Luisa took up my challenge, and her dark eyes glittered as she stared out the front windshield. “I’m not a delicate flower, Tomasso. I thought you’d have picked up on that by now. Drive."
"All right, but I warned you," I said, putting my car in gear and driving out toward the club. I found the parking lot about three-quarters full, but as expected, the reserved parking spot for me was open. Closing my door, I still hit the lock. The Starlight Club was in that sort of neighborhood. "Come on. Watch your ass. Literally."
The interior of the club was dim, and the ghosts of cigarettes long past still hung in the air. I appreciated Seattle's recent ban on smoking, even in strip clubs, but it would still be years before the stench fully worked itself out of the building itself. The bouncer saw me and waved to the bartender. Tonight it was Terry, the manager of the joint. "Mr. Bertoli! It's an honor, sir!"
I never did quite understand why Terry was always overly submissive to any of us who were sent in to collect our money. We never had to worry about Terry. He always had his money on time, and he often threw us freebies on top of it. It was like he was afraid we were going to pop off and start shooting up the place at the drop of a hat. That's not good for business—his or ours. He probably just watched too many gangster movies.
"Thanks, Terry. The place looks busy tonight." I looked around and noted that business seemed to be doing pretty well. The girls all had smiles on their faces, and it wasn't just the normal work smile either, but the smile of a working girl who was making good money.
Terry nodded. "We've got a special attraction tonight, sir. Patty Smiles is doing dances starting at ten thirty."
"Who?" I asked, curious. I'd never heard the name.
"She won an AVN award for best new teen," Terry informed me. "She's doing a club tour in between shoots. She's commanding ten thousand for tonight alone, but we've already cleared that back on just the bar. The rest of the girls are getting in on the generosity too. We've got her booked for Saturday night as well. I'm expecting a full house then."
I looked as on stage, a girl whose real name was Betty but whose stage name was Vicki Sinz worked on untying the knot on her schoolgirl outfit. The stage was surrounded by the vapid, horny faces of the men who'd never even get a chance with her. I gestured to her. "She's working out well. You guys missing Carmen?"
"Girls like Carmen are special, but they always come and go," Terry said with a shrug. "Actually, most of the customers come, then go too."
I laughed at the old joke and turned to Luisa. "What do you think?"
"She can't dance for shit," Luisa said disapprovingly, looking at the stage. "Too fast, no tease, and she certainly doesn't know how to move."
"You think you can do better?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "That ain't like your jiu-jitsu, you know. The flow isn’t the same."
“I’ve danced for more years than I've done jiu-jitsu," she replied haughtily. "And I can out-dance any girl here."
I looked over at Terry, who shrugged and handed me the envelope for the pickup. "I make no claims, sir. I just pour the drinks and hand out the paychecks."
He didn't say it in his tone, but I could tell that he was a bit offended. Terry might have only been a strip club manager, but the man did his job well and took reasonable pride in his work. As for me, it was a little hypocritical since I often thought just as highly of myself as she obviously did, but I decided to teach Luisa a little lesson. I turned back. "Okay then. If you're so much better, prove it."
"Excuse me?" she said, shocked. "You really expect me to dance for these half-drunk losers?"
I shook my head. “That’s your choice, but I’d like to see you put your money where your mouth is."
Luisa stammered, her eyes flaring with anger. I had her, and she knew it. Her pride was way too much to back away now. “Fine,” she said through clenched teeth. "But not in public."
"No, of course not," I replied with a smirk, knowing I'd won. "Terry, get us a private room. I'll have a beer while I'm waiting since I'm driving, but let Luisa here use the back to prepare. She definitely needs to lose the suit."
“You think you’re clever, don’t you? I’m not getting naked for you," Luisa said in a low voice, leaning in. "You’re not worthy of that."
"We'll see." I grinned. “Go with Terry, and he'll make sure you don't have to do anything embarrassing. I'll wait in the VIP."
Chapter 8
Luisa
"That arrogant bastard!" I muttered to myself in Portuguese as I thought how stupid I was. I should’ve just walked out and forgotten the stupid challenge, but my pride wouldn’t let me. I longed to make Tomasso eat his words.