My brain started screaming at me to retreat, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, it swayed even closer. He leaned forward so I could reach, his gaze on me. I took longer than necessary to clean and glue the cut, but the stubble on his face felt too good under my hand to hurry up, and his eyes felt too amazing when looking at me.
I smiled triumphantly when I was done. “Looks as good as new. You can thank me later when you find out that it’ll hardly leave a scar because of my awesome nursing skills.”
He didn’t respond, and I took that as my cue to leave. But Sebastian had other ideas, his hands shooting out to hold me in place.
“Do you have another injury?” I asked, blinking at him.
Instead of answering he pulled me closer. In an effort to not fall into him, my hands went to his chest to steady myself, dropping everything I was holding to the floor.
One of his arms wound around my body while the other went to my head. He pulled me close, and before I could say holy hotness, his lips covered mine.
My brain stalled, my hands held on, and my mouth opened for him. As with the last kiss, I got completely lost in him.
When he pulled back, I heard a mewled protest that seemed to be coming from me. I didn’t think I’d ever sounded more desperate.
“You’re too tempting to resist, and I don’t know how much longer I can stay away from you,” he rasped.
I was too dazed to do anything but stare when he stood up, the move making me take a step back. I was breathing hard, and my heart was beating out of my chest. I think I had a mini orgasm just from kissing him.
“Nora?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Go to bed.”
“Yes, bed. Splendid idea. Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” I said, escaping to the safety of my bedroom, wishing for once that I’d been smoother. Because there were just some things you couldn’t come back from. And talking about bed bugs was one of them.
CHAPTER NINE
“Are you throwing up again?” Elle called through the bathroom door.
“Go away,” I replied between dry heaves.
It was Monday, five minutes before I was supposed to go onstage, and I was hanging my head in a toilet.
“If you don’t come out right now, there won’t be time left to fix your hair and makeup,” Elle tried again.
“I don’t care,” I groaned. Another dry heave followed, and I slumped back on the ground. I shuddered at the thought of what was on the bathroom floor. The toilets were gross, and I never planned on getting this up close and personal with them.
“I’m coming in,” Tia announced before the cubicle door opened and two arms lifted me up.
Once I was upright again, Tia took my hand and led me in front of the bathroom mirrors. She handed me a bottle of disinfectant and a bottle of mouthwash and started brushing my hair. “Disinfect anything that came into contact with the toilet, and then wash out your mouth with the mouthwash.”
As soon as I finished cleaning up, Elle powdered my face and reapplied my makeup.
“Just leave the hair,” Star said, joining us in the bathroom. “Nobody will notice. It’ll get all tangled anyway once she starts dancing.”
I watched my face blanch in the mirror as my eyes widened.
“We don’t have time for more upchucking. You need to move or you’ll be fired before you even have your first performance,” Elle said, blocking my way back to the toilets.
“You can do this,” Tia encouraged, taking my hand and walking with me.
“I don’t think I can,” I muttered, tightening my hold on her.
“Just remember, no upside-down stuff.”
I nodded, my steps slowing the closer we got to the stage. The music from the previous act was so loud, it made it impossible to say anything else.
Tia stayed by my side and waited for me to go on. As soon as Becca came through the curtain, it was my turn.
Becca gave me a thumbs-up on her way past, and I froze in front of the entrance. I’d find another way to make money. There had to be something else. Maybe I just hadn’t looked hard enough. This so wasn’t for me. I couldn’t—
My rant was rudely interrupted when Tia pushed me and I stumbled out onto the stage. I blinked into the lights, grateful I couldn’t see anything besides the stage.
I could just pretend this was another practice. The music was already playing, and I nearly missed my cue to start moving.
Luckily Tia was on it, and when something hit me in the back, I snapped out of it and started to dance. And after a few awkward movements, I began my routine. It all went well until I got to the pole.
I’d lost half my clothes along the way, like we’d planned. I had no hope of undressing myself while anywhere near the pole. The girls said once I wasn’t wearing much, nobody would care if I fell on my head. I was about to do my first move, the front hook spin. It was one of the few moves I could halfway master.
I was holding the pole with one hand when there was a commotion near the stage. I wasn’t sure if I should stop, but since nobody shut off the music, I kept going. There were fights at the club all the time.
I was just about to spin myself around the pole, my legs at an awkward angle, ensuring I would screw up the move. But if nothing else, I saw things through. And even though it was a certainty that tonight would be an epic failure, I was
