Page 44 of Dancing With Lies

She nodded, still not sure whether she should take this any further than it had gone already. Was this really the night she wanted to start to sleep with the man who was her boss?

Another slug of beer saved her from having to give an answer. She looked out at the moon and turned her head when she heard a car start up and leave the driveway. “That must be the other people.”

“Kai will get a taxi home,” Lincoln told her and leaned back towards her in the chair. “What was your favorite part of the night?”

“The threesome in the attic. You missed that.” She smiled over at him, brushing her fingers into her long hair to pull it out of her eyes. “Sometimes they can go wrong in my eyes. I mean, if the girl wants to be used that’s fine, but this one was three people actually trying to get each other off. Two men, one woman.”

“I didn’t think women would really like that.” His head leaned to the left and he examined her face. “Wouldn’t you feel like a piece of meat?”

“I could feel like that when I’m on stage, but I don’t. When you choose the right male partners, a threesome is…fun. Erotic. Like I said, they didn’t just force her to suck their dicks and come on her face, they worked to give her pleasure. It wasn’t about them, but her. That’s the difference.”

“I see. I guess I’ve watched too much porn.” He looked bashful, but then met her gaze. “I’ll have to learn more about all of this.”

“Take your time, Lincoln. There’s no rush.” For anything - those were the words she left unspoken. “Down here, I’m anonymous, I don’t have to worry about the past. I’m free to do what I want. You are too, you know?”

“New York City can be a small place sometimes.” He agreed, knowing exactly what she meant. It was a huge place, full of people, but it seemed everyone knew each other, or knew someone who knew who you were. It was hard to remain anonymous there sometimes.

“You can also be who you want to be down here. When I first came, I was a scared little girl who wanted to hide. I’d been a ballerina since I could put a tutu on, but I had to put that behind me. Nobody down here even knows I ever took a ballet class.” Her eyes blazed at his for a moment, but then calmed down. “You can do the same thing.”

“I don’t want to give up my business, though.” He said, confused.

“I don’t mean that, silly.” She laughed and drank from her bottle. “I meant in other ways. We’re close enough to other towns that you can even drive to other places for parties, to clubs, whatever you want to do. In NYC everyone would know where you’d been, even if you went to the private clubs. Down here, nobody gives a fuck who you are, so long as you don’t cause problems and act respectful.”

“I see.” He nodded, his fingers tapping on the table. “And you, Roxie? Do you care who I am?”

“Of course, Lincoln. But you’re my past.” She couldn’t look at him, not when she had to find a way to make this all make sense. “You’re my boss, so you’re my present too.”

“Complicated, isn’t it?”

“More than you know,” she said but didn’t elaborate. “There’s no more beer?”

“No, but I can find you something else if it’ll help you sleep. I think there’s scotch left.”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t need a hangover tomorrow. It’s Friday night and I’ll be spending tomorrow changing and washing your bedding. Then, I’ll need to find myself another bed and a couch.”

“None of that will matter until the carpets are changed and the walls fixed. I’ll send over a contractor to fix it all, get rid of the stuff that was destroyed for you.”

“Thanks.” She didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to even talk about it. But it was there, between them. What Nathan had done. What he’d done for her when Nathan came. “Did you really come just to check on me?”

“I knew I’d upset you, so yeah, I did.” He nodded, but he still wouldn’t meet her gaze. What was he hiding? She wondered. “I wasn’t finding what I wanted here, but I knew I’d pissed you off too. I didn’t want to end it like that.”

“End what?” She scrunched her brows up and watched him.

“The night. I didn’t want the night to end like that.”

“How did you want it to end?” She asked, her pulse racing all over again. He looked at her and the look in her eyes told her all she needed to know.

18

Lincoln

Lincoln let the moment pass. He knew she was upset. Her boyfriend had just destroyed her home and broke up with her while calling her a whore. Roxie wasn’t a whore, no matter what that dickhead might think.

“Why did you do it, Roxie?” He asked to break up the quiet that stretched out between them.

“Do what?” She asked and opened the bag of peach candy to munch on another piece of deliciously sour candy. Her face puckered as the sour part hit her tongue first, looking for all the world like a delighted child for a second.

“Become a dancer?” Lincoln asked softly, as if afraid to ask.