Ruining Hattie, page 10
Needing to fill the silence, I ask him something that was on my mind last night while I was in the condo by myself. “What should I say about my living situation?”
He shifts to look at me, pushing his hands into his pants pockets in a casual stance. “What do you mean?”
“If someone asks, should I say I’m staying with you?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “You can say whatever you like. I have nothing to hide, but if you’d be more comfortable with no one knowing, I understand.”
I gave it a lot of thought last night. “It’s probably best. I don’t think it would go over well if people knew the new girl lives with the boss. They might think I’m getting special treatment.”
“You are,” he deadpans.
The elevator comes to a stop, and the doors swing open, revealing the wide expanse of the white marble lobby.
“I know. But I mean…”
“What?” He stops and turns to face me, arching an eyebrow.
“We’re not… you know…” Jeez, my face is so hot.
“Fucking?” he says with a grin.
My face is officially on fire. I swallow hard and try to collect myself because I’ve never heard someone say that so blatantly and unapologetically. “That, or dating, or… anything more than friends.”
I don’t know why I wait on bated breath to see what he’ll say. Do I want him to dispute it? Tell me I’m wrong? What exactly was that between us back in Wisconsin?
“I don’t fuck my employees. Everyone who works for me knows that.” He doesn’t elaborate before he makes his way toward the building exit, saying a quick hello to Jeffery.
I give Jeffery a wave before passing by Bastion as he holds the door open for me.
As soon as I step onto the sidewalk, I’m met with more sights and sounds and smells than I’m used to. City life is a little overwhelming, but taking in everything around me, I love it.
“We need to buy you some clothes,” Bastion says. “Something more appropriate for the workplace.”
I glance down at my dress. “You said there wasn’t a dress code?”
“You look like you’re headed to church, Hattie. That won’t do.”
“Oh, is it more formal than this? I can go change quickly.” I thumb behind us toward the building as we approach an intersection and wait for the light to change.
“Not more formal,” Bastion says before the light changes and he starts to cross.
I quickly walk to catch up with him. “If you tell me what I should be wearing, I’ll make sure I dress properly tomorrow.”
“I doubt you have what you’ll need. No worries, I’ll arrange for someone to come to the condo with some options this week.” He leads me off the road and back onto the sidewalk with a hand on my lower back. The intimate touch that feels almost possessive sears my skin.
We walk for a minute before turning a corner. When I see the familiar red letters on a large sign at the end of the road, I don’t even think. I just reach for Bastion’s forearm and tug.
“Oh my gosh, I always wanted to come here. I’ve seen it in so many movies!”
Bastion chuckles and places his large hand over mine that’s still gripping his forearm. “Then we’ll have to check it out.”
I take one last look at the PUBLIC MARKET CENTER sign before we turn the corner and it disappears from view. We walk for another minute before Bastion stops us in front of a black building with a marquee outside that says The Black Orchid in a gold script. Below that I see the words Gentleman’s Club.
I’m a little confused, but when Bastion pulls a set of keys from his pocket and unlocks the door, holding it open for me, I realize with horror that this is our destination.
The Black Orchid is his club?
Bastion owns a strip club.
17
BASTION
This is the moment of truth.
I savor the moment the recognition hits her—that when I said I work in the entertainment industry, I meant that I own a strip club.
The entire time I’ve been planning this, I knew that this moment was pivotal. If she’s going to scare easily and run, it’ll be right now. She’s not invested, hasn’t seen her first paycheck and what it can do for her, and I haven’t grown any closer to her or gotten her to act on her attraction to me.
“Come on in and I’ll show you around.” I gesture with my hand for her to go ahead of me.
“Do… do you own a strip club?” She glances back up at the marquee as if she didn’t read it right the first time.
“Many actually.” I smile at her, relaxed as if it’s not a big deal even though my heart is pounding and I’m worried this will all go south before we get to the good part.
“I… I didn’t realize…” She glances down the sidewalk, back the way we came.
Shit. I’m losing her.
“I’m sorry if you didn’t realize, Hattie. It’s a force of habit at this point when people ask what I do.” I sigh and really play it up by looking away from her, pulling on those easy heartstrings of hers. “I’ve been judged so many times for what I do that I guess I just got used to being vague.”
She places her hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t judging you. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Let’s go in, and you can show me around.”
Way too fucking easy.
I meet her gaze and smile. “Thank you. You have no idea what it means to me that you’ll give this a chance.”
She nods and steps inside.
When the door shuts behind us, I fight the feeling of being a predator who’s cornered his prey. I tell myself that I’m not like Russell back in Wisconsin.
“The place is empty right now. The dancers won’t come in for a couple of hours. I wanted to be able to show you around before you’re bombarded with having to meet everyone else. When the lights are all on and the music is pumping, it can get a little intense.”
Hattie stops and looks around, turning in place. “I’ve never been to a strip club before.”
“That’s okay, you don’t have to be an expert in them to help me out day to day.”
“Where will I be working?”
The way she says it makes me think she’s afraid I’ll plop a desk down in the middle of the stage and make her work naked.
“Follow me.”
I lead her to the door beside the stage and down the hallway that passes the room where the dancers get ready, the employee kitchen, the stockroom, and finally to my office at the very end.
“You and I will be working in here.” I unlock the door and push it open, waiting for her to walk in first.
My desk is where it always is, and I’ve set up a desk for her on the far wall. Coincidentally, my desk looks onto hers.
She looks around the space, not saying anything.
“I took the liberty of setting you up here and bought you a laptop, but if there’s anything else you need, you just have to say the word.”
When she still doesn’t say anything, I take her hand. It’s only now that I notice the scent of her perfume—a light floral scent with a trace of vanilla. It’s… fuck… it’s her. If I paid someone a shit ton of money to come up with a fragrance that would define Hattie, that would be it.
“Are you going to be able to do this job? Again, I’m sorry. I probably should have mentioned the working environment, given that your faith is such a strong part of your life. I just thought with what this job pays and the situation you’re in…” I allow her to fill in the blanks.
“It’s fine. It will take some… adjusting, I’m sure, but you’re right. This job allows me to help my parents out significantly more than I could at my old job. I’m sorry if I’m coming off ungrateful. I just wasn’t expecting this.”
“I understand.” I drop her hand and walk over to sit at my desk. “Shall we get started? I can walk you through where everything is in the cloud and what you can start with.”
She nods. “Yes, of course.”
After she grabs a pen and notebook from her desk, she brings them and her computer and sits on the other side of my desk. Damn, we’re way too far away from one another.
“On second thought, why don’t I come sit beside you so we can both look at the screen on your computer?” I stand and drag my chair closer to hers so that when I sit down, our legs are almost touching. In fact, I intentionally brush my leg against hers under the guise of stretching several times as I show her what she needs to know.
Hattie picks everything up quickly, asking intelligent questions. The one truthful thing I did tell her was I knew she was smart and could do this job efficiently.
I’m not sure how long we’ve been at it when there’s a knock on the door. My office door is open, but no one would dare walk in without announcing themselves.
The two of us shift in our seats to see who it is, her leg bumping mine this time. Ray stands in the doorway, his hulking body almost filling up the space.
“Hey, boss.” He glances at Hattie.
“Hattie, this is Ray. Ray, Hattie. She’s the one I told you about who’s going to make my life a whole lot easier, right?”
She gives me a shy smile and stands, walking across the room and extending her hand toward Ray. “Nice to meet you, Ray.”
He looks a little taken aback by the gesture, as he should. It’s not often that people are shaking hands around here. But he steps forward and takes her hand. “Good to meet you too. Whereabouts you from?”
“Is it that obvious I’m not from around here?” She cringes, glancing over her shoulder at me.
Ray’s smile grows, and the beast inside me growls.
Ray lets out a big laugh. “Don’t stress about it, it’s not a bad thing.”
But I can tell by the way her shoulders sag that she’s self-conscious. “I’m from Wisconsin by way of Tennessee.”
Ray smiles wide. “I have some family in Tennessee. Whereabouts?”
The two of them discuss the different areas of Tennessee for a few minutes, and I find myself growing more and more irritated as I watch Hattie become more comfortable with him. I don’t know why, but the idea of her giving her attention to another man is riling me up. Her sole focus needs to be on me so that I can move my plan along.
Growing impatient, I finally interrupt them. “I’m assuming there’s a reason you wanted to see me, Ray?”
He realizes his error and sheepishly looks away from Hattie. “I just wanted you to know that Sean showed up here after we closed last night. You’d already left, but I told him I would let you know he’s looking for you.”
My jaw clenches. I haven’t heard from Sean since our little showdown, but it’s not as if I didn’t expect to have another conversation on the same topic.
I nod at Ray. “If he shows back up and I’m not here, text me. If I’m close, I’ll come by.”
“Yes, sir.” He starts to make his way out of the room, then turns at the last second. “Good to meet you, Hattie. You ever have any problems while you’re here, come find me or one of my guys, okay?” He winks and walks off.
What the fuck was that wink about? I’ve never seen Ray wink at anyone. Actually, he makes little conversation with anyone. Even the dancers sometimes complain about his broody attitude.
“He seems nice,” Hattie says as though she’s surprised. I’m not sure how many outwardly different types of people she’s been around in her life.
“People aren’t innately bad people just because they work at a strip club.” I say it with more bite than I intend, given the mood Ray put me in.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Let’s just get back to work. I have a lot to catch you up on.”
Looking chastised, Hattie tucks her skirt and sits back down, and we get back to it.
If only I could decipher who I’m more irritated with—her or me.
18
HATTIE
Idon’t know what I said wrong, but Bastion’s mood soured after Ray left his office. Though I try not to let it get to me, the change puts me on edge, nonetheless.
The good news is that I catch on quickly to everything he goes over with me. In fact, I have some ideas on how to streamline a lot of his processes. I won’t mention them now, but once I dig in and get the lay of the land, maybe he’ll be receptive to hearing them.
The bad news is that I now work at a strip club.
I can’t even believe the words when I say them in my head. My parents will definitely not approve. I’m not sure I do. But Bastion’s right—the salary this job affords me can change a lot of things in all three of our lives, so it’s worth giving it a chance, right? Plus, Bastion is nice. Ray is nice. If it’s a nice work environment, then what’s my problem?
Maybe I’ll be sequestered in here all the time and never be exposed to what goes on outside of this office.
A few hours in, things must be up and running because the deep rumble of bass sounds through the walls of the office, and I can hear people—mostly females—talking farther up the hall from where we are.
Bastion claps his hands together and leans back in his seat. “Shall we take a break?”
“Whatever you want.” I give him a tight smile, hoping his mood comes back around.
“I want to go make the rounds now that the club is open. Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
My throat constricts, and I can’t squeeze out a word, but I nod in agreement, eyes wide.
He chuckles, which I’ve noticed he does when he sees my nervousness. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. They won’t bite.” He takes my hand and pulls me up from the chair.
He leads me to the door but drops my hand as we enter the hall. We walk side by side, and he takes me into the room where all the dancers get ready before they perform.
My face is as hot as the surface of the sun as soon as we walk in. A handful of women are in various stages of undress, though none of them seem concerned at all that we’ve entered. I chance a glance at Bastion, and he doesn’t appear fazed in the least by all the bare chests and butts.
“Hey, boss,” one woman says as she pulls a triangle bikini top up over her breasts.
He gives her a wave and puts his fingers in his mouth, whistling. Everyone stops what they’re doing, staring at him.
“Ladies, I want to introduce you to someone.” Bastion gestures to me. “This is Hattie, and she’s going to be my assistant from here on out. If she gives you a directive, consider it the same as if I were giving it to you. She’s new in town, so please make her feel welcome.”
All the women say hello, and I’m not sure where to keep my eyes. A couple of them are half naked, but no one else seems to think anything of it. I try to make it seem as if I’m unfazed, but I’m sure I’m failing miserably.
I raise my hand and smile, looking around the room. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Where’d you find her, Bastion, the cornfields in the Midwest?” one of the ladies at the back calls out.
“Don’t start, Ashley,” Bastion says in an authoritative voice. “Hattie is very good at what she does, and I expect you to treat her with the same respect you treat me. Everyone understand?” His eyes scan the room.
The women nod and all say yes, except for Ashley. She just rolls her dark eyes and turns to face her locker, pulling out a change of clothes.
“All right, ladies, have a good shift.” Bastion turns to leave.
A few of the women look me over, and I rush behind him to keep up. I realize now what Bastion meant about my wardrobe. I stick out in a major way, but it’s what I’m used to. I’m certainly not going to wear what the women in there were wearing. Don’t they worry about what other people are thinking, how they’re gawking at their bodies, and thinking about having sex with them?
Seriously, Hattie? Of course they don’t. They dance naked for money.
Bastion leads me farther down the hall, and we enter the main room he led me through when we first arrived. It’s like a completely different place now.
A few men have taken up residence at some of the tables, and the lights are now dim with various shades of neon backlighting casting down on the stage where a woman is currently spinning around the pole. Music pumps through the space, and a couple of bartenders are serving customers behind the backlit bar.
Bastion leans in close to me so I can hear him over the music. Again, I feel his breath on my neck, and it makes me want to close my eyes. “This is the main room where all the action happens. I’ll introduce you to the bartenders and the DJ some other time.”
“What’s back there?” I point toward where a security guard stands at the entrance to a hallway.
I’m not sure I trust Bastion’s grin. “C’mon, I’ll show you.” He leads me over to the man and says over the music, “Dmitri, this is Hattie. She’s my new assistant.”
Dmitri doesn’t say anything, just gives me a terse nod, which I return with a smile, not sure if I should say anything more. But then Bastion continues on and leads me down the hallway where there are a bunch of doors with numbers above them.
“These are the VIP rooms.” He opens the second one we come to and goes inside.
The room isn’t exactly small, but it’s not huge. Glittery silver curtains that meet in the center of the ceiling go to the top of the wall and are draped down behind the leather banquette that lines the walls. Music from the main room filters in through speakers mounted in the corners, and there’s a low circular table in the middle of the space.
I’m not so sheltered that I’ve never heard of a VIP room or what is rumored to go on in them, but I am curious about the truth, so I ask Bastion, “What happens in here?”
He turns and meets my gaze. “Whatever the girls and their customer agree on.”
It’s apparent what he’s not saying—that anything and everything goes. I look around the space again. It’s weird to think that people have sex and do other stuff in here. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea. I was taught that sex was something to be saved for marriage and that it was something special you share with someone you love and want to spend your life with. That giving your body to a man meant something. But here, it’s a commodity to be bought and sold. I can’t… I just can’t.
