Take a Risk (Risk #1)

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘Sex has become less satisfying as you have gotten older?’

  ‘Not less satisfying if you’re doing it right,’ he said. ‘But it’s not as important to have it every night. It’s less about the physical as we age.’

  ‘What is it about?’

  ‘Making a connection. Getting my rocks off is secondary to making sure my partner enjoys herself.’

  ‘Interesting,’ she said, leaning forward and discarding the pad. ‘You have esteem issues; prioritise your mate and her pleasure over your own. Do you believe that you don’t deserve gratification?’

  ‘Oh, I deserve it alright and I get it too, but if she doesn’t get hers then it hardly seems right that I take mine,’ he said, making her eye. ‘It’s about give and take, right?’

  ‘That’s important, but your mate must be of a similar mind. Have you ever been married?’

  ‘Briefly.’

  This surprised her and it must have shown because his lips curled. ‘You were? What went wrong?’

  ‘We wanted different things.’

  ‘What did you want?’

  ‘I wanted her to give me a break.’

  ‘And what did she want?’ Lyssa asked, she picked up her pad, retreating to her doctor default to try and disguise her personal interest in his answer.

  ‘Attention. I worked late a lot, sometimes nights, and she couldn’t handle that.’

  ‘Were there women at your place of work that she disapproved of?’ If he spent all his time at Risqué his wife might have struggled with the nature of the venue.

  ‘Disapproved of? No, other women weren’t involved. She didn’t like that I spent so much time with lowlifes instead of her.’

  ‘In bars?’

  ‘I didn’t work in bars, I was a cop in vice.’

  ‘A cop?’

  ‘Briefly,’ he said. ‘You’ve been on the divorce rollercoaster yourself?’

  ‘Yeah,’ she replied when it was her usual policy never to reveal anything personal to patients.

  ‘And? How did that come about?’

  ‘I took risks he disapproved of.’

  ‘Risks?’ He slid to the front of the couch to lean closer. ‘I am intrigued, such as?’

  ‘I believe we’re all students of life and I enjoy studying how people react in various situations. I believe it makes me better at what I do.’

  ‘I can identify with wanting to be effective, it’s why I left the force.’

  Getting to know her patient’s history was important and as many as two or three sessions could be used talking about nothing except where they came from. Colt wasn’t a genuine patient and her subconscious must have identified that because she found herself acutely aware of the angle of his jaw and the strength in his arms. His skin looked warm and soft, a smatter of light brown hairs on his forearms left her wondering at the shade of the hair on his chest.

  A blush touched her cheeks so she went back to making notes in order to disguise it. In her career she’d never had inappropriate thoughts about a patient, but Colt wasn’t a patient and so admiring the bob of his adam’s apple wasn’t too improper.

  ‘You left because you felt you were ineffective at your job.’

  ‘Yes.’ He didn’t elaborate.

  ‘Do you feel ineffective with women?’

  ‘In the sack? I’ve never had any complaints.’

  ‘Do you believe that women would complain?’

  ‘I can tell when a woman isn’t enjoying herself,’ he said.

  ‘You mean that you think you can tell when your partner is faking her arousal?’

  ‘Is this going to lead to a Meg Ryan scene replay?’

  His joke made her smile. ‘Whether or not you know when a woman is faking orgasm is between you and your mate. Tell me what you hope to achieve from these sessions.’

  ‘Are you willing to work with me?’ he asked with an intent expression that asked more than his voice did.

  Setting her pad aside she left her chair and retrieved the contract she’d signed for him from her desk drawer. She also removed the envelope filled with his retainer and took them to him.

  ‘I’ll accept you, I’d advise at least weekly sessions initially.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said and she handed him a folder from her desk behind her.

  ‘Have a read of the literature in there, it discusses various conditions and what we can achieve together. It should prompt you to think about yourself and what you need. When you come back we can talk about any conclusions you’ve reached.’

  ‘Lyssa,’ he said, tucking the contract and cash into the folder she’d given him to conceal it. ‘I think this is going to be a fruitful partnership.’

  ‘I’m glad you see it that way because this relationship is about give and take too. I’ll work hard you for, but you’re required to make a commitment to me as well.’

  Colt rose to his feet and held his hand out for hers. ‘That I can do, doc. Don’t you worry about a thing. Same time next week?’ She nodded.

  About facing, he sauntered out of her office, closing the door behind him. She exhaled and the smile that spread on her face displayed a sense of relief that she hadn’t expected to feel, she hadn’t been so relaxed in months. Knowing more about Colt put her more at ease and somehow she knew that Colt was going to change things for her.

  Berating herself for her premature confidence she was ready to go back to her desk when she noticed the small white rectangle on the couch where Colt had been seated.

  Picking it up, she turned it over and found it blank. Untucking the flap, it scraped free as it had not been licked or stuck. Inside was a single sheet of heavy writing paper.

  I’ve planted a bug detection device, which I will check when I return to my base. If I experience feedback we’ll know he’s listening and we’ll weed out his bug. I’ll let you know what I find. I’m going to be watching.

  I came to your office as a patient for cover, which I can keep doing until we know more, or come up with something else. I’ll let you train my wiener, which is more than I let other clients do.

  Your first task: change your routine. This guy knows what to expect of you. Shock him. Do something new that could draw him out – that will throw him off-kilter. Get a new hobby, take a second job or a class. We need to get you out of the house and on the move. I’ll be on your tail.

  The note wasn’t signed but the sender was obvious, unlike ones sent by her stalker. Having Colt as a patient would be a good way for them to meet without drawing attention to them, but meeting once a week didn’t suit her, she’d rather be able to get more regular updates from him. Waiting seven days to find out what Colt was up to was unacceptable. She didn’t want to be out of the loop for that long. She wanted to regain control of her life and being passive wasn’t in her nature.

  Turning everything off and collecting her purse Lyssa locked up and set out on a mission to go shopping. To accomplish her own goal she needed a good disguise because this was a role Lyssa planned to nail. Colt wanted her to change her routine and shake this guy up and she had the perfect idea.

  She waited three days, taking her time to try on dozens of outfits on and become comfortable in them. Flaunting her figure wasn’t part of her usual manner, but she wasn’t the shy type either. Her form was taut and limber enough, she worked out two times a week at the gym and did her yoga routine at least five mornings.

  At around nine thirty on the third night she left her home and walked towards town. A few blocks from her place she got a cab and requested to be taken to Risqué. Although she didn’t know what to expect when she got there she knew that Colt – an ex-cop who she met through Chavez, a current cop – owned part of the club with his brothers, so the place had to be legitimate. She trusted that the women weren’t required to perform sex acts and drugs weren’t allowed on the premises.

  Risqué was the perfect location for her next social experiment and it was the closest to safe she would get while still being genuine. Lyssa was actually quite e
xcited about the possibility and opportunity before her.

  This time she wasn’t as uncertain on entering Risqué. With her head held high, she strode past the bouncers on the door and made her way up the hall and into the bar, ignoring the patrons, pulsing music and the semi-nude women on stage and on the booth tables around the periphery of the room.

  She’d say there were more men here this time, but there was no one at the bar. A few seconds after she propped herself onto a stool, the bartender came around the corner at the other end toward her. Now that she knew they were related Lyssa saw the family resemblance, this man was the same height as Colt, built with a bit more muscle but the same dusty dark brown hair.

  ‘Back again?’ he asked, retrieving wine from the fridge on the way to her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said when he filled the glass he put in front of her.

  ‘No worries, it’s left from the other night so it’s probably flat.’

  Smiling, she took a sip and shook her head. ‘It’s good.’

  ‘Low maintenance. I like that.’

  ‘I don’t imagine you serve much wine in here.’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Only when we’re told to have it on premises. Trapper isn’t here.’

  ‘I know,’ she said. ‘I’m not looking for Colt. I came here to see you, Blaser.’

  ‘First name basis, it’s like that, is it? So you’re intimate with my brother… rare for him… shame for me.’

  ‘Not exactly intimate, he works for me.’

  ‘I’m not sure he’d like that description, even if it’s accurate,’ Blaser said. ‘He doesn’t tell me about what he does and I don’t ask. Whatever information you’re looking for—‘

  ‘I don’t want information. I want a job, here.’

  ‘A job?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, opening her jacket and leaning back to show the Lycra halter top she wore that displayed her midriff. ‘I have no issues putting my body on show.’

  ‘So I see,’ Blaser said, spreading his hands on the bar. ‘You say you’re not screwing my brother?’

  ‘No. Why? Would that make a difference?’

  ‘He’s the monogamous type and gets protective of his girlfriends. If I hired you to shake your tail at my customers—‘

  Lyssa could see that Colt would be the type to have a problem with other men ogling his woman. ‘We’re not romantically involved.’

  ‘So why do you want to work here?’

  ‘I know Colt and Miguel Chavez,’ she said. ‘They’re good guys so I trust this is a decent place. I know there are no drugs here and no expectation for the girls to deliver sexual services on site.’

  ‘Or off-site,’ Blaser said. ‘We keep everything above board.’

  ‘Which I like,’ she said, so far she’d been honest but now it was time for a fib. ‘I need the money, Blaser, you’d be helping me out.’

  ‘Ok,’ he exhaled. ‘The dancers make the most money, but we never start girls there. You’ll waitress: take orders, bring them to the bar, and deliver them to customers. You’ll also arrange private dances for customers when they show an interest. The more you flirt the more tips you’ll get. If you work out waitressing then we’ll talk about moving you onto dancing. Waitressing is your probation.’

  Much as she didn’t mind flirting and prancing around in her underwear she had no intention of moving up to dancing, she’d probably only make an idiot of herself trying that anyway. But she wouldn’t let Blaser in on her intentions.

  ‘Ok,’ she said.

  ‘We’re open two PM until two thirty AM. You’re expected to be here ready for work by the time your shift starts and waitresses stay on to clean up when they’re here to close. I can give you ten PM until close, Thursday to Sunday.’

  ‘That works for me,’ she said, thankful he hadn’t asked her to do a dayshift.

  ‘Come back tomorrow at eleven. I’ll have one of the girls give you a tour. You’ll get three uniforms, but you’re free to wear your own clothes as long as they fit requirements and you’ll have to provide your own shoes, platform spikes.’

  ‘What are the uniform requirements?’ she asked, seeking out waitresses in the slices of bright light spinning around the room.

  ‘Micro-mini skirt and plunge halter bra, what are you? Thirty-four C?’

  Impressed, she blinked at his indifferent observation. ‘Yes. How did you know that?’

  ‘I’m good at my job,’ Blaser said. ‘Have you worked in a joint like this before?’ She shook her head. ‘Cherry then.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We’ll use your real name on your paperwork, but around here we’ll call you Cherry.’

  ‘Ok,’ she said. ‘We’ll do paperwork tomorrow?’

  Someone approached the bar and Blaser backed away. ‘See you then.’

  He went to the waitress who gave him an order and Lyssa gulped down half of the wine still on the bar. Now that she had secured the job she took the time to look around. The décor was tasteful and the T-shaped stage had three poles on it, one at each end point and shimmering white material served as the backdrop.

  A security guard remained by the door Colt had taken her through, which led to backstage and the stairs to the offices. On the wall far away from the other end of the bar was a door marked private, which she watched a woman lead a man through, this had to be where the private dances took place, but she’d find all that out. Now the research could begin.

  Chapter Four

  ‘It’s ok,’ Lyssa said. ‘Take your time.’

  ‘I’m still struggling with the idea of this,’ Martin Schifford said.

  ‘You’ve had a few sessions now,’ she said. ‘We’ve discussed your childhood and your parents. You’ve told me about your work and about your wife. But we do need to address the issue and the trigger point.’

  ‘The incident at my father in-law’s.’

  ‘Yes. You witnessed a horrendous event. It must have been very traumatising,’ she said. ‘Were you physically injured?’ From the hospital notes she knew that Martin hadn’t had any serious physical injuries, but she had to get him talking about the event somehow.

  ‘Not badly,’ he said.

  ‘But you and your wife haven’t been intimate since this event, have you?’

  Shaking his head, she read embarrassment in his countenance. ‘Has your wife attempted to initiate—‘

  ‘Yes,’ he snapped. ‘But I don’t understand how she can think about that.’

  ‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘Did witnessing what you did affect your view of sexual behaviour? Was there an assault on—‘

  ‘No, it was him,’ Martin asserted and his frown was laced with anger.

  ‘Him, who?’

  ‘My sister in-law is flighty and she always has been, and… she had a disagreement with the family and was… she ran off.’

  ‘Your sister in-law?’ Lyssa asked, wondering what the sister in-law had to do with this “him”.

  ‘We didn’t see her for months and when she came back she had this… this man with her…’

  ‘And this man is somehow connected to the event that took place at your father in-law’s?’

  Martin shifted, squirming in his seat and refusing to make eye contact. ‘He’s macho and overbearing, his chauvinism is ridiculous. But since my sister in-law brought him into our lives… my wife won’t stop talking about him.’

  ‘And you think that your wife desires this man?’

  ‘I wonder how she can be so impressed by him and still be satisfied with me.’

  So it was an inferiority complex that he was struggling with. If that was the case then that was an easy fix, providing that Martin was willing to do the work. ‘Do you question your own masculinity?’

  ‘I never have,’ he snapped. ‘I mean, I work hard, I earn a lot of money, and I do right by my wife. Women have always been impressed by me.’

  ‘But you’ve seen a different kind of man introduced into your life and that has thrown up questions for you?’
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  ‘I suppose you could say that.’

  ‘We are all different, Martin. Just as we are all attracted to different kinds of mates. You are not attracted to your sister in-law, are you?’

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘Then there is no reason to believe that your wife is attracted to your sister in-law’s partner. Perhaps she too is just intrigued by this new kind of man who has been introduced into your lives.’

  ‘He’s not in our lives anymore,’ Martin said. ‘He was very briefly, but we have not heard from him or my sister in-law again.’

  ‘Then that chapter is closed.’

  ‘It should be,’ he said. ‘But my wife insists upon talking about it all the time, especially when we’re alone with her parents.’

  ‘And that frustrates you, have you told her that?’ He shook his head. ‘At this point my advice to you would be to open communication with your wife about why she feels the need to bring up this individual. It is possible that her answers will make things clearer for you, and the conversation will give you a good communication point to start from.’

  ‘Do you think so?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Let’s schedule another appointment for next week and you can tell me how it goes with your wife.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Yes, ok then.’

  They scheduled the appointment and Martin excused himself. He should be an easy enough case, but it was a shame to see him dejected by his wife’s obsession with another man. Lyssa wondered if her own stalker had a family, and if they had any hint as to his own unhinged fascination – her.

  Suzette had called earlier in the day for a chat and to make plans for the weekend, but Lyssa had to cut the conversation short. Eventually, she would tell Suzette about her new research project at Risqué. The project doubled as an opportunity to change her routine as per Colt’s instructions. But Lyssa wouldn’t be able to explain the details now, not when she couldn’t reveal her association with Colt.

  Clearing up after her last patient, she quickly showered and changed her clothes into something Risqué suitable. Donning a calf length coat, she hurried out, wondering at who was watching. To prevent her course from being too obvious, she traversed a few blocks to hail a cab to Risqué.