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GUTTER PRINCESS

Kimmie Easley

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author makes no claims to, but instead acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the word marks mentioned in this work of fiction.

GUTTER PRINCESS by Kimmie Easley

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Published by Swoon Romance

Cover designed by Kelly Walker

Gutter Princess is dedicated to the magical city ~ NOLA.

GUTTER PRINCESS

Kimmie Easley

Chapter One

Baby Jade

Baby Jade lingered behind the heavy velvet drapes waiting for her turn to take the stage. She leaned in to peek around the dark room, not surprised to find it almost empty. She hated working the day shift. The money was no more than scraps. The tips didn’t amount to a cheap bottle of wine. Prime time was Friday night. Payday for most of the New Orleans locals. Tuesday afternoon was always a bust. However, if she wanted to keep her shitty job, that meant taking the occasional day shifts. And like everything she did, Baby Jade gave it everything she had. Night or day, Tuesday or Friday, didn’t make a difference. It wasn’t in her strong personality to do things halfway. Her character was all she had going for her. One jackass in the audience or standing room only, they always got the full show. Baby had worked too hard to make a name for herself. Big deal if it was being known as the town’s most sought after exotic dancer. She wasn’t going to risk her reputation by being too lazy or sloppy, like some of the other girls in the business who couldn’t get their shit together. She had seen how pathetic strippers were these days. They settled for a mere few dollars in their G-strings. Their main goal was landing a Daddy Warbucks and doing whatever necessary to keep him. Not that Bottoms Up was the kind of place to attract sugar daddy clientele.

The club was a two-story nestled in between an adult novelty store and an old abandoned building that was once a hopping jazz club. It had a raised basement that the girls used as a dressing room. Stairs led up to the front of the club, which was a large open room lined with private dancing booths with half wall partitions. They were supposed to be for the dancers’ safety, but it ended up looking like shit. The red velvet chairs tucked around the round tables had wheels, as if the drunks needed any help falling flat on their asses. The stage was shaped like a triangle, with the point leading to the pole. Tiny stools lined the stage, aptly named pervert row. The DJ booth was nothing more than an ancient stereo system on blocks streaming to the dangling speakers. A small wooden bar was tucked toward the back of the room next to the hallway with the dank restrooms. The other side of the room held two rickety pool tables. The floor was chipped up cement, and half of the bulbs were out in the lighting system. Mirrors in need of cleaning lined the walls behind the lap dance booths. Men loved to get the full visual as the girls did their grinding and slithering, the closest thing some of them would ever get to having sex.

Coral’s music ended, and Baby Jade watched her pick up a couple of single bills from the floor while gathering the tiny pieces of her costume. One guy got up to leave as Coral made her way backstage, leaving two others bellied up to the catwalk. Baby got a bad feeling when she saw the way their eyes were already glazed over, and it only got worse when one of them threw his hand up signaling for another round. A perfect example of why she hated the day shift. It brought out a whole new level of drunks. Stingy drunks.

Mickey’s voice sneered through the speakers. “Gents, you are in for a rare treat. We don’t usually get the opportunity to see this fine piece of action during the day. Prepare yourselves for the sizzling wonder known as Baby Jade.” He cued up the first song on her playlist, “Digital Bath” by the Deftones.

Baby Jade sucked in a deep breath and slipped one of her long, dark legs through the velvet drapes. It wasn’t the part of the body they were hoping to see, but she had found out a long time ago that the teasing sometimes led to a bigger payoff.

With the build at its peak, she stepped through the curtains and sauntered down to the front of the stage. The music pulsed through her veins as her hips rolled to the beat before slipping to the floor on all fours. It was way too easy to drive these two drunks insane. They hadn’t shut up since stumbling into the club, but now their gazes were fixated on her every move. She slithered to the edge, holding the stare of the one she considered the least gross, hoping he had more dollars in his pocket than he had teeth in his head.

Music had always been important to Baby Jade. From a young age, it created an escape from the hell known as her childhood. Today she used the same approach while on the stage. It was like an out of body experience, allowing the music to take over and control her mind and body, making them one. She would surrender and follow, much like a survival tactic.

After all this time, her body had memorized all the moves. She hit her mark every time without missing a beat, clear down to the hair tossing.

You didn’t have hair like Baby Jade’s without using it to your advantage.

The long, thick waves extended all the way down her back. The jet-black hair helped to set off her natural caramel-colored skin. Both were a contrast to her mesmerizing green eyes, the tantalizing color of jade.

Allowing her hair to hang over the edge, Baby Jade rolled over and popped the front of her deep purple corset. She arched her back, pushing her chest out before slowly rolling onto her belly, letting her hair fall over her face. She lifted her backside, propped herself up on her knees, and starting swinging her long mane.

She knew she owned whatever crumpled up bills they had left in their pockets by the way the two drunks savored her every move. She leaned back, aiming her pelvis in their direction before rocking back onto her bottom. She worked her way up the pole and vowed to give the men a show they wouldn’t soon forget.

By the time the song was over, the men had dug into their dingy jeans and held handfuls of dollar bills. They threw a couple onto the stage trying to bait Baby into coming closer. She hated when customers did that, but it was all part of the song and dance.

Baby Jade dropped to the floor and crawled on all fours with the perfect combination of seduction and playfulness. There was no denying they were hot and bothered. She could probably get the title to their cars at this point, but by the looks of it, they wouldn’t be worth the pieces of paper they were printed on.

“Hi there, boys. Enjoy the show?” she asked in a soft growl. Men are such simpletons.