Heart of a Stripper Read online

  Mitchell waited for Nevaeh in the car, as she grabbed her things from inside. Looking at the time, he knew Kaitlin must’ve been furious with him, but to his surprise, she hadn’t even bothered to call. Picking up his phone, he tried her cell, but it went straight to voicemail. He just assumed her battery had died. Not too soon after, Nevaeh hustled out of the club, wrapped in his coat. She slipped into the passenger seat and shivered. Her teeth chattered as he pulled off.

  “Thanks.” She insisted trying to get warm.

  “You get cold really fast.” He laughed teasing her.

  “I’m from Florida; I’m really not used to cold weather.”

  “Florida’s nice; I’ve been there for a vacation once.” He replied driving down the dark road. “Why’d you move from there?”

  “New scenery?” she retorted, and he heard the hint of a question.

  “Come on, you can tell me.” He pushed, looking at her briefly.

  “Tell me something about you first.” She insisted.

  “How is that fair? I don’t even know anything about you. You already know who I’m getting married to, and my occupation.” He smiled.

  “Well you already know I’m a new student at your school, and that I’m a stripper. So, we’re even.” She replied with a smile.

  “You got me there.” He chuckled. “You’re such a smart ass.”

  “Language.” She teased, and they both laughed again.

  “What do you want to know about me?” he asked, making a turn.

  “Why are you getting married so young?” she asked, and he fell silent for a moment.

  “Twenty five is not young.” He grumbled.

  “Then neither is eighteen.” She shrugged.

  “I don’t even know where we’re going.” He bit angrily, and she noticed his shift change.

  It seemed like the whole question of his marriage was a touchy subject for some reason.

  “I live on Badger Avenue.” She replied, falling silent again.

  The rest of the ride was quiet and awkward to say the least. When he pulled up to her house, she thanked him and ran from the car. He watched her silently as she headed towards a tiny house that was obviously renting out apartments. It was a pale blue, and the damn thing looked as if it would fall apart any minute. The paint was more than chipping off. One floor had a window boarded up while the others were barred. The place was crummy to say the least. He swallowed hard as he watched her unlock the door and disappear inside.

  He sympathized with her, and wished the night hadn’t ended so badly. She was easy to talk to, and had a great sense of humor, but he knew that only meant one thing.

  Trouble.

  He needed to keep things strictly professional with her, no matter how hard that would be. And he knew it was damn sure going to be hard because he couldn’t get her out of his head. She was such a great person all around. He’d never met anyone like her. She was sexy, smart, gorgeous, and funny all wrapped into one. Gripping the steering wheel, he pulled off and headed to the restaurant where he was supposed to meet Kate. He knew he was going to be in a heap of trouble.

  Nevaeh had watched Mitchell sit outside of her house. She stood in the hall of what was called her home and saw him staring at the place. She didn’t want his pity, and damn sure wasn’t going to accept it. She was growing attached to him. He was the better part of moving to the new town she hated. A moment later she saw him drive away. Sighing deeply, she went into her apartment and saw her father asleep on the couch. Okay, so he wasn’t asleep. He was more like passed out, just like every other night. The beer bottle was still dangling in his hand as he sat up with his head tipped on the couch. Slipping passed him; she went into her room and locked it.

  Chapter Five

  Mitchell sat dazed at his desk. He was barely paying attention to the paperwork in front of him. After going home last night, he was left confused to say the least. Kate hadn’t been home, nor had she been at the restaurant waiting. She wasn’t the type to wait for him anyway, but that wasn’t his issue. The issue that had him confused was way deeper. To the hostess’s knowledge, she had never shown up. He was left with no answers because she never picked up her phone. It only kept him worried because he was thinking that maybe something might’ve happened to her. That was until she called him before he got to work.

  But just like usual, he hadn’t said a word. He hadn’t gotten upset and screamed at her like she damn sure would’ve at him. She didn’t even mention the dinner. It was like she had forgotten all about it and him. But, to be perfectly fair, he had done the same to her. The better part of his night had been spent with Nevaeh, and oh how it had been spent. It left him dreaming of her, and in the dream, she was doing everything under the sun that his mind had come up with. He woke up feeling guilty, but still couldn’t wipe the things from his memory. To be honest he didn’t want to.

  A knock on the door startled him, and he snapped back to reality.

  “Come in.” he replied, and the door opened.

  Nevaeh slipped inside and smiled brightly at him. He smiled back uneasily because he knew things ended bad the night before.

  “I brought you some lunch.” She said holding up a bag.

  He smiled as she walked into his office, and closed the door behind her. This was definitely not the reaction he thought he would get. He thought things would now be weird between them, but again she proved to be different.

  “You didn’t have to do that.” He said standing, just like a gentleman stood when a woman entered the room.

  Nevaeh was again dressed in the school uniform, but her top buttons were undone and a bit of her cleavage was visible. Her hair was swept up into a tight ponytail, revealing her perfect face. Mitchell nibbled his bottom lip as he averted his eyes from her. Lusting after a student damn sure didn’t sit well with him, but seeing her brought back the naughty memories from his dream.

  “Duh, I know I didn’t have to.” She said, still holding the smile as she sat in the chair in front of his desk. “I wanted to. I needed to find a way to thank you for last night.”

  “There’s no thanks needed. I’m just glad you let me take you home.” He retorted as he sat in his leather chair.

  “You say tomato, I say tomato. Either way you get this.” She said holding up a bag of Taco Bell.

  “Oh. My. God.” He said his eyes lighting up as she sat the bag on the table. He shoved the paperwork out of the way and eyed the bag. “I looove this stuff. I haven’t eaten it in years.” He replied, grabbing the bag and opening it.

  “I’m good aren’t I?” she winked, and he nodded as he took out a burrito.

  Biting into it, he slunk back in his seat and exhaled as the flavor burst into his mouth. Closing his eyes in ecstasy, he savored every bite. Nevaeh sat a Mountain Dew on the desk, and his eyes darted to it.

  “Please tell me that’s for me.” He replied, and she nodded.

  “Not my type of drink.” She replied sitting a Pepsi beside it. “I just wanted to have a choice between the two.”

  He immediately grabbed the soda and cracked it open, before downing some. Nevaeh pulled out her lunch and they talked, laughed, and ate together.

  “I’m sorry for being weird last night.” He replied cutting their laughter short.

  “It’s fine.” She said nonchalantly.

  “You always say that. Why do you think its ok for someone to treat you bad?” he inquired.

  “You haven’t treated me bad; you just get crabby when you’re really nervous.” She replied.

  He bit into his food and took in her sentence. She seemed to already know him a little better than the woman who was going to marry him. He could never get away with being upset in Kate’s eyes. It was her way or the highway, so he learned to just swallow his feelings and do whatever made her happy. But with Nevaeh, he could be himself, no matter what it seemed.

  “Thanks.” He smiled at Nevaeh.

  “For what?” she asked as he walked over to her.

 
; “Doing this, I haven’t had a decent lunch since I’ve been here. I always work through it.” He said truthfully sitting on the edge of his desk.

  “So your fiancée’s never cooked you lunch?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

  “No.” he said wiping something from her mouth and staring her in the eyes. “She doesn’t cook, nor has time to spend lunch with me.”

  “Well, she’s an idiot.” Nevaeh said standing up and moving towards him.

  “Nevaeh…” Mitchell mumbled as she slipped her fingers into his.

  “I can’t help being attracted to you.” She said, kissing his lips gently.

  The moment her lips touched his, he could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat. He felt butterflies in his gut and never got that kissing anyone else. He clutched her close as he kissed her back. It was all he could think about.

  “I can’t get you out of my head.” He panted as he stared into her brown eyes.

  “Good because I can’t stop thinking about you either.” She said kissing him once more as she grabbed his tie.

  He wrapped his hands around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “I shouldn’t—”

  “Shut up.” She giggled. “Just let it happen.”

  With that, he kissed her this time, finally taking the first step. Falling into the kiss, he got lost in her. He actually liked the affection she showed him. It was hard to get it from Kat. She was always so cold and distant. In fact, the only time she truly showed him affection was when he dragged it out of her.

  A tap on the door scared them both, and Nevaeh grabbed her things as the door opened. Mitchell shot to his feet as he saw who entered. He swallowed hard as his father eyed him and Nevaeh. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and white tie. Mitchell and his father could’ve been twins had he been younger; he was a splitting replica of him.

  “Am I interrupting something?” Bruce asked.

  “No. Nevaeh was just leaving. She’s a new student and I was telling her about the honors courses she should enroll in.” he rambled quickly. “Nevaeh this is my father, the founder of the school.”

  “I’ll see you later, Mr. McCallister.” She said, slinging her book bag over her shoulder.

  Slipping past his father, she smiled curtly, as she saw the look in his eyes.

  “Nice to meet you and this is a lovely school you built.” She replied.

  “Thank you.” He nodded, with a half-smile as she disappeared.

  As soon as the door closed, Bruce stalked to Mitchell and towered over him. He was well over six feet tall. Mitchell looked up to him and definitely was intimidated by his father.

  Always had been.

  “Was there something going on here that I should know about?” He sneered through gritted teeth.

  “No sir.” Mitchell replied swallowing hard.

  “Good, keep it that way or you’ll live to regret it.” His father barked.

  Bruce walked around the office and stopped the moment he saw a picture of Kate.

  “How’s the wedding planning going?” he asked as Mitchell stood up and looked over to him.

  “I haven’t seen anything, but I’m sure Kaitlin’s going overboard.” Mitchell grumbled.

  “Overboard?” Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, overboard. She maxed out two credit cards already, and is working on a third one.” He replied.

  “So what’s the problem? It’ll get paid for, money is no issue, and you know that.” Bruce shrugged sitting in Mitchell’s leather chair.

  Bruce was overly wealthy, and had money coming out of the wazoo. But he never shared a penny with Mitchell, unless he worked for it. Even as a kid, Bruce forced him to work overly hard for a measly dollar. He offered Mitchell a seat at his company, but Mitchell refused. Mitchell hadn’t decided to go into his family’s business solely because he didn’t want to turn out like his father.

  Cold and calculating.

  Not to mention an absentee father and husband. He was never at any of Mitchell’s events when he was growing up, but he forced Mitchell to work hard at everything. Mitchell wasn’t a typical kid. Growing up, he was constantly being bullied day in and day out. Not to mention being put in every extra circular programs, in and out of school. Failure was not an option in his household. His father made that very clear. So, it was needless to say that Bruce was more than disappointed when Mitchell went to school to learn how to become an “educator”. But, it also surprised Mitchell when his father built him a school to run.

  “It’s no issue for you.” Mitchell mumbled.

  “What’s that?” Bruce asked getting up.

  “Nothing, it’s just—she’s spending a lot of my money” Mitchell said clearly.

  “If she wants it, and it makes her happy, do it." Bruce insisted.

  "I am." Mitchell nodded.

  He was so sick of letting his father run his life, but was too chicken shit to do anything about it. Since he was in the womb, his mother had told him that his father drilled obedience into him. He played tapes of his voice ordering him to be great, instead of music like real parents would. It seemed to have worked because Mitchell had always been at the top of his classes, and was damn sure obedient. If his father said jump, Mitchell would ask—well you get the jest.

  "Good because a happy wife means a happy life." Bruce chuckled.

  Mitchell wanted to scream because of all people in the world, his father should've been the last person to give marital advice. But as usual, he kept his mouth shut.

  "I got to get going. Hope being a principal isn’t too stressful on you. I need to get back to my real job. If you ever change your mind about my job offer, the door is still open." Bruce chuckled sarcastically before leaving Mitchell alone.

  Mitchell stormed over to his desk, and sat down. He was so sick of his father’s pompous attitude. He was the biggest asshole he’d ever encountered in life, and that was saying something. He was really the sole reason that Mitchell had decided to invest his time into other people. To him, foreseeing kids exceed beyond their means, even when their home life was shit meant everything to him. But his father would never know a thing about being selfless. He was all about making sure his company was the biggest thing ever. He capitalized on anything he could get his hands on, and his name was known nationwide. He even had things overseas.

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, Mitchell tried to calm himself. He sucked in a huge breath of air, and held it for a moment before blowing it out. It was something he learned to try and stay serene, but honestly it never really seemed to work. Lately, things were eating at him more than usual, even though he didn’t want to admit it. Brushing the thoughts off, he zoned out. Looking back at his desk, he went back to work as usual.

  Nevaeh walked into the apartment she shared with her dad and saw him staring at the TV. They locked eyes briefly as she stood by the door before closing it. She was surprised to find him awake that time of day in the afternoon. Sucking in a breath, she started to walk past him to her room. He was wearing a white tank top and blue shorts with white socks. His hair was rough and he had a beard to match. Of course, there was a can of beer in his hand, and she was sure he was drunk.

  “Where the hell you been?” he grumbled in a husky voice.

  “School.” She said sarcastically as she slipped between him and the TV.

  “You’re in my way!” he shouted throwing the beer can at her.

  She dodged it, and it hit the flat screen TV that she brought a few days ago. On impact, the beer splattered all over the screen. That enraged him and he shot to his feet.

  “Look what you did, bitch!!” he shouted.

  “Sorry, I didn’t let it hit me.” She said cynically, yet hurt by his words.

  “Clean that shit up now! And after that, cook me dinner.” He ordered staring over at her.

  “I’m not your wife dad.” She answered.

  “What did you say to me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

&
nbsp; Swallowing hard, she shook her head.

  “Nothing, dad.” She sighed walking towards her room.

  “Get back here and clean my damn TV!” he shouted.

  “I have homework!” she shouted back, as she sat her book bag on her bed.

  Her room was tiny, but she was working on making it look cozy. So far, she had a twin sized bed and had decorated her walls somewhat. Closing her room door, she pulled out her text and notebooks before sitting down. Not too soon after, he door swung open and her dad was standing there, more than irate.

  “Don’t sit there and act like you’re smart.” He barked. “You’re not good for anything but lying on your back.”

  Nevaeh looked up to him as she gripped the pen she had in her hand. She fought back tears as he kept tearing into her, chipping away more and more of her soul.

  “You’re a whore just like your mother. Don’t think I don’t know that you sneak out of the house. You’re never going to amount to anything but a slut.” He bit.

  “You don’t know anything about me.” She whispered.

  “I know plenty.” He insisted. “You think making a little money from selling your body is going to help you? You’ll never amount to anything just like your mother.” He growled.

  “My mother left, and did a hell lot better than you!” she shouted, shooting to her feet.

  “But you won’t, she left you behind because she never loved you.” He snapped.

  Nevaeh fell silent as his words tore through her like acid.

  It was true.

  Her mother didn’t only leave her dead beat father behind; she picked up and left her behind too. Things had gone to shit since the day her mother disappeared. Her father became more of a drunk, and worse it seemed.

  “At least she got away from you.” She bit through gritted teeth.

  “But you won’t!” he shouted back handing her, before going into her room and slamming the door behind him.

  Chapter Six

  Mitchell stretched as he stood up. He had stayed late to work on new material for the teachers to use as proficient work tools. He knew how to get into the kids’ head better than anyone because of the time he spent with them. He even took tons of suggestions to keep the kids involved with their own education. Being bored at school just wasn’t an option for him, and he wanted his kids to know that. The happier they were, the more they would learn.