Page 10 of Dancing With Guilt

There were three floors behind that door. Roxie knew from the photos listed on the real estate website that the first floor contained a bar, private parlors, a small kitchen for snacks and sandwiches customers might want, the stage for the dancers, and lots of seating. Behind the stage was the dressing room, a private office, and customer bathrooms.

“It’s not bad,” Roxie said as she looked around once Keily put a code into the lock on the door.

“I talked to the real estate agent this morning, she gave me the keys and the code since she had another appointment to get to,” Keily explained, her eyes drifting over black carpet that wasn’t suitable at all, but that could be changed.

“That’s fine,” Roxie answered absently, walking up to the stage to stare at it quietly.

Keily’s all-American, blonde-haired-and-blue-eyed good looks made her smile seem even brighter as she looked up at Roxie. “What do you think?”

“I’ll need to see the other floors, but this is good.” Roxie hid her anxiety well and pretended that she wasn’t distracted. She needed to have a look at this place and make a decision so she and Keily could move forward with their plans.

Worrying about what Lincoln was up to would have to wait. Okay, so it had been a week since he came home, and six days since she’d seen him. There was nothing to worry about, right?

“Let’s go up, there’s an elevator this way,” Keily said, and Roxie followed her to a door she hadn’t noticed before. The elevator was behind that door and Roxie got in when it opened.

“There are thirty-four rooms up here, although I’m not sure we’d need them all. The third floor is mainly two penthouses and quarters for staff, if we need that.” Keily drew Roxie out of the elevator and down a narrow hall that took them to a much bigger hall with seventeen doors on each side.

“I like it.” Roxie nodded, seeing that all the doors had security locks requiring a code to unlock them. “It’s good.”

Keily opened the door to show her an empty room but when Roxie walked in, she saw the room had its own bathroom. That was convenient. “That’s great, they all have their own bathrooms?”

“They do, and some are bigger than others. The four rooms in the middle, two on each side, are larger and can fit king-size beds rather than queens.”

“Good to know.” Roxie nodded and headed back out to the elevator. “Let’s see those penthouses.”

“I think you’ll like both.” Keily had already seen the place the day before. Roxie had let her take over the search since it would be Keily and her husband’s money that helped to bring the place to life. Keily was clearly enjoying every second of it. “I would love to have one of those apartments, if we didn’t have the kids.”

“That nice, are they?” Roxie asked, noting how Keily smiled with exaggerated need.

“They are! But they’ll be great for you if you ever need a place of your own, or for VIP clients.” Keily winked just as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

“These are the staff quarters, even they’re nice.” Keily opened a door to show a room with a solid glass wall, obviously a living room, a kitchen off to the right, with a bedroom and bathroom behind that.

“Cramped, but not bad,” Roxie said, and left the place, eager to see this penthouse. Keily closed the door and walked Roxie to another at the very back of a long hallway. Another door to the right would open to the other penthouse, Keily told her as Roxie walked inside the entryway.

A small hallway led to a living room and behind that were two bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a laundry room, but it was the living room that caught Roxie’s attention. Another glass wall that gave a great view of the ocean in the distance. Not bad at all.

“That’s nice but let me show you the rest.” Keily drew Roxie’s attention away from the view and Roxie followed.

“Wow,” Roxie said looking in at the black granite island, countertops, and cabinets. The appliances matched the black theme and were brand new, as was the black marble sink. The bedrooms were empty, but the bathrooms featured deep, inset whirlpool tubs with shower stalls surrounded by glass. The walls in the bedroom and bathroom were also black marble and Roxie could see why Keily loved the place. It was tasteful, elegant, and so modern looking. “This is all really nice.”

“See what I mean? I’d buy it just for this.” Keily indicated the apartment with a wave of her arms. “What do you think?”

“I like it, it has potential. We’ll need to invest in furniture and a lot more than I’d planned on, but if you’re good with that, I am,” Roxie answered, looking around one last time. “I think this might be it.”

“I think it might be too, but there’s a few other places I want to look at first, just in case.” Keily grinned, and Roxie couldn’t help but do the same.

“You’re so funny.” Roxie smiled and followed Keily as they headed back for the elevator.

“What do you mean?” Keily asked, her eyebrows lifted playfully.

“You know you want this place, but you’re afraid something better might be out there. Take what you want, honey,” Roxie replied, wishing she could take her own advice.

But that would mean acting like the crazy soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend when she pitched an absolute fit and demanded to know where the fuck Lincoln was. She tamped down on her fury and smiled at her friend. None of this was her fault, after all.

“Let’s go back to my place, get some coffee, and have a chat, shall we?” Keily offered, her eyes concerned. “Something’s on your mind, girl, I can tell.”

“It’s nothing really.” Roxie tried to brush off Keily’s concern, but Keily wasn’t having it.