“So I have to ask,” I said, “Aside from the money, do you really like being a stripper?”
“First of all I prefer the term ‘exotic dancer’, and second of all, yeah, it’s kinda fun. I will admit though, most nights I just go through the motions, but every now and then I do get a little excited showing off my body, knowing that guys are willing to pay to see me mostly naked.” she said, pausing to take a sip of her beer. “So, to paraphrase Humphrey Bogart, of all the strip joints in all the world, you had to walk into mine.”
“Blame my friends,” I said, “They decided to take me out to celebrate both my birthday and the finalization of my divorce. They were the ones who suggested the club. I went back tonight because… I don’t really know. Just a spur of the moment thing.”
“So you were there on your birthday?” She said, “Good thing I wasn’t working that night. I can’t imagine how that conversation with your friends would have gone.”
“It’d be an awkward conversation, that’s for sure.” I said, “I’m surprised you’re still sober after all those drinks I saw those guys buying you.”
She laughed, and I could still hear a little bit of the squeak that earned her nickname. “Those drinks are just club soda and fruit juice! But the guys think they’re getting us drunk, loosening our inhibitions I guess. Thinking that somehow we’ll go home with them or something.”
“Or try to get touchy feely in the VIP room.” I said.
“Oh no,” Pip said, shaking her head, “Did you see the big motherfucker by the door when you came in? That’s Clarence. He’s an ex pro wrestler, 6 foot 4 and 250 pounds of solid muscle. And the other guy that was sitting near the entrance to the VIP rooms? That’s Bubba. When he’s not working at the club he’s an MMA fighter. I don’t know if you noticed, but once every now and then they wander into the VIP section to make sure the guys are keeping their hands to themselves. If not…”
She made a motion like she was throwing someone along with a “swoosh” noise.
“…out they go. Well actually, they get told to leave, they get one warning and if they want to get stupid, well they find out very quickly that’s a bad idea. I saw Clarence literally pick a guy up and tuck him under his arm like he was a football before walking to the door and toss him into the parking lot. Then there’s another guy, Shane, that works some nights. He’s ex-military. He may not be as big as Bubba or Clarence, but he knows sixteen ways to kill you with his bare hands.”
“Sounds like you’re well protected.” I said.
She nodded. “Plus in the VIP room, it’s up to us if the guys can touch us. I will admit, I sometimes let them touch me a little, mostly on my legs. But most of the time it’s no contact.”
“Can I tell you something?” I asked after taking a swig of my beer.
“Of course,” she said.
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just come out and say it. I never really thought of you as sexy –”
“Gee, thanks,” Pip said, rolling her eyes.
“Will you let me finish?” I said, smirking at her. “What I mean is, I never thought of you as sexy because you’re my sister. I just never thought of you that way. I always knew you were good looking, trust me, all my friends constantly told me, but sexy? Nah, you were always just my bratty little sister. But tonight, in the club, I saw a different side of you… no pun intended. Watching you up on that stage, dancing and gyrating and writhing around… well, I admit, I got a little turned on.”
Cindy looked at me and a small smile crept onto her face. “Well, I have to admit, I kinda got turned on too, knowing you were watching me. Like I said, every now and then I get turned on when I’m on stage. But knowing you were out there, I put a little extra into my performance. Because I was a little excited too.”
I arched an eyebrow, “Really?”
“Really.” she said. “That’s why I kept looking at you when I first saw you. At first I thought it was just someone who looked like you. When I realized it actually was you… well, while you may have never felt that way about me, I’ve felt that way about you.”
My eyes went wide, “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“How long have you felt like that?”
“Years,” Cindy said, looking me in the eyes. “Probably since our mid teens. I had this unspoken crush on you. I just never said anything for obvious reasons. There’s an old saying that women want a man just like their father, but not me, I wanted a man just like my big brother. In fact, the last couple of guys I dated looked a lot like you. You remember Steven?”
“The musician?” I asked, I could never keep my sister’s boyfriends straight.
“No, that was Carl.” She said, “Steven was the nightclub promoter. He looked a lot like you, in fact, now that I think about it, all the guys I dated had something that reminded me of you.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I took another pull of my beer. “Is that why you were so energetic?”
“Yeah,” Pip said. “In fact, when I started dancing, I always had this fantasy of dancing for you. And you know, I do owe you a VIP dance.”
Before I could say anything, she stood up, kicked off her shoes, let down her hair, pulled her phone out of her pocket and a small bluetooth speaker out of her purse and moved the coffee table out of the way. She cued up some music on her phone (she literally had a playlist called “Music to strip by”) and started to dance for me.
“Unlike in the club,” she said, her voice dropping down to a sexy whisper, “You can touch me as much as you like.”