Soldier's Women (14 page)

Another almost imperceptible shudder went through him.

Keira almost shouted in her triumph. She was giddy with the power of it. She
had broken through his icy shell. He might fire her in the morning, but at least
she knew she had gotten to him, even if on a small level.

The song ended, and she got off of his lap, standing before him as stonily as
she could manage, waiting for him to make the next move.

He grabbed the twenty from the table and looked her straight in the eye as he
grabbed her leg, pulling her closer until her breasts were almost in his
mouth.

A shock, like electricity, went straight through Keira at his touch, almost
sending her to the floor if not for the hold he had on her leg.

He didn’t say anything, he just kept looking at her with his penetrating blue
eyes as he pulled her garter away from her leg with his other hand, sliding the
twenty in.

Keira stepped away from him after he had put it in. She turned away and
headed straight for the dressing room, not daring to turn around to see if he
was watching her. She knew he was. She could feel his gaze searing her exposed
flesh.

It was twenty minutes later when she was called to go on stage again. With
great reluctance she went on stage, but when she got there and scanned the
crowd, she didn’t see Mr. Tremaine anywhere. She tried to tell herself that she
was relieved.

Chapter Three

The next day, Keira dutifully went to work. She couldn’t just not go to work,
even if she was going to have to get a face to face lecture and dismissal. She
was a big girl. She could handle it. At least, that’s what she told herself.
Outside, she was trying to maintain a look of indifference. Inside, she was a
quivering mess.

She had only been at work for about ten minutes before seeing Mr. Tremaine.
She had just walked into the break room to make herself a stiff cup of coffee,
needing it because of her late night working at the club. Just as she began to
pour coffee into her cup, he walked into the room. Not realizing it, she
overfilled her cup, burning her fingers. Thankfully, the coffee machine had a
built in area to catch spills or it would have gone all over the floor. She was
still trying to wrestle with her embarrassment for burning herself because she
had been staring at him, when he left the room. Confused, she walked over to the
door and watched him walk down the corridor as if he hadn’t seen her.

That was highly improbable. They had been the only ones in the break room.
And yet, he acted as if she hadn’t even been there. Maybe he just didn’t want to
confront her about last night yet? Maybe he was waiting for something? But what?
The partner? He didn’t need his partner to fire her.

The more she thought about it, the more she worried. And as she fretted, the
hours in the work day seemed to last forever. Every time someone came to her
desk, she steeled herself, expecting to see Mr. Tremaine’s stern face demanding
her presence in his office. By the end of the day, she was a complete wreck, and
he still hadn’t called her to his office. She was more confused than she had
ever been before. Why hadn’t he reprimanded her? Why hadn’t she been dismissed?
How could he just ignore her after last night? If their only encounter had been
the one when she was on stage, she might’ve overlooked what had happened,
convinced herself that he hadn’t gotten a good look at her face. But she
couldn’t deny the fact that he had asked, no, demanded a lap dance from her. He
had hardly glanced away from her face. There was no way he could have not
known it was her. It was like he was taunting her.

It was a hell of a lot more unnerving than simply calling her into his office
and coldly dismissing her would’ve been.

* * * *

After work, Keira drove home and made a quick job of getting ready for the
club. She was still going over her current situation as she entered the dressing
room at Cheaters. Maybe he had blackmail in mind? Maybe he wanted something else
from her? She couldn’t imagine what, though. She didn’t have money, assets,
connections. He had never acted as if he desired her. Truthfully, she’d felt
like the invisible woman at work. The fact that he’d barely acknowledged her
half-naked body in front of him the night before certainly didn’t indicate that
he’d just been hiding his interest before.

So what were the reasons behind his behavior?

The only way to find out would be to ask him, and she just didn’t think she
was up to that. Maybe he was going to fire her tomorrow. Maybe he was just going
to leave her hanging until he’d had the chance to replace her? She couldn’t be
sure of anything now. The one thing she was sure of was that this whole
situation was making her a nervous wreck.

Brought abruptly back from her thoughts from the sounds emerging from the
other side of the curtains, Keira took a few calming breaths to try to prepare
herself for her number.

“Let’s give a round of applause for Shady,” the D.J. announced. “Now, put
your hands together for Sexx.”

Keira bit her lip as she made her way to the curtains that separated the
dressing room from the stage. She took a few deep breaths. She was fine. Nothing
had happened. She could worry about tomorrow and getting fired when it happened.
Tonight, she had to concentrate on making the rent. She couldn’t let her worries
interfere with work.

As she stepped past Shady and onto the stage, however, her gaze automatically
moved to where she’d met up with her boss the night before. A jolt shot through
her as she made eye contact with Mr. Tremaine. He was sitting in the same spot
where he’d been the night before.

Keira’s breath caught in her throat. She missed a step but kept on going,
trying to remain calm, or at least present an exterior of calm.

She worked the stage just as she always did, except she pointedly stayed away
from the part where her boss was sitting. When her two songs were over, she left
the stage and went to the dressing room.

China met her just as she stepped past the curtains.

“There’s a guy waiting for a dance from you.”

She didn’t say anything else. She didn’t have to.

Keira had a strong feeling she knew who it was.