Page 84 of Dance of Devils
She smiles a completely fake smile. “Oh, Ilovegirls, baby.”
I exhale slowly, pull out my money clip, and peel off five hundreds.
“That,” I sigh, pressing the money into her palm, “is for you to drop the act.”
She smiles coyly. “What act, baby?”
I roll my eyes. “Fair enough.”
I hand her another three hundred and arch a brow. “I appreciate shrewd negotiating, but that's as high as I'm prepared to go.”
She flashes a much more genuine smile, takes the cash, and tucks it into her top.
“So,” she says, her voice instantly losing the overly porny huskiness. “What are we talking about?”
“How about we start with your name.”
“Jade.”
I hold out another hundred.
“Your real name.”
“Stacy—”
She frowns when I yank the bill back, giving her a look.
“…Caroline,” she finally mumbles.
That actually sounds like the truth. I hand her the money.
“Are you friendly with the other girls who work here, Caroline?”
She shrugs. “Friendly enough, I guess.”
“So friendly that you’ll keep it to yourself if I ask you about a specific girl?”
She smirks and glances significantly at my pocket with the money clip. Fuck, she’s good at this.
I hand her another two hundred and arch my brow. “How are we feeling about keeping secretsnow?”
“Pretty fucking great!” She smiles widely at me. “But I’m not putting any of the girls in danger. If I get creep vibes?—”
“Do Igivecreep vibes?”
She eyes me judiciously. “Notyet. But you could be a murderer, for all I know.”
And you could be righter than you want to know.
“I’m curious about one of the cocktail waitresses who works here. Goes by the name Cherry.”
Caroline smiles. “Oh, Cherry Pie.” She shrugs. “I don’t care what some of the girls say, I like her.”
I stiffen. “What do some of the girls say?”
She sighs. “They’re just jealous because the girl can actually dance. Like, I think she does ballet or something, too?” She shrugs again. “I don’t know, but she’s a sweetie.” She makes a face. “Honestly, a littletoosweet for this place.”
Something she just said makes me go still.
