Taking Jana (Paradise South #2) (14 page)

CHAPTER 20

O
n Saturday night,
Johnnie ushered in his new consultant, introducing Winter to the entire staff.

“This woman was the highest earner here at The Wet Spot for three years straight and then took the highest shares at our Manhattan club too,” he said while she kept her head down, modest, calm, stoic even. But while his
tiny-framed
fantasy girl let the praise float right over her, she still had an extreme confidence about her, standing straight, chest out, almost like a ballerina.

“I’m really glad to be here,” she said. He knew she was lying through her teeth. “And I’m going to show you all how to maximize your time at the club and make a hell of a lot more money. That’s why we’re all here, yes?”

The older dancers nodded or rolled their eyes while some of the younger girls smiled, or even lifted their eyebrows at each other, seemingly pumped at the thought of more action.

But when Roxy, the redhead he’d recently fucked, stormed out of the club with an evil eye targeted right at him, he knew others would definitely follow. That would be fine, though. Some of the vets there were dragging the entire club down anyway, something Johnnie had been telling his father for years. Jana would replace them and train them. He’d show his father the real possibilities the club held and that he had the balls to turn the key to those possibilities and open the lid on the place.

Jana didn’t fluster a bit when Didi and Honor followed Roxy. Instead, she kept her poker face on and got right in there, bringing the girls up on stage, showing them how she worked the pole, and for fuck’s sake, did she own that pole.

*

“You looked great up there,” he said, handing her a water.

“Thanks. God, I didn’t think you’d be watching.” She blushed.

“Wanted to see their reactions. You think you can handle the cats while I’m out for the week?”

“Definitely. Not a problem. Laynie already gave me a good base last night with the who’s who. According to her, the three who left were the biggest pains in the ass anyway. I’ll train the rest of them in a rotation throughout this week, and based on performance and attitude”—she lifted her eyebrows in the direction of one of the older dancers sulking in the corner—“I will schedule who I want to keep and replace the rest next week.”

“I love it.” He motioned for her to follow him up to his office. As she did, Johnnie caught Laynie winking at Jana, but Jana replied with a simple headshake. Intuiting the silent communication to involve him fucking the living daylights out of Jana, he didn’t care what the other girls thought. No, that was a lie. He fucking loved the thought of those catty cunts jealous of Jana. They damn well should be, whether he was sinking his cock deep, deep into her, or not…yet.

“I have a few things for you,” he said, pulling out an older flip phone from his front pocket. “I want you to keep this with you. My number’s already programmed in. And”—he led her further into his office, to his desk, while he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket—“I’m giving you an advance for the week since I won’t be here.”

“Whoa, Johnnie, that’s really not—”

“You’ll take it, please, and use it.” He gave her the wad of cash and his best modest smile. “I know you’re good for it, Jana. God, you’re going to make magic here. Magic.” He winked then leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, and she stepped back as quick as a timid mare.

“Thank you,” she said, taking two more steps back. She shifted her stance, as if wondering what to do with herself, then remembering the green bundle in her hand, she shoved it into her purse and looked up at him like a deer in the headlights. Shocked and awed.
Perfect.

“Last thing. I’d forgotten that I had tickets for a show on the Wednesday after next at Lincoln Center. They were for my ex and me,” he fibbed some more, “and I’d hate to waste the second one. I was so ready to go on my own, be the ‘strong bachelor with an empty seat beside him,’ but I’m just not that brave.” He smiled at her coyly. “Come with me…please. As a friend.”

Her expression showed her apprehension.

“Hey, if there is anyone who deserves a distraction, a night out with a friend, it’s definitely you,” he said. “And it really would go to waste otherwise.”

Her lips formed a
close-lipped
smile, a sigh lifted her shoulders then she nodded. “Sure. That’ll be nice. And it’s not a busy club night that I’d miss.”

“Perfect,” he said, liking how things were going his way at every turn. He gently spun her around toward the office door and began leading her out.

But she stopped and turned, her face only inches from his.

So close. So
kissable.

“You are really great, Johnnie. Why
are
you so sweet to me?” she asked with her head tilted and her gorgeous brown eyes wide with skepticism. But she so wanted to trust him, he could tell.

“Look, I have a sweet spot for you, no secret there. But you work your ass off. I’ve seen that firsthand when you danced, and now you’re a nurse? I know you’re smart, educated, driven. I am drawn to you, what can I say? Bottom line, though…I respect you and I want to help, plain as that. Oh, and showing my father how much I can improve this place—we, I mean, we can improve this place—well, that’s just cream.”

She smiled. “Well, I appreciate everything, Johnnie. And I’ll work for it. I think the club has a lot of potential. I’ll do all I can.” Then she turned toward the stairs and he followed her down, thinking how she sure as hell would work for it. He’d work her ass, riding it to the end of time. And she’d scream his name over and over again; ecstatic and trembling under his control all the way there.

CHAPTER 21

T
hey got outside
to the parking lot, Tony waiting with the car door open for Jana.

He watched Jana give a quick and polite smile to the chauffeur but she hardly made eye contact. Johnnie’s chest swelled. Because that fucking guy…of the girls he’d have Tony shuttle around, no matter the status of his female companions—low class or upper crust—they’d all eye Tony. Such the polite fucking gentlemen. And the man’s physical stature didn’t help Johnnie any, a head taller than him and broader in the shoulders too. Tony’s strong, silent persona irked the fuck out of him, and he wished his father would find someone else, anyone else really, to chauffeur for their family. Someone who had a beer gut at least. But he guessed he shouldn’t complain. Most people didn’t have such an impressive bitch boy, after all.

Just then three dancers came out of the club and Johnnie watched as they ogled the
high-class
limo, Tony, and then Jana, or Winter to them. Then they whispered amongst themselves.

“Don’t worry about them,” Johnnie told Jana.

“Oh, I know. Remember, I was surrounded by it for nearly a third of my life. It doesn’t matter what it is, a catty girl will catch it and rub it in your face. The difference now—I’m
really
not
one of them.” She grinned.

Damn straight she wasn’t.
But wait.
Beyond the perks they saw Jana getting, his totally unsubtle attention toward her would have them wanting to scratch her eyes out.
And worse
, they’d shoot their filthy mouths off. About him––to Jana. Because they
were
jealous little kitties. And although the thought of them all clamoring for him while Jana had already won him and his
ever-loving
cock was a total fucking turn on, he couldn’t have them blowing his plan. Drawing him to be, well, who and what he really was. Jana wouldn’t take her throne as top feline next to him if she didn’t trust him.

“Listen. Don’t take any shit from them. They’ll be jealous of the special treatment.” He referred to the limo with a tap of his hand on the top of the door as he slid by Tony and escorted her into the vehicle himself. “They’ll try sabotage, lies, anything to rile you up, knock you down, or scare you off.”

“I expect as much.”

“They may even use me in their schemes, I’ve seen it before with headliners we’ve gotten. Some of the older girls making up shit I’ve done or said,” he said helping her into the car while Tony stood behind him, still hovering, ready to close the car door.

Goddamn this guy.
Doing his job, yes, but right up in his fucking space. Johnnie knelt down in the doorway to get a modicum of privacy, right at the seat’s edge, his hand an inch from her leg, and God, he could just squeeze her juicy thigh then yank it wide open for dessert.
Soon.
For now, he’d finish speaking to his fantastic focal point without the lingering fucker behind him, right within earshot.
Focus.
“But like you said, you know their nature. If there’s anyone who can handle them, it’s you.” He winked and patted her hand.

Tony cleared his throat.

Jesus fucking Christ! Yes, I know you’re still there.
“Give me a second, would you Jana?”

Johnnie felt his pulse in his neck jackhammering out his frustration. Couldn’t the other man read the signs and vibes and neon fucking signs that he was working here? Obviously fucking not. Was the piece of shit in a rush or something? Whatever the prick’s deal, he’d have to remind the douchebag who drew the lines here. And while he was at it, he’d make sure Tony knew good and well that this one, this catch, was more than
off-limits
. Being loyal to his dad didn’t mean Tony was loyal to Johnnie. And Jana was out of this world. Even a righteous prick like Mr. Tony Perfection had to have noticed. So he stood up, turned away from the open car door so Jana couldn’t hear and brought the chauffeur a few steps away from the limo for a…pep talk.

*

God, he hated this guy. Could hardly muster manners, let alone say the man’s name. Especially when he wasn’t performing for a female audience, in this case, Jana, who was now officially out of earshot and busy with something in her purse.

He set to whisper. “Listen, man. I’ll be out of town for the week. Take care of her like she’s my goddamn sister, but know that she’s anything but. In other words, watch out for her without laying your goddamn hands or eyes on her.” He patted Tony’s shoulder hard, drilling in his message while keeping friendly appearances for Jana if she happened to glance his way from inside the limo.

Tony replied with only a nod.

“Now, give us some motherfucking privacy. Please.”

Tony and his goddamn professional poker face moved to attend to something at the front of the vehicle while Johnnie turned back toward Jana and knelt down in the doorway again to say goodbye.

“So, I’ll see you next Friday night when I’m back from the Island. You need anything, call. Don’t hesitate.”

“I won’t, thanks. I mean, I won’t need anything, but if I do, I won’t hesitate,” she said then laughed. “Oh, I, uh, I’m going to start crashing at the studio if that’s still okay. My folks’ place is just—”

“Absolutely! That’s why I gave you the keys. Free rein, honestly.” God, he was good. He was so damn good.

*

Johnnie tapped on Tony’s window. “Make sure she has everything she needs at the apartment.” She saw Tony nod, and then they rolled out of the parking lot.

He looked up at the rearview to make eye contact. “There’s a
twenty-four
-hour grocery on the way. Do you wanna stop to get some stuff?”

“Thanks. I should, but I’m just so tired,” she said, but then remembered her original plan. She wanted to give him the full day off tomorrow. But she couldn’t muster the energy to go grocery shopping tonight. Maybe tomorrow afternoon, and at least let him have the entire day until then to relax, and she’d let him completely off the hook next Sunday.

“Would you take me tomorrow afternoon to the store? I’ve decided to sleep in and not do anything. My parents will be fine for a day, you know?”

“Yeah, sure. You deserve a break,” he said with his eyes still on the road.

Deserving? She wasn’t feeling deserving. “So, listen…the other day, when you asked me, you know, about consulting, and I snapped at you…I think—”

“You owe me no explanation. At all. Really.”

“No, I know,” she said leaning closer to the partition. “I realized, you know, my defensiveness was just my disdain for the club scene. I’m so…raging pissed that I’m in it again at all. I danced for seven years to support my folks…and for school, and here I am. Déjà vu. But at least, this time, it’s off stage, clothes on,” she said, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. She closed her eyes to reset. “This consulting thing Johnnie put together, it’s a huge deal, a real blessing. But anyway…I shouldn’t have been rude to you. It wasn’t cool.”

“Please, no worries. And seriously, you have nothing to defend. God, your parents have got to know how blessed they are to have you, Jana.”

She smirked and changed the subject to signify to Tony not only were her parents so the opposite of appreciative, but also, that he wouldn’t even want to hear that pathetic saga—like, ever. “So, I’m kinda psyched about Johnnie’s studio; cutting down the commute, increasing the sleep”—
in a bed, thank God
—“and hey, you can get to sleep in your own bed, right? Must be hard on you, out all the time. Your family must miss you,” she said, noticing for the first time the wedding band on his left hand, now on the steering wheel as he made a right turn onto a side street.

He kept his eyes on the road; a hesitant silence broke their flow. “Yeah, well, my sister and her girls are all the family I’ve got close by. The rest are spread out all over.”

“Oh, I just thought…you know, your wedding ring.”

“No, I’m…not, you know. I uh, decided to get this a few years back. Some clients, they have their bucket list item…with a chauffeur in a limo. It’s easier for me to keep my professional lines and not hurt anyone’s feelings…or lose a client.” He laughed.

She smirked at him. “How many women hit on you from this back seat, I wonder?” she asked,
full-on
flirting.

He smirked right back at her. “It’s not just women I’m proud to say,” he said with a quick lift of his brows. “But we’ll say…too many people to recount right now…because we’ve arrived.” He smiled as if relieved to not have to go into it.

She looked out her window and saw a
three-story
brick walk up lined with young trees and sweet lampposts dotting the sidewalk in front of it. The building, the whole neighborhood, was a part of another world. She felt far from the Newark strip club district, but it was only like a
six-minute
drive away.
Crazy.

“Some other time then. Say tomorrow?” She smiled. “Man, I’m sure we could swap stories that would
not
shock either of us, like, at all.” She laughed.

“Yeah, if anyone could top my limo sagas, it would be you. Hell, between the club life and a metro ER, or rather a Manhattan ER! You might just beat my butt in a ‘
Most-shocking
’ competition,” he said, his eyes smiling in the rearview.

“We’ll see tomorrow, I guess. Okay, well, have a great night sleeping in your own bed.” She smiled and slid out of the back. But he was already out and around to open her door. She nodded her thanks.

“Jana, I should come up, make sure you get in and that everything’s working and you have everything you need…like Johnnie said.”

“I’m really fine.”

He narrowed an eye at her as if to say without words that he wasn’t giving in. And she wouldn’t fight it, she didn’t want him to get in any trouble with Johnnie.

“Okay, let’s go up then.”

*

He followed her up at a safe distance, carrying her small roller bag for her. The silence and his eyes potentially on her backside made her feel funny,
self-conscious
even. She was glad when they got to the
second-floor
landing.

At the apartment marked 2B, she searched for the key in her purse. She heard Tony breathing lightly behind her, but hardly audible over her damn panting. She hadn’t realized what the climb up the stairs had done to her. And she thought she was fit. Tony wasn’t winded or fazed in the slightest. Her hands were even jittery, and having finally found the key, now she couldn’t get the key into the stupid hole.

“Here, let me.” His hand brushed hers as he took the key, easily slid it in, and opened the door in an instant.

She looked up at him with a smile and took a step forward.

“Wait,” he said, blocking her with his arm in order to check the place out first. So serious, bordering on protective, like her own security detail or something. He left her in the doorway, flipped on the light, and surveyed the small, some
six-hundred
-
square-foot
studio. “Looks okay, no gas smell, or—”

“A real bed!” She dropped her purse there on the floor and ran, throwing herself with absolute abandon onto the plush, crisp, and
clean-sheeted
mattress, the one from her very dreams. After she’d landed face down, she flipped over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, feeling the
cloud-like
give of the bed, the most comforting sensation her body had experienced in…well, way too long. Not even her apartment’s futon was this heavenly.

Tony cleared his throat.

Oh God.
Her face got hot. She’d forgotten herself, or more, she’d forgotten her company. Rolling off the bed, she saw his gentle smirk.

“A few nights in a hospital armchair….” She grinned with a
follow-up
sigh as she moved toward the door to pick up her purse from the floor.

He grimaced with empathy. “I’ll check the water and thermostat for you and be on my way.”

“Thanks, Tony. Hey, would you drop the temperature to the lowest setting while you’re at it?” It was hot and stuffy, probably because, like Johnnie had said, he hadn’t been in there for forever. As soon as she heard the air conditioner respond, she sighed. This was heaven.

“So, tomorrow at three you said?” Tony asked, moving to the door. She could see the exhaustion on his face.

“Yes, please. Three o’clock.”

“I’d feel more comfortable if you had my number readily available, in case. I gave you my business card.”

“Yeah.” She hunted through her pit of a purse and immediately decided she was too tired to rummage for it. “Please, can you type it in here for me?” She handed him the phone Johnnie had given her, also too drained to figure out the buttons of a new phone and too worn out to want to try.

He smiled as he took it from her; a small laugh escaped him as he typed, maybe because his fingers were too big for the small buttons on the antiquated flip phone? “Poor old thing,” he said of the device as he handed it back. “Funny how folks with money keep old crap, even though they can afford ten of the newest of the new.” He snickered.

“Yeah, people are strange, for sure. I can’t believe that only ten years ago this thing was the best. Now it’s as good as a kid’s toy.” She’d actually given all of her old devices to Luly’s kids to play with. They’d play ER with them, spouting out medical terms Jana had taught them. ‘Code blue,’ ‘stat,’ and, oh they just loved ‘BM!’ God, they cracked her up. She couldn’t wait for her life to even out to have her own little one to hand stuff down to. And teach, and hold, and love. All just sweet dreams for now
.

“So, I’m gonna, you know, go.”

“Okay, yes. Thanks,” she said moving behind him toward the door.

“No problem. And you’re sure three o’clock? Won’t you be hungry before then? I could bring you food or take you to the store earlier? Or a restaurant?”

“No, no. You need a break too. I’ll find something. The neighborhood seems nice. There’s probably a restaurant close by I can walk to, right?”

“Actually, yeah, there’s a deli near the library, only three blocks down and two streets over.”