A J. S. Cooper Box Set: Three Standalone Romances

by J. S. Cooper

  “Hailey, just tell me.” I looked into her big green eyes with a stern face. “I’m not agreeing to any favors until I know what you want.”

  “So,” she paused. “Josh just called me and asked me on a date.” She grinned.

  “Okay?” I responded, trying not to feel sorry for myself. Josh was a hot guy we’d both met a couple of weeks before at a bar. I’d actually thought that maybe he’d liked me when we’d all met, but I should have known better.

  “And well it’s Saturday night and I feel like I should go out with him and see what happens. Saturday’s are for dates, you know?”

  “Way to make me feel like a loser.” I rolled my eyes at her. I hadn’t had a date in a while.

  “Oops.” She giggled again. “Sorry, Evie.” She certainly didn’t sound very sorry to me, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want her to start giving me advice on what she thought I needed to do to get a man. I knew she thought I was too uptight and maybe she was right. I’d never done anything crazy before. Never had a one-night stand. Never really experimented much. It wasn’t that I’d never thought about it, but I was too introverted and in my head to just let myself go.

  “Uh huh. So what do you want?” I said, fast losing patience and wanting to get back to my romance book.

  “I’m meant to work tonight,” she began, and I groaned, already knowing what was coming.

  “Do you want me to go meet up with Josh and tell him to wait?” I gave her an impish smile, knowing full well she didn’t want me to go and meet up with Mr. hot baseball player Josh.

  “No,” She bit her lower lip and gave me a winning smile. “I want you to go to work for me.”

  “No way.” I shook my head. “There is no way.” I almost burst out laughing. If I could barely flirt with a hot guy in a bar, there was no way that I was going to be able to dance up on men I didn’t even think were hot.

  “Please?” She grabbed my hands and gave me a doleful gaze. “I’ll love you forever.”

  “No, Hailey.” I pushed her hands away and jumped off the bed. “There is no way I’m going to work for you tonight.” I shook my head again vehemently. “No way.” I stared at Hailey and I felt all nervous just thinking about her job. And having to do the things I knew she did; even if she didn’t always admit it.

  “It’s a bachelor party, so it will be a lot tamer than some of the events that I do.” She jumped up and walked towards me, her green eyes pleading. “Plus, there will be two other girls and they will do any special request stuff.”

  “No way, Jose.” I wanted to ask her what the special request stuff was that she was talking about, but I didn’t really want to know. Well I did what to know, but I didn’t want her to think I was asking because I was considering her request.

  “You won’t even have to do much.” She gave me her pouty face. “Just some flirting. Please, Evie.”

  “Yeah right. What’s not much?”

  “Maybe a lap dance or two.” She shrugged. “That’s it.”

  “A lap dance or two? Hell no!”

  “Please, Evie. I really need this date. I’ve been feeling so blah lately. Plus, Starr and Crystal are cool. They won’t try to pressure you.”

  “You know I can’t do...”

  “You’ll make five grand,” she interrupted with, and my jaw dropped.

  “What?” My eyes bulged open and I swallowed hard. Five grand would pay a lot of bills. “Five grand?”

  “Yeah, some rich guy is getting married.” She shrugged as if that were normal. “Minimum for the night is five grand.”

  “I get to keep all of it?” I asked her, eyes narrowed.

  “Yup.” She grinned at me, knowing that the money was making me reconsider, as she knew it would. “Trust me, it won’t be so bad. Some of these guys don’t even need you to strip. They’re so worried their fiancées will find out. They just want a quick dance.”

  “So all I have to do is dance?” I frowned, considering it. Would it really be so bad?

  “Yup.” She grinned. “You can just dance around the room. Let the other girls do the lap dances and stuff and you can stay in the background.”

  “I don’t know.” I sighed. “You know I have an interview on Monday. I should be getting ready for that.” Though I knew that tonight had been dedicated to finishing my book, not prepping for the interview.

  “It’s one night.” Hailey looked away. “And what happens if you don’t get the job on Monday?”

  “I don’t know.” I sighed and ran my hands through my shoulder-length brown hair. “If I don’t get the job, I’m screwed.” I had two hundred dollars in my bank account and that wasn’t going to get me far. I’d lost my last job six months ago and had been having a hard time finding something new. I’d hoped that I’d make enough money as a freelance journalist, but it just wasn’t happening.

  “You know I can cover rent.” Hailey rubbed my shoulder. “But I can’t cover your credit card or student loan bills.”

  “I know,” I gave her a smile. “Even rent is great. I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”

  “And there are going to be some rich bankers there. Bankers might be able to help you with your story.” She knew that I’d been working on an article for the last couple of months and that I’d been having a hard time finding sources.

  “You think so?” I looked at her in disbelief.

  “I think so.” She nodded. “Guys will say and agree to anything when they’re drunk and horny.”

  “Hailey.” I groaned as I closed my eyes.

  “Remember you just said you’re lucky to have me as a friend.”

  “I am lucky.” I sighed.

  “So lucky you’ll do me this favor?” She smiled and I nodded reluctantly. She squealed then and grabbed me around the waist. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she sputtered out excitedly.

  “I hope this isn’t a mistake.” I said already regretting my decision, but the thought of making five grand in one night was pushing all of my inhibitions away. I mean how bad could it be?

  “Trust me, it’ll be fine. The guys will love you.”

  “That’s not what I’m worried about.” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want a bunch of men trying to touch me.”

  “They won’t.” Hailey shook her head. “They know that’s against the rules. Unless you agree to it. And that’s extra anyway.”

  “Okay.” I sighed and looked in the mirror. I stared at my reflection and wondered what I was getting myself into. My green eyes stared back at me with a slightly stunned expression. I had no idea why I was agreeing to this. Well, that’s not true. I was doing it for five grand. I was doing this in the name of research. I was this close to being sent to collections. If I didn’t get some money soon, my credit would be shot and I’d have a much harder time finding a job as an investigative reporter. What reporters in the finance world had bad credit?

  “What should I wear?” I looked down at my shorts and t-shirt and groaned as I pictured myself wearing considerably less than I was right now. I didn’t even want to think about it.

  “Hold on.” Hailey ran out of the room. “Crystal sent me a text; there was a request from the guys.”

  “You take requests?” I frowned. If she came back and told me pasties, I was out.

  “The tips will be good.” Hailey called back to me. “Hold on, let me check.” She walked back into the bedroom and dropped down on the bed next to me and checked her phone. “Okay,” she paused and gave me a look. “I’m not sure if I should tell you.”

  “Hailey,” I muttered, “tell me.”

  “They want everyone in a bikini.”

  “Bikini? Where is this party, at the beach?” I said rolling my eyes, but I sighed in relief. I didn’t really want to wear a bikini, but at least there was some coverage there. Not much, but some.

  “Do you hope it’s going to be at the beach?” Hailey grinned. “Would that make you feel better?”

  “No and no.” I sighed. “Where is it?”

>   “Some exclusive club in the city. I think the lower east side.”

  “Fine.” I shook my head at her. “Are you giving me money for a cab?”

  “You’re going to make five grand, Evie.”

  “After the party. I’m not taking a train down. That’s like 3 changes.” I bit my lower lip. “I need to borrow forty dollars for a cab.”

  “Borrow?” She tilted her head and looked at me. “You’re going to pay me back?”

  “If I make five grand tonight, then hell yeah, I’ll pay you back!” I said, and we both laughed.

  “Fine.” She said finally as she handed me sixty dollars. “Have a good night.”

  “Yeah, it’s going to be fantastic.” I rolled my eyes. “Something I’ll tell my grandkids about.”

  “You never know.” She grinned.

  “Trust me, I know. This is not going to be a night I will ever want to remember.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on that.” She winked at me. “You never know who you might meet.”

  “That’s the problem I said. I’ve a good idea that none of these guys are going to be ones I’d ever hope to meet.” And with that I shooed her out of the room, so I could go and have a shower and shave all the parts that would be out in the open later that evening.

  Chapter 32

  “How do I always get myself into these situations?” I mumbled to myself and groaned. I looked around the room and tried not to stare at the top half naked women in front of me. Both of them had been friendly enough when I’d arrived in Hailey’s place, but maybe that was because they’d been so busy applying makeup to faces that already seemed heavily made up.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” Starr grinned at me, glitter all over her face and body.

  “Nothing.” I shook my head. “I was just wondering what outfits we’ll be wearing?”

  “Outfits?” Starr gave me a crazy look. “What outfits?”

  “I thought we’d be wearing outfits tonight…” My voice trailed off. Oh my God, I was going to kill Hailey. Was she lying about the bikinis? “Like bikinis? I didn’t think I’d be naked?”

  “Don’t worry, honey.” Starr laughed as she adjusted her blonde wig. “Hailey told me you’d be taking over for her tonight and you might not be down with going naked. You can wear a bikini and pop out of the cake.”

  “Pop out of the cake?” I frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “It means you’ll jump out of the cake and do a little dance.” The other girl, Crystal, spoke up as she joined the conversation. “Unless you’d rather give lap dances?”

  “Um, the cake sounds fine.” I said weakly. “I’ll still get five grand?”

  “Yeah.” Starr nodded. “Though you could make more if you did the lap dances.”

  “Oh?” I wondered how much more.

  “I’m thinking I’m going to get about 25k tonight.” She grinned. “These rich guys pay well for some booty shaking.” She swung her booty all the way to the floor and starting doing a grind that made me blush. No way I was going to be doing that. I didn’t actually even think it was possible for my body to make those moves, if I was honest.

  “But you have to be naked when you do the dance?” I asked, trying to avoid staring directly at her jiggling breasts.

  “You don’t have to be.” She shook her head. “But these rich guys, that’s what they want. They want it as freaky as it can be. Shit, I’m willing to be freaky for 25k. I mean the dance starts off with clothes, that’s part of the tease.”

  “How freaky?” I asked, as my heart stopped. Was I going to be witnessing sex or something? I mean, I knew I had to see a seedier side of life as a reporter, but I wasn’t sure this was how I wanted it to start. And I didn’t want any of the men thinking I was willing to give them a blow job or anything else for some extra dollars.

  “Don’t worry, girl.” Crystal shook her head. “We’re classy girls.” She pasted two silver stars on her nipples as she spoke and I tried not to laugh. “We don’t fuck ‘em or give them blow jobs. We just dance.”

  “Yeah, we’re not hoes.” Starr pouted her lips and applied some bright red lipstick, before grabbing a huge vibrating dildo from a bag. I didn’t even want to know what she was going to do with that. I wondered if it was too late to run out and change my mind.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest that—” I started, but I stopped when Starr started laughing.

  “Girl, it’s not serious, trust me. We’ve been called far worse.” She handed me a bikini. “Put this on. Mark’s going to wheel the cake in soon. You’ll stay in there until you hear a bang. Then just pop out. Once you pop out, you can do a little dance and then just come back in here and wait for us.”

  “That’s it?” I looked surprised. “I guess I can do that.” I took the bikini from her. It was basically two pieces of string. I held it in my hand and took a deep breath. Did I really want to prance out of a cake in a string bikini? Not really. “Do you have any other options?” I asked Starr hopefully. “I’m not sure this is going to compliment my body.” I laughed awkwardly and Starr and Crystal started laughing. “Is that a yes?” I asked hopefully.

  “Girl, just put the bikini on.” Crystal rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine. And make sure to take your glasses off.”

  “Oh?” I bit my lower lip. “I left my contacts at home.”

  “Girl, I don’t care if you left them in an elephant’s butt.” Crystal rolled her eyes. “You ain’t going out there with no librarian glasses on.”

  “Not unless it was part of your dance routine.” Starr added. “These men, they love them a dowdy librarian turned sexpot.” Starr started getting excited as ideas started popping out of her. “Throw the glasses onto a guys lap and then start taking everything off.” She nodded, her eyes wide as she gazed at my body. “Yup, a bunch of them would love that. They’d think they’d died and gone to nerdy heaven.”

  “Yeah, no way am I doing that.” I said quickly, in case they decided to make that a mandatory move. “I won’t be able to see much without my glasses and I would just fall and trip.”

  “You don’t need to see nothing. And they’d be happy if you fell into their lap and wiggled around.” Crystal responded and then she just rolled her eyes as she looked at the expression on my face. I knew both of them were wondering why I’d even come for the night if I was such a prude. “Just hurry up and put the bikini on. We gotta go out in a bit. If we’re late, the guys will be mad and we’ll get docked a couple hundred dollars.”

  “Okay.” I sighed and looked around. “Is there a changing room for me to put this on?” My voice drifted off as they both looked at me once again as if I were crazy. “Or I can just change here.” I sighed and undid my jeans. Hailey really owed me. This was going to be so awkward. I didn’t care if I was only popping out of a cake, a bunch of random guys were going to see me in a string bikini that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. I cringed as I pulled the top on. It was so small I knew my boobs would pop out with one wrong move. The only saving grace was my nipples were covered, barely. I pulled the bottoms on and frowned as I realized my ass was hanging out completely in the thong bottom. I would never wear a bathing suit like this normally. And when I say never, I mean not even if someone gave me $100. I laughed to myself as I realized I was doing it for five grand though. Oh the humiliation. Thank God, there was noone there that I knew to witness my shame. If I’d known I’d have to wear this tonight, I would have done a billion squats and lunges.

  I looked down at my body and ran my hands over my stomach. No one could ever mistake me for a Victoria’s Secret model. And I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be getting any information from any of the bankers at the party by staying back in the crowds. It wasn’t even realistic for me to think I could go around dancing and asking if anyone knew anything about insider trading on Wall Street. Like who asks those questions at a bachelors party? I was stupid for even thinking it would have been possible.

  “Don’t worry, girl.” Starr l
ooked at me with a smile. “These guys don’t want sticks and bones. They like women with a bit of meat on them.” She stared at my stomach and then ass and I tried not to take offense. I wasn’t unhappy with my body, even though I knew I could have lost a couple of pounds or twenty.

  “Uh, thanks.” I smiled back at her, not sure if was a compliment or not. Even though I was comfortable in my own skin, I didn’t want to be referred to as someone with a bit of meat on her. I wanted to be thin and beautiful with a flat taut stomach, and defined abs wouldn’t hurt either, though I knew that wasn’t something to be worried about right now, as I couldn’t turn back time.

  “Hey, do you guys have any bronzer?” I asked quickly, thinking about a magazine article I’d read, saying you could add some definition to your body using makeup. Maybe I could fake it a little bit.

  “Yeah, here.” Crystal handed it to me with a nod. “You’re looking a bit pale.”

  “It’s for my stomach, not my face.” I responded, my face burning.

  “Oh, oops.” She made a face at Starr, and they both laughed.

  “It’s fine.” I sighed. “I haven’t been able to tan much recently.”

  “It’s fine. Many guys like the pale look.” Crystal made a face, her dark olive skin glowing as she looked me up and down. “Peaches and cream, they call it. You can call yourself Peaches tonight.”

  “Sorry, what?” I frowned.

  “Your. Name. Tonight. Will. Be. Peaches.” Crystal said slowly. “If any of the guys ask you.”

  “Oh, okay.” I shrugged and applied the bronzer to my stomach, hoping to give it definition. The color was much deeper than my own skin color and I frowned as I applied it to my skin. It almost looked like dirt. I was about to rub it off, but Crystal started speaking to me again and I could tell from the look on her face that she didn’t want to be bothered with me asking her where I could find some tissue paper and water to wipe it off.

  “Unless you’d rather be called something else?”

  “Like what?”

  “What about tight pus—“ she began, and Starr giggled and touched her shoulder.