My Double Life: Wild and Wicked

by Joanne Rock

  He shouted. Gripped the headboard. Lost himself in her.

  Sex had never been like this. Not with anyone. Courtney was his hottest fantasy come to life. Utterly uninhibited. So totally his. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened between them, but together they’d unleashed a kind of sexual chemistry most guys only dreamed of.

  When he recovered enough to remember his own name and roll off her, he wondered if he could talk her into spending the night. He wanted her—again and again—but didn’t want to be presumptuous. What if she didn’t feel that same connection that he did? He didn’t have much of anything to offer her except a good time. His feud with his father was an ugly mess and he refused to involve anyone else in it.

  Besides, recovering his position in Hollywood was going to take all his focus over the next couple of years. Dating—and all the guesswork that came with figuring out what women wanted—was not something he had time for.

  He didn’t want to give her false hope for a future. When he cracked open an eye to face her, though, she had a wry smile on her face. A wicked gleam in her eyes.

  “Guess you didn’t need a lap dance, did you?”

  * * *

  “COURTNEY?”

  I was just leaving dance class three days later when Natalie followed me out of the studio, the thunk, thunk of her crutches making it tough for her to sneak up on anyone. I paused near the juice bar at the main entrance, glad to see her. She hadn’t been teaching classes since her injury—the ankle had been dislocated, not just sprained—but she still came into work to oversee things.

  Today, she wore a pink sarong over her black dance leotard, her blond hair tucked into such a neat bun that she looked like the ballerina she used to be. Well, aside from the henna tattoo of a thorny vine around her neck.

  “Hi!” I felt like throwing my arms around her because I was happy. Absurdly happy. I hadn’t seen Trey since we’d spent the night at his place, but we’d texted and called even though we had both been busy with work. I planned to see him tonight.

  Finally. His most recent text had told me to bring my domino mask. But I had an even better surprise in store for him than that.

  “You look great,” Natalie observed. I was still wearing my sheer costume from the Dance of the Seven Veils, which we’d practiced tonight. “Do you have a minute for a Pomegranate Power-Up?” She pointed to the juice bar. “On the house.”

  I resisted the urge to glance at my watch. I didn’t have many close friends and my dance instructor ranked as one of the best. So I made time even though I knew Trey would be expecting me soon. He’d said he was “sending a car” for me.

  As if I was one of his star clients. Ha!

  “Sure.” I dropped my gym bag on the floor and had a seat on one of the polished red stools in front of the hammered steel bar. “Do you need help? It must be really tough getting around—”

  “I’m fine,” she assured me, setting the crutches against the bar. “Have a seat.”

  We exchanged a few words about her injury while Natalie fixed the vitamin-packed drinks. She sold teas and other health foods here, and there was a small gift shop across the foyer. I’d been so intimidated the first time I set foot in here. Hard to believe the dance studio was almost a second home to me now.

  “So, care to share what’s given you the new bounce in your step?” she asked as she passed my drink toward me in a martini glass, complete with a toothpick full of raspberries. “Everyone has commented on it. Half the girls believe it’s because you nailed the job for me at Backstage. But personally, I think it must be a man.”

  I knew I needed to keep a lid on my relationship with Trey. I mean, if he was going to keep it secret from my employer, then I shouldn’t be blabbing about it either. But I could tell Natalie a few things, right? The news was practically bursting out of me.

  Ever since I’d slept with Trey my life felt...fuller, better, happier. It was like a switch flipped inside me that night and I just didn’t feel the weight of my old insecurities any longer. Dancing at Backstage was part of it, too, but most of the change in me was because of Trey. I felt like I’d been living a fantasy ever since we met.

  “Maybe it’s a little of both,” I admitted, launching into an abbreviated tale of meeting Trey, deleting the part about him being a client and omitting his famous name. I called him “Tom” just because it got awkward telling a story about someone without using a name. And technically, he was Thomas the Third in his family. I hadn’t found out much about his two younger brothers, but I knew they lived up in Sonoma Valley and that one of them ran a thoroughbred farm.

  “Doesn’t it worry you that you met him at Backstage?” Natalie asked, coming around to my side of the bar and settling next to me on one of the stools. “Men can be really...weird about women in sexy professions. I mean, they love to head to the dance clubs, but how many of them will take an exotic dancer as a girlfriend?”

  “It’s not like I was stripping,” I was quick to point out. “You know Backstage isn’t that kind of place. Besides, Tom and I have agreed not to take this seriously.”

  “Right. Just be careful, okay?”

  Didn’t she see how happy I was? I felt compelled to elaborate.

  “Natalie, my whole life turned around after you made me go on stage for you.” Some hidden part of me had stepped into the spotlight and really liked it. “I’m seeing someone. I’m more confident. I’m stuttering less.” Sort of. Trey didn’t seem to notice my speech issues, which made me not notice them either. “I was even asked to take a face-to-face role with a new client at Sphere, so I’ll be coming out of the back offices for the first time to give a small part of a roundtable presentation.”

  I’d also emailed Trey a few investment ideas—no big trade secrets, just some general advice geared toward his situation. I knew he’d need start-up cash for the next phase of his plan to launch an independent film studio and I’d already studied his financial profile. I would have done the same for any friend. But he’d seemed really impressed and I can’t deny...that felt good.

  Natalie drummed her black and silver painted nails on the bar for a moment.

  “It’s just such a big change, you know?” She picked up her toothpick full of berries and tugged one off with her teeth. “Call me jaded, but I always worry when I see someone do an about-face in their personality when a man is the cause.”

  “He’s not,” I said firmly, readjusting the gossamer-thin blue veil that was slipping off my shoulder. “I owe it to you for pushing me. Not just that night at Backstage, but all year.” When Natalie tried to deflect the praise with a wave, I wouldn’t let her. “I mean it, Nat. Dancing really helped me see that I could be good at something besides numbers. Something fun.”

  Part of the reason I’d chosen a finance major back in college was that it sounded like something I could do on my own. I could stay in a back room with a calculator and not have to make conversation with anyone. The plan had worked to perfection, but I guess I was getting tired of always remaining behind the scenes. Time had taught me that my decorator mother had a skewed vision of perfection, and just because I failed to meet her standards didn’t mean I didn’t have valuable things to say.

  I was just about ready to finish my drink when the bell on the front door rang. It was too late for any more dance classes, but when Natalie started to tell the tall, strikingly lovely newcomer this, I realized I knew the woman.

  “Hi, Kendra.” I slid off my stool at the sight of the gorgeous dancer from Backstage, the one who’d covered herself in the awesome body art.

  Too late, I remembered she wouldn’t recognize me without my wig and mask. Plus, I was supposed to be Natalie that night.

  “Hi.” She cocked her head to one side to study me. “Do I know you?”

  Awkward.

  “Er. Um. I’ve s-seen your act,” I said. “You do beautiful body paint.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled, her long, dark hair floating around her like some goddess in a Renaissance painting
. “I was looking for Natalie?”

  “Yes?” Natalie stood with the help of her crutches and shook the other woman’s hand. “I’m Natalie.”

  “Right.” Kendra nodded, frowning. “Nice to see you again. I live around the corner and the owner at Backstage asked me to drop by one night and find out if you’d like a spot sooner than the fall lineup. Even if it’s just a single appearance. Kind of a ‘back by demand’ thing.” Her eyes went to Natalie’s ankle and the cast around it. “But maybe you’re not in dancing form with that injury?”

  “I’m afraid not,” she demurred, shaking her head. “But tell him I can’t wait to get started in September.”

  “Wait,” I intervened, seeing an opportunity to relive one of the most exciting nights of my life. Plus, there had been such a fantasy element to it. What would Trey think of watching me again? “Natalie, why don’t you wait to decide until after you see your doctor tomorrow? She did say the cast was just precautionary.”

  Thankfully, my dance mentor stood a little behind me, so when I turned to look at her, I gave her a wink to let her know I had an angle.

  “Um.” Natalie frowned. “I don’t know.”

  “Can she get back to you?” I asked Kendra. “Do you have a card or should she call the club directly?”

  Kendra’s gaze passed back and forth between us and I wondered what she thought of my forceful intervention. But I was so wound up about the possibility of dancing for Trey again in public, I wasn’t thinking about any consequences.

  “She can call the club.” Kendra backed toward the glass door. “I’m just a messenger girl. Plus...” She hesitated, her palm on the handle. “I was curious how things went with Trey Fraser that night at the club.”

  “Trey.” Natalie stared at me. Hard. “Fraser.”

  “Yeah. He asked for you after your number—” Kendra shook her head. “I get it. None of my business.” She smiled, apparently not taking offense. “See you soon, Natalie.”

  She pushed through the door and headed off into the night. The hint of smoggy air curling through the air-conditioned studio wasn’t half as oppressive as Natalie’s dark glare.

  “What?” I draped a light sweater over my veils to help deflect attention once I left the studio. But honestly, I was excited to dance for Trey in this costume.

  “Trey Fraser. Hollywood royalty.”

  I didn’t want to know what was so wrong with that. She’d warned me, after all. But right now, I didn’t care to hear any more cautious advice.

  “I didn’t meet him after the show.” That much was true. “My new guy’s name is Tom, remember?”

  “Sure.” Natalie wasn’t born yesterday. She folded her arms across her chest and crossed her legs. I could see where all her young dance students had signed her cast with pink magic markers.

  “But thanks for the warning.” I gave her a smile and headed for the door, already thinking about my private dance engagement with Trey tonight. “And I would love to do that show for you if you want me to. We could split the pay. Think about it, okay?”

  I felt guilty for referencing the payout for the dance, but it was the only tool I could think of that might get her to say yes. For now, she settled for a nod.

  “Maybe. Be careful, Courtney.”

  Her words reached me when I was halfway out the door, all my thoughts devoted to how fast I could take my veils off tonight and still give Trey the most sizzling performance ever.

  8

  MY PHONE CHIMED with a text as I headed through the door into the night. Pulling it out of my purse, I read the note from Trey:

  The limo is parked behind the dance studio.

  Although I was tempted to run down the street, I was fully aware of the costume I wore. Seven silk veils tied in a myriad of strategic places required elegance. Grace. They made me feel beautiful.

  As I navigated my way through the smoggy night past a doughnut shop and an Asian food market, I still couldn’t believe I was having a secret affair with the sexiest and most controversial talent agent in Los Angeles. Or that he seemed perfectly content to keep my secret from my company. Of course, I knew that alone didn’t protect my job. I’d have to make sure no one saw us together. And that could be tough because Trey was a favorite of photographers. He appeared in Variety and on TMZ. His name came up in the gossip blogs, not just because he happened to be one of the city’s most eligible bachelors but also because of his famous family.

  He figured hiring a car for us tonight would be less obvious than taking the SUV, which a few persistent members of the paparazzi would recognize. I had told Trey that I didn’t mind driving to his place, but I’d discovered he was sort of old-fashioned about wanting to chauffeur me around.

  When I turned the corner behind the Asian specialty place, I saw a pair of headlights switch on across the street. That had to be him. Fighting the urge to walk faster, I carried myself with all the dignity I could muster so that my outer veil—a floor-length red number that made me look like an elegant Indian woman—wouldn’t flap up and reveal the secrets beneath it.

  That was for later.

  In the quiet of a street bordered by a warehouse that was closed for the night, I heard the soft electric swoosh of a car window being lowered.

  “Excuse me, miss?” Trey’s face was suddenly visible in the back of the black stretch limousine. His gaze ran lazily over my outfit. “I’m looking for a hot brunette who just finished a dance class around here. Have you seen her?”

  My veil covered my head, but Trey knew exactly who I was. I looked around to be sure no one else was nearby as I crossed the street.

  “No.” I rolled my hips suggestively as I closed the distance to the car. “But if it’s a dance you’re looking for, I might have just the thing.”

  A vehicle turned the corner toward us, catching me in the headlights for a moment. Trey came out of the car in a flash, drawing me inside before he followed and closed the door behind us.

  “There’s not much room for dancing in here,” he admitted, his eyes roving the red veil. I could tell he was searching for a way in.

  He looked fantastic in a dark suit and a white shirt with no tie. His hair stood up in front a little, like he’d dragged his hand through it a few too many times during the day. I could smell a hint of his aftershave now that I sat close to him, and I thought about how nice it would be to kiss his throat down to where the top button of his shirt collar was undone.

  A surge of delicious anticipation ran through me and I was already getting hot for him.

  “Maybe not the kind of dancing your girlfriend does,” I teased, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. “But I know other, erotic dances that they don’t teach in any studio.”

  Perhaps it was all the veils I was wearing, but I felt kind of like a genie set free from its bottle. I didn’t think there was any way I’d go back to the confines of my former existence. I’d turned shameless.

  “Is that so?” He tried to appear dubious, but I could see the flash of undisguised male interest in his eyes. His pupils widened. Nostrils flared.

  My heartbeat sped in response. I thought about the things he’d done to me the last time we were together. The way he made me feel. My God. I’d never had orgasms like that. Ever. Just thinking about his mouth all over me made my skin tingle.

  We hadn’t left the curb yet, but with the tinted windows up and the partition closed between us and the driver, it hardly mattered.

  “Absolutely.” I slipped a hand beneath his jacket to feel the warm strength of his pecs through the thin cotton poplin of his shirt. “It’s all in the movement of the hips. Would you like a demonstration?”

  “I’ve missed you,” he said, suddenly serious.

  I was surprised and a little caught off guard. Maybe it was easier for me to handle a bigwig Hollywood insider if I played a role—borrowed a little of my “Natalie” attitude. My secret shadow side. My double life.

  “It doesn’t matter to me if we have dinner.” The things I
was hungry for could only be provided by this man. In private. “We can go straight back to my place and get reacquainted.” I breathed the words against his neck, kissing his jaw and savoring the rough stubble of his five o’clock shadow.

  I wanted to feel that abrasion over my entire body.

  “No.” He shook his head, all intense determination as he banged on the roof of the limo and the car shifted into gear. “I need to feed you first.”

  There he went, going all caveman again. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. The last time he’d fed me at our picnic, I didn’t eat much, but I’d had a great time.

  “Sure.” It was late, but I’d been too excited about this date to have anything earlier so I felt a little hungry now. I traced a teasing circle on his skin around one flat male nipple. “I’ll have whatever you’re serving.”

  “Don’t worry,” he growled in my ear, nuzzling my neck until the veil fell aside. I shivered a little from the tingle on my skin. “We’re eating somewhere private. You can dance all you want.”

  “Really?” I couldn’t imagine myself dancing in a restaurant, but I knew there were VIP rooms for special customers.

  “Really. I had something catered but I told the wait staff we’d serve ourselves.”

  “Oh.” I tried to picture this. Did he mean at his house?

  “Besides,” he paused to nip my earlobe and then licked the place where his teeth had grazed. “You’re going to need to fortify yourself for what I have in mind.”

  Pleasure tripped over my skin in a warm rush. I debated stripping off the veils right there and climbing onto his lap, but I couldn’t let him talk me out of my clothes every time I saw him. He deserved the show I had in mind.

  “Good thing I took my vitamin this morning.” My mind went on a little journey just thinking about what might happen between us tonight.