Revealed: A Hype PR and Eye Candy Bookstore Anthology

by Bethany Lopez

  “You just saw me yesterday,” I scoff, ignoring the way my entire body hums, begging for his touch.

  “Exactly. It’s been a whole day.” He takes my face between his hands, flashing an easy smile that makes my heart stutter.

  “Don’t,” I plead. “Don’t kiss me.”

  He leans in and kisses me so softly that my lips quiver against his, craving more. So much more. His mouth continues its gentle assault in this hypnotic spell of a kiss that has me wanting to forget everything that I came here to say.

  Harnessing every ounce of willpower I have, I step back abruptly away from his enchanting mouth. My gaze takes in the man before me and in my heart I know that he’s more than a high school senior. He’s more of a man than most guys I know ten years older than he is. Yet, in the real world none of that matters and that’s what I have to remember. There’s no room for the if we can keep this hidden mindset—no matter how much my heart wants me to go there. I have to force my mind to think in whens and not ifs because it’s just a matter of time before our secret would be discovered. Nothing in this place stays hidden for long.

  “I’m sorry, Jackson. I think you’re incredible, I do. But, this,” I motion my hand between our chests, “can’t work. There’s too much at stake.”

  He threads his thumbs through the belt loops of my jean shorts and pulls me toward him. “I’ve waited most of my life to have you, Savannah Sullivan. Now that I have you, there is no way I can let you go,” resolve lines his voice.

  “If anyone found out, I would lose everything—my job, my family, my reputation.” I stare up to him, hard desperation resonating in my voice.

  “No one would find out,” his confident smile fills me with a sense of calm, but I know it’s an illusion.

  I shake my head. “Of course they would.”

  “So, we wait three weeks. I’ve waited this long. I can wait three more.”

  Releasing a sigh, I say, “It won’t matter. Even when you’ve graduated, you’ll always be seen as my student by others.”

  He drops his hands from my waist. “And as a piece of trash not worthy of the town princess.” His words are drenched in hurt and it makes my heart ache.

  “That’s not true,” I argue, though it’s a lie. He’s right, no one would ever approve or understand a relationship between us.

  “It is,” he says frankly. “Respect me enough to be honest, Savannah.”

  I clench my jaw to prevent my lips from quivering and breathe deeply willing my tears to stay at bay. “I don’t know what to say, Jackson. You’re right. No one would understand. But, that’s not even the problem. There’s so many issues surrounding us that the sum of their weight would destroy us before we even had a chance to begin. We’d never make it and we’d lose everything in the process.”

  “You’d lose everything, is what you meant to say.” He balls his fists at his sides and drops his gaze to the ground. “I have nothing to lose.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say softly. The sentiment sounds lame and empty, even to me, but I’m at a loss for words. “I should go.”

  “Yeah, fine.”

  Regret washes through me as I turn to leave the way I came, but I know it’s the right thing to do. Jackson and I could never work, even after he graduates. I’m right about that. We both know it. He may not like it, but he has to understand that it’s true regardless.

  “Savannah?”

  I turn back to Jackson.

  “One kiss? For old times sake?” he asks, some of his usual swagger returning, as he pulls his bottom lip between his teeth.

  “Old times sake?” I grin widely. “As in yesterday?”

  He doesn’t answer but takes a step toward me.

  A small voice echoes in my mind telling me to go, but I ignore it. I want one more kiss. I need it. Just one. My stomach tightens excitedly in anticipation.

  Jackson crashes his impossibly full lips against mine, kissing me hard. His tongue licks greedily, sending me spiraling into a haze of lust and desire. I don’t even try to stop the moan that escapes me, resonating deep into his mouth. The way Jackson kisses me is insanely addictive.

  I fist my fingers through his short hair and pull his face into mine, taking the kiss deeper. Tasting him just a little isn’t enough. I need more. He’s like a drug I can’t resist and in this moment I’m finding it hard to figure out why I would want to.

  Our kiss intensifies until we are both shaking with desire. We make quick work of removing our clothes and Jackson lays a blanket across a mound of straw.

  Standing before him, he smooths his hands across my sensitive skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

  “You are so fucking beautiful, Savannah,” he says as his green-eyed gaze roams over me, increasing my rapidly growing need for him.

  “Just one more time,” I pant out, reassuring myself with a lie.

  “Yes. This will be the last time,” he agrees, his expression lusty and primal. “I’m going to have you one more time and then we’ll stop. But, first I need to taste you.”

  He guides me onto the blanket, planting heated kisses all over my body. His lips work their way down me until his face is between my legs. I cry out as his tongue licks across the perfect spot.

  “Oh, God…yes!” I scream out into the open air, unable to contain my emotions.

  His hand grasps at my thigh, kneading my skin, while two fingers enter me to work in conjunction with his magnificent tongue until I’m a writhing mess of agonizing bliss.

  My body begins to shake as enormous jolts of pleasure shoot through me and I cry out with a half-sob. Jackson places soft kisses against my skin as he works his way back up toward my face.

  “You taste even better than you do in my dreams,” he whispers against my neck between kisses.

  With my eyes still closed tight, I’m vaguely aware of the sounds of a condom wrapper as I continue to enjoy the residual waves of my orgasm coursing through my body.

  I grab Jackson’s ass when I feel him at my entrance. He enters me and I’m immediately lost in ecstasy.

  “You know this isn’t our last time?” he groans between thrusts.

  “I know,” I sigh before he impales me and I cry out once more.

  I can’t walk away from Jackson. From the moment his lips first touched mine, our fate was written. I will make a lot of mistakes in my lifetime, but regardless of the outcome, being with Jackson will never be one of them. Our connection is real, needed—unstoppable.

  The thing about secrets is that they always come out, one way or another. I know deep down in my soul that this one will, too. Yet, some secrets are worth the consequences. The complete and utter high I feel when I’m with Jackson won’t last forever. It’s sure to be followed by an impending crash, which will be utterly devastating. Until then, I’m going to enjoy every second of this ride for as long as I’m lucky enough to be on it.

  CA Harms

  Prologue

  I stretched my arms above my head and arched my back just enough to loosen the tension that had settled there.

  Lowering my hand to the mattress at my side I was suddenly reminded of the fact that Nate, my useless boyfriend had not come home, again.

  Apparently he’d decided that he would once again leave me wondering where in the hell he ended up and with whom. This of course only made me wonder why I’ve chosen to waste two years of my life on him.

  I took a few minutes to lie in bed and analyze my current situation.

  I was living paycheck to paycheck, sharing a tiny apartment with a jerk of a guy who on most days forgot I even existed.

  I was my mother.

  I was a woman who relied on a man to survive.

  It was fucking disgusting.

  I was pathetic, a cliché.

  I groaned out in frustration when the sound of my alarm reminded me that I had a shit job awaiting. Who goes to college for just under four years, only to drop out months before graduating with a teaching degree?

  Me.

&nb
sp; Emery Wilkinson.

  The college student turned telemarketer, turned waitress.

  Did I mention I was pathetic?

  From the moment my feet hit the floor it was one mess after another.

  I tripped over my house slippers and fell in to the corner of the dresser, my hip catching the majority of the impact.

  “God damn it,” I screeched as a million other choice words rolled around in my mind.

  After I once again caught my breath, I picked up the house slippers and just because it made me feel better, I threw them across the room.

  I searched for my work polo with the ugly as hell logo reading ‘Gordon’s Pub and Pizza’ on the front. I swear no matter how many times I washed the thing it still smelled like the wretched hell hole I was trapped in. It was like a beacon screaming out to me, saying your life sucks.

  And it was all downhill from the moment I slipped that lime green shirt over my head.

  There was no coffee in the cupboard, which was equal to a druggie unable to receive their fix. I was addicted to my caffeine.

  After ten minutes of trying to start my car, I gave up and decided to walk up to the bus stop on the corner.

  Just as I was rounding Maple Court the damn bus sped by and I waved my hands franticly, but the fucker kept going.

  Pulling my cell out of my bag, I realized the battery was dead.

  So right there on the corner of Maple Court and Mason Drive I had a certified toddler melt down. Kicking my feet and fisting my hands as I screamed up at the sky as if by some miracle it would somehow fix everything.

  Another fifteen minute wait, a cab ride with a creepy driver that tried to hit every bump on the roads so he could watch my tits bounce in the rearview mirror and my last twenty dollar bill later, I was extremely late for work.

  It probably would’ve been okay had it not been my third time this week being late.

  Gordon, my boss, was waiting for me when I stumbled in. And when I say stumbled in, I mean I tripped over the threshold and practically face dove right into his beer gut.

  The thought made me shiver, not to mention the fact that the mentioned gut was already exposed, hanging out of the bottom of his shirt that was three sizes too small and hairy. Like Sasquatch hairy.

  Arguing and pleading couldn’t get me out of it this time; I left with my final six hours of pay in hand and waited for the damn bus to take me back home to my shit apartment and even shittier life.

  How in the hell could it get any worse?

  As if all of that had not been enough to make me mad as hell, I came home to a note. A fucking note on the kitchen counter from Nate.

  It’s been fun Em, but I can’t do it anymore.

  He can’t do it anymore, I can assure you he hasn’t been doing it for months. The asshole that I wasted two years on, ended things with a note.

  Chapter 1

  Three Months Later

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I hung my head and closed my eyes tightly. “Isn’t this like prostitution?”

  “Um, excuse me,” Whitney sounded offended and I instantly regretted my words. “I’ve been working for Sadie for over a year now, and I can assure you that in no way is what we are doing prostitution.”

  I still wasn’t convinced.

  After three months of struggling to pay my bills and then having enough money left over to hopefully be able to eat at least once a day, I caved and gave in to Whitney. She had been offering to help me get a job since the moment I told her I’d lost my waitressing position.

  But there was just something unsettling about what she did.

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” she assured me. “The Lounge and its club members are exclusive. To everyone else it just appears to be an elegant, tasteful club. But to those that support it, pay a membership and agree to the privacy terms, it’s so much more.”

  “And that’s where the sex comes in,” I said as my stomach began to tense.

  “Don’t look at it that way,” Whitney stepped up to my side and watched me through the reflection in the mirror.

  “How can I not?” I asked.

  “You are paired up with one specific guy. Exclusively you belong to him.” Whitney had explained this multiple times, and it still didn’t make it less disturbing. “Sadie interviews them, she does background checks. We have some of the most successful, high demand, wealthy clients who pay top dollar for the company of beautiful women. There is nothing that states you have to have sex with them.”

  “But there is nothing stating I don’t,” I added daring her to argue. And of course she didn’t. “I just have a difficult time with the whole being paid to do it thing.”

  “Emery,” Whitney gripped my shoulders and turned me to face her. “They pay their membership; we are being paid as entertainers. We ohh and aww at what they say. We treat them as if they hang the moon. We give them our undivided attention and in the end, if we choose to sleep with them, that is our choice.”

  I let out an exasperated breath.

  “Think of it this way, if you were a bartender,” Whitney smiled brightly as she began to muster up some scenario that she felt was a great comparison to what I was about to do, “you’d serve drinks, laugh and be cordial. But one specific guy has caught your attention so you give him a sweet smile, a flirtatious giggle. Maybe you lean over the bar a little further than necessary so that he can see a little cleavage.”

  I laugh and she bumps my shoulder with hers.

  “And at the end of the night, he hangs around still making small talk, still flirting, throwing out all the signs of being interested.” Okay, so there really wasn’t much I could argue with regarding her story as of yet.

  “You exchange numbers, making plans to hang out more.” I waited for it, because I knew it was coming. Nothing was ever G-rated when it came to my overly friendly best friend.

  “Or you invite him for a little nightcap back at your place and the two of you spend hours having some of the best, nastiest, dirty sex of your life.” She laughed when I tossed my tube of lipstick at her.

  “What?” she asked. “It’s not much different, because that same guy just paid you for drinks and tipped you for your services all night long.” She shrugged. “And you chose to have sex with him. Sadie doesn’t state that you must sleep with the guy she’s assigned you to. That is your choice.”

  “But it’s expected,” I added and once again she didn’t argue.

  “Okay fine, it’s a huge bonus for the guy if they get laid. But if you don’t feel comfortable with it, then you tell Sadie and she’ll match him up with someone else. She’d never force us to be with a guy we weren’t in some way attracted to.”

  Whitney walked away leaving me standing at the mirror and I once again began to second guess myself.

  Could I do this?

  Could I walked into that club, with my head held high knowing that I was about to sell myself for my next month’s rent?

  Chapter 2

  Jake

  I’d been sitting at a table in the back of The Lounge for close to an hour. I’d been a silent partner in the place from the beginning and yes I have partaken in some of its perks, but mostly I just observe. Overseeing the members, making sure everything stays out of the spotlight.

  It also helps that I’m an attorney, and my brother is the chief of police. There are ways around everything.

  When the door opened and I saw two women step inside, my stomach tensed. The brunette was one of the regular hostesses, but the girl with auburn hair, I’d never seen before.

  I watched as she moved further in to the club, looking around hesitantly. There was a timid nature about her. She wasn’t as confident as the woman at her side, and I found her intriguing.

  The brunette led her toward the back, where Sadie’s office was. And once they had disappeared behind the closed door, I tapped out a message to my business partner and friend.

  Please tell me that the redhead is not for Kurt.<
br />
  Kurt Martin is the CEO of Rison Oil. He is an arrogant asshole and from the looks of that girl, he would eat her alive.

  Why? Don’t think he would like her?

  Sadie’s response made me chuckle. Hell yeah he’d like her. He’d be in heaven. I just wasn’t sure I liked that he would be the one touching her.

  We need to talk. Now.

  I laid my phone down on the table refusing to discuss this matter any further, other than face to face.

  Only a few moments passed before the office door opened and Sadie stepped out.

  The dark atmosphere of the lounge made it hard to see her until she was within a few feet of my table, but I could imagine the smug smile on her face. It wasn’t often I stuck my nose in to the placement side of things. I usually left that to her.

  But tonight I felt it was necessary.

  She took a seat in the booth next to me and placed her hands on the tabletop, just staring back at me with a smirk.

  “Find someone else for Kurt,” I stated as I lifted my glass of whiskey and took a small sip.

  “And what would you suggest I do with Emery?” she asked, arching her brow.

  Emery, I liked that. I could image myself saying it over and over.

  “You know exactly what I’d suggest for her placement.” It had been over eight months since I requested the company of a certain woman. And at that time I’d stated that I’d never do it again. Sommer turned out to be completely unstable which led to a messy situation.

  So the way Sadie was watching me was expected. But I didn’t bite.

  “I’ll give Kurt Taryn, she knows how to handle him,” Sadie said without any further discussion. She stood from the booth, her hands still resting on the tabletop. “Emery will be waiting in the Midnight Lounge.”

  She turned around and began walking back to her office without a second glance in my direction.

  The club had several rooms, all with an open floor plan. Each had a theme of sorts, depending on the preference of those members. But toward the back of the club, more secluded, there were those rooms that could be used for other purposes.