Temptation (19 page)

At the end of the night, I sit in the dressing room with the other girls and count the money I made. I sit on the couch next to Trixie as we both lay out our money for the night. Once I’m done counting, I lean back into the couch. I’ve made three thousand dollars. In one night.

“Holy fuck,” I say to no one in particular. Trixie looks up from her counting and smiles at me.

“Best job ever right?”

“This is crazy. I knew Viktor said this would be easy money, but I had no idea it could be this much.” I sit in shock while I look at my stack of hundred dollar bills.

“Just wait until you do a private room or VIP party. Now that’s good money.”

“How does that work? Margo said there’s a set rate. Do we get a percent off that?”

“Oh, no. We get half of that, plus what we make while working the party.”

“Holy fuck!”

Trixie laughs at me again as I sit on the couch in shock. I had no idea strippers made this much money. No wonder why so many women want to take on this career path. Granted, it’s not ideal and most people will judge you when they learn what it is they do, but damn this is a lot of money. It would take me months of working day and night at my old job to earn this much money.

Three thousand dollars in one night.

It’s unbelievable.

It all seems surreal that I’m here at this very moment. I still cannot believe I went out there and danced the way I had five times tonight. I don’t know what time it is, but I’m exhausted. I can tell it’s very late, and the more I sit here on this comfortable couch, the heavier my eyes become. I get up before I fall asleep and I grab my bag. I was glad I thought of bringing an extra pair of clothes with me. Being in my yoga pants and a loose fitting T-shirt is so much more comfortable than what I had on when I came here. Or wearing the outfits I wore tonight.

I put the money inside my bag and I wonder how I’ll get home tonight. I put my bag over my shoulder and I tell Trixie bye. She hugs me and tells me she’ll see me tomorrow night. I wave as I pass by some of the other girls and I walk to Viktor’s office. Since he brought me here, I’m hoping he’ll have a car ready for me to go home. I knock on his door and when I hear him tell me to come inside, I open the door.

Viktor doesn’t even look up when I come in. I fear things between us might be awkward now. Every time I danced, Viktor was sitting at that middle table, watching me. I won’t admit it to myself yet, but I think he’s the only reason I was able to actually dance on stage. I found myself looking for him each time before I started to dance. I clear my throat to get his attention and when I do, I can tell he’s surprised that it’s me standing in front of him. I don’t even think about being in his office alone with him anymore. Somehow, I’ve gotten over that part. Probably has something to do with the fact that he has seen me topless. More than once. Oh and the fact that he’s already seen my vagina. I shake my head, trying not to remember how he helped hold my foot while I pushed Gabbie out.

“Something wrong?” He asks with a confused look on his face. I can’t believe he forgot he brought me here.

“I … uh. I was wondering how I was getting home. You brought me here remember? And we agreed I’d have an escort leaving the club.”

“Shit. I’m sorry. Give me five more minutes and I’ll take you home,” he tells me as he gets up out of his chair and starts cleaning up his desk.

“I can call a cab. Just walk me out? You seem busy and it’s fine really.” I start to turn to leave, and his voice stops me from moving.

“Ava, I’ll take you home.”

I glance at him over my shoulder. I don’t miss how he calls me by the wrong name. He knows not to call me by my real name while we’re here. I don’t correct him since we’re alone. Viktor walks from behind his desk and comes over to me. He lightly grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him. I don’t look up at him once I’m facing him. He tilts my face up using his fingertips, making me do what he wants.

“I said I would take you home. You’ll never take a cab when leaving the club. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I whisper back. I don’t know why he’s so upset with me wanting to take a cab home. It’s not like I wouldn’t have made it home safely.

“Good. We can go now.”

I nod and he leads me out of his office. With his hand on my lower back, I allow him to walk me through the club. I do notice the people cleaning up after the patrons. But no one gives Viktor and me a second glance. I wonder again, if he had a relationship with another dancer before. If he had, it would make sense to why he’s the way he is about his rules. We make it to the front of the club and I rub my arms as the night air hits me. Viktor notices, and he takes his jacket off and drapes it over my shoulders. I smile as my way of a thank you and I bring it closer to my body. Viktor’s scent on the jacket entraps me, and I close my eyes taking it in. He smells so good. I must be delirious from the lack of sleep. Yeah, that’s why I’m feeling my body heat up and not from the jacket. I’m turning into a creepy stalker. I should probably stop smelling his jacket.

I hear the driver pull up and Viktor opens the car door for me. I get inside and
the moment I’m sitting comfortably on the plush leather, I fight hard to stay awake. I haven’t been this tired in a long time. Even when I first brought Gabbie home from the hospital I wasn’t this tired. Viktor gets in right behind me and the driver starts to leave the club. Viktor and I don’t say anything on our way to my house. I feel as though the tension in the car will suffocate me. It’s so thick, but I’ve no idea what to say to him. What could I say? He watched me dance, and he saw parts of myself that only one other man has seen. I feel like it means more than it should. I also wonder why he watched me. Does he watch the other girls when they dance? I guess I should’ve asked Trixie about it, but then again, would that be breaking his rules? I don’t know how to process what happened tonight. I honestly don’t want to. Knowing me, and how I am, I’ll overthink it. Then it’ll become an even bigger problem. If it’s even a problem at all.

I hate how confused this man makes me.

A short while later, the driver arrives at my home. I quickly get out, wanting to go directly to bed, but I stop and turn around when I hear Viktor shut his door.

“What are you doing?” I ask. I really thought he’d just drop me off and leave. I need him to do just that.

“I want to walk you to your door. Something wrong with that?”

“No, I guess not.” I sigh as I turn to walk up the steps. I pull my keys out of my bag and I unlock the door. When I open it, I turn around again. Viktor’s right behind me, staring at me with those lust filled eyes again.

“Goodnight, Viktor.”

He reaches up and pushes my hair behind my ear. His light and innocent touch takes my breath away. I can feel my heart racing, and I know my face is red. I can feel Viktor staring at me, and I glance up at him. For a second I think he’s going to kiss me again. I lick my lips, wanting him to kiss me again. I want to feel his lips on mine. I want to taste him again.

“Goodnight, Ava,” he says and then he’s gone.

I step inside, and I shut the door. I turn my back to the door and I lean against it. I’m breathing too fast. I close my eyes, hating that I feel rejected he didn’t want to kiss me. It’s stupid for me to feel this way. Viktor makes my body act in a way that I’ve never felt before. I sigh as I open my eyes, not wanting to think of him anymore. I cannot have this man. There’s no way I can let him in. I fear if I do, he will hurt me and then leave me. Just like Malcolm. And I cannot let that happen to me, or Gabbie.

I set my bag down, and I realize I still have Viktor’s jacket on. He didn’t ask for it, and I wonder if he did that on purpose. I quickly take off the heavenly smell of his jacket and I toss it over the couch. I walk directly up the stairs, to my bed, and fall into it. I lay still for a few moments before I jump out of bed, run down stairs, and grab his jacket. I crawl back into bed with it wrapped around me. I take a deep breath, inhaling all I can of him. I close my eyes, trying to let sleep finally overcome me.

I can’t help when I do fall asleep, my dreams are consumed with nothing but Viktor.

I wake up the next morning to smelling bacon. The smell is so strong, that I have to make myself get up after my stomach starts growling. I’m still in my sleep fog,
but the smell is so strong for me to imagine it. I rub my eyes and yawn as I look down and realize I still have Viktor’s jacket on. No wonder why all I could dream about was him. I slowly get out of bed and I take off his jacket. I walk downstairs only having one thing on my mind, and that’s eating the bacon that’s somehow cooking by itself. Either this a really great dream, or someone is in my home.

I’m almost in the kitchen when I see him. He doesn’t see me, and I turn right around and hide on the last step on the stairs away from him. I’m instantly awake now. I curse myself for giving him that stupid key. I lightly bang my head against the wall. I don’t want to see him right now. It’s bad enough that he saw me practically naked. Now he wants to see me while I have bed hair and morning breath. Maybe this is a good thing. If he sees how ugly I am in the morning, it’ll scare him off.

Viktor Matvei is going to be the death of me. I slowly peek my head around the wall and my mouth opens slightly when I see him. My stomach flutters seeing him in his white button down shirt. His sleeves are rolled up to his strong biceps and I think that he shouldn’t look so hot with just a simple shirt on. I slowly rake my gaze down, taking in his dark slacks. Even his ass looks perfect. I close my eyes, leaning against the wall. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to look him the eye after last night. This isn’t how I wanted to start my day.

I move from my hiding spot as he places the dishes in the sink. I let myself look at him again while his back is turned. God, it should be illegal for him to look this good. And this is his back side. I shake my head and cross my arms over my chest. I wish now I would’ve put on a bra. It’s not fair my damn nipples decide to pucker at the sight of him in my kitchen.

“What are you doing here?” I ask hoping my voice sounds as strong as I think it does.

He turns around with a grin on his face. Some days I would really like to smack that shit eating grin off his face. He shrugs his shoulders as he says, “Making breakfast. Or more like brunch.”

“I can see that. But why are you here in my kitchen making brunch?” Viktor places two pieces of bacon a plate and my mouth starts to water.

“I thought you might be hungry, so I cooked.”

I throw my hands up, giving up on him actually answering my question to why he’s cooking me brunch. Why would he want to cook for me? I don’t ask him anything else, and I drop my arms to my side. I forget all about my hard nipples showing through my shirt, but Viktor notices. His eyes zero in on them and when I realize what he’s looking at, I blush and cover myself with my arms again. He clears his throat a few times, and I walk over to the kitchen island and sit down on the stool.

“Do we need to talk about last night?” I hope he says no. I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about what happened last night.

“No.”

I let out a sigh in relief. “Alright. Do we need to clarify anything between us? The contract is still intact, and I want to make sure you follow it. I can see how you are already bending the rules for me and I know you placed them there for a reason.”

“Eat.” He tells me like I’m a five year old. He totally ignores everything I just said.

“Viktor?”

“Ava.”

“Why are you ignoring my questions?”

“Because I want you to eat,” he says simply.

“Fine.” I roll my eyes at him and I start to eat. I let out a moan when I bite into the bacon. I haven’t had bacon in months. The strict diet doesn’t allow it to be a possibility. But today, I really just don’t care about watching what I eat. Viktor stands on the other side of the bar and watches me as I eat. He seems assumed by me, but I don’t care what he thinks. I’m enjoying my bacon. He needs to go away and let me eat in peace.

“Good?”

“Mmm hmm.”

Once I’m done eating, Viktor takes my empty plate away and places it into the sink. I remain on the stool, wondering what he’s up to. Viktor has never been to my home without Gabbie being here, and now that it’s just him and I, it starts to make me question how I feel about it. When Gabbie is here, I can use her as an excuse to stay away from him.
She’s my buffer. I know that might seem like I’m a horrible mother, but it sounds worse than it really is. Gabbie is like my shield against Viktor. The only thing is, I think he knows that as well. Now that it’s just us, alone, with no one here to distract me, anxious doesn’t even start to cover how I’m feeling.