Stripping Her Gears

by Kelly, Sahara

  "Shit." Pauline shook her head. "I'm in the wrong business."

  "I know sex sells, but I had no idea it sold that well." Megan blinked.

  Cora was the last to offer her opinion, and for some reason it was her words that Jack awaited with the most eagerness.

  "Well, Jack. Here's our thing. We're all here to make money. We're enjoying the hell out of what we do, make no mistake about it. Every night is fun, challenging and there's usually something or someone new to keep it all fresh. We're all really appreciative of what you've put together here." She looked down at her tap shoes and idly rapped out a quick staccato rhythm as the other two made supporting noises. "That said, none of us are strippers. And I don't think any of us would be comfortable with the idea of ripping off our clothes in front of a bunch of drunk and horny guys."

  There was a stronger murmur of agreement after that statement, which sent Jack's spirits down to his boots.

  "However," continued Cora, "that doesn't mean we're idiots either. If prancing around in a bikini or something and flashing a bit of personal skin will pull in that kind of cash for one night--and it had better be one night only, Jack--then I'm thinking I can do it and still look myself in the face in the morning." She turned slightly away from him and looked at the others. "What do you guys say?"

  "I need to think about it." Megan sounded uncertain. "I really could use the money, but I gotta have a bit of time to decide." She glanced at Jack. "Look, if you need an answer now..."

  "No, no." He shook his head. "I understand that this is way out of the ordinary. And I'm happy you at least want to think about it. You can be damn sure I'll take care of you all if you decide to do this. There will be nothing at all to make you uncomfortable or feel threatened. Security will be the byword and there'll be no touching or anything along those lines."

  "Yeah." Pauline chuckled. "I'm always real comfortable strutting around with the girls on display." She rolled her eyes. "I think I'm going to say yes, Jack, but like Megan I need a bit of time to work it around in my head."

  "I'm fine with that." He opened the door. "If your answer is yes, I'll give you some time to put together a routine if you'd like. Or certainly get whatever props you might need. It's to my advantage, ladies. You are talented and wonderful performers. I don't want to go outside and spend huge chunks of profit on a troupe that won't relate to people the way I know you all can."

  "We don't want that either," grinned Cora. "If you're going to drop huge chunks of profits, we'd rather do the catching."

  "Does this mean you're on board?" Jack's gaze met her blue eyes, and perhaps it was his imagination, but he could've sworn he saw heat flickering in their depths. A heat he felt reflected down inside himself. Damn. If he ever got her alone and she gave him one ounce of encouragement...

  "We'll get back to you on that." She shifted her shoulders. "I'm thinking the money sounds wonderful. I'm also thinking if we can pull it off, we can present an image of stripping without actually showing much. Sort of more along the lines of burlesque than stripper sleaze." She pursed her lips and he could almost see ideas rolling around her brain. She had a face that reflected her thoughts when she forgot to school her features. Like now.

  He sure would have liked to know what particular idea brought a sudden flush of color to her cheeks and made her turn away from him in a real hurry.

  He kept his amusement to himself. "Okay. Go home. The cab's probably waiting outside. We'll talk again and thanks, ladies."

  "For what?" Cora glanced at him uncertainly as they filed out.

  He casually flicked her nose. "For not telling me to shove my bright ideas where the sun don't shine."

  "As if." She snorted. "You're the money man, Jack. We may say a flat out no, but even if it comes to that, we'll do it politely."

  He grinned again. "I'll bet you would, too." He reached out, unable to keep his hands off her, and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. "But I'm hoping you'll say yes." For a moment or two they were alone, isolated in the darkness just outside Jack's office. He took a chance.

  "This whole adult scene? It's a business decision, made because the bachelor has been a friend of mine since kindergarten. Otherwise I'd never have agreed to any of it. I'm not crazy about the idea of any of my girls taking things off." He paused. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't pay close attention, of course. Especially when it comes to you, Cora."

  There was a second of silence and then the whoosh of an indrawn breath. He couldn't make out her features too well, but he could smell her light perfume as she leaned toward him. Her finger brushed against his chest. "Then I'd better be damn good at it, hadn't I...Jack."

  Then she was gone, her shoes tapping rapidly down the stairs, leaving him with the faint scent of sunshine and a rapidly growing hard-on.

  "Well fuckin' hell." Maybe there was hope for him after all.

  Chapter Three

  The three women agreed to do the bachelor party. Cora knew the other two had struggled with the decision; Pauline was in a committed relationship with her boyfriend and they were already making plans for some kind of formal engagement. She wouldn't have been able to say yes without his support.

  Megan, on the other hand, was a casual dater, much like Cora. So neither had a significant other to worry about. It was more of a concern about the whole idea of stepping outside the socially acceptable standards of behavior and taking their clothes off in front of people. Male people. Most likely drunk male people.

  They'd met up for a quick coffee before going to the club that Saturday night and discussed the ins and outs. Pauline had been a bit late, but when she said that even though her boyfriend wasn't keen, the money was so good he couldn't turn it down...well, the other two found the decision easier.

  Cora was elected to tell Jack, and also present the carefully selected list of props they'd worked out, which included a large fur wrap--preferably white--for the dark-haired Pauline, several voluminous emerald green veils for Megan the redhead, and for Cora? Two big ostrich feather fans.

  His relief at their decision was evident and followed almost immediately by a rather confused expression as he read over the list.

  Cora took pity on him. "Look, Jack. Would it be easier if we got what we needed and just asked you to reimburse us?"

  He looked relieved. "God, yeah. Uh..." he glanced at the list again. "Provided Pauline doesn't get white mink?"

  Cora laughed. "No. I think she's anti real fur."

  "Oh. One of those."

  "Yeah. Remind me never to wear my sable here." Cora took the list back with a grin.

  "You'd look magnificent in sable."

  His voice was a caress that she felt right down to her crotch. It was as if he'd hit the right switch inside her girl parts and a whole bunch of floodlights had just come on with a whoosh.

  "Uhh...well. Um, thanks." Sparkling repartee there, you idiot.

  He ignored her confusion. "You know, of course, the costumes will have to be briefer than you're used to. The hats will stay, but the shorts will have to be replaced."

  Cora winced. "Thongs?"

  "Or some kind of glittery bikini thing, yeah." He looked a little embarrassed. "The place we got the waitress outfits might be a good place to check. I have an account set up with them. So you might go there first and if you're lucky you can find your props as well as the rest of the outfit."

  She nodded. "Okay. We'll check it out. Thanks." Grabbing the list, she turned to leave him.

  "Cora?"

  "Yes?" She turned back to see that look in his eyes again. The one that made her shiver and had begun haunting her dreams.

  "This is inappropriate." He caught himself up, as if the words had spewed out without his consent. "What I'm about to say."

  "It is?"

  "Yes."

  She blinked. "Oh. Well maybe you'd better just say it and get it over with, then."

  He took a breath. "What I said last night, I meant. I'd much rather you gave one performance only. A private perf
ormance."

  "Private, as in..."

  "One customer."

  Her heart thudded fiercely but she kept her voice even. "You have a specific customer in mind?"

  "Me. Me, Cora. I want you naked. But only for me."

  The word echoed in the silence that had fallen, and Cora couldn't drag her gaze away from Jack's face. She wanted to be cool and professional and adult. She wanted to find the right words to answer him, to let him know she wasn't upset or insulted or about to file a sexual harassment suit.

  But all she could do was swallow down a lump of lust that threatened to choke her as she tried to banish the visual images running amok in her brain. Then she whispered the words trembling on the tip of her tongue.

  "I think...I think that would be...exciting."

  He moved, his body jerking as if he'd touched a live wire. She saw his hands reach toward her and quickly backed away. This wasn't the time and it certainly wasn't the place.

  "We'll have to table this discussion until later. Any minute the club's going to open." She held the list close to her chest like a shield and turned away from him as she babbled. "I'll get the girls together and we'll take care of this."

  She was halfway out of the room when he finally spoke. "Later then. But I won't forget, Cora. Count on it."

  Daringly, she flashed him that quick smile over her shoulder. "I am."

  Then she was gone.

  *~*~*~*

  The intervening days flew by faster than Cora could have believed. She barely had time to fill Livvy in on the details of the event, and then only in brief conversations over their cell phones, tiny intervals snatched from the hectic schedule Cora's life had become.

  "On my way to the costume shop." She neatly dodged a puddle as she ran out at lunchtime to pick up her outfit for the bachelor party. Phone to her ear, she cast a wary eye at the clouds and prayed it would stay dry for an hour or so.

  "What did you end up with?" Livvy sounded curious.

  "Sort of a sequined panty thing. Not quite a thong but less than I'd wear to the beach."

  "Uh."

  "And two of the biggest turquoise blue ostrich feather fans I could find." Cora giggled into the phone. "I swear you could hide all the Rockettes behind them if you'd a mind to. I'm going to be so well covered it'll be ridiculous."

  "Wow. Expensive?"

  "I'm renting them. Since Jack has an account we can do that for specialty items. The panty will be mine of course, but the fans go back. It's a pity. They're kinda fun."

  "Cora Standish." Livvy put on her teacher's voice. "You are a bad girl. And if you don't give me chance to play with them before you return them, I'll never speak to you again."

  "Okay, Sally Rand."

  "Who?"

  Cora rolled her eyes. "She was a very famous stripper. Look her up on the Internet. I found a video and got a lot of really great tips on fan dancing."

  "Sheesh. How about Megan and Pauline?"

  "They're good. We had a brief rehearsal at Megan's last night, so if these guys want all three of us performing together, we won't fall over each other and embarrass ourselves."

  "The fur work for her?" Livvy had already been informed of everyone's props.

  "Yeah. Works great. Very sexy. And Pauline's veils are super seductive. I think we're gonna be one hell of an act."

  "You sure?"

  Cora smiled at the concern she could hear in her friend's voice. "Yes. Jack will be there keeping an eye on things. We're all getting into the spirit of it. Pretending it's more like the old style burlesque shows, you know? Lots of sizzle but a lot less skin than you actually think. That takes the sleaze factor out of it and makes it art instead."

  "Just tell the happy bachelor that." Livvy managed to convey a raised eyebrow over the phone. No mean trick.

  "Jack will take care of that."

  "Yeah. Jack. How about Jack, anyway."

  "Huh?" Cora was close to her destination and slowed her pace. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean what's with you and Jack?"

  "Nothing."

  "Sure, honey." She snorted. "This is me. You've been all fidgety for a while now. I know the signs. And I reckon it's Jack that's put the itching powder in your panties, so to speak."

  "Damn. I'm at the shop, Liv. Gotta go. We'll talk later, okay?"

  With a sigh of relief, Cora ended the call and went in to the quiet little costume shop tucked away close to Boston Common. She was hiding, she knew. Hiding from any conversation that involved Jack. Or her and Jack. Or any combination thereof.

  Shortly afterward, shiny shopping bag in hand, she emerged and headed back toward the office. In some ways she missed having Livvy walking beside her. But today, with Jack's sensual comments fresh in her mind, Cora appreciated the chance to do some thinking.

  An affair with her boss, even though he was only her part-time boss, was probably the stupidest thing she could ever contemplate.

  So why she was spending so much time contemplating that exact thing, she wasn't sure, other than the fact he was getting to her on a variety of levels. Ignoring the lunchtime crowd of visitors to the Common, she mentally ticked off his positive attributes.

  Handsome. Check. His height was a plus and there were those dreamy eyes...

  Intelligent. Check. He couldn't have started and maintained such a successful enterprise without a heaping helping of smarts. Plus the club showed every sign of growing in popularity. Again, largely due to Jack and his business acumen.

  Good sense of humor. Check. His laugh was real and she found herself smiling every time she heard it at the club. He had a quick wit and could engage just about anyone in a war of words, coming out the winner more often than not.

  She paused and adjusted her purse more comfortably on her shoulder. Dammit, there wasn't one bad thing about him that she could think of to put in the negative attribute column.

  Determinedly she strode on, searching for something, anything she could say was a bad thing about Jack. But the slate remained blank on that side of the list.

  For her part, she was very attracted to him. Everything she'd listed was on her personal preference chart when it came to men. He was right up there with Clooney and possibly Farrell. She hadn't seen him in a tuxedo--few mortals could match Clooney in a tux--but when Jack wore his Edwardian suits and top hats...well, dayum. That kinda did it for her every bit as much as Gorgeous George on the red carpet.

  She reached the office with a clear bottom line on her mental spreadsheet. She was seriously attracted to Jack Brandon. She shared his opinion that getting naked would be a worthwhile endeavor, especially if he was naked too.

  She admitted to herself, in the bluntest of terms, that she wanted to fuck him. Several times. If he was as good as she imagined he would be--then make that several dozen times.

  Cora sighed as the elevator deposited her on the correct floor for her office. It was time to slip back into regular work mode. The sequins, feathers and fucking would have to wait for another day or so.

  *~*~*~*

  Jack couldn't recall the last time he'd been this nervous.

  Binky Mitchell and his buddies were in the house, having a great time for themselves over a poker game Jack had set up. He hoped Binky's intended bride called him Bryan, but to Jack he was Binky. Always had been and always would be.

  It wasn't a large group, not quite a dozen guys. He recognized most of them, relieved that one or two were lawyers. They might condone less-than-gentlemanly behavior on such an occasion, but they'd make damn sure nothing went into the realms of potential litigation. It helped that they were all in the 'heading-for-thirty' age bracket.

  He chuckled. He was just past thirty. And apparently he was turning into an old man at a rapid rate.

  Then the music picked up tempo and he became a horny teenager in an instant.

  A spotlight hit the dance floor and the three girls moved in, each swathed in their props. As waitstaff, they'd been a sensation and the guys had done everything but
actually drool when served by three glittering lovelies. Initially, they resembled sparkling supermodels at some exotic millionaires-only beach party.

  Jack had approved of the bikini-styled costumes, and admired the long strips of rhinestones falling from the upper parts to brush the tops of the girls' thighs. It was sexy, revealing without being crass, and exactly what he'd hoped for.

  And yes, he found the almost-thong very distracting. Seeing Cora's bare ass for the first time had been comparable to a religious experience, since her rear view presented the most creamily perfect pair of buttocks he'd ever ogled. Separated only by a strip of twinkling jewels, he had a hard time not falling over his tongue as she walked past.

  Damned if she didn't add a slight wiggle too. Just for him, he felt sure.

  Now, with the added enhancement of their chosen props, they were little short of astounding.

  They began to dance to an upbeat version of A little of what yer fancy does yer good, and the partygoers hooted and applauded appropriately.

  The drinks were flowing, the two waiters working the evening were busy and Jack kept his fingers crossed that everything would run smoothly. Outside there was a rumble of thunder, and he spared a second to mentally check he'd rolled up his car windows. It had been sultry and humid for the last few days, stretching everyone's air conditioning units to the max.

  Perhaps a good storm would break the heat and make the next few days more comfortable.

  However, in the club it was cool, even though the dancers were getting hotter.

  Megan stepped forward, swathed in her fake white mink stole. She was petite and pretty in a purely feminine kind of way and Jack enjoyed watching her arrange her stole so as to allow brief glimpses at the body beneath.

  Her coyly fluttering eyelashes made everyone laugh and when she began a version of Oh Mr. Porter, whatever shall I do? in a naughty little girl voice, the approval was instantaneous.

  Pauline and Cora were off to one side, acting sometimes as chorus and others as punctuation with hushed taps of their shoes. They were really an awesome troupe. Jack acknowledged he'd accidentally hit gold when he'd hired them.