If you follow my other stories you've heard about my life taking a nose dive and leaving me no time to update. But I just updated When a couple days ago and I will update both Manor and Signals either tonight or tomorrow, so that's something. If I haven't replied to you, please know I appreciate you and I hope to have the time to get to everything soon.


As the show went on, Penelope attempted to enjoy the dancers. She did see the appeal, but, despite always being very sexually vocal, she wasn't too entranced by this scene. She was certainly very interested in sex, but she liked being extremely weird and freaky with one person, not necessarily screaming at them from afar. She shrugged. She understood. She could see that the different guys on stage were appealing in their own ways. She glanced at Em and JJ one more time, noticing that they were watching the dancer on stage and clapping. They were so good at this. She could tell they weren't leering at the dancers; they were casually watching but still pretending to be enjoying the atmosphere. She turned to Renee, trying to make comments as well and even yelling across the table to the other girls about them volunteering for one of the dances.

Renee turned to her as the current song ended. "Hey, your boy is up next." She leered at her. Penelope froze. She had been too busy putting the private dance out of her mind that she forgot that she still had to get through his individual routine.

It was almost the end of the show. They had seen six individual dances. She knew only Luke's dance and the lead's dance were left and then, she assumed, the group finale. She heard the announcer's voice boom over the speakers, something about Latin love and who wanted to get touched by a Spanish tongue. She couldn't really make out the words because her brain was going to short circuit. Was she supposed to leave? She knew she had discussed this with Luke, but it was clear she already had a reason to choose him from his earlier performance. She was going to excuse herself to go to the bathroom, but then she rethought it. If she was supposed to like him enough for a private dance, she wouldn't leave when he came onstage. She chanced a glance to the ladies. They had called Ruiz over and were flirting with him, paying absolutely no attention to the stage at all.

Renee's voice brought her back to the moment. "Your man is hot!"

Penelope followed her line of sight. Luke was on stage rolling his body to the song that was currently playing. Her eyes were wide as she watched him move. If she hadn't thought about sleeping with him before, she sure wouldn't have a choice but to do it now. Her mouth felt very dry all of a sudden, remembering that this man was the same one she worked next to everyday. She'd imagined him shirtless plenty. She'd imagined him naked a few times too. Sometimes, when she was alone at night, she had definitely tried to picture him moving on top of her, a fact she'd vehemently deny if anyone asked. He pulled the button up he was wearing apart, revealing his naked chest underneath. The shine on his chest reflected in the light. "Holy cow." It was a very genuine reaction to what she was watching.

"He's all yours later." Renee nudged her shoulder.

"Uh huh." Penelope's face was creased. She almost seemed confused, but she was somewhere between turned on and shocked. She watched with envy, as a couple of girls were led onstage. She saw him dance in front of them and then run his hands up their arms or legs, but she could tell he didn't linger the way the other guys had. He was grinding near them but never actually touched them. Apparently he was quite the hit, judging by the screams and cheering.

Her eyes widened as he stood on the arms of the chair and mimicked humping the woman's mouth that was sitting there. She'd already seen some of the other dancers do the same or worse, but this was Alvez. Renee leaned over. "Ya know they usually have an after party. If you offered, he might take you up on it."

"Wha-wha-offer what?" she stammered.

"Didn't you just say 'lucky girl'?" Renee was talking to her, but her eyes were trained on the stage as she clapped.

"No I didn't. Oh my God! Did I?" She turned to Renee for confirmation, but the woman was thoroughly spellbound by Luke's circling hips.

Penelope turned back to the stage in time to see Luke drip some sort of oil down one of the women's chests. He ran his fingers down her arm before grasping her wrists putting his palms on top of the backs of her hands and guiding her to rub the oil onto herself. Then he let her rub the remainder on him. Penelope knew that him being the big tease and playing hard to get wasn't so much his schtick as much as him holding back, but she knew that's not what it appeared like to the average attendee. Especially because, as the oil started to shine in the many flashing lights, the entire crowd went wild. She squinted at the scene. She had to admit it was a sexy thing to watch, and she supposed, if she imagined herself in that position, she'd feel like screaming as well.

As the song was coming to an end, Luke finally went to the last woman on stage. He picked up the whole chair with her in it, making the audience scream enough to make Penelope want to cover her ears, but her fingers were too busy clutching the glass that was on the table. He set the chair down in the middle of the stage before dry humping her to the beat. She noticed that quite a few ladies were on their feet cheering. She suddenly felt like she needed to drop all of the ice from the glass down her dress just so she wouldn't combust, but she settled for bringing the glass to her lips and getting a few ice chips in her mouth. Sliding them around her tongue, she wished she could have brain freeze, if for nothing else than to distract her. "You need another drink, Honey?" Renee's voice broke into her head.

"Uh no, no. Really the best thing I could have right now is ice." No use hiding her attraction now. She could easily tell herself she got very good at undercover work instantaneously, but even she could see through that.

The song ended. Luke received the loudest applause so far. Penelope surveyed the crowd, observing the screams and excitement. She was impressed to say the least. Her eyes wandered to the VIP booth again. She saw that Emily and JJ were busy flirting with one of the scantily clad waiters that were still milling about. She was thankful they hadn't seen her reaction or the fact that she had not given Luke the same courtesy they had. But more than anything, she was glad they hadn't seen Luke. She felt a pang of jealousy knowing these other women had, but at the same time she felt a sense of pride knowing he'd never belong to them. He didn't belong to her either, but she knew the real Luke, and that's more than any of them would ever be able to say.

"This guy is good too. He's the main attraction, but he's too generic for my taste." Renee was informing Penelope about the dancer that had taken the stage while she was musing about things she shouldn't have been.

Penelope peered at the stage to see a decent looking man dancing his ass off. She heard the same woos she'd heard all night, but she was in agreement with Renee. As good looking as this guy was, he wasn't Luke. His skin wasn't the natural tan of the man she thought about when she was alone in the shower nor was he as intriguing. There was no mystery to his face. She smiled at the other girls at her table who were rigorously impressed though.

"When do we leave to get to the private rooms?" Penelope wanted to make sure she didn't mess up her mission, but she was also very excited to see Luke, which judging by Renee's smirk was all too obvious.

"Finale is starting. You'll want to see some of it, but, as soon as the end creeps up, we'll book it while the crowd goes wild." She winked at Penelope.

Penelope nodded, but she suddenly felt very anxious. She was going to see Luke in a few minutes, and she wasn't sure how good he'd gotten at his job, but she wasn't sure how she was going to hide her body's reaction to him. She took a swig of her drink with the last bit of alcohol in it, preparing herself for a very hard day's work indeed.

As the last song came on, she watched all of the men come out in matching outfits doing a choreographed routine. There was lots of posing and igniting the audience's last pieces of sanity, burning any semblance of reason out of a hundred women simultaneously. Penelope didn't take her eyes off Luke as he pulled his shirt off yet again. He held it in his hand, swinging around as he hyped up his side of the audience. They were all making their way through the venue for the final goodbye. Luke made eye contact with her as he came close, a leer on his face she'd never quite seen. He strutted towards her, throwing his shirt into her lap before looming over her chair, his lips close to her ear, his breath blowing her hair as he spoke. "Nice dress, Chica." He pulled back, finishing his rounds before making his way back to the stage for the final moves.

The shock on her face must have been abundant because Renee reached over, gently shutting her jaw for her with a good natured laugh. "C'mon, let's head out. You're not going to want to keep that man waiting."

Penelope let Renee grab her hand and lead her through the darkened room to the long hall that opened up into a round seating area complete with a couple of purple velvet love seats. The area was dim, save for the purple light bulbs overhead. Penelope took in the scenery, noting it did scream 'sex.' There was a security staffer, a big guy, that looked like a brick wall, standing in the shadows and also a bartender at a small stand. "You want another?" Renee tipped her head to the barman.

Penelope had to think of another excuse. "No, I think I'd rather be as sober as I can to remember every minute of this." She rolled her tongue making Renee laugh. She took a seat watching her newfound friend procure another beverage. Penelope had Luke's shirt in her hand. She tried to covertly bring it up to sniff it. She always loved the way he smelled.

Another few women straggled in, getting drinks and impatiently waiting for whomever they hired for the night. Renee sat down next to her. "Do they come right off stage? They must be exhausted. They do this so many times?" Penelope questioned.

"Well, they are supposed to be known for their stamina." Renee winked again. "No worries. They are pros at quick showers, and then they come right on over." She sipped her drink.

As she spoke, a dancer came through a curtain near the security guard. The woman she assumed paid for his company stood up immediately. Another bodyguard appeared behind him. He quickly got in between, asking the woman for her name to ensure she was the right person. The dancer she believed was called Paul then put his hand on the small of her back, leading her into one of the closed off rooms. The bodyguard followed them in, which made Penelope worried. "Wait, the bodyguards go in the room with you?" Her scared look made Renee pat her hand in reassurance.

"Only at first. They explain the rules. Then they stand outside the room in case they're needed. Of course sometimes the dancers ask for more privacy, and they dismiss them altogether."

"Have you ever had a bodyguard dismissed?" Penelope wasn't sure what warranted that and what would be more suspicious.

"Between you and me? Yes, I have. Only the once. I went home with one dancer in Vegas. I wanted to play the part of bitter divorcee that rebounds with a hottie."

"I don't want to be rude. I'm just curious. Did you have to-"

"Pay him? I paid for the dance, but there was no sex in the room. Eventually I went home with him, but what we did after was his choice. These guys have the advantage to try almost anything once and most do."

"So, if the bodyguard isn't dismissed, he," she paused, "can hear you?" Penelope asked shyly.

"I suppose, but I don't think they're really listening unless there's a commotion. But don't worry, I'm sure they've heard it all."

"Not to be naive, but is there some sly prostitution going on?"

Renee bobbed her head, indicating she wasn't really sure how to answer that. "Not really, I think most women just get a private lap dance and possibly get to see the full package and some enjoy the touching. The bride-to-be's get dances that were paid for by friends, and I think most of them just drunkenly enjoy the entertainment. I'm sure the guys get propositioned for all sorts of things. I think any sex afterwards is just a consensual hook-up. The money stops after the room. If you are lucky enough to get invited to the after parties, your money ceases to be good, and suddenly they're providing you with drinks."

"Hmm, I see." A couple more guys had come through, escorting their guests to their rooms. Penelope now noticed the bodyguards standing outside the rooms, casually chatting to one another. She figured they rarely had safety concerns, and most of them probably consisted of girls that were just too drunk. She relaxed, seeing that they would get the privacy they needed. Renee shot up out of her seat when Dave walked through door.

She handed the remaining part of her drink to Penelope. "Whoever is done first waits for the other here." She instructed her. "I want details." She shimmied her shoulders before being escorted away.

Penelope was still chuckling as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I guess you're mine for the night, Beautiful." She looked up to see none other than her Newbie standing there with his annoying smirk.