Scarred (Book 1, #1) by Kylie Walker

pole while a hundred and fifty year old man rubbed his shriveled up old pole. Sometimes I don’t think it’s worth it.”
    “What do you do to get through it?” Lexi asked her.
    “I visualize the future. I see myself in a classroom filled with happy little faces soaking up the knowledge that I’m imparting upon them. I’m not going to do this forever...not even for very much longer.”
    “I wouldn’t be doing it forever either. But Chloe, I have aspirations too and I can either keep working that bar and get there in five years, or I can learn how to dance and get there in two. It’s worth thinking about anyways and talking over with Roxi.”
    Chloe hated the idea. Lexi had no idea what it felt like, how demeaning it was. Chloe didn’t take off her clothes and she still left that club every night feeling dirty and like she’d done something wrong. The girls that they worked with who did take their clothes off definitely had a skewed sense of their own self-worth. Sometimes she wondered if they all already had that before they started working there, the same way that she had. She didn’t see that in Lexi. Lexi was just a girl who was tired of waiting tables for twenty dollars a day in tips so she’d taken the bar tender job at the club...but that was the problem with spending too much time in that place, Chloe thought, the depravity was contagious.
    Chloe finally called Derek back that night. He picked up the phone and she could almost hear the smile in his voice as he said her name. It had been a long time since anyone had been that happy to hear from her and it felt good, in spite of whether she wanted it to or not.
    “Chloe! How are you?”
    She lay back on her bed with the phone to her ear and said, “I’m well. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back sooner...”
    “Don’t be sorry. You have a life and I understand that. Please don’t think I’m pressuring you to call me. I just crave the sound of your voice.” Things like that were so dangerous. His words made her feel warm and safe...Damn it!
    “Well, anyways,” she said, “I just wanted you to know I wasn’t ignoring you. It’s just been a busy couple of days,” she lied.
    “I understand. I have a busy week coming up. I have to go to New York for a couple of days for a real estate conference. Can I see you when I get back?”
    She’d called him tonight prepared for that question. Of course he wanted to see her again. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, Derek. I agreed to go out with you once...honestly to get you off my back. The second time was because I had fun the first time, but I’m just not looking to get involved right now.”
    “I understand. But Chloe I’m not asking you for any kind of commitment. All we’re doing is having some fun together, right? I’m not asking you for any more than you’re willing or able to give me. The second I take it too far, all you have to do is say so.”
    He wasn’t the one who was taking it too far. It was her. She was way too attracted to him. She didn’t trust herself to keep her head when he was around. She was still drawing energy from the memory of that simple little kiss. When he was ready to try and take it further, would she have the strength to say no and walk away? When she didn’t respond he said, “What about this...how about a day date.”
    She smiled, “What is a day date, exactly?”
    “I don’t know...something innocuous. Lunch...a walk in the park...the aquarium...the zoo...”
    Chloe was laughing, “The zoo, really? Real estate moguls go to the zoo?”
    “This real estate mogul would spend the afternoon at Chuck E Cheese if that’s where you wanted to go.”
    How the hell was she supposed to say no to that? Apparently, she couldn’t because she heard herself saying, “I like the zoo.”

Chapter 19
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    C hloe woke up on Thursday morning looking forward to her “day date” with Derek. It had been a long time since she’d been to the zoo. She