Revealed: A Hype PR and Eye Candy Bookstore Anthology

by Bethany Lopez

  I took my time finishing my drink before I slid out of the booth and walked toward the Midnight Lounge. It was already occupied by a few members and their exclusive hostesses. It would appear to any outsider that it were like any other club in the city. Maybe a little classier, but all in the same.

  A place to mingle, and socialize.

  But to those that came here often, we knew the purpose.

  But the secrecy of the club was binding. We made sure that each member held shares within the club. Not enough that it could hurt Sadie and me financially, but enough that if they shared the purpose of the club, they too would take the fall.

  Chapter 3

  Emery

  I followed behind Sadie as she led me from her office toward a darkened room. Lights hung low above each secluded booth, giving off just a small glow.

  When I say secluded booth, I mean that each one was U shaped and the backs where so tall it made them appear as if they were their own little rooms.

  Sadie paused in the doorway to talk to a man and I took the time to look around the room.

  My heart raced and my stomach was practically doing somersaults.

  I was so engrossed in analyzing each section of the room that when Sadie placed her hand on my shoulder, I jerked in surprise.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “I was just looking around.”

  She offered a reassuring smile as she motioned for me to follow her. With each step I took, my hands shook even more.

  What was I doing?

  I was two seconds from turning around and running from the room when we paused before one of the booths.

  “Emery, I’d like you to meet Jake Gunther.” Sadie held her hand out toward the man that was hidden in the darkness, yet the glow from the light above the table highlighted him enough to make it known that he was attractive.

  A strong jawline and that mouth was one I was sure I would fantasize about for days to come.

  “Good evening Emery,” husky, deep tantalizing tone. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

  And in my mind, I moaned in pleasure at the mere thought of him whispering in my ear. At least I hope I only internally moan in satisfaction.

  I wasn’t sure though by the way the two of them were just watching me. And the fact that Mr. Mysterious was smirking.

  Shit, what if I actually moaned out loud?

  “Thank you, Sadie,” he added as if to dismiss her.

  She wasted no further time before turning around and walking away. I was left alone, standing at the side of the table wondering what to do next.

  I was so out of my element.

  “Please,” that deep tone interrupted my thought once again, “have a seat, Emery.”

  He made even my name sound erotic.

  I did my very best not to appear nervous but by the way he watched me, I figured that he was experienced enough to pick up on my actions.

  I twisted my hands in my lap, trying to decide how close I should get. Unsure if I should place my hands on the table, or leave them were they were.

  “Why are you so nervous?” he asked. “I won’t bite.”

  I smiled as I looked over at him, to find he too was offering a kind smile. “This is all new for me,” I confessed.

  “What?” he cocked his eyebrow in question. “Dating? Having a drink with a man? What part?”

  “The being paid to do it part,” I said without thinking then instantly regretted it.

  I’m sure that I may have just violated some sort of clause or something.

  I was just about to apologize when he chuckled, gaining my full attention.

  Jake was handsome, and when he laughed it only enhanced that beauty. I found myself wondering what in the hell a guy like him was doing paying for the company of a woman. I was sure that he wouldn’t have any issues finding a willing party outside of this club who would be more than happy to offer their time.

  I knew if I’d met him on the streets I’d be game for whatever he was offering. But that nagging feeling in my mind that kept reminding me that each hour that passed I was gaining an income from this man.

  I was just another girl, willing to be bought.

  “Do you date often?” he asked, regaining my attention.

  “Not lately, no,” I confessed feeling completely off kilter. “It’s a long story.”

  “Why don’t you share that story,” Jake slid a little closer and placed his arm behind me, resting it against the small ledge of the booth. “Stop thinking about the being paid aspect. Because you and I obviously see that part in a whole different light. Just focus on the fact that we are two people, sharing a few drinks and conversation. There are no expectations here, Emery.”

  Jake’s fingers skimmed over the exposed skin along my arm and chills covered my back. “Whatever happens between us will be consensual.” He tilted his head to the side and I felt my heart race as his tongue gently wetted his lower lip. “And each move we make will be led by you. You are the one that has the upper hand in this scenario, sweetheart. It’s all up to you where things go and where they don’t.”

  I remained completely lost in thought as he continued to caress my shoulder, his movements leaving me breathless and excited.

  His touch was gentle and remained completely innocent.

  “Now can we move past the uncomfortable feeling I know you have, and get to know each other as two consenting adults enjoying the company and conversation of another?” Jake’s fingers paused on my shoulder and I found myself instantly missing the movements of his hand.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “That sounds nice.”

  And it did. Because everything about this night had gone completely different than I’d imagined. It was actually the complete opposite. And for the first time since I slid the blue silk dress over my head and placed my feet in to the overpriced stilettos on my feet, I felt like maybe I had overthought the entire thing.

  After all, how bad could being in the presence of a very good looking guy who seemed assured and confident be?

  Jake was a very pleasant surprise.

  Chapter 4

  Jake

  Sadie looked over her desk, smiling brightly. “It would appear that you had a decent time with Emery?”

  She was fishing for information.

  Sadie and I met in college. She was the girl that was able to take a small idea and turn it in to a gold mine. The woman was street smart and very sneaky. She was also now one of my very best friends and had been for years.

  She was also nosy.

  “Yes I did,” I assured her without giving her any details of my night.

  Emery and I had talked for hours, and by the end of the night I had her laughing and completely at ease. She was innocent and had envisioned, I’m sure, that her night would have been completely different than it was.

  If she had been paired up with Kurt, I know things would have gone in a whole different direction.

  The guy was all hands.

  “She left with a smile,” Sadie added as she thumbed through a file she held in her hand. She was avoiding eye contact, playing all suave and cool.

  “Yes she did,” I replied. “Emery is a lovely girl.”

  “Are you seriously going to give me nothing?” She tossed the file down and crossed her arms over her chest. Exactly as I thought, the file was only a prop.

  “Do you bring every member in here after a night with a beautiful woman and give him the third degree on his evening?” I already knew the answer but I loved getting her all fired up.

  “No,” she narrowed her eyes. “But not every guy is my best friend. And not every guy that steps into this club do I care about,” she confessed. “You are a smart guy, Jake. I know you’re not careless, but after Sommer and that ordeal.”

  “Emery is not Sommer,” I interrupted her.

  And for a moment she didn’t speak. We sat in silence as if we were both remembering the horrific outcome of that mistake.

 
“I know,” Sadie finally spoke, bringing me out of my own memories and back to the present. “Have you gone to see her lately?”

  “No,” I said. I hadn’t gone for over three months. It was just too hard. I still blamed myself for her attempted suicide that only left her impaired and confined to a nursing home where she now needed assistance to even do the simplest things.

  Hell, she didn’t even fucking know her own name anymore.

  “Stop,” Sadie knew me well. “Don’t do that to yourself. We both know that she is responsible for the state she is in. Never once did you promise her anything other than a companion within these walls. She knew the stakes when she agreed to work here.”

  I knew that Sadie was right.

  Sommer and I had only shared two nights together and we hadn’t even been intimate, before she had us married and living happily ever after in her mind.

  It was a fucked up situation and one that has left me on guard with every move I’ve made toward a female since.

  And Emery was nothing like Sommer. She wasn’t clingy, needy and she was able to actually hold a conversation without just saying what she thought I’d want to hear. She actually had aspirations and goals. She knows where she wants to be in life and though she may have gotten off course, she fully intended to fulfill those dreams one day.

  It was enjoyable having a conversation that for once wasn’t all about me.

  Chapter 5

  Emery

  “Jake?”

  Whitney had said his name four times so far, questioning that she heard me correctly.

  “Yes,” I said once again, assuring that I did in fact say Jake.

  “But he never gets matched up,” she said in disbelief. “He has been coming to the club longer than I have worked there. But he always sits alone, talking to those that come and go. I’ve seen Sadie converse with him a few times but that’s it.”

  And then a perplexed look covered her face as if she had remembered something. “Wait,” she whispered.

  Suddenly gaining my full attention.

  “What?” I asked when in my opinion she took entirely too long to continue.

  “There was Sommer,” she said as if I should know who Sommer was.

  I watched her closely as a pained expression slowly took over her features and she looked down toward the cup of coffee she held firmly in her hands.

  “Who is Sommer?” I asked.

  Why knowing that Jake had been with another woman within the club made me instantly jealous was unsettling. It was a club meant for that purpose. Meet, mingle and if the mood struck, hook up.

  I had no right to feel possessive of him. He wasn’t mine.

  “None of us were really supposed to know about her, but word spreads quickly.” Whitney began to explain and something in her tone told me that this was truly going to make my heart ache. “She was young, naïve and honestly believed that she was going to find her future at The Lounge. She fell for Jake even though it had been preached not to even consider a relationship outside of Sadie’s.”

  “Was she with Jake?” I already knew the answer to my question but I had to ask anyway.

  “Yeah,” Whitney replied. “But it was nothing like you think. But you could almost see the fantasy she immediately began creating the moment they were introduced.”

  “What happened to her?” Again that unsettling feeling rose inside me.

  “She almost instantly began showing signs of obsession. She’d follow him home, leave notes on his car. And when Sadie and Jake confronted her, Sommer just lost it.”

  Whitney lifted her latte and took a sip before continuing. “She disappeared for days and then when a detective showed up a week later, news spread fast.”

  “What happened?” My heart was racing.

  “She tried to kill herself.”

  My stomach felt as if it had twisted into the tightest possible knot when Whitney continued to explain. “Only she didn’t succeed. Instead she suffered unrepairable brain damage.”

  “Oh my god,” I said as I lifted my hand to cover my mouth in shock. I didn’t want to bring attention to us in the middle of Starbucks.

  I took a moment to register the type of devastation an act such as hers could affect those that cared for her. Hell, I didn’t even know her and my own heart nearly broke at just how alone she must have felt to attempt to end her own life.

  “And that was the one and only time I have ever seen Jake with one of the hostesses, other than just a quick hello or goodbye,” Whitney explained. “He’s there three or four times a week, but always sits alone, has a few drinks in the main lounge. To be honest, we all just assumed he must be into men.”

  And on that note, I couldn’t help but smile, even though on the inside I still ached for a woman I didn’t know.

  “Well, with the little time I spent with him, never once did I get that vibe,” I assured her. “He appears to be very into women.”

  ***

  I was just pulling into the parking lot of Sadie’s when my cellphone chirped with an incoming text.

  After parking in the first available spot, I reached inside my clutch in search of my phone.

  Don’t keep me waiting long, Emery.

  It was a message from Jake and it brought a smile to my face. I truly enjoyed the idea of him being eager to see me once again.

  I didn’t take the time to message him back, but instead chose to enter the club and relieve his impatient behavior.

  Tonight I feel a lot less tension than I had the first few times we met. I felt so much more confident and secure.

  The moment I stepped inside, I found him seated in a booth in the corner where he had the perfect unobstructed view of the front door.

  It was as if he could feel me because he immediately looked up and a sly smile spread out over that gorgeous mouth of his.

  I wasted no time moving across the room as he watched every step I took, making the temperature feel warmer, the closer I got.

  “You said not to keep you waiting,” I said with shrug and he watched me without speaking as I slid into the booth next to him.

  I think he was surprised at how comfortable I felt in his presence compared to before.

  Once I placed my clutch on the table in front of us, I tilted my face toward him and offered my own assured smile. “So now that I’m here, whatever do you plan to do with me?”

  My stomach fluttered when he looked back at me with what I would describe as a surprised expression. But he recovered quickly. “I said you have control, Emery. So I should be the one asking you what it is you plan to do with me.”

  And so the games begin.

  That exciting, flirtatious manner that a couple falls into when they first begin to date. If you’d call what we are doing dating.

  I wasn’t delusional, believing that we would fall in love and spend the rest of our lives in bliss. But what would it hurt to let my hair down and have a little fun with an unbelievably gorgeous and sweet man?

  So, without further pause I pulled up my big girl panties and took control.

  Placing my hand on his thigh, I leaned in and pressed my lips against his.

  I’d expected a surprised reaction from him. Maybe a small amount of hesitation until his mind caught up to what I was actually doing, but it was the opposite.

  Jake lifted his hand, instantly wrapped it around the back of my neck and weaved his fingers through the loose hair at my nape.

  And the kiss that was once mine had quickly become his, as he dominated me. I melted against him, as he took control.

  The way he bit at my lower lip and sucked on the tip of my tongue, made my entire body ache for more.

  With just one kiss, this man blew my mind.

  And in that moment I knew there was absolutely no way I could compete with him.

  Chapter 6

  Jake

  I pulled back from the kiss, feeling breathless and my body instantly ached from the aftereffects.

  I think I already knew kissi
ng Emery would be an experience I wouldn’t soon forget, but it rocked the fucking floor beneath me.

  It was one of those kisses you felt in every single part of your body.

  One single kiss that both freaked me the fuck out and immediately had me craving more.

  “Wow,” Emery whispered just before her eyes shot open in surprise. I think she had meant to keep that comment to herself.

  She smiled as she tucked her chin and tried to hide the blush that now covered her cheeks.

  “I agree,” I whispered hoping to ease her now embarrassed state.

  “I thought I was the one in control?” She tilted her head upward and smiled.

  “You are, but never once did I say that when you opened the door, I wouldn’t devour what was being offered.” And tasting every inch of her was exactly what that kiss had invoked within me. I wanted to crawl over her, pin her to this booth and do whatever it took to have her screaming my name so loud there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind the pleasure she would be feeling.

  “You’re intimidating,” she whispered. And instead of asking her why I allowed her to sit in silence just staring back at me, patiently I waited for her to continue.

  “I came in here tonight with a new found confidence. I felt comfortable and completely in control,” she confessed. “But now I just feel so small.”

  “I’m sorry I make you feel that way,” I never intended to make her feel inferior to me.

  “It’s not your fault,” she added quickly. “I’m just at a loss when it comes to you and how I should act.”

  “Don’t analyze it, just feel.” I wanted her to know that there was no specific way to act when she was with me. If she wanted to laugh, I wanted her to laugh so hard it brought tears to her eyes. I wanted her to act crazy when she felt the need, or bored when I had done something that she’d lost interest in. There was no right or wrong here.