Scandalous (5 page)

I shuddered.

“
You cold, babe?
The air-conditioning's not on.
”

“
No, no, I'm fine,
”
I said, giving him a very light peck on his lips.
“
You better get going or you're gonna be late.
”

He nodded.
“
I wish I could take today off with you, but I'm using all my time for our honeymoon.
”

That made me smile.
Kenny hadn’t told me where we were going yet, and I was enjoying the mystery.
It was totally so unlike him.
He was always so rock solid, so predictable, so
…
boring.
But keeping the honeymoon a secret spiced things up a bit for me, and it meant a lot that he was trying so hard.

“
Are you sure you don't want to tell me where we're going?
”
I asked for the thousandth time.
“
How am I suppose to pack?
”

He shook his head just like he did all those other times.
“
This is my surprise and it will not be spoiled, woman,
”
he said, trying to sound like a throwback to caveman days.
“
I told you.
You don't have to pack a thing.
I got you!
”

That was another thing that made this so great.
He was taking care of everything.
Usually, I was the one who did the planning, the preparations and, the paying.
But with this, Kenny was stepping up.

Even though he wouldn't give me any hints, I clapped my hands like a kid.
I was so excited.

Kenny laughed and then hugged me.
“
This is it,
”
he said.

I stood up so that I could give it to him real.
“
The next time you'll see me, I'll be your bride.
”

“
You'll be my wife.
”

With those words, I let him kiss me.
How could I not?
As we embraced, I remembered all the times we'd had together and remembered why I wanted to marry this man.
By the time we pulled away from each other, I was absolutely sure that by this time next week, I'd be all the way back in that loving place.

“
Have fun at the hotel tonight,
”
he said.

“
I'm not going to be doing anything.
I'll just be waiting for tomorrow to come.
”
I kissed him once again and watched him stroll out of our bedroom, so pleased
with myself.
I was doing the right thing by letting this sexual tension build.
Tomorrow it would be on for real.

Then, my beeper vibrated once again.
I didn't even have to look down at the number.
I knew who was calling.

And it was not good.

Chapter 3

My heart pumped, and my stomach fluttered as I t
urned
my BMW into the parking lot at Foxtails.
It had been a while since I'd been here.
Once I quit, I didn't look back
--
that had been my plan, to sever all ties.
But then the call had come in this morning from Buck and curiosity replaced the blood in my veins and pumped all through me.
I’d called him back the moment Kenny walked out the door.

“
Pepper!
”
he sang when he picked up.
“
What's happening?
You ready to come back to work?
”

“
Buck, please don't waste my time.
I'm only calling 'cause you paged me, twice.
What's up with that?
”

“
Can't an old boss call his best girl?
”

“
Not for no nonsense,
”
I said, with an attitude.

It still surprised me how I could get away with talking to Buck any ol’ way, especially since he scared me to death the first time I'd met him: this big-hipped white boy, with his thick, blond, shoulder-length locks, who talked like a Black man.
I'd been shaking when he made me take off my top and drop my pants so that he could check out what I was working with.
He'd looked me over like I was a piece of meat, which I guess I was.

Anyway, that was the last time he had me shaking.
The only times I shook after that was on stage for money.

I have to admit, though, Buck and I had a special relationship. That man looked out for me.
I
“
dated
”
a lot of men, but because of Buck, I never felt like I was in any kind of danger.
He didn't play that, and those dudes knew it.
If anyone ever wanted me to leave the club with them, Buck had to know about it.
Had to know who it was, where was I going, and then I had to call and check in once it was over.
I always pretended that Buck did that because he cared for me.
But I knew what was up.
This was all about the Benjamins; Buck had a vested interest. I was, by far, his biggest rainmaker.
He couldn't let anything happen to me.

But we had parted ways because I was getting married and I wanted to be the wife who stayed true.
So a call from him was not what I wanted the day before my wedding.

“
Listen, Buck,
”
I’d said to him.
“
If you ain't talkin' 'bout nothin', then, I'm gonna hang up.
”

“
No, no, you know I'm just playin'.
I do need you to come by the club, though.
”

“
For what?
”
I put a lot of bass in my voice so that he could hear my frown.

“
I got something for you.
For your wedding.
”

I knew that was a lie right off the bat.
“
Your cheap behind didn't get me a dang-bang thang!
If you don't tell me, I'm just gonna hang up and
…
”

He laughed.
“
I didn't get you nothin'.
You need to be paying me
…
leaving me and you were my best girl.
”

I rolled my eyes.
How many times was he going to take me back to that?
I'd quit Foxtails three months ago, figuring that was going to give me enough time to feel like a virgin again on my wedding night.
But that didn't stop Buck from calling and begging me to come back.

Buck just didn't know.
It was hard for me to walk away from all of that sex and all of that money.
Especially since the star I thought I was marrying never got around to shining.
Kenny had taken a job with the
Los Angeles Times
in the finance department.
And even though he had a degree from one of the top schools in the country, he had settled for earning only $25,000 a year, half of what I was making at my job at Carnation.
It seemed that the man I fell in love with, the man who talked big about living large and having dreams, didn't have very much ambition at all.

I'd thought about calling off our engagement many times
--
I needed to be married to someone who was much more like me when it came to wanting the best out of life.  But I was never prepared to walk away.
Not only did I really love Kenny, but he was still the popular college football star who got invited to all kinds of top-shelf events as a keynote speaker.
Those engagements brought in some loot, and if I helped him work it, that could still be our ticket.
But it was going to take some time for that river to start flowing, which is why I'd kept my gig at Foxtails even after I graduated.
Dancing for and 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 walked right into his waiting arms.

“
Hines!
What are you doing here?
”

He kissed my forehead, sat down on the velvet love seat, then reached for my hand to pull me down next to him.
We snuggled, though we didn't do it on purpose.
It was the way the soft velvet love seats were designed
--
like bean bag chairs
--
our bodies didn't have any choice but to kinda meld together.

Not that I minded.
Hines was one of my best
“
dates,
”
sexually and monetarily.
And if he'd called me here to Foxtails to get down, then I would just have to give up my quest to be a virtuous woman on my wedding day.
Because right about now, I could use a piece of this man.

“
What are you doing here?
”
I asked.
“
I didn't even know you were in L.A.
”

He leaned back and unbuttoned the jacket of what I was sure was at least an eight-hundred dollar suit.
He put his arm around me.
“
I'm still moving around, from here to there.
”

“
So, no more football at all?
Ever?
”

He shook his head.
“
They were serious when they kicked me out the league,
”
he said, as if it was no big deal that he'd lost his multi-million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Raiders.
“
I'm banned for life.
”

It may not have been a big deal to Hines, but it was major to all the football fans who'd been thrilled beyond measure when the Oakland Raiders had deserted the North and migrated to the South, bringing their star rookie running back with them.
Hines Gifford was a sensation who had broken all kind of records at Florida State and was expected to do the same with the Raiders.
The talk on the street was that the Raiders wanted Hines so bad that when he said he would only play if he could be in L.A., they moved the entire franchise.
It had been hard for people to believe that one player
--
a rookie at that
--
could have that kind of pull.
I didn't believe any of that myself, until Hines and his boys had come into Foxtails one night.

Foxtails was known as a place where the big spenders liked to drop their dollars, so I was used to the kind of money that Hines was tossing around.
But it was what was beyond the money that impressed me.
Hines had a confidence that was definite, but not cocky; a strut that was self assured, but not prideful.
It was just clear that he knew what he wanted, and whatever he wanted, he was gonna get.