The kid gulped. “No, sir.”

“Good. Now get out of my office.” He clambered to his feet and rushed away from me, toward Chuck, and disappeared into the elevator.

Chuck shook his head at me and turned to follow the kid out. “You’ll never be a real boy.”

I rolled my eyes at him. Of course I wouldn’t.

Chapter 7

Keelyn

“You need to give it life.”

I had no idea what Nassir meant by those words until the club opened its doors a day after I returned to the Point. I thought I was going to throw on something outrageously sexy, slick down my newly unmistakable hair, gloss on some ruby-red lipstick, wear the highest heels I could find, and mingle with the crowd. I was sadly mistaken.

I was used to selling sex to customers that knew they were going home alone. It was an entirely different ball game when the customers knew that every fantasy, every desire they had, was within reach. The air vibrated with anticipation and the waves of excitement that poured off the eager men and women as they entered the club were enough to drown in. I still had my doubts about Nassir’s system of locks and keys, but he had a small army of security staff mingling unobtrusively among the clubgoers and the hired help. It was an anything-goes atmosphere, but the men in black suits wired up with headsets and sporting sharp-eyed stares reminded even the most outrageous customer that there were still rules that needed to be obeyed.

For the first hour I was unsure what to do with myself. I was stunned by how normal and how average most of the people that had forked over so much money to be a member of this exclusive club appeared to be. I was equally stunned by the number of couples that were milling about in the crowd. I threaded my way around the bodies, some dressed like they had just come from the office and some dressed a hundred times more scandalously than I was. I stopped to talk to a few young men that recognized me from my stripping days, told them no when they asked if I would be available for any “extra services” the club offered, and said a quick hello to a couple of girls I recognized from Spanky’s that were now working here. I stopped to ask them how it all came about and was surprised when they told me Nassir made it happen. They didn’t want to strip anymore, didn’t want to be naked onstage, so he set them up in the lavish bar and told them they had a place in his juggernaut of sex and industry as long as they wanted one.

Pondering this new insight into the man who was forever surprising me, I made my way to the bar and asked the very cute bartender to pour me a shot of tequila. Drinking at the old Spanky’s had been a terrible idea. The customers there were already handsy and grabby, so keeping your wits about you was a must. Here everyone seemed relatively well behaved and so excited to finally be inside the doors that no one was even really paying attention to me, so I figured a little liquid fortification wouldn’t hurt anybody. I tossed the liquor back and hissed out a breath around the burn. I caught the eye of a pretty young woman standing next to me at the bar who was watching me closely. I lifted an eyebrow at her and signaled for another shot.

“Can I help you?”

She was attractive in a really unassuming way. Her blond hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, her eyes covered in chic and stylish eyeglass frames, and her outfit was obviously expensive, though it looked like it would be more appropriate in a five-star restaurant than a sex club, but her shoes—oh, I’d recognize those shiny black stilettos with their unmistakable red soles anywhere. The lady had excellent taste in footwear.

She lowered her eyes behind her glasses and I saw her blush. She lifted her fingers and fidgeted with the gold key that was hanging from her neck. She looked about as uncomfortable as any woman alone in this kind of establishment could look.

“No. I don’t think anyone can help me. I’m not even really sure what I’m doing here.” She lifted her gaze back up to me and shrugged.

I frowned a little and pushed the shot that was in front of me down to her. “Try that. It might help.”

She looked at the shot glass then up to me. A half grin pulled at her lips. “Thanks, but I would choke on it and look ridiculous. That’s why I was watching you. I was in awe of how effortlessly sexy you seem to be. You look like you were made to be part of this place. I feel so out of my element.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment, but considering I stood to make a lot of money off of this club, money that I was determined to put back into the community in some way, I was going to choose to take it as one.

“What are you doing here, then? I know how much it costs to get your hand on that little key hanging around your neck, so obviously you want to be here.”

She picked up the shot and tossed it back. It did make her cough and turn red. I bit back a laugh as I reached out to pat her on the back. Once she got some air back in her lungs, she looked at me through watery eyes and explained, “I have a very high-stress job and I work a million hours a week. I’m not really looking for a relationship or anything serious. I just wanted to go somewhere I could have fun, let go of the control a little. I thought this place was the perfect fit, but once I got here, the idea of forking over hard-earned cash for someone to put me over their knee and spank me seemed so cheap and silly.” She sighed. “It’s just ridiculous.”

I let my gaze slide down from the top of her head to the tips of those fabulous shoes. If ever there was a lesson to be learned about not judging a book by its cover, this was it. I clicked my tongue at her and leaned a little closer so that I could lower my voice when I talked into her ear.

“You should never feel cheap or guilty for wanting what you want. You should be proud and not afraid to ask for it. Look around you.” I indicated the packed club. “All these people are here for the same reason as you. And who says you have to pay for it? You’re cute, you have great taste in shoes, and I bet we can find you a guy that would be more than happy to give you what you need at no extra cost.”

She blinked at me again and I saw a warm flush work into her cheeks. She looked so sweet and so proper that the idea that she wanted someone to spank her made me want to laugh, but I liked how unassuming she came across, so if that’s what she was after, I would help her get it.

“I’m not very good with men. I’m shy and I have a hard time carrying on a conversation around someone I find attractive. I usually end up looking like an idiot.”

I leaned back away from her and started scoping out the men circulating in the bar area. Many of them were already with women, many had that lock clicked shut where it dangled around their necks, and a few were obviously the hired help working the crowd to make a buck, but there were a few that appeared to be single and looked like they would be an all-right fit for the blonde.