meet you. You got my best girl showing you the ropes, I see.”
I laughed, glancing at Annika. “Yeah. She’s been a dream.”
After meeting the rest of the girls, I felt more content with the club. My social skills sucked and making friends growing up was hard. Of course, I had a few friends I’d hang out with in school, but when their parents got wind of my extracurricular activities, they banned their children from playing with the bad influence because they thought I would taint their star student. It didn’t matter. I found the people I needed when the time came.
Friendship was not what I was looking for growing up. The girls here felt genuine, and that was something I never truly experienced. But I was no longer playing thewoe is mecard or keep living in the past. Everything that happened to me—the neglectful, lonely childhood, the intense teenage years, and the early start of my adulthood—brought me to this moment. Kadence Hayes was ready to start living her life finally, and I was not letting anyone ruin it for me.
CHAPTER 23
KADENCE
The first two hours went smoothly without a problem. It was like working at a sports bar, just in fewer clothes and more security. It wasn’t nearly as rowdy as Roadhouse, either. The men and women tipped pretty nicely. Not one of them tried to grab my ass or cop a feel, and my anxiety was under control.
In the three hours of just walking around doing drink orders, I managed to get almost $200 in tips. That was more than I’d get at any sports bar where the men could smack my ass or catcall me. Anytime I felt uncomfortable, I just made eye contact with one of the security guards, and the person would immediately change their tone and back away.
The later it got, the drunker the customers became. Drunk women were flirty and touchy, but the feeling when a beautiful woman touched my bare skin was nothing compared to the ick I felt when a man touched my arm. Maybe it was because of my trauma, but it was what it was. With the women, even drunk, if I felt uncomfortable or had a certain demeanor, they would stop.
“Kadence,” Hunter called out. “I have a woman wanting a dance from you. Three hundred.”
Three hundred dollars for a lap dance? Sign me the fuck up.
Women were different from men, and I had full control of the situation. Hunter gave me a rundown of the private lap dances. They couldn’t touch unless we gave them direct consent. There was a panic button in every single room for us to hit if something went wrong. She said they only had one incident where a man got handsy with a woman, and he was beaten to a bloody pulp by Hawke and the other Reapers.
I loved how protective they were of the women in this town. Hunter walked me to the private room, showing me the panic button before she closed the door. The woman was gorgeous, older and confident with shoulder-length, dark hair and subtle streaks of gray. Her eyes were a warm hazel, sharp and filled with desire. She was a businesswoman, unless she just enjoyed wearing expensive tailored suits all the time. The navy blazer looked fantastic on her, but the peekaboo of cleavage caught my eye the most. Women in suits were my weakness. Why did they have to look this mouthwatering? Maybe this dance wouldn’t be a mistake.
I sashayed to her confidently, discarding my shorts and circling around her chair, my fingers gently grazing her blazer. The material was soft under my fingertips. I rested my hands on her thighs, forcing them open as my hands slid up her thighs and I kept eye contact on her. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were dilated as she watched me. I kicked my legs over her lap, gripping the back of the chair so my cleavage was in her direct line of sight. Her eyes flicked to mine, her tongue hitting her bottom lip. This didn’t feel nearly as intense as it did in Blaize’s office, but I was going to give this woman the best dance I could.