Chapter Text
It smelled like Aqua Velvet, sweat, and sex. It always took her a minute to get used to the stench when she opened the swinging doors that transported her to another world. The neon lights and loud fuckboy music seemed to attract a large clientele every evening which was good for her but bad for her olfactory system.
She hadn’t worked at this place for long. Only two months. Just long enough to pay her rent on time for once and eat something other than ramen. She often perused prison Tik Tok to jazz up the block of noodles she bought at The Dollar Tree for cheap.
But last night she feasted—grilled chicken with a side of fresh broccoli. She hardly ever ate anything that was green (or fresh for that matter). Her oven didn’t know what to do when she turned it on for the first time in months. Her gas bill was current and so was the water bill. It felt good to have things paid for before they were due. A feat she’d never accomplished since being kicked out of the foster system at eighteen-years-old a few years ago. Living hand-to-mouth every day of her life had exhausted her. She finally could breathe and relax.
Yes, life was getting better for her financially. She’d never had any extra money. Ever. There was only one downside to making bank every night.
Rey loathed her job.
__*__
Kylo Ren stepped into “Fantasy Island” reluctantly. He hoped his Italian leather shoes wouldn’t be ruined by God-knows-what on the floor. Never one to frequent strip clubs, he did so tonight by blocking out the thoughts about all the nasty germs that lurked on every surface of this place. His travel-size hand sanitizer that smelled like lavender and alcohol was tucked nicely in his suit pants pocket.
He’d been dragged here by his coworkers at the last minute. Kylo was usually the old man who stayed at the office working, never leaving to have a beer with the guys. But tonight, he was a team player. His boss, an old crotchety man by the name of Snoke, told him in order to move up the corporate ladder, he needed to start being apart of the team. He was slotted to be a VP soon. He even had his sights on taking Snoke’s job one day.
It was just his luck that the first outing he agreed to would be at a strip club filled with STD’s and all sorts of communicable diseases. He’d make some grueling small talk, look at some tits, and head home where he could be alone in his spacious home. He was good at being alone.
He’d be more personable godammit if he didn’t hate people so much.
”Ren!” A voice yelled from across the VIP table his coworkers had commandeered for the night that sat front and center of the stage.
His eyes slanted towards Hux. He was the only guy who seemed to hate Kylo but would kiss his ass at the same time.
“Ever been here before?” Hux asked with a weird, forced smile.
”No,” Kylo answered shortly, hoping that would do for the small talk tonight.
”You’ll like it. The women here are top-notch. Much better than the other clubs in town. They actually have all of their teeth.”
Another reason Kylo hated these places. The men had the audacity to be super critical of the women who worked here when they themselves had a heart of stone and a face only a mother could love. Even he was a sight for sore eyes. The scar across his face made women look the other way.
Kylo hated that he was here, but hopefully, he wouldn’t have to come again.
He took a swallow of his beer and nodded back to Hux. He’d reached his limit on speaking words for the night. Hux seemed to get the idea and went on watching the show in front of them.
Kylo tried to get into the gorgeous woman who flew around the pole with impressive ease. He really tried. He watched her spin and gyrate which drove the men he came with crazy. Hell, the tall blonde was so stacked she’d also make anyone drool. Yep, he knew something was wrong with him. She should’ve made him hard and want to shove dollar bills in her tiny g-string, but yet there he sat. Unmoved. Unimpressed.
The sad part was that no one seemed to do it for him. He knew he liked women. He’d had a few relationships, but nothing ever stuck. His high expectations got in the way of every aspect of his life. He was hard to please. Women didn’t usually like that in a man.
Kylo took a year before he finally found the house he wanted to buy, months to get the perfect car, and he took an hour every morning getting his hair coiffed just right. He wasn’t going to find a woman instantly as picky as he was. Falling in love took time, and he didn’t have any. He was married to his work. Another thing women didn’t care for.
He was doomed to having a relationship with his hand for all eternity. A fate he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy (even Hux). He felt sad, watching the men around him fall all over the women who only did it for the money. The men would never find someone to have a relationship with here in this place, much less to fall in love with.
”Do you need another, Sir?” A small voice called out barely above the bumping noise in the club.
His eyes looked to the voice and his chest contracted a bit. It hurt for a second but the rush of endorphins hit his brain and made him feel something.
What the hell was that? he asked himself, realizing he actually had a heart beating in his chest.
The brunette with a beaming smile had come into view, and that was when the tunnel vision began.
__*__
“What are you having? I’ll go grab another,” Rey spoke again to the man who didn’t speak. She hoped he’d answer her soon because her awkward self didn’t do well if the conversation had to go beyond the drink order.
“Um, yes. Yes, please. The IPA you have on tap is fine,” the huge man finally uttered. She couldn’t tell if he was upset with her for interrupting the show or not. After all, Phasma was up there--one of their best.
Rey knew she wasn’t the prettiest woman in the club. The strippers who worked here were the best of the best and could easily win any beauty contest hands down. She was lucky to be the cocktail waitress at such a popular place. Even though she hated it, she couldn’t leave the money.
She didn’t make the tips the strippers did every night, but even a basic server did well at “Fantasy Island.” She didn’t know how or why she made any money at all. Rey didn’t think she was pretty by any means, and she definitely didn’t have the body the other ladies had. She tried dressing skimpy, making sure she flaunted what assets she did have. It seemed to do the trick, but Rey figured the men were drunk enough to feel sorry for her and throw some cash her way.
Pausing for a beat or two, she stood in front of the big guy because he looked like a deer in headlights when he looked at her. When he didn’t say anything else, she turned on her heel and left to get his drink.
Rey glanced in a mirror as she walked to the bar to make sure she didn’t have anything in her teeth or that her schoolgirl outfit was still in place. The way he looked at her made her a bit self-conscious. She couldn’t tell if she had annoyed him or if he wanted to devour her.
She kind of like the thought of the latter.
Stop it, Rey! She scolded herself. Don’t even think about the clientele that way. Besides, who wants a nobody like you when they can have the likes of Phasma and the others?
The men who came here weren’t usually the best society had to offer. She’d gotten used to that fact. The more she distanced herself, the better.
But, damn. If that guy didn’t wake up something inside her by the way he looked at her.
__*__
What the hell just happened?
The most beautiful creature had just asked for his drink order, and he acted as if he’d never seen a woman before. And what a woman she was. Brunette, had a smile like a sun, and a perfect, round ass that peeked out of the littlest plaid skirt.
Damn. He was hard just watching her head to the bar.
“You should ask for a private dance with her,” Hux interrupted his ogling of the server who had just blindsided him.
“What?” Kylo was about to bite Hux’s head off for speaking, but he thought better of it.
“Just ask her for a dance. They have a private room where it all happens,” Hux explained.
“What are you talking about?” Kylo tried to play dumb. He wasn’t very good at it.
“I saw how you looked at her. You want her.”
“You’re seeing things, Hux.” Kylo really hoped Hux couldn’t see his cock standing at attention. Luckily there was a table hiding the evidence of his attraction.
“Whatever you say. I’m just telling you that if you want, you can ask for a private dance.”
“She’s a server. She doesn’t do that kind of thing, does she?” Kylo was now intrigued, beginning to fantasize about what would happen if he were alone with her.
“They can all be bought. Why do you think they work here?” Hux answered, and Kylo cringed at the misogynistic answer.
He was attracted to this woman whom he’d just met. He could throw his money around and pay to be alone with her.
But was he that kind of man? And was she that kind of woman?
__*__
Rey took her time bringing the beer back to the VIP table. Her stomach was a ball of nerves, and her mind couldn’t stop thinking about the dark-eyed man since she’d left his table. Thankful she only spilled a little beer while holding the pint with shaking hands, she was finally able to set it down in front of him.
At the sight of his longish locks, her fingers tingled. All she wanted to do was run her fingers through that mane of his. Men touched her at work all the time without permission. She’d been slapped on her ass more times than she could count. She could touch his hair, right? It was just hair.
No! You can’t like the sleazeballs. They’re here for one thing. Her inner monologue was quite the bitch tonight.
“Can I get you anything else?” she choked out right as their eyes locked. Well, shit, she said to herself. She didn’t need to feel this way over a handsome man she didn’t even know.
How her legs were even holding her up as his dark eyes bore through her she didn’t have a clue.
“Um,” he paused.
She waited, hoping he had more to say.
“Um, I do want something else.”
“Oh? Do you need a menu? We have great hot wings.”
She watched a smile tug at the sides of his full lips as he shook his head no.
“I, uh, have a proposition for you.”