“Are you ready?” Yasmin asked from a distance while I kept scrolling on my phone, trying to distract myself from what was coming tonight. 

“Always.” I gave her a wave and got a narrowed gaze in return. 

Usually, I don’t work these kinds of … ehm… events. However, they were down a dancer, and it was good money. I actually didn’t have a choice. 

I had been working at the same club as a dancer—aka stripper—for two years now. I never thought this would be my life. I had a loving family and finished my studies at Harvard, but everything came crashing down years ago. 

I lost everything that wretched night, and I couldn’t pull myself together after it. I kept having these anxiety attacks, or that was what my doctor called them. 

However, these attacks made it impossible to keep working at a law firm, and the drugs I had to take to numb the pain turned me into a zombie. 

It took me a while to get back on my feet, and this job gave me back my sanity. So yes, I needed this job, but I also loved it. How it made all the turmoil in my mind disappear was something I desperately needed. And I always enjoyed a good workout. 

Before you get the wrong ideas, I only stripped and danced. Did my routine and went home. Didn’t give any lap dances or anything extra. I just came in, did my thing, and left. The other girls gave lap dances or would go to the private rooms in the back, but that was one line I would never cross.  

They always tried to persuade me, and I got some great offers in the past. However, that’s just not my kind of thing. 

Tonight’s event only happened once every couple of months. I had never joined the girls before, but they were one dancer short, so there I was. 

Yasmin was fuming that I was already finished with my preparations. I don’t know why she was so nervous, but I heard that the men that came tonight had some deep pockets and could be aggressive. Not the best combination, I think. 

Some of the girls have spent the night with one of them and returned with bruises covering their hips and thighs. And not from being hit or something. But let’s just say these men like it rough. My body shuddered at the thought. 

“Kitty, you’re up in five,” Yasmin yelled my way. 

I rolled my eyes, hating my stripper name. I never thought it would be hard choosing one, so I let the girls decide, and this was the best they could do.

I gave myself one last glance, checking if everything was still flawless. Slightly adjusting my fishnet stockings, I made sure no one could notice the scars on my thighs. 

One last heel check, and I was off. 

“Give them your best show, Kitty.” Yasmin winked before the lights and music changed, casting a red hue on the stage.  

“Coming on stage, our lovely Kitty….” the DJ announced. 

“Deep breaths,” I told myself before putting on my best poker face. 

My heels hit the stage on the beat of the music, seductively slow, until I reached my best friend, my pole. 

With a teasing smile I searched for who would be my focus point.  As a lioness searching for her prey, I began my routine and was surprised my eyes kept moving back to the same man in the dark corner.

He was too far away to get a better look without my glasses. However, there was something about him. Something was luring me in. 

My core fluttered when he rose and stepped out of the darkness, a reaction my body had never had before. Our gazes locked, and time seemed to slow down. 

The corner of his lip curled, but my attention quickly returned to the men sitting at the podium, waving their money, waiting for me to come closer. 

I hooked my leg on the pole and bent back, letting my fingers touch the ground while I slowly swirled around the bar, lower and lower, until my entire body rested on the platform. I turned and crawled to my prey, the one waving a couple hundred as if it were nothing. 

I rolled over the ground before him while his eyes wandered over my body. He reached out, hoping he could touch me, but I clicked my tongue and shook my head. 

The expression on his face darkened, and if it weren’t for the loud music, I would have sworn he growled at me. 

“Come here, Kitty,” he ordered.

I tilted my head to the side, gave him my best seductive gaze, and closed the distance between us.

I slapped his hand away when he reached for me again and hissed. Maybe I could understand why my colleagues chose the name Kitty for me.

“Why don’t you crawl on my lap? Let me pet you.” He leaned back, pushing the bills behind his belt. Out of reach, but not out of sight.

I licked my fingers, pushed one inside my mouth, sucking slightly before releasing it with a pop and sat up.

Trailing a path with my wetted finger, to brush over my panties, never reaching what he wanted—my core.

He inched closer, lust visible in his eyes. His dirty blond hair falling forward, and I rolled back, resuming my routine.

I sighed at the end of my routine, realizing these men wanted more than to watch. Why would Yasmin even ask me to come knowing I wouldn’t let them touch me?

My music slowly died down, and the DJ said some final words. “Thank you, Kitty! Next up, our delicious Candy.”

I nodded and smiled at the guard beside the stage. William had helped me more times than I could count, and it would have made both of our jobs easier if I gave in and did what the other girls did for our clients.

However, I would never have thought that this performance, this moment, would change my life forever.