 by Nikki Ash.jpg)
Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
From the first time I saw Sienna Bardot dancing on my stage, I was mesmerized. But after booking a private room and buying her time, I want more than just one night.
She thinks by telling me that she’s waiting for love and marriage it’ll scare me away, but what she doesn’t understand is that I plan to make her mine in every way.
When her life is threatened, I would do anything to keep her safe—even if that means forcing her to take my last name.
Sienna
Micah Alexander is a man used to getting what he wants, and I’m a woman used to having my choices taken away.
The sexy club owner thinks he can charm me, but it’s never going to happen. I’m dancing my way to a better life—one that doesn’t include making the same mistakes my mom did.
But when her sins come back to haunt me yet again, I have no choice but to turn to the only man who can save me—and hope letting him in doesn’t put my heart in further danger.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Don’t let the risk of falling keep you from flying.
-Unknown
CHAPTER ONE
SIENNA
“Eliza Bardot, we need to go now!” I yell from the doorway, checking my phone, again. When I don’t hear anything back, I shout in annoyance, “I’m going to be late for my shift. We need—”
“I’m right here.” My sister huffs. “No need to use my government name. I was trying to find something to eat. I’m starved and today was pizza day at school.” She mock gags. “There’s nothing in the fridge,” she whines, her sad eyes meeting mine. Guilt wraps around my heart and chokes it because she’s right—the fridge is empty. It’s been rough the past couple of months, ever since I lost my job. The place I was working at shut down, but thankfully, I’ve found another one that pays much better. I just need to get caught up and then we’ll be okay again.
“I know,” I tell her, softening my voice, since none of this is her fault. “But if we’re late, I’m going to get fired, and then we won’t have any money to eat. I’ll get Ricco to make you something in the kitchen once we get to the club.”
She grabs her backpack so she can do her homework while I perform, and we take off in my old beater of a car. It’s not worth the insurance I’m required to pay on it, but it’s a necessity since we live on the west side of Tesoro, in Booker Park, and I work on the east side, where the buses don’t run.
“You’re late!” Lincoln—my boss and the owner of Wanderlust—yells as I fly down the hallway past his office.
“I’m sorry,” I shout back, not bothering to say it won’t happen again. In the world I live in, it’s better not to make promises I can’t keep.
When I open the door to the dressing room, I’m hit with various smells, from flowery perfume to hair spray, to the burning of hair, as more than two dozen scantily clad women bustle around half-naked, getting ready for tonight.
“Sienna, you’re on in five,” Marina says, handing me my outfit for my performance.
“Can you do me a huge favor and order Ellie something to eat from the kitchen?” I pull out a twenty and try to hand it to her, but she waves me off.
“Go change. I’ll get her fed.”
“Thank you.” I kiss her wrinkled cheek, grateful to have people in our life who care. Marina has been working in the entertainment industry since before I was even born. It’s been years since she’s been on stage, but she loves her job as house mom, and during the day, she teaches pole dance classes. She never had any children of her own, but she treats all of us like we’re hers, including my little sister.
After changing into my outfit, I double check my makeup, and then go in search of Ellie.
She’s where she always is—on the couch with her books spread out across the table in front of her.
“I gotta get on stage. Behave,” I tell her, leaning down and giving her a kiss on the top of her head.
I pull back in time to see her dramatically roll her eyes. “I always behave, Mom.” She glances up at me, her innocent green eyes meeting my blue, and my heart surges with love and protectiveness for my fourteen-year-old sister, wishing she were born into a different world, to a different mom, one who was capable of loving her. Then she wouldn’t have to hang out at a gentleman’s club all night while her older sister strips and gives strange men private shows and dances.
“I know you do,” I tell her, trying not to choke up at the fact that my sister deserves better than this life, better than the hand she’s been dealt. Despite the odds against her—geography and circumstance—my sister is well behaved. She gets straight A’s, spends her free time at the dance studio, and never gets into any trouble. Most would use their crappy upbringing as an excuse to lash out and seek attention, but instead, it only makes Ellie that much more determined to succeed.
“Closer” by Nine Inch Nails starts, and I saunter onto the stage, mentally preparing for what I have to do. The second my hands land on the pole, I’m transported out of the club and into Lola’s Dance Studio, where Ellie and I have studied dance our entire lives.
Instead of being dressed in black leather and lace with fuck me stilettos, I imagine I’m wearing a pretty pink leotard with a fluffy tutu and pointe shoes, my hair up in a tight bun.
Instead of dancing for men who are imagining all the ways they would fuck me if I let them, I pretend I’m at a dance recital or auditioning for a spot in a ballet company, performing for an audience who values my moves and grace.