Slade (The Protectors #6)

Slade nodded, glaring at the monitor, his body primed to protect, yet he was fucking stuck in a van. This had to be the last time this happened, because he honestly didn’t think he could take it again.

They watched as Jill walked past a room, following the woman. Damon sat in a corner, a woman dancing in front of him on a table with a pole. He turned, making eye contact with Jill. Opening a door, Jill followed the woman into a room full of half-naked women.

“Girls, I’d like you to meet Lola.” Hailey smiled, pulling her more into the room. “This is going to be her first night here so show her the ropes and treat her like your sister.”

“Hey, Lola,” the women greeted with smiles.

“Hello.” Jill’s voice held strong.

“I’ve got her.” A beautiful redhead walked up and took hold of her hand. “Stick with me and you’ll survive your first night.”

“Holy shit,” Jax whispered, watching over Slade’s shoulder. “Too bad Sid’s stuck out there and can’t see all these gorgeous naked women.”

“Don’t need to see shit, my man,” Sid shot back. “I’ve got me a beautiful mate waiting for me at home.”

“Who has a large gun and knows how to shoot,” Jared cut in.

“There is that,” Sid added, the seriousness in his tone not missed by anyone.

“Shut up!” Slade hissed. “And keep this line clear, dammit.”

The three apologized with ‘sorry’ before the line went silent.

Chapter 18

“I’m Cherry.” The beautiful redhead grinned, and then flipped her red hair. “I know, not very original, but the men love it. So, is Lola your stage name?”

Jill nodded. “Not very original.” She scrunched her nose with a smile.

“It’s fine,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “Most of these men don’t care what our names are anyway, but if they like you, then they request you by name.”

Jill sat on a small stool, setting her bag down. “So how does this work exactly?” When Cherry looked over at her, Jill cleared her throat. “I’ve worked at some pretty shitty clubs, nothing compared to this.”

Cherry nodded. “It’s very different. Unless you have a request right away from a regular, you get assigned. Men will either request you to dance on their table or Hicks will assign you a table.”

“Hicks?” Jill asked, her eyes roaming around watching the women get ready and wondered if she should also. Talk about feeling out of place. This was so far from her comfort zone, Jill felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.

“Yeah, you’ll meet him.” Cherry frowned, rolling fishnet stockings up her legs. “He’s okay, but likes to touch.”

“I thought no one was allowed to touch us.” Jill frowned, not liking this at all. If someone actually touched her, she would have to keep control by not kicking his ass.

Cherry laughed. “We have security out there.” She nodded her head the way Jill had come in. “But back here, we fend for ourselves with some of the staff. Though Hicks might not mess with you.”

“Yeah, well, I hope not.” Jill stood back up, nervous energy flowing through her body.

“Hey, Pixie!” Cherry yelled.

A pretty girl with long blonde hair turned, her golden eyes glowed. “What?”

“Hicks bother you anymore?” Cherry turned, focusing on adjusting her boobs.

“Not since I threatened to tear his throat out.” Pixie smiled, baring sharp fangs.

All the women laughed and Pixie winked. “You’ll be fine, breed, just flash him some fang. He’ll leave you alone.”

Jill gave a shaky laugh.

“You’ll be fine,” Cherry grinned. “Just don’t get caught back here alone. Now, get changed. We’re about ready to go on.”

Her stomach pitched violently and she prayed to God she didn’t vomit again. “Where’s the bathroom?”

“Back there, honey, but hurry.” Cherry fluffed her hair. “Hailey hates when we go on stage late.”

Jill nodded, hurrying toward the bathroom, trying not to kill herself with her damn high heels. Why women wore the damn things was beyond her. She was going to burn them as soon as she was finished with this job and enjoy every minute of it. Once inside, she locked the door and wobbled to the sink to glare into the mirror, her stomach pitching violently.

“Jill, you okay?” Sloan’s voice sounded in her ear.

Before Jill could say anything, nausea hit her hard and she turned, running to the toilet. The groans sounding off in her ear let her know they were getting an awesome look and audio of her vomiting. Once she was finished, she went to the sink, rinsed her mouth out before checking her makeup.

“Jill…” This time it was Slade’s voice.

“I’m fine.” Jill smoothed her hair down, unbuttoned her blouse and began to undress.

“Well, I’d just like to say I’m glad I missed that little performance with the toilet bowl on the monitor, yet still, it sounded absolutely disgusting.” Sid’s voice filled her ear.

“Hey, Sid.” Jill kept her voice low.