Breaking Into the Business (29 page)

“So
how’d it go?” I asked Mike.

“It
was kind of strange,” he said. “That lady Dixie is a little crazy.”

“How
so?”

“Well,
for one, she is a little rough around the edges. She likes tanning beds, huh?”

“Actually,”
Derrick said as he sat down in a chair in the circle. A towel hung loosely off
of his slim hips. “She tans naked. She’s one of my clients and half the time I
go into her backyard, she’s butt naked and then tries to come on to me.”

“Have
you ever taken her up on the offer?” Greg asked as he sat down next to me. Like
everyone else, he had just slung a towel around his waist.

“Oh
no,” Derrick shook his head fast. “She’s been tanning a lot for a long time. If
she ever donated her skin, they could make about fifteen pairs of leather boots
out of it.”

“That
bad?” Greg asked.

“Oh
yeah,” Mike said. “She was fully dressed when I got there, but then when the
session started, she made me rip all her clothes off. I had a hard time holding
a straight face because that brown and leathery look on her face extends
everywhere.”

“Oh
no,” I gasped.

“But
I remembered what Greg said,” Mike continued. “I stayed professional and made
sure not to react. It took me a minute to get past the whole outer appearance
thing, but eventually I could get into it.”

“Really?”
Derrick laughed.

“This
may sound strange,” Mike said. “But even though she looks a mess, that woman
knows what the hell she’s doing in the sack. She’s freaky and she really gets
into it.”

“So
you had a nice time?” I asked.

“It
wasn’t bad,” Mike said. “I’ve been with women that could pass for super models
that were worse in bed. Plus the money was really good. I put your share under
your laptop.”

“Thanks,”
I said.

“So
is business picking up that much?” Pearl asked.

“We’re
starting to really get some calls now,” I said. “When all of this stalker stuff
blows over, I’m going to update our ads to reflect the diversity of our men,
and then I think it will really rake in.”

“You
definitely have some diversity,” Betsy said without taking her hungry eyes off
of Mike’s enormous arms.

“I
don’t mean to be politically incorrect,” Greg said. “But you might see about
broadening our diversity just a little more. With a business like this, women
will actually start requesting different types of guys and you want to make
sure you can supply.”

“I
can definitely work on that,” I said.

Of
course, I was thinking about my Chinese food delivery boy named Hung. He was
built like a gymnast, with slender, yet muscular arms and legs and a handsome
face. I had no idea how he would feel about being propositioned for such a job,
but it never hurt to ask.

“I’m
glad to see everyone else had a good time, too,” Mike said, looking around at
all of us.

“They
forced me to,” I said.

“You
needed to loosen up,” he said. “But we really should get back to business, focusing
on this whole stalker thing.”

“You’re
right,” I said.

“Okay,
guys,” Mike said. “You all go get dressed and let’s do a good perimeter search
of the house now that it’s dark. We’ll let the girls stay inside and keep an
eye on Lana.”

“Come
on, Pearl,” Betsy said. “Let’s go start cleaning the kitchen.”

“I
can help,” I said.

Reluctantly,
everyone stood up and started making their way back inside. I was preparing to
stand up when Greg put his hand on my leg and looked at me. He was shaking his
head, but in that slight way so as avoid anyone else taking notice.

I
waited a moment for everyone to go inside and then he turned to me.

“Are
you okay?”

“Of
course, I’m okay. Why?” I asked.

“I’m
worried about you, because you seem to be blowing this whole thing off.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
guess it’s just the way you cope with stress, but you’re acting like this whole
thing is no big deal. I’m afraid that inside you’re hurting, but you refuse to
let anyone see that.”

“Maybe
I am, but I don’t see a reason to start freaking out.”

“You
can’t keep all your pain bottled up. You have to let it out if you need to.”

“But
that’s the thing. I don’t need to.”

“Why
are you so stubborn?”

“Because
for the past two years, I’ve had to keep myself together. My children need me
to be strong.”

“They’re
not here now,” he said.

“I
know that, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to fall apart.”

“I’m
not asking you to fall apart.”

“Then
what are you asking me to do?”

“I’m
asking you to show a little emotion. That’s okay.”

The
lights on the patio suddenly went out. I turned to see Pearl standing on the
other side of the glass patio door, her right hand on the light switch. She smiled,
waved at us and then walked off.

She
had known about Greg’s and my encounters, and she thought she was being cute by
egging him on. I was definitely going to have to have some words with her later.

“Your
friend likes me,” he said.

“Well,
good for her. Go see if she will sleep with you.”

“Who
says that I’m trying to sleep with you?” he asked.

“You’re
always trying to sleep with me,” I said.

The
hand that he had placed on my thigh before now began to move. Softly and in a
clockwise direction, he worked his way up my thigh towards the edge of my
towel. I could already feel the electric current power running through my body.

His
hand stopped before it went too far. Greg was always gentle at this stage, which
was one of the things that made me relish sex with him.

Leaning
in close, he brought his lips down on mine. The soft flesh of his mouth grazed
mine, and then he pulled back to look at me. Even in the darkness, I could see the
green of his beautiful eyes staring right back at me. I wanted his mouth on
mine again.

He
obliged, kissing me, though this time with a little more force. He used his
tongue to open my mouth and enter. Never moving the hand on my thigh, he
reached up and cupped the back of my head with his other hand.

“We
can’t do this,” I whispered into his mouth.

“Why
not?”

“The
other guys.”

“Come
here,” he said as he stood up. When he did, I could see that he was already
hard and it was pressing against the towel. I took his hand and stood to my
feet. I wanted to rip my towel off right then, but there was still some light
from the inside of the house where we were at.

I
took one last peek inside and saw that none of the guys was visible through the
glass, and I assumed that they could not see us either. Betsy and Pearl worked
in the kitchen and neither looked in our direction, but I knew from the bouts
of laughter that they were talking about me.

But
I didn’t care. I had Greg.

He
took me over to the chaise lounge chair where Derrick and I had spent our time
together. He gripped me by the shoulders and massaged the bare, exposed skin.
As he leaned in to kiss me again, he grabbed the edge of the towel and pulled
it off of my body, exposing my nakedness again.

I
refused to be the only one in this state, so I reached up, grabbed the edge of
his towel, and tugged. It came off easily, exposing Greg’s entire body. As I
continued kissing him, I reached a hand out and gripped him, massing his flesh
in an upwards motion.

He
moaned into my mouth. His hands slid from my shoulder down to my butt, gripping
both sides with his large hands. He used the leverage of the position to push
me against him.

After
a moment, he lifted me gently off of the ground and held me against him as he
stepped forward. He set me down gently in the chair, and one of his hands fell
down between my thighs.

We
continued kissing, and I could tell by his demeanor that he wasn’t happy with
just a hand. He slipped it out from between my legs and gently nudged on my
inner thighs. I followed his silent request and opened them.

This
time, I was prepared for it. There was no pain, no shock, and absolutely no
guilt. When he entered me, all I felt was the warm sensation of the physical
intimacy and the hardness of his body entering my own.

My
body seized up from the pleasure and I could feel my back arching. I bucked my
hips, and this time, I was able to time it with his deep thrusts.

I
don’t know if it was the lapse in time since we had made love or the situation,
but neither of us took too long. I had to put my open mouth on his chest to
keep from screaming out. He gritted his teeth and made a guttural sound of
pleasure.

Exhausted
and relaxed, he let his body go limp and lay down on me. I massaged his
shoulder, but my eyes never left his. We lay there for a while and I lost track
of time staring into his green eyes.

Neither
of us said anything. I had come to learn that with Greg, silence was the best.
It wasn’t that we couldn’t get along, because we hadn’t fought since we had
met, and it wasn’t that we didn’t have things to say. No, we had plenty to say
to each other.

Talking
would only bring us back into the real world that existed outside of the
amazing sex that we had. The reality of our lives had made it impossible for us
ever to be together in any true sense of the word. Even sex was something we
knew had to end if our professional endeavors were to achieve any level of
success.

Maybe
a half hour later, I finally managed to look away from him. I turned to look
back towards the house to make sure that we hadn’t been seen.

Standing
where Pearl had stood before was Jeremy Towers. I knew he could see Greg and me,
because he had his arms folded and was watching us with a look that spoke
disappointment and anger.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I nudged
Greg and pushed him aside so that I could stand up. I found the towel near
where I was laying and wrapped it around myself long enough to find my clothes
and shove them onto my body.

Greg
was shocked at first until he saw Jeremy standing in the doorway. He must have
realized what had happened, as he was getting dressed quickly as well.

Once
I had put my shirt on, I walked back into the house.

Jeremy
was standing near the kitchen table, looking at the back of my laptop when I
entered the kitchen.

“Hello,
Lana,” he said.

“Hey,
Jeremy,” I replied. I didn’t really know what to say to him.

“I’m
sorry to have come over unannounced,” he said.

When
Greg walked through the back door, he took his gaze off me a moment to stare
disapprovingly at the other man. When he turned back to me, I could see
definite pain in his eyes.

“I’m
sorry, Jeremy,” I said. “I really am.”

“You
don’t owe me an explanation,” Jeremy said. Greg disappeared into the living
room. “I came by to surprise you, but it is my fault for not calling ahead of
time. I felt like you had been blowing me off lately, so I wanted to be a
little more direct. Your friend – Ray, I think his name is – let me in the door
when I told him who I was.”

“Yeah,
Ray is my friend Pearl’s cousin.”

“It
would seem that you have several men over here.”

“It’s
not what it looks like,” I said.

“Are
you referring to what I saw on the patio out back or all the men in the house?”

“Either
one,” I told him.

“Well,
what I saw out back could only be one thing.”

“I’m
sorry,” I said softly.

I
really was ashamed of myself. Jeremy was the guy with the dating profile that
just had to be fake. But it wasn’t, and I had totally screwed it up. Instead of
going for the man that I should have gone for, I went with the gigolo with whom
I would never have a future.

Not
only had I not gone for Jeremy, but also I had sex with another man right in
front of him.

“You
don’t owe me anything,” Jeremy said. “We have just been on one date and we’re
not committed to each other. The only explanation I want is one that would
allow me to determine if we should proceed with whatever is between the two of
us.”

“So
you would still date me?” I asked.

“That
all depends. Because from what I just saw, you don’t really have the desire to
date me. I’m okay with that, but I just want to be clear on where we are.”

“I
do want to date you,” I said. “Greg and I are friends with a physical
attraction, but we aren’t dating.”