“Of course.” She nodded and lowered her attention to the clutch in her lap.
“James,” Randy added, “Daniella is responsible for her elderly grandmother, and she will be away from work for that week, unfortunately without pay, and...”
James nodded as the lightbulb went on. “Is a thousand dollars for your trouble satisfactory?” Lord knows he wasn’t paying for sex, just her accompaniment on the trip, so there was nothing illegal about what he was doing. But he went through it in his head. The last thing he wanted was to get fired.
“More than enough. Thank you. That will help me out greatly.” She relaxed and sat back in the seat. As the lights went down, a man in a theatrical tuxedo covered with more sparkles than Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers stepped onto the stage. “Excuse me. I need to use the ladies’ room while they make the announcements.” Daniella patted James’s hand and stood, slowly making her way up the aisle toward the back. James watched her go, still not able to pull his gaze away. He’d admired beautiful women before, but none had ever turned his head and made him wonder if he truly was gay before. Women certainly didn’t get him excited...at least they never had, until now. He returned his attention to the stage.
“Ladies, gentlemen, and those who have yet to make up their minds,” the sparkly man onstage said. “It is my pleasure to introduce you to our ladies of the evening—Bella Fontaine, Candy Cain, Carmen Merengue, and Creamy Sugar.” The audience hooted as the entertainers paraded down the aisles, each taking a turn and bowing as they were announced.
“You didn’t tell me this was a drag show,” James said as he leaned over to Randy.
“Does it matter?” Randy challenged, and James shook his head, sitting back in his seat and wondering where Daniella was. As the “ladies” gathered on the stage, James checked to see if Daniella was going to rejoin them. She was going to miss the show.
“It goes without saying that no show at Cabaret Candide would be complete without our star,” the man onstage continued. “It’s my pleasure to present the one, the only, the amazing... Lala Traviata.” The curtain in the back of the stage parted just enough for a figure to emerge, wearing an ermine-trimmed cape, a towering tiara, and long white gloves...and James almost swallowed his tongue.
Chapter Two
Daniel, aka Daniella, aka Lala Traviata, loved the applause. It was why he got up every afternoon and looked forward to the day. The room rang with it, and Lala Traviata in all her splendor took a bow, accepted the offered microphone for the closing number, and swept center stage. The music began, and she belted out a signature rendition of “Que Sera, Sera.” It never failed to bring down the house, and as the last note rang through the theater, the curtain lowered, the others stepped off the stage, and Lala Traviata took her final accolades of the night.
Under normal circumstances, Lala would return to the dressing room, change clothes, remove makeup, and quietly leave by the stage door, joining the people on the sidewalk as they hurried home or to their final stop of the night. But not tonight. Lala removed her jewels and slipped off the shoes she’d worn onstage, perching on the edge of the sofa against the dressing room wall and leaning back.
A knock announced the visitors, and then the door opened, with the other ladies entering to talk and discuss the performance. They came in still dressed but without wigs—and in some cases shoes, because the damned things hurt. Lala knew that beauty was a process—painful and a great deal of work.
“I think we were fabulous,” Candy Cain said in her usual bright tone. Sometimes Candy was too perky for words.
Lala sighed, and Bella Fontaine glared before going in for the verbal kill. “Honey, you need to work on your timing, and tomorrow you’re going to be here two hours early so we can go over the ‘It’s Raining Men’ number,” Bella said. “You were all over the place, and if you step on my feet one more time, you’re going to get a high kick and take a flying leap off the stage.” The staredown was priceless, and Lala was pleased to keep quiet. “All you gotta do is count. Looking pretty isn’t enough.”
“Don’t be bitchy with me, Miss Cellulite City.” Candy glared right back.
Lala cleared her throat, and both of them quieted instantly. Being the queen did have its advantages. “Candy, you need the help. And, Bella, your pirouette looks more like a dying bird. I think you could both use some work. Tomorrow we’ll all be here early to make the number perfect and ready for when the place reopens after the renovations.”
A knock paused the chatter of protest from all of them. “I got...” Carmen began.
“We all know what you got tomorrow, Carmen. Your weekly checkin at the clap clinic,” Candy interrupted, and the group snickered.
“Enough,” Lala snapped. “I’m tired of the bitchiness and the sniping. The reading room is closed, and I have some real visitors. Now get out, go home, and get some beauty sleep. You all need it.” Lala smiled, and each of the others kissed her cheek and got a hug in return. No matter what was said or done, Lala’s rule number one was that they were sisters and the camp stopped at the dressing room door.
They filed out, and Lala lowered her gaze as Officer James cautiously entered the room like he was checking it for weapons. Lala stood and embraced Randy tightly when he followed.
“Great show, lovely, and the vocals...amazing.” Randy could gush with the best of them. “You were spectacular. Wasn’t she, James?”
James didn’t seem to know what to say, but finally he smiled. “I will admit that I’ve never heard a Doris Day song with BDSM lyrics before.”
“Thank you, darling.” Lala stepped closer and presented her cheek. James actually kissed it, and Lala’s heart beat a little faster, just like earlier in the theater. And holy hell, James had intense eyes that sparkled in the makeup lights from around the mirror. What Lala could do with those cheekbones. The urge was almost too much to keep from fanning herself. On top of that, as he leaned forward, the light cologne gave way to a deep, musky, heavy scent that sent a zing of heat through her. If the aroma of James could be bottled, Lala felt she would never need to work again. “Please sit down.”
Motioning to a single chair, Lala made herself a little more comfortable. James turned to Randy and stepped back.
“No, honey, you and I need to talk. Randy is going to step out and find something or someone to amuse himself.” The long day was quickly taking its toll.
Randy snickered and tossed James his set of keys. “I have a date with Creamy Sugar tonight, and I’ll make my way home eventually.”
Lala knew Randy’s look and decided to bring out the claws. She wagged a single finger in his direction. “You treat her right. That one has had more than her share of heartache. If you hurt her, I’ll see to it that you sing a hell of a lot higher than I do.”