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"No! Absolutely not," Sady said hotly. "I won't do it!"
"It's for Harry," Matt reminded her. "And CJ... and your job."
"You think this is funny, don't you?" she accused him.
"No. Well, yes, actually I do. But don't blame me. You're the one who told me to find a way to get answers."
"I didn't suggest you look for amateur night job openings at the club," she snapped. Matt poked her and pointed at Harry. He and CJ appeared somber, checking paperwork together.
"That's not fair," Sady told him. He waited. "Okay, but for the record I don't like it."
"You don't have to like it. As long as everyone else does," Matt leered.
Two hours later Sady said, "I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe my life has descended to this level of depravity."
"You're up next, honey," a buxom bleach blonde said to Sady with a look of pity. "Good luck."
Matt was ogling the blonde. Sady hissed like a cat and bared her fangs from the doorway. Matt jumped up with a guilty look and followed her into the office of the Can-Can Club manager.
He looked up from his desk. "Which one of you is auditioning?" he asked, making Sady snicker. Matt turned red and gave Sady a shove.
"What's your name, darling? And who have brought along? I don't need any jealous boyfriends or husbands here for auditions."
"I'm Sandy-Sue, and this is my manager, Matt."
The manager gave her the same look of pity his assistant had. "Sweetie, I don't need another amateur melon shaker who shimmies up and down a pole." He took a closer look and suggested insultingly, "Why don't you come back after you get implants?"
Sady bit her tongue and glared at Matt. "Harry," Matt mouthed silently, and Sady turned back to the manager with fire in her eyes.
Seductively she purred, "Sweetie, I don't shimmy up and down a pole shaking fake melons."
That got his interest. "Turn around," he demanded. Sady did so with a look that threatened she would kill Matt. "Nice," the manager said. "Maybe we can find something for you after all. Granted, you don't have much front page news, but some guys prefer the back page ads, if you know what I mean. After all, we are the Can-Can Club," he said with a wink. "And you definitely have a nice one."
Matt was trying not to laugh, and Sady was trying to keep her temper under control. "Well, thanks, but I have more than just a nice can to offer," she ground out.
The manager scoped her again then asked, ”So what's your act?"
"She juggles," Matt offered with a smirk.
"That might be interesting," the manager said. "If you were a few cup sizes bigger. What else can you do? I need real entertainers, sweetie, someone who has an act."
Sady rolled her eyes and asked, "Do you have a cowgirl?" Matt choked, and the manager lunged out of his seat.
"Are you serious, honey? As in ride 'em cowboy? Because we have a mechanical bull, and if you can work that into an act you've got yourself a job. Provided you can really stay on the thing."
"Yes, I'm serious, and it's not a ride 'em cowboy act," she said with a strained smile. "Would you settle for round up time with a lasso?"
"Hell, yes! We'll have the best bachelor parties in town if you can deliver that, little lady. I need an audition first." He rushed to open the door.
"Of course, you do," Sady said with a sigh. "I didn't bring my rope."
"No problem. We have plenty on hand. You just follow me and pick your poison." He pointed to Matt. "You go take a seat out front."
Sady followed the manager and kept thinking, "I'm doing this for Harry, I'm doing this for Harry." She found a suitable rope, and the manager took her to the side of the stage, where a mechanical bull waited for her humiliation to escalate.
"Saddle up," the manager said lecherously. Sady took a minute to adjust her rope and obediently climbed on the bull. The manager started it up and Sady rode it, imagining all the ways she could kill Matt. "Is that all you have?" he asked, disappointed.
"Speed it up," Sady snapped. "More." Matt watched in fascination as she rode with no hands. A few seconds later he jumped to his feet with a jerk. Sady had tossed the lasso around his chest and yanked him toward the stage. "Not one word," she threatened at his huge grin.
The manager turned off the bucking bull and hollered, "Hot damn! Sweetie, you get yourself a pair of leather fringe thigh boots, a leather fringe G-string, and matching bra. Oh, and make sure that bra is a push up model. I'll expect you to start work at six." Matt physically restrained Sady from launching at the manager, her fists in balls and ready to swing.
As they were leaving the manager yelled, "Hey, Matt. You don't have a dominatrix in your stable, do you? My last one quit without any notice."
"I'll see what I can do," Matt shouted as he pulled Sady out the door, reminding her that getting the job helped Harry.
Sady swore under her breath the whole trip back to their hotel. When they got out of the cab Matt hugged her and said, "That's my salty little deck swab." She left him doubled over on the sidewalk.
Sady was still red faced when she entered the hotel suite. "How did it go?" CJ asked.
"CJ, I closed my eyes and thought about how much I love your husband."
"That bad?" CJ asked, not realizing the irony of her question.
Sady closed her eyes. "No, worse. I'll leave it at that. But for Harry I’ll... well, I'll do what I will do."
Matt poked his head around the corner. "Has she cooled down?" he hissed to CJ.
"What did you do to her, Matt?" CJ asked.
"Nothing," he said defensively. "I took her for an audition."
"Really? And how did that go?"
"Well, she got the job," he replied.
“No need to sound so happy about it,” Sady snapped. “And what's with you slobbering over that fake blonde assistant, like she's all that and a bag of Ruffles chips?”
“She is,” Matt leered.
Sady lifted a brow and gave him a look straight from Amanda's book. “If you say so,” she said dubiously.
"Oh, I do. Now, little lady, we have shopping to do," he reminded her.
"No. You're not going." She wore a stubborn look and placed her hands on her hips.
Matt refused to take no for an answer. "Yes. I am going. I know what the customers want. You'll lose your job before you even start if I let you pick out your costume." Sady still looked stubborn, but she didn’t protest.
"Company credit card," Matt said to CJ. "Don't worry, it's deductible."
"Save the receipts," she reminded him.
Sady grabbed the card from CJ and stomped out the door. "You'd be proud of our little girl, all grown up," Matt told CJ when Sady left. "Of course, Morrow might not agree. I'll be sure to get a picture for you." Sady yelled from the hall, and he followed her with a grin.
"You can wipe that smile off your face, Meadows," Sady said as they entered the elevator. She contemplated the floor with a sigh.
"Hey." Matt waited until she glanced up, and he gave her an earnest look. "I'm sorry, Sady. I know this embarrasses you, but I'm proud of you for looking out for your friends."
“In other words you're going to pick a smutty outfit, aren't you?” Then she surprised him when she admitted, "I've done worse, believe it or not. It's not something I care to relive though. And no, I'm NOT telling you about it." The elevator doors opened at the lobby, and she stepped out. "Let's get this done."