“Holy shit, Sav, you look smokin’ hot,” Mars said.
“Thanks.” I wore a blue sequin unitard that had a mesh mock neck and slim leg fit. I had on black strappy stiletto heels and had taken my hair tie out, so my long red ringlets hung down my back and over my shoulders. But what completed the look was the satin black cat mask I wore with tiny pearls along the outer rim.
It was the sexiest dance performance outfit I had. I normally danced in bare feet, so the heels were a challenge. But when I’d looked up images on the Internet of the dancers at Compass, they’d all been wearing heels, so I had to wear them.
Turning toward the mirror, I popped off the lid of my deep ruby-red lipstick and leaned forward, applying it over the pink gloss I’d been wearing.
“Oh, man. The guys are going to blow their loads over you,” Mars said, watching me in the reflection.
Using my fingernail, I fixed the small smudge at the corner of my mouth and then stepped back. I barely recognized myself in the mirror, and I kind of liked the look. It was sexy, and I liked being sexy.
She took the lipstick from me, put the lid back on, and grabbed my purse where I’d stuffed my clothes. “Come on. Let’s get you a job at Compass.”
She tugged on my arm and I stumbled in the stiletto heels. Shit, I’d have to practice dancing in these if they hired me.
“You’re sexy as hell and an incredible dancer,” Mars said. “Just don’t think about anything but the music.” Her voice rose as the music blared when we came out of the washroom.
Little sparks flared across my skin. Dancing in a cage with the roar of the music and people all around had a certain thrill to it. It was nothing like in a studio with students watching or even on stage when I’d done a few minor roles in small budget plays.
Dancing to me was like jumping off a cliff and having no idea where you were going to land, but it didn’t matter because you were flying and free.
It was being fearless. No problems. No restrictions. No tomorrow.
Dancing was the only place I felt as if I had no inhibitions and could just be me.
“That one.” Mars pointed to one of the empty cages.
We weaved through the crowd to the cage on the white platform with five steps up. There was a red velvet rope across the stairs.
“Go,” Mars hissed when I hesitated. “Security.” She shoved me forward, and I stumbled up the steps and climbed over the rope. “I’ll distract him.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see a huge guy who looked like he could carry five two–hundred-pound men out of the club with ease. His gaze was locked on me as he shouldered his way through the crowd toward us.
Shit. I quickly opened the cage door and stood there for a second, frozen. Could I really do this? Did I want to? Did I have a choice? I could find a job in a clothing store or waitress or something, but I wanted to dance.
I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Besides, the money at Compass beat all those other jobs.
I closed my eyes, and the crowd faded out as I began to move to the music. It took a few minutes and then it happened. The world no longer existed. Nothing did except my body alive and tingling with exhilaration as I danced, letting the beat vibrate through me.
It didn’t matter that I was in a club. What mattered was I was dancing and I loved it.
I heard the catcalls and cheers and inwardly smiled. And I’d never felt sexy before. Even dancing with David in the studio doing demos for students, I hadn’t felt sexy. It had always been all about him, and I’d been worried about doing something wrong. He never wanted to look bad in front of his students.
I grabbed the cage bars as I shimmied down to a crouch, smiling at the men surrounding the cage who watched me. I noticed the security guy standing with Mars at the steps of the cage glaring, but he made no move to force me to leave.
I danced until my skin was damp with sweat. I wasn’t tired. Actually, I was just warming up when I saw the dancers return.
I slowed my body, smiled at the guys watching me, then opened the cage door. The group of guys whistled and cheered, and two of them came over to talk to me when I walked down the steps, but the security guy blocked them.
“Nice moves,” the girl, whose cage I’d hijacked said, smiling.
“Uh, thanks,” I replied. “Sorry about stealing your cage. But I was hoping to gain enough attention to maybe have a chance at a job here.”
“Oh, you gained attention. Talk to Frankie upstairs. She hires the dancers. Tell her Bree sent you.”
My chest swelled as I pulled off my mask. “Oh, my God, thank you.”
She shrugged. “No problem. Any girl who just did what you did deserves a chance.” She nodded to the stairs on the right of the bar. “Frankie is in the VIP section. She and the boss saw you.”
Boss? My eyes widened then darted to the VIP section. Brett Westhill was here? Had he seen me? Was that good or bad? I could only hope he’d seen me and liked my performance.
Bree opened the cage door. “Come by Wednesday afternoon at two. We go over our routines with Frankie.” Bree raised her voice. “Hey, Greg. Let this girl pass on Wednesday. She needs to see Frankie.”
The security guy in the black T–shirt that had Compass scrolled in white on the top right corner nodded to Bree, but he was scowling. He looked unimpressed with my little incident.
Mars passed me my purse then grabbed my hand excitedly, jumping up and down. “Oh. My. God. You were incredible. Amazing. Sexy as hell, and I swear you made a few guys come in their pants.” Gross, but I smiled, acknowledging the compliment, and I loved it. “Even Greg here was drooling. Weren’t you, Greg? Wasn’t she amazing?”
His scowl hadn’t let up, but there was a brief flicker of amusement in his eyes. “I’ll have to escort you ladies out of the club.” He glared at me. “No matter how good you were, you broke a club rule, and that’s not tolerated.”