13. Dance with Me

Dance with Me

Dex...Two Weeks Later

“ Y ou really want to buy this place someday?” Nicole asks as soon as we’re at the door.

I smile a little as the bouncer doesn’t even check her ID this time. First, she’s with me, and that’s good enough for Ralph. Second, she’s been here twice with me, and the door people make a note of who comes and goes with me so they don’t hassle my friends. Felix hasn’t waited in line to get into a club since 1975, and Nicole won’t wait at any club in a twenty-block radius for the rest of her life.

“I sure do,” I say next to her ear.

I press my hand on her back and nudge her through the packed room. Looking around, I try to see it through her eyes. It’s loud and has the distinct disco club vibe of somehow being both dim and bright at the same time. It’s bright in places, and those places change with every turn of the ball as it casts light in a strobe effect through the room. I inhale deeply and wrinkle my nose at the scent of body odor, sweat, liquor, and the subtle undertone of sex that happens in the booths despite it being public. I’m used to the smell, so it doesn’t bother me, but I wonder if the smell of a bar disgusts her. To me, the particular club that has changed hands and names several times over the years has the same effect as some people probably have with coming home to their mother and smelling fresh laundry and homemade beef stew.

The hostess, Karma, approaches me as soon as she finds me. I’m not sure if it’s her real name, but that’s all we’ve ever called her. Nicole stiffens at my side as the beautiful woman who looks like a disco goddess licks her lips as she looks me up and down. Where Nicole is soft, Karma is hard with her cut cheekbones and over-arched eyebrows. Long, blonde hair that’s obviously ironed hangs past her ass, and her pink sequined leisure suit reflects the disco ball’s light so that I damn near have to shield my eyes.

“Usual booth, Mr. Holden?” Karma asks, and I silently plead with my eyes that she not come on to me or spill the beans that Karma’s joined Felix and me in a booth more than once. It’s been a while since that’s happened, and I worry she’ll roll the dice tonight.

“Yes, please. And drinks for us. My usual. Extra olives this time, though. Nicole will have a Shirley Temple. Keep them coming.” I hand her a small wad of ten-dollar bills, and she palms them. Thankfully, she doesn’t judge Nicole for the Shirley Temple.

“Your pill of choice tonight?”

Nicole turns to me with a quizzical expression. Fuck.

“No disco biscuits tonight,” I chuckle, trying to laugh it off as a ridiculous question. “I only indulge if Felix and I are celebrating and want to relax. Nic doesn’t do drugs, so please don’t bring them or offer when she’s with me.”

Karma looks over my shoulder like she suddenly realizes Felix isn’t on my arm. She turns her eyes back to Nicole, looking her up and down with an expression that I can practically read. She probably wonders if Nicole is my sister or cousin and certainly wonders why I’m with her. Nicole is stunning in the tight miniskirt I bought her when we were shopping the other day. She walked up to it and stared at the window until I insisted she let me get it for her. Even in a miniskirt and her new post earrings that shimmer in the light, she still doesn’t look like a woman who’s been hardened by liquor, drugs, and too many nights of dancing. There’s certainly a look of the club girls, and Nicole isn’t it. It’s one of the things I like about her. If I wanted a disco ho, I’d get a disco ho.

A look of disdain crosses Karma’s face, and I clench my fists in silent frustration for Nicole. “Nicole is my girlfriend. Felix is my partner. Everyone is aware of everything. I won’t explain further, but Nicole needs to be cared for like I’m with her at all times, even if I’m not. She has access to my booth and my bar tab every time she’s here. Same as Felix. Clear? ”

“Yes, Mr. Holden. Will there be anything else?”

I look around the packed club and find Daniel McCallister across the room, one arm around a blonde woman while a man of about Nicole’s age bobs his head over Daniel’s lap. Nicole follows my eyes, cringes, and I squeeze her hand.

“Send Daniel a line for me.” I hand Karma more cash before she nods and turns to leave.

“Is that guy getting sucked by that other man?” Nicole asks, waving her hand over my genital area as soon as Karma’s out of earshot.

I laugh at her inability to ask what he’s doing out loud. “Yep. That’s Daniel. He’s the current owner, and the person I have to butter up to come down in price if I ever want to own this place. That’s a year or so down the road after another location turns a profit, but I still like to make him happy when I can.” I turn to face her and slide my hand around her waist. “Like I said when we met, I don’t do cocaine, but I will certainly gift it if it greases the wheels to get this club. I can stop if it upsets you. Do you want me to stop the ludes too? Because I will if it bothers you. I’m getting too old for this shit anyway.”

Nicole looks at the disco ball as another song comes on, but she ignores my question. I know this is still a different world for her, so I quietly lead her to the booth I usually sit in if I want to have a simple drink and watch the dance floor.

“You really need to win, huh?” she asks once we’re seated.

I bite my lip and scowl. “Win what? ”

“The contest,” Nicole says, and I quickly nod, realizing what she means. “You need to win so you can get your second location and eventually buy the disco.”

I look around the club. It feels like home and is no more impressive to me now than my own living room. “I’ve wanted to own it since I first came here. That was back when I hadn’t met Felix yet. A long time ago.”

“Does Daniel know you want it?” she asks, leaning in so I can hear her over the loud music.

I nod and smile as a waitress sets our drinks down before sashaying over to Daniel to take him his cocaine. The waitress points over to Nicole and me, and Daniel raises his glass in cheers. I raise my martini back at him before looking at Nicole. “Yes, he knows. He’s biding his time until he hits retirement age. We talked about it a few months ago. He’s got a couple more years here and then wants to buy a boat and a house on Lake Geneva. There’s a line for people who want to buy it, but I think he likes me the best. I just want to have enough money in the bank to pull the trigger when he says he’s ready to sell. As long as I grease him with coke and send women over, he’ll give me the first swing at a bid. I know him well enough for that.”

She looks down and takes a drink of her Shirley Temple. “That’s a lot of pressure. Are you sure I’m the right person for the job?”

I lean forward as far as I can get with the table between us and tilt her chin to look me in the eye. “It’s too late now if you’re the wrong girl. I can’t train someone else in such a short time, and you’re doing wonderfully.” My eyes flick to the dance floor as “Disco Inferno” comes over the sound system. “Do you want to prove it?”

Nicole nearly sputters her drink. “Prove it?”

“Dance with me.”

“Now? Here?”

“We’re at a disco bar, Nicole.”

She rolls her shoulders. “But we just got our drinks. Who’s going to watch them?”

I look around the crowded room and spot a bouncer I know, catching his eye. I point to our drinks and then at the dance floor in a silent signal to make sure no one fucks with them. “Nobody will touch our drinks or the booth. Trust me.”

“Are you sure you don’t already own a part of this place?”

I laugh and slide out of the booth to offer her my hand. “Not yet, baby, but you’re going to help me make that happen someday.”

She puts her hand in mine, and I kiss the top of it, a move so old-fashioned that it looks like it could have come straight out of a silent movie. We walk together to the dance floor, where the crowd parts like it usually does when it sees me. Greetings by my name fill my ears, and hands are held up for me to high-five.

Nicole looks like she did the first couple of times she was here with me. Uneasy. The first time she was here was when we met. The second time, she sat at the bar on a thinned-out Tuesday and watched me work the room before we went to dinner. That was weeks ago, though .

This is the first time on the dance floor with me since the night we met, and I’m going to show her off.

“Are we going through our routine?” she asks as she stands so close to me her breasts are squeezed against my arm. Not that I mind. I quite enjoy her breasts anywhere on me that she wants to put them.

“No, sweetheart. We’re just going to have fun.” I let go of her hand and face her as people make room for us on the dance floor. They know me and know to give me space. “Have fun with me. Remember what I told you the night we met?”

“That you like virgins?” she teases.

I lean forward until I’m next to her ear before placing a single kiss on the lobe. “That too. But I was referring to disco being something you take your time with. It’s just for fun, outside of a very serious contest in a few weeks.”

She closes her eyes, willing herself to start moving, and I wrap one arm around her waist. “Dance with me, Nicole.”

Her eyes stay closed as she rocks into the music, letting me lead her. Nobody cares that her eyes are closed. Most of the people in the club have hazy, glassy, or heavy-lidded eyes from drugs every night anyway, but Nicole’s eyes are closed in rapture.

I pull her closer as the tempo picks up, and we gyrate together. She bucks awkwardly a few times but soon matches my rhythm. I don’t shake it up like I would if I danced with Felix or another experienced disco dancer. I do a few movements Nicole can catch, and then we move around the dance floor, a blur of shoulders, legs, and hips. The lighting changes colors from blues to reds and then to yellows over us, and the colors bounce off Nicole’s skin, giving her the appearance of a woman who belongs here – belongs with me.

I lean forward and find her mouth with my own as the song changes to “Take a Chance on Me,” and the song is fitting since I wish Felix was here to listen to the message, only to take a chance on Nicole.

Nicole and I do some twists and passes under my arms. I dip her into the rhythm, and by the end of the song, she’s laughing like it’s great fun. People look her up and down appreciatively, and when some other men get close, I pull her close to me as our chests shimmy together to the music. I may be willing to share her with Felix because he’s also the love of my life, but my jealous side rears its head when other men look at her.

Mine.

Mine and Felix’s if he’ll ever come around and admit she’d be good for him.

I want to scream it – point at her and make sure everyone in this damn club knows she’s with me.

I turn her once more and let her twist under my arms as she laughs. When she’s righted again, she wraps her arms around my trunk and runs her hand up my back. “Will it always be like this?” she asks, disco lights dancing in her eyes.

I push the bridge of my nose against hers. “I’ll make it like this as long as you let me, Nicole.”

We don’t go back to the booth. Screw the drinks. Screw everything, including the nosy eyes as I lead Nicole to the side of the bar and down the hall to the restrooms. At the T in the hall before the bathrooms, I pull her into a cove only the barbacks use and gently push her against the old, brick wall, burying my face in her neck.

She laughs and pushes against me as I nip and lick at the skin of her throat. “Someone will see.”

I run my hands up her thigh and under her skirt. “Nobody will care. It’s novel we’re attempting to hide it.”

“Here?”

I nod and nip at her chin. “Here. Just you and me. Against this wall like the big girls do it, Nicole. Is that why you wore this little skirt? For me to lift it up, slide my hands in those panties, and take you the way I know you now like right here in the club?”

She smiles against my cheek. “How do you know I like it?”

“The sounds you made when I made you come. When Felix fucked you hard. All you have to do is lift your leg or wrap them around me and let me make you feel good again.”

Her chest heaves, and she buries her face in my neck, inhaling my scent deeply as I work her skirt up with my hands. I run a single finger over her basic, white panties with a single pink rose embroidered at the waistband. When I get to the rose, I twirl it in my fingers. “So innocent still, even though Felix and I took you again and again that night. So different from what I’ve had before. Perfection.”

She hums into my skin, and then those gloriously long legs wrap around my waist as I push aside the embroidered underwear, close my eyes, and sink into the woman I want as much as I want Felix.