“Perving on me in the shower, huh?” he asked, boosting her higher to line up their mouths.
She smiled and had to work to restrain her laugh. “It wasn’t like that. It was an accident.”
“Tell me later,” he said.
Her hope was automatic. “You’ll be home?”
“Not for dinner, we have auditions, but tonight.”
She nodded and mouthed, “Okay.”
He kissed her quick. Just as she thought he might come back for more, Fish called out. “Boss, elevator’s here… Hey, where’s he at?”
“Behave,” Score said, brushing his nose across hers before putting her on her feet and striding away.
Somehow, he always left her breathless and damn if she wasn’t grateful for that every second.
Shyla was out later that day when her phone buzzed. The alert that showed up stopped her dead in the street.
She’d been so busy losing herself in her new life that the old one was becoming a sporadic memory. It was coming back for her just when she’d begun to relax.
The news left her with another problem. For once, fortune put her in an advantageous position, geographically anyway. Shyla fired off a text to Beeks and adjusted her route.
Score wanted her to share everything with him and that was just fine, but the new predicament wasn’t a part of her life with him. It came from her past. Dragging him into it when he had his own issues to deal with wouldn’t be right. The last thing she needed to do to their young relationship was strain it by begging emotional support.
Score, the club, wasn’t that far away. Fish talked about the club like the three men were always there. Even though going was convenient because she was out and about, Shyla would be lying if she denied her desire to see what the place was like inside. It wouldn’t be open to the public that early in the day. Score couldn’t be upset at her if the only thing she saw were nude, or almost nude, women. She had the same anatomy they did.
That was her reasoning until she walked in. Naivety smacked her hard. The dozens of women seated around the place didn’t have figures she’d recognize in her own. A poster outside declared auditions were open. Hence, she supposed, why all the females were there.
The club itself was impressive. With seating at the top of the room and a bar to the right, the long room had a stage at the end. A mezzanine with its own podiums overlooked the main dance area.
A big guy in a black shirt came over to her carrying a clipboard. Shyla was still gaping at the sequins and nipple tassels and the sheer volume of svelte yet ample flesh on each of the gorgeous females.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” the guy asked.
He was poised to write on the clipboard. It took her a minute to figure out that he thought she was there to audition too.
The assumption made her grin. Shyla wondered what kind of woman showed up to an audition in denim cutoffs and a kaftan. There wasn’t a sequin or a string anywhere on her outfit. On top of that, she was carrying a paper grocery bag and had her hippie bag slung across her body.
“Oh no,” she said. “I’m not here to audition.” She laughed. “I’m a C cup and only five foot two inches tall, I’m not…”
Her words trailed off when she realized he was scanning down the form and filling in what she was saying.
He gave her the once over. “You got long hair that’s hot, could be your thing.” She touched the end of the long high ponytail that hung over her shoulder. Knowing that Score liked it, she was learning to leave her hair looser. “The girls here will give you their surgeon’s details. Look around, you see a pair you like, go to their guy. The boss might keep you a spot if he likes what you’ve got.”
The boss… Score. He’d told her not to consider cosmetic surgery. He probably wouldn’t appreciate this guy telling her to peruse the breasts in the room and pick a pair like she was choosing drapes for the living room.
“Here he comes.”
The guy tucked his clipboard under his arm. She glanced over her shoulder. Score, Beeks, and Fish were coming through the door at the head of the club.
Turning her back on them, Shyla tried to hide herself. Maybe showing up without invitation wasn’t such a great idea after all.
“Yo, boss,” the guy in front of her said. “What size you want the cans on this one? She says she’ll get ‘em done if we hold her a spot.”
Shyla didn’t even want to turn and look, so could only guess that the trio were heading their way. The sense of anticipation from all the women sitting around bubbled up.
In contrast to the other females’ interest, Shyla cringed when she was forced to look up at the three men who’d joined them.
Score’s expression hardened in a heartbeat.
He didn’t say a word to her, he just switched his attention to the clipboard guy and calm as anything said, “You’re fired.” While the guy blanched and his jaw sank, Score turned to Beeks. “Take care of this.”
Snatching her hand, Score pulled her away from the stuttering clipboard guy. Dragging her down the length of the room, past the curious dancers and the stage, he towed her into an office secreted in the back. Well, it wasn’t exactly secreted. There were black blinds over the window, which made it hard to make out. The door was there, she just hadn’t seen it.
Score pulled her forward, swinging
