If she were attractive enough he’d try just that. He could afford to take creative risks with LeatherWorks about to slip from his grasp.
The afternoon was busy and he sold out on masks and leather catsuits, plus picked up a number of wholesale orders. His marketing people had assured him bondage was in and they had been right.
“Mr. Black?” a heavily accented female voice said behind him and he turned from adjusting the whip display.
A young, beautiful Asian girl stood at the counter. Rob noticed her hands shook slightly as she smoothed her short black skirt. Was this Anita’s protégé? “Yes, that’s me. What can I do for you?”
“May I see a catalog?” she asked politely.
Confused as to her identity, he handed her one and watched her leaf through it.
“Rob, how’s it hanging?”
Rob caught sight of one of his long-time customers, one who had been around since his father’s time.
“Jerry, how’s business?” he asked, shaking the store owner’s hand.
“Can’t complain. What’s new and exciting at LeatherWorks?”
“We have a number of offerings, why don’t you come in?” Rob called out to Tim who took Jerry into the spacious rear of the booth to show off the latest product lines.
“Mr. Black?” said the woman, who had been silently paging through his catalogue throughout his conversation with Jerry.
“Yes?”
“My name is Tida Toruksa. Anita Press told me to see you.”
She was indeed very attractive. Anita could pick them. “Anita came by. You’re a model?”
“Actually no.” Tida raised her head high on an elegantly slim neck. “I am a nursing assistant.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I have been told I am beautiful.” She regarded him with a steady gaze. “A friend told me you look for models.”
“I’m afraid you were told wrong.” Rob saw a flash of hurt in her eyes. In this business a lot of women were lied to. “Modeling” was often merely a euphemism. “There’s no doubt about your looks but you didn’t answer my question. Beauty tends to get chewed up and spat out in this business.”
“Surely there can be no harm in modeling.”
“That’s really not for me to say. Can’t you get a job as a nursing assistant?”
“The money is not good enough. Do you have job for me or not?” Her lips trembled slightly.
Rob noticed her accent had thickened and her English had become less precise as she became upset. “Once again, you didn’t answer my question,” he said with patience.
“Yes, Mr. Black, I have job,” she said defiantly. “I live in Seattle just like you.”
“Why do you need the money?”
“What business is it of yours?”
“For one thing, drugs. For all I know, you’re covered with track marks.”
“Nurses do not need street drugs to be addicts, but I have never touched drugs.”
“Why don’t you go the conventional modeling route? You must be what, twenty? That isn’t too old.”
“I am twenty-two and I am not tall enough to be a model.” She cut off his protest. “I know, Mr. Black. I have tried.”
“I’ll think about using you. Can I let you know in a few days?”
She nodded. “Yes.” A tiny frown on her perfect face, she handed him a piece of paper with a neatly printed phone number and address. “This is how to reach me.”
“Don’t you have a room here at the hotel?”
She shook her head. “Too expensive.”
Rob looked at the sheet then back at her lovely, anxious face. He wondered how she had gotten the plane ticket down here from Seattle. Hopefully she hadn’t gone into debt for it. “I’ll let you know.”
She nodded, her eyes wandering over the merchandise display before she turned and walked slowly down the corridor.
* * * * *
Melanie yawned as she knocked on Tommy Joe’s door early that evening. He didn’t answer the door, which was odd. Their product conference had yet to begin, so where could he have gone? Melanie realized her ego was in overdrive. Just because he acted like he had a crush on her didn’t mean he would wait around all day for her.
She yawned again. Time for some caffeine and yes, maybe some more food. She wandered downstairs to the mezzanine level, which had a number of restaurants. The area was filled with people. Judging from the men in tight leather outfits and women with skirts so mini they barely covered the globes of their butt cheeks, the adult conference trade show was out for the day. Of course, their look could just be the current style in Las Vegas.
She remembered from the hotel schedule that their conference symposiums were ready to start tonight. Her conference didn’t start until the next morning. She had a whole night to get herself into trouble. Her mind wandered to Adonis. How much trouble could she get herself into during one little night in Las Vegas? With any luck, quite a bit.
Grub and Gauntlet looked full and Tacos and Tiaras had a line, so Melanie decided to eat at The King’s Buffet. She went through the line, selecting a vegetarian sub and iced coffee, then looked for a table. She held her tray away from her body, not wanting to slosh any coffee on her purple tie-dyed T-shirt, a handmade birthday gift from her cousin. Thinking of birthdays reminded her of the tarot reading. Had she met her Devil-man yet? She bet there were more men here into bondage than in any other building in America.
Crossing through a group of occupied tables, a man with a leather and metal dog collar caught her eye. The collar even had a loop for connecting the chain. If only she’d had a choke chain to hold back her ex when he’d gone after coeds. Collar-man looked familiar. She found it hard to believe. Surely she didn’t know anyone who dressed like that.
“Melanie?”
Collar-man waved at her. He certainly knew who she was. He stood up and waved. “You’re Brisa’s cousin, aren’t you?”
She nodded. So this is the sort of guy her cousin hung out with. No wonder she never brought any dates around. “I’m sorry, I knew you looked familiar, but I can’t remember your name.”
“It’s Tim, I took Brisa home one day when her car—” he began eagerly.
Tim was interrupted by the deep voice of another man, sounding incredulous. “You’re Brisa’s cousin?”
She glanced to her left and dropped her tray. Adonis was approaching her from the direction of the beverage bar. Tim grabbed for her dinner, but his arms closed around air and he only ended up getting coffee all over his black leather pants.
“What’s a woman like you doing in a place like this?”
Melanie glared at Adonis. What an idiotic thing to say! “I’m eating dinner.”
He glanced down, where Tim was picking up pickles and olives from her sandwich. “Floor picnic?”
“Yes, floor picnic,” Melanie said wearily. She had forgotten that inside the beautiful face and body was the brain of an ant. If only he could hold a conversation, she’d be in heaven. Of course he couldn’t be her Devil-man. His hair was too blond, though it did have brown streaks. They’d look like Barbie and Ken if they got together.
A waiter came up to them, cleared the mess and promised to bring her another sandwich and coffee.
Tim said, “Why don’t you eat with us?”
Melanie looked at Adonis. He was staring at her like she was an alien. “No thanks, Tim. I’d rather go hide in a corner.” She took a step backward into something squishy. Looking down, she discovered she had impaled her sandal on a slice of cheese the waiter had missed. She rubbed it off against a chair leg and slunk away.
Brisa’s cousin? Rob realized it made sense. He hadn’t known she had one. And she wasn’t an employee, so he could date her without feeling guilty. He grinned until he remembered the disgusted expression on her face as soon as he’d opened his mouth. Well, first impressions weren’t everything. Of course this was her second impression. Which was worse—X-rated Mother Goose or brain-dead moron?
&n
bsp; “She’s almost as hot as Bombshell,” Tim commented. “That luscious body must be in their gene pool.”
“Almost?” Rob scoffed. “Bombshell’s barely in the same universe. Do you know her name?”
Tim opened his mouth to object but stopped at Rob’s expression and merely shook his head. Rob stood. “I’m going to talk to her.”
“Why? She can’t stand the sight of you for some reason,” Tim grinned.
Rob glared at his assistant. “We had a misunderstanding earlier.”
He stepped over the cheese mess on the floor and went in search of her. She was hidden in a corner as she had threatened. What a waste, Rob thought, but then realized no one else would be staring at her and her tight, low-cut purple T-shirt. She looked amazing, even better than this afternoon in her short skirt. Her legs were long and shapely, but her breasts were downright magnificent.
“Hi,” he said, reaching her table.
She looked up. “Oh it’s you.”
He pulled up a chair and sat down uninvited and waited while she thanked the waiter who brought her replacement food. “That doesn’t look too exciting,” he commented.
She fixed him with a frosty glare. “What were you eating, raw meat?”
“Ouch,” he winced. “What have you got against me anyway?”
She gave him a cool once-over. “I have nothing against you,” she said.
Just give me time, gorgeous, and all of you will be against me. “I didn’t know Brisa had a cousin.”
“Why would you? How do you know her?”
“She works for me. So what’s your name?”
Melanie dropped her sandwich to the table. “You’re kidding. You work at LeatherWorks?”
“My family owns it.”
Melanie took a gulp of her coffee. “And you’re Brisa’s boss?”
“More or less,” Rob nodded. Less, unless Jack had managed to straighten things out with her, but her cousin didn’t seem the wiser. “She’s great. What are you doing tonight? The conference starts in a while but I don’t have to go. We could go check out a show. I think George Carlin is doing his comedy act somewhere on the Strip…” he paused, hoping she would insert her name into his sentence.
“You’re asking me out?”
Rob noticed she sounded more offended than pleased. “I know we haven’t gotten off to a very good start, but I’m not normally a twit. And as a general rule,” he took a deep breath, “I’m only X-rated when encouraged. Why don’t you give me a second chance?”
Melanie stiffened in her chair and took another gulp of coffee. “I—”
Rob smiled. She was tongue-tied. “So what do you say? Come eat with us then we’ll go. Tim can cover the symposium.”
“You have got to be kidding. I’ve got no interest in anyone who works at LeatherWorks! You’re pigs!”
Rob opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t get anything out of his mouth before Melanie stood up, grabbed her plate with the mangled sandwich on it and stalked off. He watched her go in disbelief. What was that about?
* * * * *
Tommy Joe ignored the knock on the door and turned back to the phone. Hopefully it was just the extra towels he had ordered and not Melanie. God she was hot. He couldn’t wait to get her out to the pool in a swimsuit and see if her legs were as sexy as he remembered from that party back when she was married. Her divorce was a dream come true.
“Tommy Joe?” his brother Billy Joe said sharply and Tommy Joe shifted his attention back to the phone.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“What have you got?” Billy Joe demanded.
“Nothing much. After all, I’m not at the office right now. But before I left I saw the July stats and it was looking bad. Sales are way down and complaints are up.”
“Interesting. I wonder what is going on.”
“Bad quality oils.”
“Professional Massage doesn’t usually buy cheap.”
Tommy Joe thought about comments heard over the coffee pot. “I think they are conserving cash for something, but at the same time…”
“Yes?”
“Melanie’s boss is threatening her if she doesn’t come up with a new product line. And that takes money.” Poor Melanie. She ought to have someone to take care of her.
“Christ, Tommy Joe, can’t you ever hold a conversation without bringing up that woman? It’s like you’re obsessed!”
“I’m going to marry her,” Tommy Joe said. “Her divorce is final.”
“Who would want to marry you?” his brother said derisively.
Tommy Joe clenched his fists. One way or another he was going to command his brother’s respect. “Love Lotions,” he said, hating to give away Melanie’s idea. But what choice did he have? To take care of Melanie he needed a bigger salary. His brother would hire him into a high-paying position if he came through.
“Pardon me?”
“That’s the name of Melanie’s new product idea. Love Lotions. A new line of erotic massage products.” Tommy Joe tried to swallow away the hoarseness in his voice.
“Do you have any details?”
“No, that’s all she’s said so far. We were on the plane down here when she came up with it.”
“Good. Keep me posted. I’ll put out a press release announcing our new Love Lotions line.”
“But you don’t even know what will be in it!” Tommy Joe protested.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll get me the information. In business you have to be first, Tommy Joe. You need to learn. Winners don’t finish second.” His brother hung up.
Tommy Joe slammed down the phone. Winners should come up with their own damned ideas. He was so sick of helping his brother build his company by stealing other people’s ideas. If only his financial standards weren’t so high. But he would do anything for his Melanie.
Chapter Five
“Welcome one and all to this year’s conference, Sin-sational!”
Rob sat next to Tim as the clapping died down. He had waited until the last minute to enter the room where the keynote speech was taking place, burying himself in email. He could see no point in wasting time being ribbed by his employees for striking out with Bombshell’s cousin. In Rob’s opinion, you should never have to defend yourself to someone wearing a dog collar.
“Let’s take a look into our past as we begin to build our sin-sational future!” The speaker, a men’s magazine publisher, stepped back from the podium as curtains were raised behind her to reveal a movie screen. Scenes began to flash by, Debbie Does Dallas and Deep Throat among the other classics of porn. Rob only had eyes for LeatherWorks’ product line as it was displayed on the screen, until a blonde wearing nothing but a sin-red lipstick smile appeared on screen. She looked like Bombshell…or her cousin! He couldn’t believe Bombshell had ever been in porn though. He’d known her for years and she seemed to have no knowledge or interest in the industry. But her cousin—well, she was here at the conference, wasn’t she?
He ruminated over this while the speaker continued her presentation. “As we look to the future, we must also look to the past. As you know, the Film Preservation Society has been working to restore and preserve film classics. I ask you, can we do any less for the classics of our genre?” Clapping and whistles from the crowd made the room shake.
The speaker clicked a button on the podium. Rob’s gaze was glued to the screen as the blonde woman’s image appeared again on the screen and was paused.
“Techno Dreams.” The clapping and catcalls resumed. Speaking over the noise of the crowd with difficulty, the speaker continued. “The master of this precious bit of our history has been damaged. As you know, this film marked the debut of a young Anita Press, as well as the only known performance of Honey Luscious, in a dark sci-fi fantasy.”
Anita Press? Rob was elated. Anita would know if Honey Luscious were Bombshell’s cousin. How ironic. He could remember calling the woman “honey” when they first met. A slip of the tongue? But he couldn’t remember having seen A
nita’s first movie—or most of them, for that matter. Spanking had never done it for him and that had been her calling card since the beginning of her career. Rob Black was all about the basics and what was wrong with that? Statistics showed women have the most orgasms in the missionary position.
“We need one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the restoration of this movie,” the speaker said. “Dig deeply into your pockets, everyone. This is our history here.”
Rob was surprised to see a collection plate, actually a bowl formed to look like two perfect butt cheeks, passed around. He wondered if Anita had come up with the idea. To his surprise, he found himself writing out a check. Anita’s first movie was almost a treasure, if only because by the porn world’s standards, she was a class act.
While the butt bowl was making its way around, the speaker said, “Anita, will you please rise?” Thunderous applause rang out as Anita stood, wriggled her famous derriere and kissed her hands to the crowd. “I just wanted to remind you what we’d be losing if we don’t raise enough money.”
The speaker gamely continued through the catcalls. “I’ve heard a rumor that Honey Luscious is here. I had been led to believe she had lost touch with her friends in the business years ago, but could it be true? Honey, are you with us?”
Rob craned his neck. Was she there? But no one stood. Perhaps she was shy. Though it seemed unlikely, judging from the actions of the confident girl up on screen. She was very athletic and had the cutest heart-shaped mole low on her right hip. Rob wondered how he could get a look at Bombshell’s cousin’s right hip. Surely it could be done. In his experience with porn stars, it didn’t take much to get their clothes off. Since he seemed to be holding model auditions, he might as well take advantage of the situation and try to get Bombshell’s cousin to audition for him. If he offered enough money…he shook his head. How crass could he get—and why did she fascinate him so? If only he didn’t have such a weakness for sassy blondes. They made him horny.
Just then, he saw a flash of blonde hair on the right-sized body at the back of the theater. Could it be her? He stood, with his hand over his eyes. A roar went up from the crowd and a man pointed, but she was gone.
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