I turned my head and gaped at her.
Not because I disagreed with what she’d just said—she was spot on with the Jamie thing—but because that had to be the strangest introduction I’d ever received.
Quinn shrugged, catching my reaction, then started pointing around the table. “This is Chante, Jen, and Andrea.”
“Hey,” I greeted each of them, lifting my hand in a wave.
They were all in short, tight dresses and, by the looks of them, spent ample time on makeup and hair. The three were young like Quinn and seemed to be just as friendly by the way they were smiling at me.
“What’s up?” Chante said.
“Nice to meet you,” Jen offered.
“Hey,” Andrea threw out last. “That was really cool what you did for Quinn. Thanks for looking out for her.”
“Of course.” I gave Andrea a smile, then slid it to Quinn. “Here. I didn’t know what you liked, so I just got you an Amazon gift card. You can pretty much buy anything from there,” I told her, pulling the small card out of my pocket and handing it over. “Happy birthday.”
“Oh, my God! You didn’t have to do that!” She threw her arms around me again and squeezed me tight. “Thank you. You’re so cool,” she whispered next to my ear.
I hugged her back and wore an even brighter smile when she pulled away, letting her see it. I really liked Quinn.
She did a little dance with her gift card before reclaiming her seat.
I glanced around the room and smoothed out the ends of my hair, not looking for anyone in particular.
“Jamie not here yet?” I asked.
I was surprised he hadn’t greeted me out in the parking lot. Figured he’d be watching out.
“Oh, he’s here.” Quinn laughed, drawing my head around. She waved her hand in the air dismissively. “I paid for him to get a private lap dance just before you walked in. He was killing the vibe.”
“He was taking all the attention away from you, you mean?” Chante asked playfully, knocking her shoulder into Quinn’s.
“Yeah. Like I said. Killing the vibe,” Quinn returned.
The girls kept up the banter, Jen and Andrea joining in, as I looked behind me in the direction of the VIP area and the big scary man guarding it.
A private lap dance, huh?
I smiled. Perfect.
Then I turned back to the girls and declared, “I’ll be back. I think the birthday girl needs some attention.”
Quinn’s eyes started shining bright.
“Oh, Lord,” Jen laughed.
“Yes, she absolutely needs some attention,” Quinn said, wiggling in her seat. “All the attention!”
“You already have it,” Andrea claimed. “What’s new?”
I dug some cash out of my wallet and then sat my purse on the table, asking, “Watch this for me?”
The girls nodded.
Then I spun around and padded across the room, stepping up to the big scary VIP guard.
“Hey,” I said, smiling. “My husband is back there and he’s got three kids at home and one baking in the oven. Do you mind if I go remind him of that?”
The bouncer’s mouth slowly stretched into a grin, revealing a gold tooth among the rest.
“You need help escortin’ him out, let me know,” he said before stepping aside.
“Thank you. I’ll do that.”
Lifting back the curtain, I moved into a separate hallway that had private rooms on either side. Each door had a small window on it to see in, a security feature, I was guessing, and I peered in those windows as I searched for Jamie.
Men were sitting on long, black benches while topless women danced in their laps. I was willing to bet Jamie wasn’t far into his private show. If he got back here right before I arrived, his was probably just starting.
I was at my fourth door when movement caught my eye and turned my head.
A woman wearing a sequined bikini and spiked see-through heels was walking down the hallway in my direction. She stopped in front of a door, looked in the window, and reached to turn the knob.
“Wait,” I whispered, waving my hands and grabbing her attention. I ran up to her and peeked in the window.
Jamie was sitting on a bench seat with his arms over the back, stretched out and waiting.
Yes!
I turned to the woman. “Hi,” I said, keeping my voice down in case he could hear. “How much do you get paid for these private shows?”
She popped her hot pink gum.
“Three hundred.”
“You already get paid?”
“Honey, of course.” She laughed a little and waved her hand in the air. “I don’t trust some of these guys to buy the cow after getting the milk.”
I tilted my head. Huh. Not sure that was how that expression was supposed to be used, but okay.
“I’ll pay you five on top of the three you already got to let me go in there instead. How’s that sound?” I held out the bills I was offering.
Her eyes jumped between my face and the money, then stayed on the money when she grabbed it.
“Sounds like he’s all yours,” she said, balling the cash up in her hand.
“Oh, and there is a table of girls out there, one of them has short, spiky pink hair.” I handed her another hundred. “Give her some love, will you? It’s her birthday.”
The women flashed me a smile as she tucked the bills into her bra, saying, “You got it, honey.” Then she stepped away and headed back out into the main area, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor.