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bullshit. It was love at first sight for Adam. Not so much for Elise.
    “I’m doing okay on my own, you know? I don’t need a man to take care of me.”
    “Now, nobody said anything about finding someone to take care of you. I said share a life.” He started backing out of the dressing room. “I’ll take being broke with Elise by my side over being wealthy and alone any day of the week.”
    He disappeared out the door, leaving his words hanging in the air.
    She’d tried the whole sharing a life with someone deal. He couldn’t hack it.
    Madison turned to the mirror. She took in the go-go dancer costume—a hot pink bra top trimmed in bright blue with a matching tutu.
    Besides, this was her life right now. Dancing, working for Sutherland and taking care of her kids the best way she could. Meeting someone, falling in love, was not in the cards. She didn’t go anywhere to meet men, didn’t have the time, and the club was not a place she planned to meet anyone.
    She picked up the flat iron, ran it through her blonde hair, then fluffed it around her face.
    Here, she was Lorelei.
    A fantasy. Not a beat-down, broke-as-hell, stressed-out mother of two.
    Smiling at herself in the mirror, she grimaced at the strained edge to it. Exhausted or not, she needed to make money. And there was nothing sexy about her reality.
    Come on, girl. You know what they want to see.
    She willed herself to exude seduction, temptation. Her lips pursed out, full and plump, lifting at one corner. Her eyes sparked with enough mischief to allure. She took her bottom lip between her teeth and just like that Lorelei took over.
    She strode to the door, shoulders back, breasts forward.
    Fantasy was always better than reality…and it sure as hell paid her bills.
    ***
    Jaxon kept his gaze averted from the gyrating women on stage and grimaced at the pounding dance music ricocheting throughout his skull.
    Being in a strip joint was not how he’d planned to spend his night.
    He should be having a relaxing dinner with Victoria, followed by a little more relaxing in his hot tub back at his condo. But no, he’d been forced to cancel, because Adam McDaniel was being a serious pain in his ass.
    He’d already stopped by twice today. Both times, the old man hadn’t been here. Jaxon was told that if he wanted to catch the owner of Pussycats , he’d have to come back later tonight during business hours.
    Business or not, the last thing Jaxon wanted was to be caught in a place like this by some money-hungry paparazzi who’d splash his picture all over the fucking tabloids. The choice had been taken out of his hands though and only irritated him further.
    Without Adam’s cooperation, he was at a complete standstill with his latest project. So far, it hadn’t seemed to matter that he was here while this place was running. The old goat was still avoiding him. He’d been standing at this bar, twiddling his goddamn thumbs for almost twenty minutes while one of the dancers went and “fetched” him.
    As the music died down and the women left the stage, Jaxon took the opportunity to glance around. Pussycats had been around for decades. He had to give McDaniel credit. He’d done his best to class the place up with oversized leather chairs and couches, so it had more of a lounge feel instead of a seedy club.
    The customer base left something to be desired though. In his research, he’d learned that McDaniel wanted to give an upscale experience to the blue-collared worker.
    Jaxon tugged on his expensive silk tie. Amongst the blue jeans and work boots, he was overdressed in his tailor-made dark suit and stuck out like a sore thumb.
    Suddenly the entire club went dark. All the chatter died down as the DJ announced, “Gentlemen, she’s here and ready to make you beg. Lorelei!”
    The lights came back on and cast the entire club in blue. A fog machine sent a billow of synthetic smoke across the stage as “Na-Na-Na, come on,” of Rhianna’s S&M blasted through the