The Billionaire’s Stripper

CHAPTER TWO

At the end of the day, Quinn Anderson and that stubborn voice in my head won this round.

And if I was being fair, I'd say it was expected. They always won.

That very night, my best friend was the most excited person in the world and she personally suggested that she would be the one to find me a 'fit, even after I had assured her a hundred times that I was most likely a better person to do that for the both of us.

Well, she didn't do such a horrid job and I didn't look like such a mess at the end of it all. Needless to say, I had not gone all out with my looks in a while, considering that I had spent more time sulking about the fact that I was broke as a bat, and it felt good to get out there, have fun, and look incredible while at it.

The Highway Club was a different ball game entirely.

Of course, I had never been able to come in here before now. According to Quinn, Highway was not like the regular clubs in LA. Everyone who came here had to make their reservations before hand and with the cost that she had told me that the reservations were, it was pretty easy to understand that we couldn't be able to afford it even in our dreams. Fortunately for us, we had gotten invitations to meet some Annika Hallo, who Quinn said was one of the major owners of the club and the woman in charge of the escort business.

That was the only reason we were allowed in.

Stepping into the club seemed like I was stepping into another universe entirely. The first thing I was able to note was that there were so many people. Too many of them. Different kinds and sets of people. And they all spread across the length and width of the interiors of the club that seemed to have no limit or end. This place was an upgrade to all the other clubs that I had ever been in all my life – with the fancy couches, wine decks, exotic bars and counters, and basically everything the place was made up of that looked like it dropped off heaven.

Quinn was yelling something to me in excitement but I could not hear a word she was saying over the loud music that blasted everywhere. Music that was so loud that it nearly rendered me deaf. It was literally reverberating against the grounds beneath us. The lighting of the entire place was beyond notable too. There were so many lights – Multiple lights that illuminated round the entire place with an impeccable disco effect.

As much as this place was nice, I couldn't help but feel like this is not where I was meant to be.

I knew that I had no other choice and I comforted myself with the reasoning that I was only doing this so I could earn a means of leaving for myself. Still, it was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I was actually giving in to this and it made me feel somewhat bad.

Quinn may have noticed. Maybe that was why she would not stop doing everything in her power to make me smile. It was barely even minutes into stepping into Highway Club and she would not stop fawning over how I looked and if there was one more thing that I loved about her, it was the fact that she was my biggest fan. It was exhilarating. She had suggested I wore black, but I insisted that red was a better suiting colour since it was a contrasting colour to my sharp green eyes and it would be more eye catching, and she easily agreed with me. I ended up wearing a red body con off shoulder crop top and a matching red body con shirt that was a bit above my knee and hugging the frame of my body enough to showcase my hourglass silhouette. I chose the smoky eye effect look and my long, curly blonde hair fell down my back and added a poise and grace to my sinfully provocative appearance, and Quinn would not stop telling me about how good I looked.

For some reason, Quinn thought I was so gorgeous. I mean, I knew I didn't look too shabby, but I wouldn't exactly place myself as high as Quinn did. I was presentable enough, I would say. Quinn was the real jaw dropper. And she did it so effortlessly that anyone would have been green with absolute envy. She had her brown and wavy hair packed up in a classic bun that popped her almond shaped brown eyes and made the eyeliner she had lined her lid with give her entire face an 'Ariana Grande' type of look – that was, if Ariana Grande's cheeks were slightly as chubby as Quinn's'. She wore a dark tube top that exposed her cleavage and the shortest shorts that would make anyone turn their heads twice when they looked at how much a*s the woman packed in there, and with tan skin that shone a pretty gold colour on her under the majorly orange lights that shone around the club, she looked like a goddess.

"Annika is willing to give us the job," Quinn told me as she sat with me at the lounge of the club, passing me a glass of Hennessy while at it. "One look at you and she needed nothing more. Girl, she says you have the it factor!" Quinn was so excited that I laughed hard.

"Quinn, it's just an escort job, not a game show," I joked.

"The point, girl, is that you, Rachel Kelly, are stunning," Quinn teased me.

"And so are you," I felt I needed to remind her.

She probably did not pay attention to what I said because she barely even reacted to what I said. She easily discarded it.

"I assure you that this is the turning point of our lives," She said to me, her adorable eyes widening with hope that was almost pitiful, and with a bright sharp smile she added, "And we got this because of you, Rachel!"

I had not a chance to say nothing more before Quinn had hopped on her feet and was away in no time, saying something about meeting Annika but failing to elaborate before she disappeared from my sight without proper warning.

I sighed and waited for her. I sat there and waited for Quinn to come back and let me know what I had to do here. All I was in for was the money.

I looked around me to all the bodies that were all around me and for some reason I wasn't sure of, I critically observed everyone and shook my head at them all.

It was the perfect example of an aesthetic night life in the club, with the dozens of bodies around the place swaying to music, drinking away like their lives depended on that last bottle of champagne, flirting with right about everything that moved and syncing in tune with all the sin in the air.

One could say they were having fun.

But to me, they all looked empty.

They looked like they had nothing much to hold onto in life, and the longer I stared at them, the sadder the imagery got.

But, who was I to judge? I was here too with them. That only meant that I was no different. I was just like the rest of them.

"Well, what's a beautiful girl like you doing sitting here all alone?"

I snapped out of my reverie on hearing the strange voice from beside me and I hadn't even turned fully to get a proper look at the owner of the voice before he was apparently already making himself comfortable on the same couch with me.

"Hey – " I wanted to say, but my words died down in my throat before I could even let out the word.

Well, damn.

I mean, I didn't know what I was expecting to see when I turned to look at the man, but I was well certain that this was not it.

"Wanna get a drink?" He said to me, the corner of his lips lifted in a smirk at me, "Or you wanna sit here and talk instead? We'll do it your way, beautiful."

I was not sure which one appalled me more....

Was it the fact that this man reeked off all sorts of alcohol and profanities?

Or, was it the plain fact that he looked deadass like he was old enough to be my father?

There was no argument that he was nothing less than 60. The grey on the little hair that was remaining on his bald head and the wrinkles on his face were clear enough for me or anyone to have easily been able to tell. Plus, who wore a tuxedo to a nightlife club?

I would give it to him though. He had a message to tell and he sure was giving it off clearly with that million dollar looking attire that he wore. It was clear as day to me and right about anyone that would have looked at him once; the man was loaded. He was f*****g loaded.

Quinn had already said that I had gotten the job, right? So, then, I would like to guess that my work starts here.

Having that in mind, I got into character. Sat up straight and straightened my spine. And feigned a serious, confident look that made it clear that I was not here to play.

Sipping regally from my glass of Hennessy, I said to him, "I am not here to talk."

He easily got the hint. Grandpa was smart and I would give it to him. In less than a heartbeat, he was already taking me home and wasting no time starting off with me like the horny bastard that he clearly was.

If I said that any of this was even in the slightest, comfortable with me, I would be the world's biggest liar. I absolutely hated that I had to do this. I loathed it, in fact. And as this p*****t old man kissed me all over my face and neck, I had to summon everything in me to not barf in his face. Irritation was an understatement. I wanted to stop at every second I got. God knows I really did.

"It would only take one night," That voice in my head reminded me, "One night and you will have more than enough money to last for a month."

Just one night.

He grasped onto my shirt with his fingers and he was a second away from pulling it right over my head when sirens started to blow over in my head at the dawn and realization of what I was really getting myself into.

At that moment, that was when it occurred to me –

"Stop," I said.

– I did not want to do this.

"Stop," I repeated, but the man either seemed to be deaf or unwilling to adhere. He held onto the hem of my dress strongly and he kept kissing and sucking on my neck, his pressure intensified by the second.

"I said stop!" I shouted at him, but he got more aggressive this time around, saying nothing as he held onto me harder, in a more maddening urge to have his way with me, trying to rip my shirt with his hands as I struggled to free myself from the f*****g r****t.

"GET OFF ME, YOU ASSHOLE!" I pushed him away with everything I got and jumped off from the bed in a hurry.

Without saying much words or altercating with him for the fear of what would happen next, I ran out of the hotel room as fast as I could and without a second thought, and all the way, there was one thought on my mind.

To hell with this escort job.