Love Cruise

A pursuit

FOUR

Anabel

It was another night at the club. I danced my heart out as usual. I went out to the back of the club when I was done instead of going to the dressing room.

There was a possibility that Sean would be there waiting for me and I didn't want to run into him. I didn't want to deal with him at this moment. I was tired and still feeling raw from the meeting I had with Quinn.

I didn't think that the black man was at the club tonight and I was glad that he wasn't. I didn't think I could deal with him looking at me the way he did and have the girls teasing me about how hot he was.

I was burning hot with the troubles I had in my head already and wasn't in the mood to deal with distractions that I didn't ask for.

The night air was cool on my body and it was a caress on my sweaty skin. I wrapped my hands around myself, feeling the chill in the air settling in my bones.

I wished I had a cigarette in my fingers - the heat from it would have warmed me up a bit - but I didn't smoke.

It was bad enough that some people were crazy enough to assume that I was a bad girl because I worked at a strip club. I didn't need to add the image of me smoking in their heads.

I passed two of the waitresses talking outside in the open and walked past them. Everyone needed a breather once in a while and I wasn't about to blame them that they had left their posts to be outside and talking.

If that was what they wanted to do and they knew how to avoid any of the managers from catching them, then so be it. I wasn't a snitch and wasn't going to tell on them.

"Good evening, Anabel." They greeted as I passed them.

I waved at them and moved on. I didn't want to be sucked into their conversation. They were probably talking about someone and I wasn't interested in some workplace gossip. I didn't think that I could tolerate it if I was the subject of discussion and that was what would happen if I stayed there and gossiped with them.

I wouldn't have any right to be angry if I heard any nasty gossip about me. This was a strip club and rumors were bound to be as nasty as they come.

I had my usual corner and moved towards it. I didn't want any distractions and that was where I was going to get it. Not many people knew that place and I could have some alone time before calling it a night and heading home.

I inhaled and let out my breath slowly as I sat down in my usual corner. My phone rang, jarring me from the peaceful silence that I felt.

I smiled as I saw the caller ID.

What a surprise. I thought that she would be at the church already as she had told me that she would be going for a vigil and that was why I didn't want to go home yet. I didn't want to stay home alone. I wondered how my grandmother stayed home alone.

I felt someone close to me and gasped when I turned and saw him. It was the stranger who had been staring at me the previous night, the one the girls was teasing me of.

I had thought that I was going to be alone here and wondered why he was here to disturb me.

"I was told that I would find you here." His voice was thick and gruff I couldn't help raising my head to stare at him. His voice sent tremors through my body and I shook my head, snapping myself out of the silly thoughts that were beginning to form in my head.

Who was this man that was here to mess with my head? I had enough on my mind already and didn't want another trouble added to it.

I switched to anger so I would stop thinking of him and being naughty.

I was trying to end a relationship with one man and not end up in bed with another. I had to not care about the allure of the man standing before me.

He was handsome. More than handsome, he was hot. He was built, six feet tall and looked dashing even though he was dressed in a complete suit package.

Never had a man looked that good in a suit to me. He had muscles that a lady could fondle and squeeze for hours and never get tired. His black full hair was cut low and combed in a style that matched the naughtiness in his eyes as he looked at me.

I wanted to rub my hands all over the hair strands on the front of his hair and kiss the places on his head at the sides and back that were not with hair.

His lips were full and I could slip my tongue in them, teasing them till they were swollen more than they could ever be. He had a twinkle in his eyes as if he knew what I was thinking of and I blushed, getting angry that he had dared to unruffle me.

What was wrong with me? I was not fine. I had no doubt that I was coming down with the flu or I wouldn't be thinking like that.

Something had to be wrong with my head.

"What are you doing here?" I snorted at him.

"I was told that I would find you here." He repeated as if I hadn't heard him the first time.

"I heard you the first time." I scoffed at him.

"Why do you still ask what I'm doing here?" He smirked.

I rolled my eyes at him. Did he think that this was funny? I wasn't in the mood for jokes. I was annoyed at Bastian. He would have been the one to tell him that I was here as he was one of the few who knew that I loved to stay here for a while before going home.

It was possible that he had been asked where I was by this stranger and as a client, he had felt the necessity to tell him. I sighed.

I understood that he couldn't reject a client's offer when it was something that he could do but I felt like he should have thought of me more in that moment and kept my whereabouts a secret.

He should have respected my privacy. He shouldn't have divulged my whereabouts just like that, even if it was a client who had asked for it.

I snorted as I realized that I couldn't blame him. He must have assumed that it was a client who wanted to give me a tip personally for a job well done.

After all, he was a bouncer at the door and didn't know what went on in the club. He didn't know of how the man had looked at me while dancing and undressed me with his eyes. He couldn't have known of how the man made me uncomfortable and so I forgave him for directing the man to where I was.

"Why were you asking around for me?" I snapped at me, forgetting that I was still at work and he was a client.

My anger had taken over me and I blushed as I realized what I had done.

He chuckled. "Easy there, tigress. I'm not here to hurt you. You look cute when you blush though, I wonder what other parts of your body can become red.'

What? Dear God, please help me not to blush this time. I let out a groan. I couldn't believe that he had said that to me.

"Why are you here?" I sighed, the fight out of me.

I just wanted him to leave.

"I'm here for you."

"Why?"

"Don't you know already?" He grinned. "It's because I want you."

"I'm not interested."

He looked surprised.

"You don't really mean that, do you?"

"I do." I replied, hissing at him. I was already getting angry.

"I am not a prostitute because I dance at a club." I thought I wouldn't have to explain this to everyone.

He looked smarter and I thought that he would be. It was bad that he wasn't. I felt disappointed and I couldn't explain why I did.

He smiled. "I love your passion. I didn't think of you as a prostitute because you work as a stripper in a club so you can put in your claws.

I'm sure I would have been attracted to you even if I had met you at the office."

I snorted. Attraction? That was new. He must think that I was a fool.

"I don't like you."

"You don't mean that."

I snorted. "Do all ladies like you?"

"Yes." He gave a simple nod.

God! He was hard to get through to. "I guess I'm different."

"Which is why I am starting to want you more.

You are a challenge I want to take up."

I shook my head. He had a really thick skull.

"Could you please excuse me? I don't want to be rude to you but you are asking for it. I'm not in the mood for this conversation."

"Go out on one date with me." He proposed. "I can assure you that you would change your mind afterwards."

"I'm busy. I've got work to do."

"What if I pay you for your time? Name your price. Just one date."

"Still not interested." I replied flatly.

He sighed. "You are stubborn, Anabel."

I was stubborn that he knew my name. Most of those patrons who wanted me didn't care about my name.

They only wanted a faceless woman who turned them on and they could move on from after having their way with her.

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of my name from his lips. I loved how he called it.

I loved the sound of my name and it felt sensual coming from him. I wondered how he made everything he said and did feel sensual.

He was like s*x on wheels and I was getting pulled to him against my wish. That was all the more reason I had to avoid him. He was trouble, the last thing I needed at the moment.

I cleared my throat before I spoke, my heart beating fast in my chest and my mouth running dry with the way he looked at me.

I wished I could tell him to stop but I was going to give myself away if I did that. He was going to know that I was affected by him and pretending like I wasn't.

"I can see you did your research." I sneered.

"Wouldn't it be weird if I claimed to want a woman and I didn't know her name? I'm Aaron, by the way."

I had no response to that as I wasn't expecting him to know my name so I changed the line of conversation. I didn't ask for his name so I pretended like I didn't hear him as well.

"You don't want me. You only want an illusion of what I am."

He laughed. "You are an interesting lady. You seem to have a comprehensive idea of what I think and feel."

I loved that he had called me a lady. Most men would have slapped me in the face with their uncultured attitude by calling me a b***h.

Maybe he wasn't as bad as I thought he was, even if he had a look that made a lady feel like he was already imagining her in bed.

He continued and whispered. "Why not have dinner with me and tell me more of what you think I'm feeling?"

"Would it end at dinner?" I asked my usual question with which I rejected unwanted advances.

He snorted. "With you? A man would have to be an i***t if he ends it at dinner alone."

"And that is why I am not interested in the dinner. Let's not make you into an idiot." I said and walked away from him, knowing his eyes were boring holes into my back.

I didn't have to turn back to him to know what the expression on his face would be. And I didn't care.