CHAPTER EIGHT #2
“You are so right, Madeline. Gloria is definitely the scariest,” Bethany agreed. “The looks she gives me? They could kill a girl. She knows I’m fucking most of her sons, and I get the strong sense she’s not a fan of me.” Bethany laughed, but there was a touch of nerves in the sound.
“This is all good to know,” Glory interrupted, “but can we get back to the problem at hand?”
Everyone turned to look at her. She was painting her nails.
“Why don’t you come with me to get a mani-pedi tomorrow?” Madeline asked.
“Please,” Glory waved her hand in the air. “I’m better at this than any salon you could take me to.”
Her nails did always look amazing. She speared me with her dark eyes. “You,” she pointed at me with one of her long, wine red nails, “need to get laid. This Jack guy will be perfect. Go out with him.”
Satisfied that she’d solved the problem she dropped her head back down to concentrate on her nail polish.
Everyone agreed, even Abbi and Nora.
“But I don’t like the whole one night stand thing…”
“That’s fine,” Abbie said, a sweet smile on her face, “but you need to let loose and have a little fun. Just go out with him. Sleep with him if you want to, and if it doesn’t go anywhere, that’s okay.
You just need to get back out there, honey,” she said gently.
“You’re thinking of doing the auction soon.
I don’t think you want to go into that after being celibate for a long time. ”
She wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t thought of that.
There was a chorus of agreements, and then, thankfully, Jelly changed the subject.
But I was still thinking about it. I bit my lip. Maybe they were right. Maybe I should go out with Jack Lancaster and not worry about the consequences.
***
The next day, Jelly and I were sitting nervously in front of Carmen’s desk after being summoned to her office.
“Are we in trouble or something?” Jelly popped her gum, and Carmen Salazar narrowed her eyes at her.
“Only if you don’t stop doing that shit.
” Carmen was glamorous, brilliant, beautiful, and, well, kind of bitchy at times.
But I still liked her and respected the hell out of her.
She was the only girl in the Salazar family, and she commanded just as much respect as any of her brothers.
There were six Salazar siblings, and most of them hung out at Sugar at some point each night.
Nico and Carmen owned all the Salazar clubs together. They were pretty much equal partners on all of them, except Nico’s baby was Cayenne, the sex club. Carmen’s was the Cinnamon Auction. But her main office was at Sugar, and she and Nico were both often here.
And the rest of her siblings loved coming to the strip club to watch the dancers, utilize the VIP rooms, and flirt with the hostesses.
“No, y’all aren’t in trouble. Leo and Joaquin need some help at Bahia Del Sol this week. The women who work there have a certain look, and I thought the two of you would fit in the best.”
Jelly, and I gave each other a look. The two of us were close friends, but very different in looks and attitude.
Jelly, who Carmen insisted on calling by her real name, Ray Ann, was beautiful with pale skin, blue eyes, and black hair that swung just past her shoulders.
She also had extreme attitude. A lot of the wealthy patrons at Sugar loved her.
She treated them like they were regular people, not caring how rich or famous they were.
Jelly and I were similar in height, but the similarities ended there.
I had big boobs, an ass on the large size, and a tiny waist. I had to work to stay toned, and any extra weight I added went directly to my boobs and butt.
I tanned easily, had green eyes, long brown hair with natural red and blonde highlights in it, and was considered to be the nicest out of all the hostesses.
A flutter of nerves hit my lower abdomen. I knew Carmen would be asking me about the auction soon, and I was nervous about it. Still, wouldn’t it be better getting naked and having sex in a sugar baby-style relationship with one man than getting naked for a room full of them?
I knew I could make good money as a stripper.
I’d trained in dance for years. But I’d never wanted to strip for a room packed with men, no matter how wealthy and well-behaved they were.
And hot. Most of the clientele at Sugar were good-looking and fairly young.
Most of the patrons were in their thirties or forties, and I didn’t know of any over sixty.
And the ones who were that old were very well kept. You’d never know they were that age.
“Earth to Daisy,” Carmen said waving a hand to get my attention.
“Sorry,” I said, sheepishly. “What’s up?”
That’s when the door opened and Leo Salazar burst in. “Who’ve you got for me, sis?” He glanced at us and rubbed his hands together.
It was hard to believe that Leo, with his fair skin, blue eyes, and blond hair, was related to his siblings.
They all had olive complexions and dark hair, though many of them did have blue eyes.
Carmen and Javier were the only ones who’d completely taken after their Spanish father and had both dark hair and dark eyes.
Leo, on the other hand, was the only sibling out of the six to look exactly like Gloria, his Southern mother.
She gestured to the two of us. “I thought Ray Ann and Daisy would be best for what you’re looking for.”
He narrowed his eyes as he looked us over critically like we were cows he was considering buying for his farm.
Jelly narrowed hers right back. “You know what? I don’t want to work at Bahia Del Sol,” she said, standing up. “I make way more here than I would there.”
Leo grinned at her. “God, I forget how much I love that attitude of yours, Jelly.”
“Ray Ann,” Carmen corrected automatically.
“Whatever,” he said, giving us his best smile. I tried not to get sucked in by his charm. Leo was truly hot as hell. All the Salazars were. It was ridiculous how good-looking they all were.
Leo’s blue eyes glittered as they passed over us now.
“Don’t worry about the tips, ladies. I’ll double whatever it is you make here.
I accidentally let too many women go on vacation from the rooftop bar.
I told Carmen I wanted two of her hottest, prettiest, classiest women.
” He put emphasis on that last quality. “I want the waitresses at Bahia del Sol to look hot enough to be the kind of women men are dying to get in bed, but also classy enough that it would be realistic to think they could be society girls. You two are perfect for that.”
Jelly and I exchanged a quick glance again. Why did Carmen and Leo think of us to fit that bill? Why did they think we were perfect? I thought all of my roommates had those qualities in spades.
“Oh, and I want y’all for the entire week.”
Carmen let out a groan.
“What? You wouldn’t want my restaurant to suffer would you?” He turned his big, blue eyes on his older sister.
Leo and his twin brother Joaquin, who looked nothing like him but was equally hot, owned several restaurants in West Bay. Bahia Del Sol was their premier location. It had a rooftop bar that rivaled the Salazar clubs in popularity as a hot night spot for West Bay’s young society crowd.
“Don’t try those puppy dog eyes on me, little brother. I’m not sure I can let them off all week, Leo. These are two of my most popular hostesses. You said a couple of nights.” Carmen looked a little pissed.
Leo sauntered over, sat down beside me, and threw an arm around my shoulder.
He didn’t even try to hide that he was looking down my shirt.
“I just don’t think a couple of nights is enough for us to get to know each other properly.
What do you think, Daisy?” He leaned closer to me and stared deeply into my eyes.
I tried to hide a grin, but I couldn’t quite manage it. I knew how Leo was. We all did.
“Don’t even think about it,” Carmen said.
Leo groaned, stood up, and leaned dramatically against the wall. “Don’t tell me; she’s going in the auction. Can I fuck either of them?”
“Nope. They’re both going in the auction soon. Hands to yourself, asshole.”
I looked at Jelly in surprise, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes. She hadn’t told me anything about going into the auction soon.
Leo sighed. “You’re no fun at all.”
But then he turned from his sister and was suddenly all business in a way I hadn’t ever seen from Leo.
“Seriously, though,” he said, “y’all are just what I was looking for.
If you could start tonight, that would be great.
Just show up at five to get your uniforms. Wear your hair up and makeup the same way as you would here.
This will be for seven nights,” he continued, ignoring Carmen’s dramatic sigh, “and I’ll pay you what you would’ve made here, plus salary and tips from Bahia Del Sol. Sound fair?”
“I might have a date Saturday night. Could I get someone else to replace me…”
“Glory,” Leo said without missing a beat.
“Fuck that,” Carmen practically growled at him. “I can’t be down my three most requested hostesses on a Saturday night, Leo.”
He thought about it. “Abbi? Nora?”
Carmen sat back and looked like she was mentally going through shift assignments. “Abbi. She was going to be off on Saturday, anyway.” She looked at me. “Can you handle getting her to take the shift, Daze?”
I nodded and breathed an inward sigh of relief. I could still go on the date with Jack Lancaster.
Plus, the extra money I’d earn this week would come in very handy for me.
I exchanged a quick look with Jelly. She and I hadn’t known each other as long as Nia and I had, but we’d worked together at Sugar for the past few months and were roommates at Cinnamon House.
I’d been surprised at how quickly we’d gotten close despite our opposite personalities.
People said we balanced each other out; if I was too sweet, and she was too sour, then put us together and we equaled one perfect woman.