Free Ladies Night by Christian Keyes Page B

waist. He was thrusting, and she was hanging on tight, like she was riding one of those mechanical bulls.
    Could that be the kind of job Madam had in mind for Amp to do? He suddenly remembered the way she had been giving him the once over at the park. When he didn’t know what kind of a club it was, he’d assumed she was talking about a job as a bouncer, or maybe just cleaning up the place; but after seeing what went on in Club Eden, he was thinking she might have meant something totally different. Had she been sizing him up, not to see if he could carry a mop and a bucket, but to see if he could bust a move?
    â€œOh, hell no!” Amp turned around, set on making a beeline toward the exit. It was very possible that he and Madam had two different ideas of work, and he felt no need to hang around and find out the possibilities.
    Amp rushed through the foyer, past the woman still playing on her cell phone. He was halfway through the parking lot before he heard someone calling his name.
    â€œAmp?”
    He turned around and saw Madam.
    â€œIt is Amp, right?” She was wearing an olive-colored satin top, and her cream-colored pencil skirt looked like it was sewn on to fit only her body. She approached him confidently in her ankle-strap pumps.
    â€œUh, yes. That’s right,” Amp said, feeling a little awkward. Witnessing her style and class again, he suddenly felt silly for rushing out of the club the way he did. She was probably going to think he was crazy for coming there at all if he wasn’t willing to at least hear her out.
    Madam’s heels clicked on the concrete as she stepped up to Amp. “Leaving so soon?”
    â€œYeah. I came to see about working for you, but this”—Amp nodded toward the club—“is not my type of party.”
    â€œWell, I was thinking along the lines of having you work the front door as security.” Madam placed her hand on Amp’s shoulder. “You look like you can handle yourself.” She gave him the same type of once over that she’d given him at the park, sizing him up, confirming her initial intuition.
    â€œWhat would I be securing?” Amp asked. “There’s only women in there. Mr. Babyface looks like he can handle them just fine.” Amp was dead serious.
    â€œYou’d be surprised how wild those women can get, especially after a couple drinks. They tend to throw caution to the wind.”
    â€œAlong with an occasional pair of panties?” Amp added.
    â€œYeah, that too,” she said with a sly smile. She widened her eyes, silently asking Amp to consider the offer. “So, interested?”
    He was relieved to hear that she wasn’t asking him to gyrate up on that stage the way he’d seen Babyface doing. And he sure could use some extra money to get him closer to his goals of college and a place of his own. If it really was as easy as keeping a few horny sisters in line, he couldn’t help but consider the opportunity Madam was presenting to him.
    â€œWhat’s the hours and the pay?” Amp asked.
    â€œThursday through Sunday, ten-thirty p.m. to two-thirty a.m. Fifteen dollars an hour, plus tips.”
    Two hundred forty dollars a week would be good, no doubt, but something wasn’t adding up, and it made him suspicious. “Wait . . . tips? For being security? Who tips security?”
    â€œTrust me.” Madam smiled while eyeballing Amp’s physique. “These women are going to like you.” She not-so-subtly leaned around to check out his backside. “When can you start?” she asked confidently. She was definitely a woman about her business.
    But was it all too good to be true? Amp’s doubts were front and center. “I don’t know.” He needed a minute to take it all in, but he didn’t want to waste her time with his indecisiveness either.
    Madam rolled her eyes in her head. Clearly she thought Amp was taking too long to make up his