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the direction of the door again. “Can you at least think about it?”
    “Yeah, I’ll think about it,” I answered quickly, even though we both knew I wouldn’t.
    “You’re the worst best friend ever.”
    “Amelia.” I shook my head. “Don’t forget I’m letting you drag me shopping this weekend.”
    “Oh, that’s right.” A smile once again lit up her face. “Well, I might just make it an all day trip since you have to be such a brat.”
    “Bye, Amelia.”
     

     
     
    “YOU SURE ARE a quick learner.”
    I took a long swig out of my water bottle and wiped at the sweat forming on my forehead. Going from dancing almost every day for ten years, to on and off for the last two, and then all of a sudden just stopping a few months ago, my body was protesting the new type of physical activity. I felt so out of shape.
    “Did you say you used to dance?” Vanessa collapsed onto the floor next to me, pulling her long hair out of the bun she had thrown it into when we first started. Even with her hair a mess, she still looked like a supermodel, while I probably looked the complete opposite, all sweaty and gross.
    “Yeah, ballet and a little bit of hip hop. Apparently, Randy thought that would help me out some.”
    “Definitely.” She nodded her head. “You may be a quiet little thing, but you sure know how to move that body. The guys will be lining up. That is, if you get up on the stage. Are you sure you really want to do that?”
    “Truthfully?” I shook my head. “No, not really. I just took this job because it was the only thing I could find.”
    “Well, let me give you a little bit of advice. Don’t do it. Getting up there can be a little addictive. You seem like a smart girl with a good head on your shoulders. You can find something else, or try to waitress as long as you can. I started out to support my daughter, but now, I don’t know if I could do anything else. Does that sound bad?”
    I chewed on my bottom lip. “Maybe a little.”
    “I just don’t want my daughter to think that her mom is a whore or something. I don’t do the kind of stuff that some of the other girls do. You know the stereotypes of strippers. Everyone does. Some people think we’re just like prostitutes. The things that I’ve seen….” She shivered slightly and shook her head before popping up to her feet. “But…they run a very tight ship around here. Anyway, let’s go over a couple of more things. Pole dancing really is fun, so even if you don’t get up on the stage, you could always show off your fancy new moves to some lucky guy.”
    “Right.” I laughed loudly as I stepped up and gripped the cool metal of the pole with both hands, flipping myself upside down and stretching my legs out into the move that Vanessa explained was dubbed ‘The Batman.’ I was pretty proud of myself at how easily some of the moves came to me. My background in dance did help. If only my first dance instructor Miss Kathy could see me now. I didn’t know if she would be proud or run away to hide in embarrassment. I doubt if I would ever actually do any of them again in my life, but they were fun to learn.
    A sound snapped my attention to the front of the stage, and I righted myself, pulling down my tank top. It took my eyes a minute to adjust from being upside down, and then I realized it was the owner. How I didn’t know it was Mr. Buchanan in the first place was beyond me. The whole atmosphere of the club seemed to change and my entire body started to tingle, hot and cold all at the same time.
    I had thought my body was getting a workout from practice, but now it was going into complete overdrive and any aches and pains were quickly forgotten, replaced by a humming sensation that coursed through my veins as I stared at him open-mouthed.
    I really needed to learn how to control myself when I was around him or I was sure to embarrass myself yet again.

 

     
     

     
     
    “I DON’T GIVE a flying fuck, I’m sick and tired of