Read Scandalous for Free Online

dating the men at the club gave me the money that Kenny couldn't provide … yet. And not only money, but other gifts of gratitude: diamonds, gold, and fur. It was all the same. All good to me.
    It wasn't too hard to keep that side of my life from Kenny. He wasn't looking for anything; he never expected my deception, so he never saw it. Plus, I had an arsenal of lies that were easy for my husband-to-be to believe. From the non-existent humongous insurance policy that my mother supposedly left me and my sister, to the late hours I had to keep because that was the best way for a newly-hired assistant Marketing Director like me to make the best impression and begin her climb up the corporate ladder. My lies kept my life in order.
    But the thing was, I didn't want to start off my marriage as a liar. So as I eased my way up the front steps of Foxtails, I promised myself that no matter what Buck had to say, this would be the very last time that I stepped inside this place.
    I swung the heavy front door open and just like the first time I'd entered this club, darkness and music hit me. It was just ten in the morning, and the club didn't officially open 'til noon, but still Buck always kept the music blasting just in case an early customer walked in. I paused for a moment , the familiar feeling of power almost overtaking me. But then I moved forward, trying my best to stay focused on my future while I left behind all memories of my past.
    I took just a few steps to my left and found Buck where he always seemed to be: behind the bar.
    “ What's up? ”
    Buck swung his almost three-hundred pound frame around and grinned. “ 'Sup with you? You coming back? ”
    “ I don't have any time for this. ” I folded my arms. “ Either you tell me what this is about or I'm outta here. ”
    “ Dang. What's your hurry? I thought you'd want to hang out for a little while, slide down a pole or two, you know, for old times’ sake. ”
    “ Buck! ”
    “ All right. Geez. ” He took a swig from the bottle he was holding.
    I shook my head. Buck was drinking beer like it was orange juice.
    He said, “ There's someone here to see you. ”
    My eyes narrowed because though Buck protected me, I didn't have anyone to protect me from him. “ Who? ”
    Buck shrugged. “ He asked me not to tell you. ”
    “ More games? ”
    Buck held up his hands. “ Hey, I don't have anything to do with this one. He said to just tell you to come on back. ”
    My old boss didn't have to tell me where “ come on back ” was. I was even more annoyed now. For all I knew, Buck could've been setting me up -- he could've had someone in the back waiting to get down with me. But my inquiring mind needed to know what this mystery was about. I frowned at Buck, just to let him know again how pissed I was, and then sauntered toward the red velvet curtains, to a room that I'd grown to both love and hate.
    When I first became a dancer, I prided myself on the fact that I truly only danced. I wasn't like the other girls who were doing far more than stripping.
    But then I met Mr. Smith. All of his money, and all of his gifts changed everything. And though I danced for that white man privately and lay with him unashamedly, I only had sex with Mr. Smith once … for six thousand dollars on his last night in Los Angeles.
    That six thousand dollars opened the door and took my … dancing … to a whole 'nother level. Once the door was open, I couldn't find a way to close it -- not until three months ago.
    Now, as I stood outside the room that had given me so much physical pleasure and psychological pain, I wondered not only who was on the other side, but who did I wanted it to be. There were hundreds of men who'd made my sexual acquaintance over the four years of my dancing career, but I didn't have a clue which one had summoned me here.
    Stepping inside, I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dimmed light. And then I saw him.
    “ What's up, sweetheart? ”
    I smiled and