by Hannah Ford
“I don’t have anything to wear,” she said, pulling her comforter up again, as it had begun slipping down.
Jake looked at her, and she couldn’t help but meet his penetrating gaze. His eyes seemed fixated on the line where the blanket met her bare skin. Did he perhaps think she was entirely nude under the blanket?
She felt warmth creep into her stomach at the thought.
“Don’t worry about clothes,” Jake said, finally. He turned and pulled the cover off the tray of food.
“Don’t worry about clothes? I think I need something to wear. I need to go out to my car, at least, and find something suitable to change into.”
“I’ve had a wardrobe delivered to the room,” Jake said in an offhand way.
“I don’t understand.”
“I wasn’t sure on the sizes, so they sent a variety of apparel for you to choose from.” He started out of the room. “Why don’t you just put on the bathrobe in the closet for now?”
“Umm…oh…okay.”
He was already gone, closing the door behind him.
Raven got out of bed and went to the closet, where she found a cozy bathrobe and put it on, cinching it closed, before pulling the breakfast cart closer to the bed and sitting down in front of the substantial breakfast that had been delivered to her.
There were delicate crepes with various berries and sauces drizzled over them, and there were pancakes, stuffed French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon. Every bit of it was delicious, and Raven decided to taste some of all of it, since apparently Jake had brought this entire tray for her and her alone.
She didn’t know what to make of any of it. Her mind was still struggling to get used to the idea that maybe she actually could do this.
Why not? Why not stay with gorgeous Jake freaking Novak for one month, be his little plaything, and then go back to normal life having lived out the fantasy of a lifetime and getting paid for it to boot?
As she ate, tasting the delicious flavors, closing her eyes and savoring her breakfast in bed, she’d almost decided that maybe she didn’t have to fight so hard against this outcome.
Jake intrigued her in so many ways. He was hot, mysterious, and in a sense he was treating her better than she’d been treated in a long time.
Oh, yeah? Was he treating you well last night when he spanked your ass red?
Raven nearly choked on her eggs as she thought about it. She put her fork down, tried to calm her nerves. It was true that what Jake had done to her last night had been downright strange, and she wasn’t necessarily proud he’d done it to her—but Raven also couldn’t deny the very real fact that she’d enjoyed every second of it.
That doesn’t make it right, she thought, her own critical voice unwilling to let the matter slide.
Raven sighed, knowing that she would be in conflict over this decision no matter what she ultimately chose to do. Part of her wanted this, wanted him and everything that came with him—while another part of her was terrified and angry and wanted to run away as fast as possible.
She picked up her fork again and started eating, giving in to inertia. For now, it was easier to stay on the course that had been set for her.
Score one for Jake, she thought.
As she was starting to get full, there came another knock on the door. “Yes?” she called out.
“It’s me,” Jake said. He came in carrying what must have been a dozen or more different items of women’s clothing. “Let me know if any of this is wearable, and what you do or don’t like. Oh, I’ll also need your shoe size,” he said.
“My shoe size?”
He glanced up at her, those brown eyes twinkling with mischief. “I have a wardrobe department that can get me anything I need pretty much right away, assuming your taste doesn’t run to the newest fashion line coming out of Milan or Paris. Actually, even if that’s what you like—I can get it.”
Jake gently laid the clothes on the bed behind her.
“You don’t need to do all of this for me,” she told him.
“This is just the beginning of what I’m going to do for you,” he said, his voice firm and knowing, as if he’d already seen the future.
She glanced at him, noticing that cute little scar above his eye brow, and suddenly pictured herself softly kissing it, and then kissing his cheek, and then those lips…
“I guess I can try a few things on then,” Raven said softly, having trouble getting the words out.
“How’s breakfast?” he asked, examining her plates of partially eaten food with a knowing grin.
“Everything’s amazing,” she said. “Although I don’t think I have the kind of appetite you seem to assume I have. Not sure if I should be flattered or offended by the amount of food you ordered for me.”
Amidst the clothes that Jake had laid on her bed, she noticed a small stack of papers. Jake picked the papers up casually and held them in one hand. He noticed her looking at the papers and answered her question before she asked it.
“Oh, this,” he said, holding the papers up. “I figured you might like to read while you eat breakfast. I usually check the paper, but this should do for you.” Jake plopped the papers down on the tray beside her plates of food, making her silverware clatter.
It looked like a high school midterm—she glanced down at it, her brow wrinkling with confusion. “What is it?”
“Just a few details about our arrangement,” he said. “Give it a look while you finish up eating and then we can discuss if you have any questions. But it’s all pretty self explanatory,” he finished, hands on his hips. “Understood?”
“Uh, I guess.” She picked up the papers, which had been stapled together in the top right corner and seemed well worn already. Some of the ink on the typed pages was smudged.
The top line said: Duties and Obligations for the New Hire
Her stomach did a slow flip and she’d suddenly lost her appetite.
“When you’re done reading and eating, you can pick out an outfit from the stash I brought in, and come out and join us in the suite,” Jake told her.
“Who is us?” she asked him, overwhelmed now by the speed at which things were moving.
“My tour manager and road manager will be here discussing details for the show tonight.” He gave her a long look. “Don’t stress,” he said, as if he could tell how anxious she was getting from all the news he was dumping on her. “It’s going to be fun.”
And then he left the room and closed the door again.
Raven picked up the stapled sheaf of papers and started to read. It was basically a job description.
Your assignment will begin today and last for four consecutive weeks. Throughout these four weeks, you will accompany Jake to each city on his North American tour, staying in the same hotel that he stays in. Jake will pay for all food, necessities, hotel accommodations, transportation, etc. You will be paid a sum of $5,000 dollars per week to compensate you for the time you’ll be spending away from your normal life activities while on tour. As well, you’ll be paid the $1,000 fee for the two nights each week that you’re required to do specialty work via your Club Alpha contract.
Since Jake will only make use of your specialized services two nights per week, on all other days and nights you will accompany him as a member of his entourage. During this downtime, you won’t be required to do any of the specialized work that you’ve been brought here for. However, your professionalism and quiet decorum will be very much appreciated.
To make things simple, if anyone asks you who you are and what you do on tour, you will simply tell them that you’re in charge of Jake’s social media. This means that you are in charge of handling Jake’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other associated media platforms.
Since Jake typically handles his own social media, you will not actually need to concern yourself with those duties. It is merely an easy way to answer questions about your reason for being with Jake so often during the tour.
Below is a list of the cities you will be
traveling to for reference:
After that, it was just a list of dates and cities, and it went on and on for pages.
Raven put the papers aside and got off the bed.
She was mildly disgusted by the businesslike efficiency Jake Novak displayed in bringing her on as his personal sex slave. It felt like he’d done this kind of thing so many times before that he had it all down to a science.
At the same time, she couldn’t help but calculate the money involved. She would earn close to thirty thousand dollars for doing nothing more than travelling for a month with the world’s biggest celebrity, seeing amazing concerts, touring the country, staying in the finest hotels and eating the best food.
That was more money than she would typically earn in an entire year of waitressing—a year of hard and stressful work. Work that she didn’t even have at the moment.
And under the terms of this agreement, two nights a week she would spend time one-on-one with Jake Novak, a man who was so attractive that women threw themselves at his feet, praying for a chance to get even a whiff of his attention.
How could she really say no to this deal?
Why would she even consider saying no to this deal?
Because it’s ugly and it’s disrespectful to you as a woman.
But the dissenting voice no longer sounded like her own—it sounded like what she imagined people would say to her if they knew what she was doing. And the thing was, Raven didn’t intend for anybody else to ever find out about this little venture.
She was going to do it. She was going to be Jake Novak’s escort for a month, and she’d never look back when it was over.
You can’t sleep with him, Raven.
Obviously sex was out of the question. And besides, Jake had already made it quite clear that he wasn’t interested in sex with her.
His interests lay elsewhere.
Raven’s thoughts were a blur as she began picking through the outfits that Jake had brought into her room. Somehow, he’d found exactly the kinds of things she’d have picked out if she had all the money in the world and no restrictions on what she could purchase.
Looking at the materials, she knew that every piece was top-of-the-line, expensive stuff from trendy designers.
She tried on a pair of tight black Dolce and Gabbana pants that fit perfectly and an Isabel Marant top. Checking herself out in the mirror, Raven thought that she did in fact look like a rock star’s girlfriend.
Don’t you mean escort?
Her heart was beating faster, as she turned and looked at herself from a few different angles. She looked different. She’d never been able to buy nice clothes, fashionable accessories, any of it.
What was so wrong with making the best out of a bad situation? She hadn’t asked for any of this, had in fact tried her best to run away from it. But the powerful people had ensured that she’d been unable to get away, trapped her as easily as a cat playing with a mouse.
And now she was starting to make peace with the situation.
Maybe you’re starting to enjoy it a little too much, though.
Raven gave a cute smile to herself in the mirror, a little wave, pretended to turn on her heel and walk away from some paparazzi. She was enjoying it, and she wasn’t going to apologize for that.
She’d done enough apologizing for things that weren’t her fault.
* * *
Walking out of her room and into the suite, Raven heard voices; people conversing intensely, some laughter, and then more conversation.
It was nerve wracking to come out and face people that she’d never met before, people connected to Jake Novak’s world. What would they think when they saw her? How would they treat her, what kinds of questions would she be asked?
But when she came out of the room, the most notable thing that occurred was that nobody paid her any attention at all.
It was as if she didn’t even exist, was in fact totally invisible.
Jake was lounging on the big leather chair, while a large man with a crew cut stood and talked in a booming voice. Another man sat on the couch, typing away on an iPad as Jake and the crew cut guy spoke to one another.
“Look,” the guy with the crew cut was saying, “if Courtney Taylor is coming on tour with us, we can’t just give into her every demand. The girl is a diva.”
Jake glanced at Raven and then looked back at the man standing in the center of the suite. “We were already going to have Courtney opening for us in the Northeast,” Jake told him. “Her single is starting to hit, and I think we should lock her in for the rest of the dates now, before she gets too big.”
“She wants too much.”
Jake shrugged. “The label will pay.”
“No, they won’t. I already asked.”
“Then I’ll pay out of pocket,” Jake said, his jaw tightening.
“Jake—“
“I said, I’ll pay if it comes to that. I want this to be the biggest, hottest tour. We’re going to pull out all the stops for this tour, Kurt. So just get it done.”
Kurt and Jake stared at one another for a long, tense moment. Finally, Kurt broke away, sighing. “Whatever the man wants, the man gets.”
“Now you’re talking,” Jake said.
“Come on Bruce,” Kurt said, gesturing to the man typing on the iPad. “We’ve got a lot to get done before the show tonight.”
Bruce blinked as if waking up from a dream. He stood up, and then saw Raven. “Oh, hey, I’m Bruce Donner,” he said, holding out his hand and walking towards her. “I’m Jake’s road manager.”
“Hi, I’m Raven Hartley,” Raven said, shaking his hand and smiling.
“You coming to the big show tonight, Raven?”
“I—I think so…” she looked to Jake, who just nodded.
“Good,” Bruce said.
Kurt had already left the room, not bothering to even acknowledge her presence.
A moment later, both men had left and the door slammed behind them.
Jake was off his chair now, and on his phone. “Hey, Courtney, it’s Jake.” He paused, walking a few steps, turning his back to Raven. He listened and laughed, a loud, almost forced sound in his voice. “Totally, totally. Listen, everything’s fine. I just talked to my manager and he’s going to handle everything you asked for. I wanted to let you know personally that we’re going to take care of you, okay? If anyone gives you problems, just call me….yeah, yeah.” He laughed again. “I’ll see you tonight. Bye.”
Raven was standing awkwardly, arms folded, wondering what she was supposed to be doing. Jake didn’t seem to even want her around. Just a little while ago he’d been bringing her breakfast in bed and designer clothing, and now he was acting as if she didn’t exist.
Jake hung up the phone and Raven waited for him to talk to her.
But then he was looking at his phone again, texting.
“What should I do now?” she said to him.
“Huh?” he asked, not even looking up from his phone.
“I said, what happens now? What do you want me to do?”
Jake finally looked up at her, his expression vague. “Do whatever you want, Raven. I’m not your babysitter.”
She felt a twinge of embarrassment at his rebuke, but then it turned to annoyance. “You realize I don’t have a clue what you expect from me. I’m here in your hotel room, wearing clothes you picked out for me, standing around and being ignored like a piece of furniture while you and your friends discuss big and important things.”
Jake smiled, but it was a frozen smile without much warmth. “Don’t be so dramatic,” he said. “It’s hectic right now, it’s the first stop on the tour and we’re ironing out the kinks. Everyone’s extremely tense and maybe you sensed that just now. But don’t make it all about you, Raven, because it’s not.”
“I’m not making it all about me. I just feel like an idiot. That one guy totally ignored me, he acted like I wasn’t even in the room.”
“That’s just Kurt. He’s under a lot of pressur
e.”
“Okay, it’s just Kurt,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Jake came closer to her, looking right at her in the way that seemed capable of freezing her in place. Suddenly, it was like he’d flipped a switch, and he was right there with her in a way that she’d never felt before with anyone else.
As if she was the only one else in the world that mattered.
“Listen, I wouldn’t have asked you to stay with me if I didn’t want you around,” Jake said softly. “Don’t worry so much about what anyone else thinks about it, because it’s none of their business. What goes on between you and me is our business.”
She nodded. “Okay.” She nodded again, really trying to take in what he was telling her.
Jake’s brown eyes were softer, but still watchful. “Did you read the guidelines?”
“The stuff about me lying and telling people I’m in charge of your social media?” she replied.
“Yeah, that stuff.”
“I read it,” she said, leaving it at that.
“Good,” Jake told her. “I just want to make sure you understand how this whole thing’s going to work, Raven. If you listen to me, it’ll be the easiest, smoothest, fun month of your life.”
She looked at him, not wavering as she met his intense gaze. “Yeah, it’s all very simple,” she agreed, but the sarcasm in her voice was apparent.
Jake’s jaw twitched a little and his brown eyes grew more intense.
They stared at one another for a long enough time that Raven started to wonder if something more was going to happen. Jake was close enough to make a move, and she sensed his desire to do so. His eyes were hungry, and the way he was looking at her made her want it too.
Jake kept saying he wanted to have a business relationship with her. He wanted to keep her around so he could make use of her when he needed it. That’s all this was, and Raven needed to remind herself of that more often.
She broke away from him, turning her head and looking elsewhere. “I guess that settles it, then,” she said.
“We’ll be heading over to the arena in a few hours to start setting up,” Jake told her. “Until then, you’re free to do whatever you want.”
