Chapter 31
C H A P T E R
AFTER FINISHING HER LAST LAP DANCE OF THE NIGHT, Honey walked through the double doors to the back, stretching her arms that were sore from being on the pole all night.
She was tired and ready to change her clothes, so she could pick up her pay and go.
While walking down the hall, she noticed Allison heading in her direction.
“Tired?” Allison asked with a sympathetic look.
“Worn out,” Honey replied, sighing.
“I’m about to go pick up my pay. You coming?
” Allison asked, and Honey thought about it for a second.
Out of habit, she usually changed before she picked up her pay because it was easier to get out of the door.
But that was before she had drunken sex with Nikos two days ago and before he claimed they still needed to talk.
Although she had already made it clear what her stance was on the situation, it would be easier to pick up her pay and go if someone else was there with her.
She had a feeling if she went by herself, it wouldn’t be that easy to leave.
“Okay,” Honey said, and Allison smiled as they headed to Antonis’s office which had now become Nikos’s in his absence.
“I can’t wait to see Nikos,” Allison gushed as she fixed her hair, and though she no longer wore exotic clothing, she still looked very sexy, wearing a tight short pink dress with heels.
Honey arched a brow with curiosity and suspicion.
“What? Are you going out on a date with Nikos?” Honey asked, making sure to keep the irritation out of her voice. She wasn’t annoyed out of jealousy, but the fact that Nikos wouldn’t accept that she wanted to forget that night when he was still clearly messing with other girls at the club.
She ignored the pinch of annoyance in her chest at the thought. She should have expected this from Nikos. He was a playboy through and through, and she had let alcohol and attraction be the reason to become another notch on his belt. It hurt her pride more than anything.
“No,” Allison said with a pout. “But hopefully, when he sees this dress, we will.”
When Allison saw her frown, she explained herself as they walked upstairs to the second floor.
“Nikos says that now that he’s running the club he wants to be ‘professional’,” Allison said sarcastically. “I was really upset at first, especially when he started being strict with the rules.”
“I told him to be,” Honey admitted, and Allison gasped.
“It was you,” Allison said, accusingly, and Honey rolled her eyes.
“Friend or not. No one will mess up my bag,” Honey said.
“I guess you’re right. The schedule was chaotic,” Allison admitted before shaking her head. “But, anyway. I was really upset because I thought he was just trying to break it off with me because the new girls were coming in, but he hasn’t done anything with them.”
Honey’s eyes widened with shock.
“I know, right?” Allison said, laughing seeing her surprised face. “I thought I would have to fight more than Brittany, but he hasn’t done anything with them and has been strictly professional with them. He hasn’t even done anything with Sweetie either.”
“He hasn’t messed with any of the girls?” Honey asked with slight disbelief, but now that she thought about it, Nikos was really busy all of the time. He wouldn’t have had much time to mess with the girls anyway.
“Nope.”
“That’s good then,” Honey said. “At least, they’re no more catfights. You and Brittany nearly made me poke my eye out.”
Allison laughed sheepishly. “That’s true. But it still sucks, though. I don’t mind that he’s not messing with the other girls. To be honest, I couldn’t stand it. But I wished he hadn’t cut it off with me, you know.”
“He really has a policy of not messing with the dancers?” Honey asked suspiciously.
She would have believed it a few days ago, but after what happened, she couldn’t because that night was proof that it wasn’t true, and Nikos’s actions after the deed also proved it.
While she had wanted to keep it as a simple drunken night, he had made it pretty clear that he wanted it to be more; not that she would allow it to be.
“Yep, but I hope I can make him break it,” Allison said as they reached the office door, and she knocked.
“Come in.”
While Allison eagerly stepped inside, Honey hesitated momentarily, suddenly feeling anxious.
She had already told herself how she would handle the situation if Nikos brought that night up again, so she didn’t know why she was feeling this way.
She quickly swatted that feeling down and stepped into the room, prepared to keep her answer the same.
“Nikos,” Allison said, greeting him cheerfully.
“Allison,” Nikos said as he looked up from his work. He sat behind his desk, wearing a black suit that looked good on him, and yet it was still slightly jarring. She had never seen him dressed so professionally before. But she had to admit begrudgingly that he looked very handsome.
He gave Allison a small smile, one that held familiarity. Honey watched that interaction curiously, but it wasn’t long before Nikos’s blue eyes fell on her, and the smile on his face brightened by a million watts causing her heart to race.
“Honey,” he said, and the way he said her name made her pause because it was spoken with even more familiarity and reminded her of how he whispered it in her ear while fucking her into oblivion.
“Nikos,” Honey said plainly, keeping her tone neutral. She wanted Nikos to know that her mind had not changed, and she was unaffected by what happened the other night, even if the latter were untrue. But Nikos only seemed amused by her dry tone.
“We came to pick up our pay,” Allison announced, trying to grab Nikos’s attention. Nikos nodded, his eyes lingering on her for a second longer before he sifted through his drawer and pulled out two envelopes.
“You did good today,” Nikos told Allison as he passed her an envelope.
“You saw me?” Allison asked, her smile bright.
“No. But you always do good,” Nikos said, winking at Allison.
Honey nearly rolled her eyes. He couldn’t be paid to stop flirting.
But just as her eyes went up to roll, Nikos’s eyes fell on her again.
She arched a brow, and he smirked, causing her to frown, but their exchange of expressions stopped when Allison spoke again.
“You should have seen me perform,” Allison pouted. “But what are you doing tonight?”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah. Are you busy?”
Honey took this as an opportunity to make her escape. She stepped closer to the desk to grab her envelope that Nikos placed on the desk, but the moment her fingertips grazed it, Nikos grabbed it himself.
“Sorry, Allison, but I am busy tonight,” Nikos said without looking at Allison as he only kept his eyes on her. But Allison didn’t seem to notice as she pouted.
“You’re always so busy. You can’t even go out on a date with me.”
“It wouldn’t be appropriate,” Nikos said as he stood from his seat. “I don’t want there to be any question of favoritism.”
“But I—”
“Can I get my pay?” Honey asked, interrupting their conversation.
She held her hand out, hoping Nikos would stop playing these childish games that were probably entertaining to him but weren’t for her.
She had better things to do than sit here and listen to Allison throw her pride away, like getting back to her cozy bed.
“You will,” Nikos said, still holding the envelope in his hand, out of her reach. “But I must speak to you first.”
“Go ahead,” Honey said, coyly. She had no problem if he wanted to speak to her while someone else was there. It would be entertaining to see him try to explain why he wanted something more with her when he just told Allison that it would be inappropriate to go on a date with her.
Nikos’s blue eyes brightened with amusement. “Privately.”
“Privately,” Allison grumbled with a small pout, looking like she regretted inviting her along to come pick up her pay. Honey was regretting it too, wondering if she should have waited for Nikos to leave the club first and just asked Georgios for her pay instead.
“I don’t have much time to speak—”
“I need to speak to you before you go.”
It was spoken with the tone an employer had with their employee when they did something wrong, and it didn’t help that Nikos looked the most serious she had ever seen him.
For a moment, she almost felt like she had done something wrong.
Even Allison looked shocked as her eyes frantically darted back and forth between them two before she cleared her throat.
“Well, I have to be off,” Allison hurried out, and Honey whipped her head to see her friend scurrying off for the door.
“Allison,” Honey called, but Allison only gave her an apologetic look, mouthing, ‘Good luck’ before leaving the room.
Allison probably thought she was going to be reprimanded for something.
Honey turned back to give Nikos an accusing glare only to see that the serious look was gone now and replaced with a sly smile.
“Ugh,” she said, annoyed that she was in a room alone with him, which was the last thing she had wanted.
But realizing there was nothing she could do about it, she decided to face this situation head-on.
There was no point in avoiding him when they would continue to work together for the foreseeable future.
She would give it to Nikos straight like hard liquor.
“No,” Honey said bluntly.
“No to what?” Nikos asked with his sly smile still there despite her clear rejection.
“You know what,” Honey said. “To the private conversation that you didn’t want Allison to hear about, and I guess the rest of the girls, for that matter.”
“We haven’t even had the discussion yet,” Nikos argued with a laugh, and Honey looked at him exasperated, annoyed that he clearly wasn’t taking her rejection seriously.
“There is no need to because the answer will be no to whatever you say.”
“A pay raise?” Nikos said, arching an amused brow, and Honey glared at him.