Free Naked Angel by Logan Belle

dressed. I’m going to go score us a brilliant costume designer.”

9

    N adia stood on the Painted Lady stage wearing only jeans and pasties with red tassels.
    Nadia had promised Mallory she wouldn’t shy away after the debacle of her opening night performance. And so, in a show of what she hoped was a positive attitude in the face of gross failure, she’d decided to spend the morning at The Painted Lady.
    She was unpleasantly surprised to find Bette Noir at the club along with Mallory. She found the black-haired beauty to be very intimidating. Nadia was thankful that Bette was leaving in a month for her next film.
    “Open up your rib cage more,” Mallory said from her seat at one of the tables.
    Mallory was trying to teach her how to tassel-twirl. It was one of the most distinctive burlesque moves, but Nadia had shied away from it for her first performance. It wasn’t the most refined movement, but she understood the value of it. “Now bounce up and down on the balls of your feet.”
    “But loosen your arms away from your sides more,” said Bette.
    “She’s right,” Mallory said. “If your arm is too tight against your side, it can halt the movement of the tassel.”
    Nadia bounced up and down, but the tassels only swung from side to side, not around in circles.
    “We’re going to need to get your shoulders into the mix,” said Bette.
    They heard the front door open, and Justin made his way into the room.
    “Hi, ladies,” he said.
    “Hey—what brings you by?” said Mallory, kissing him on the cheek.
    Nadia pulled on her T-shirt and sat on the edge of the stage. There was no way she was going to practice making her tits bounce in front of Justin.
    “I wanted to run some scheduling by you. Martha’s birthday is in a few weeks. I totally flaked and didn’t plan anything earlier. What I’d like to do is to close this place for a night and just have a huge bash here.”
    “Sounds great.” Mallory pulled out a big DayMinder calendar and flipped forward a few weeks. “What night of the week?”
    Nadia went to the dressing room for a bottle of water. When she returned to the stage, Mallory called her down to join them at the table.
    “Justin wants to ask you something,” she said.
    “Okay.” Nadia pulled out a chair and sat across from him. He was very handsome. It was no wonder a lot of the girls talked about him in a way that was less than professional. But that happened everywhere. She knew Max Jasper had a reputation for bedding his dancers, too.
    She shook the thought from her mind. She didn’t want to think about him. His invitation to watch a rehearsal was nagging at her like a hangnail. A part of her thought maybe she should just go, get it out of her system, shut him up about her choices by showing him that visiting Ballet Arts would not have some magical effect on her, and then they could both move on.
    “I know you had a rough time the other night, but I’ve seen you at rehearsals before, and you’re absolutely amazing. I hope you’re going to, you know, get back on the proverbial horse,” Justin said.
    “Oh, I will,” Nadia said.
    “Great. I was just telling Mallory that I’m going to have a big birthday party here for Martha in a few weeks. I usually do it out of town somewhere, but with the opening of the club it just got away from me this year. But I still have time to pull together something fantastic. A few of the girls are going to perform that night. I hope you will, too.”
    Nadia looked at Mallory.
    “Just . . . any act?”
    “We usually have a theme. I’m working on an idea for this party. I’m going to have Gemma do the costumes—it will be fun. Very A-list. It will be in all the celebrity rags, and
Vanity Fair
will cover it for their party section. Trust me—it will be great exposure for you.”
    “It might be too soon,” Nadia said. “Obviously, I’m not doing well under pressure.”
    “Think about it,” Mallory said. “You know what? We can choreograph