Page 148 of Ewan

With that, he gives me a short nod, turns his back to me, and swaggers down the corridor.

One of the girls catches me stare at his broad shoulders.

“He is quite a catch,” she says, smiling. “I wish he was our boss.”

Her last words pull me out of my reverie.

“What do you mean?” I ask as we both walk into the backstage room.

She is already wearing her glittery costume since she is scheduled to dance in a few minutes.

“Have you seen the room outside?” she goes on, glancing at me over her shoulder. “They’re quiet and minding their own business,” she murmurs, propping her foot against a chair and fastening her shoe around her ankle. “It was a zoo last night. They were all drunk and crazy. They snatched up one of the newer dancers, and we barely got her out of their hands.”

I fall into my seat, looking at her, wordless.

She straightens up.

“Is that why our boss is gone?”

“He’s not gone. He said he had a family emergency and called in a little earlier. That’s a lie. He has no family.”

“That explains a lot,” I mutter.

She laughs.

“Yeah. Who wants a crazy dude like him to be their family? I’m glad he took the day off. Tonight will be better without him. He guy stresses me out.”

Another girl walks in, wearing a bra and a thong.

“It’s full,” she announces.

The first girl turns to her.

“When that happened?”

“It just did. A bunch of cars pulled in.”

My heart sinks. I hope this doesn’t have to do with us. I thought Ewan’s men were already inside. I thought I recognized a few of them from the restaurant.

“They must come from a party. It’s men and women,” the dancer says, and I sigh, relieved. “It’s gonna be good for us. Tips will be great,” she says, and I share her excitement, at the same time, sad for some reason.

Pushing that weird feeling away, I pull my stuff out, getting ready to change and wear my favorite catsuit.

SCARLETT

Nothing unusual happened this evening.

Things have been all right.

The girls were right. Tips were good, the audience behaved, and Ewan did his best not to snap at anyone.

I don’t think anyone even considered misbehaving tonight.

The atmosphere wasn’t conducive to acting stupid.

Ewan sat at the bar, having a great view of the room, the tables, and the men in the front row.

I don’t know what it was about him sitting there and occasionally talking to the men having drinks at a couple of tables, but no one felt testy enough to start up some trouble.

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