Tequila & Lace

by Kimberly Knight

  My head snapped up. “You’ve already made up your mind?”

  “Of course I have. I’m seventeen, PJ. I can’t be tied down with a baby. I have dreams.”

  I pulled her back into my room and shut the door. “What do you mean you’ve already made up your mind?” I barked, spit flying from my mouth.

  She wiped her chin. “You don’t get to make this decision.”

  “The hell I don’t!”

  “It’s my body!”

  I stepped closer, coming nose to nose with her. “It’s my baby, too. My fucking blood.”

  “This is not up for discussion anymore.” She pushed my chest, but I didn’t budge. I was like a brick wall especially when I was pissed as fuck. “Move out of my way.”

  “No.” I shook my head.

  She started to poke my chest with each word. “I. Don’t. Want. Kids. Now get out of my way!”

  I stared at her. “You’re going to get rid of our baby? It’s a part of us! We made that baby together and you’re just going to go and get rid of it? You really don’t love me, do you?” She looked past me, not saying a word.

  I had my answer.

  “You disgust me. Get the fuck out of here,” I spat. I didn’t know what more to say or do. She was carrying my baby and was going to get rid of it like it was yesterday’s trash. She didn’t once shed a tear. I, however, cried like a little bitch the moment I saw her pull away.

  She was taking more than just my heart with her; she was taking something I’d created. I was by no means ready to be a father, but I wanted to be with Vanessa forever. I loved her more than anything … More than football. She was the first thing I thought about when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I thought about when I went to sleep at night.

  And now we were done.

  After I’d manned up, I got in my car and drove around for an hour feeling weak until I saw a sign:

  Army Strong

  It was as if it was calling to me. Without another thought, I pulled in front of the building, turned off my car, and walked inside.

  That was the day I put my country’s dreams before my own.

  Chapter Three

  Joselyn

  Two years later …

  Holy fuck. “Um, okay?”

  He chuckled. “You have no idea do you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “So you do know more than two words?” I rolled my eyes. Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked out the heavy tinted window at the passing street lights. “I wouldn’t give me attitude, sweetheart. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

  I turned and straightened my head back toward him. “What am I doing here?”

  He smiled. “You have a date.”

  “With …” I paused and then took a big swallow of nothing before I was able to speak again. “With you?”

  He gave a deep belly laugh and then leaned forward to grab the champagne bottle that was sitting in a bucket of ice. “As much as I would love to get a taste of your pure pussy … It is pure right?” He gestured with the bottle toward me. I curled up my lips in disgust and grunted. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He laughed. “Whales pay a lot of money to fuck a virgin.”

  “Wait. What?” I sat up straighter, trying to sit as far back as I could from this man. I felt cornered, trapped and my heart began to race so fast that I knew if I didn’t calm the fuck down, I was going to pass out.

  He filled two flutes then leaned forward, his arm reaching out with one of the champagne flutes in his hand. I glanced at the bubbly liquid and then back up to his face, finally getting a good look at the man sitting across from me. The interior of the limo was dark, the only light from the pin-point, multi-colored lights on the ceiling shining down, but I could see the skin on his face was a deep sun-kissed brown. Tony had dark eyes and a neatly trimmed goatee that was the same color as the hair on his head.

  I’d never had a sip of alcohol before; never had the desire to try it. I’d seen Mother come home drunk too many times and I never wanted to be like her. But at this moment not being in this moment sounded like the best idea. I couldn’t believe what was happening and on my birthday of all days. I reached for the glass with a shaky hand, my gaze dropping down to the massive gold ring on the ring finger of his right hand and then took a sip—a big one of the bubbly liquid. It was tart and didn’t taste that great. I’d expected it to taste like juice. Why did people drink this shit?

  “This is how it’s going to go, sweetheart.” He took a sip of his champagne as he leaned back in his seat. The colored lights from the ceiling shined down on his white shirt under his black suit jacket and I stared at them and not his face. “We’re driving to a hotel where your date Marco will be waiting for you. Jose will bring you up to Marco’s room, and then you’ll do whatever Marco wants you to do for two hours. Jose will drive you home when you’re done.”

  “Who’s Jose?” Like that was the most important question to ask.

  “The limo driver.”

  “And where will you be?”

  “I don’t make it a habit to escort my girls to meet their johns.”

  “Um, what?”

  “Which part didn’t you understand because we’re almost at the hotel?”

  “I’m working for you?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “I can’t work for you. I’m seventeen. I’m in high school. And my best friend is a cop!”

  He laughed and rubbed his goatee with his thumb and index finger. “Sweetheart, please, I have cops on my payroll. They don’t scare me. And your mother started much younger than you and look how she turned out.”

  Exactly.

  “You don’t have this cop on your payroll.”

  He leaned forward as the car pulled to a stop. Tony pushed a button, telling Jose to give us just another minute, and then turned his attention back to me. “If I hear from Marco that you were not cooperative in every way, you and your mother are going to pay.” I blinked at him. “Do I make myself clear?”

  “I thought you cared about my mother?”

  He gave another laugh, the same one I knew would give me nightmares. “Sweetheart, your mother is nothing more than a whore makin’ me a shit load of money.”

  “A whore?” I spat. “You turned her into one!”

  He grinned. “It’s what I’m good at.”

  Before I could respond further, the door opened and a hand reached inside. I looked up, then back at Tony and he nodded. This couldn’t be happening. This was supposed to be my surprise birthday dinner. Instead, I was about to walk into a hotel and lose my virginity.

  “Go on, sweetheart.”

  A lump was forming in my throat and tears were on the verge of spilling over my eyelids, but instead, I put my big girl panties on and grabbed Jose’s hand as he helped me out of the limo. My heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to beat out my chest and onto the stone walkway as I took a few steps on wobbly legs until I got my balance in the ridiculously high heels. Now I understood the makeup, the dress, and the shoes. And to think I had thanked my mother for this.

  Jose and I walked side by side through the sliding glass doors and into the lobby of the hotel. A bellman or a valet (I wasn’t sure which) greeted us with a tip of his head and I wondered if he thought we were together. Jose was old enough to be my father. Tony was old enough to be my father and I was willing to bet Marco was old enough to be my father.

  I thought about coming up with an excuse to use the phone to call Seth when I got up to the hotel room, but I didn’t know his phone number. I’d left it in my room under my mattress where Mother wouldn’t find it. I needed him—he made me feel safe. Could I call the D.C. Police Department and ask for Officer McKenna? Did it work that way? When I watched police shows, they had different precincts—was that how the real world worked? Every thought was running through my head at a million miles an hour.

  As we stepped up to a wall of elevators, everything around me disappeared. I wanted to make a
break for it, run through the lobby, run out the doors and run for my life, but I was in these damn heels and by the time I kicked them off, Jose was bound to catch me. I didn’t look at the button Jose had pushed. I didn’t remember getting on the elevator. Everything was a daze and I didn’t want to register that this was really happening.

  Finally, the elevator stopped and Jose gestured for me to exit. I stepped out, but he didn’t follow. I turned slightly, wondering why he didn’t move. “In two hours, I’ll meet you here, Miss Marquez.”

  “Two hours,” I confirmed, barely audible.

  “You better go or you’ll be late. If you’re late, then your pay gets docked.”

  “My pay?” I questioned.

  “Si,” he answered. “If you don’t show up on time, Tony will find out. You don’t want to disappoint Tony, yes?”

  I nodded. “Yes.” I figured I shouldn’t question Jose. Like me, he was only an employee. Fuck—I was an employee. How did that happen? Oh right, my mother.

  “If I hear from Marco that you were not cooperative in every way, you and your mother are going to pay.”

  I gave Jose a tight smile and took the steps down the hallway to the single door. I could hear my heart beating in my ears and it took everything in me not to break down and cry. Instead, I took a deep breath and raised my right hand, knocking lightly. A moment later I was staring into the eyes of the man who had bought me for two hours.

  “Bella. Please, come in.”

  Bella? Really? I wanted to roll my eyes and tell him my name wasn’t Bella, but instead, I smiled a shy smile and entered, stepping around him as he closed the door behind him. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled and I was certain it wasn’t from the air-conditioning in the massive suite I’d just entered. Before I could get a good look at the space, Marco spoke, coming around me so we were face-to-face.

  “Do you prefer red or white?” I scrunched my eyebrows at him. He laughed. “Wine. Do you prefer red or white wine?”

  Maybe he didn’t know I was underage? Maybe this was how hookers got through the night? Hell if I knew. “I’m not sure. I guess white.” I shrugged. I assumed white since I’d just had white champagne in the limo. I didn’t even like that shit, but if I had to get tipsy to get through the next two hours, I was going to chug whatever I needed to.

  As Marco uncorked and poured the wine, I stared at him. I wanted to get a good look at the man who was willing to pay a large amount of money to fuck a virgin. Marco wasn’t bad on the eyes. In fact, he was easy on them as I’d heard people say. He had a lightly trimmed beard that was more stubble than anything, brown hair that was spiked perfectly with specks of grey on the sides, and when he smiled as he laughed, the creases accented his cheeks as if they were dimples—but they weren’t. The lines traveled down to a straight jaw that was strong and manly. The thought of his age was enough to make me want to throw up in my mouth. Instead, I reached out and grabbed the glass of wine as he handed it to me.

  “You want to hold it by the stem so the wine doesn’t warm from your body heat.”

  “Oh … okay.” I slid my hand down to the stem.

  “Let me take your purse.”

  “I’ll just set it by the door and take my heels off—”

  “No, bella. You leave your heels on.”

  On my way to the entry table, I took big gulps of the sour wine. I still didn’t understand why adults drank such nasty shit. I was used to Kool-Aid since it was all we could afford. Wine and champagne tasted nothing like grape flavored Kool-Aid.

  “You like?” Marco asked when I turned around after placing my purse on the glass top table. I looked down at the nearly empty glass. I didn’t need to hold it by the stem after all. I gave a tight smile and nodded.

  There was a slight squeak from the cork as he removed it from the wine bottle and I handed him my glass. My head was starting to feel light as I had to focus a few times on the liquid coming out of the bottle. He handed me the glass and I grabbed it, holding the stem between fingers and that was when we touched for the first time. I wanted to jump back, run from the room and into the elevator—right … the elevator. He was bound to catch me. Instead, I smiled at him and he smiled back.

  “You have a lovely smile, bella.”

  I blushed at his compliment, even if it was coming from someone who’d paid to take my virginity. I wasn’t used to getting them. “Thank you,” I responded.

  “Come. Let’s go into the bedroom and get comfortable.”

  It sounded as if he did this sort of thing all the time. Maybe he did. Did he only do it with girls my age? Maybe some girls needed money for college and sold their virginity themselves. Maybe there were strippers who wanted to make extra money. Or maybe there were other girls like me who had no idea they were being sold until it was too late.

  My legs felt heavy as I took each step, but I continued to take big gulps of the wine despite its taste. The more I drank, the more my nerves were starting to calm down. I started to slip my shoes off again, but Marco tsked.

  “No, bella. You leave your heels on.”

  “The entire time?”

  He smiled and I wanted so badly to like his smile, but everything was wrong about this night. “Yes.”

  I took another big gulp of my wine until there wasn’t anymore. He reached his hand out for the glass and I handed it to him, expecting him to refill it, but instead he placed it on the desk behind him and then twirled his finger as if he wanted me to turn around. I did.

  “Tony always sends me the most beautiful girls. He knows which ones are my type.” I felt him come up behind me and I held my breath. “Your dark brown hair is the perfect length to wrap around my fist while I fuck you from behind.”

  I swallowed. “Um, what?”

  I heard a slight chuckle. “They always think their first time is going to be slow and sweet, that I’ll wine and dine them. You had your wine, bella, but once you’re sweet, tight pussy is wrapped around me, it’s not going to be slow or sweet.”

  I listened to the sound of running water as a single tear fell from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t let Marco see. The clock on the nightstand told me that there was still thirty minutes left of my date.

  The haze from the alcohol had worn off, and between my legs ached, but I was happy and thankful it was over—at least I thought it was. Marco hadn’t given me further instructions before he’d left to shower, but he had been in there for at least two minutes. I thought he’d come back for me, insist I take one with him. He hadn’t. I glanced at the clock one more time and then toward the bathroom when I noticed his wallet on the nightstand next to the bed. Immediately a million thoughts cross my mind.

  There was only one I acted on, though.

  I jumped from the bed, noticing the blood between my legs as I slipped on my panties, managing to get them caught a few times in my heels. After I’d finally got the cotton bikini panties righted, I pulled my dress on, barely able to zip the back, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t sure how much time I had and I didn’t know if Jose would be at the elevators early waiting for me.

  When I opened Marco’s wallet, I noticed a few credit cards, but if Tony had cops on his payroll like he’d said, then they’d track me down. I’d seen it happen on television. Bypassing the cards, I opened the wallet further and pulled several bills from the inside before I grabbed my purse and opened the front door.

  The shower was still running as I made a dash for the metal doors. Thankfully, Jose wasn’t standing by the elevator. I pushed the down button repeatedly, praying that they would open, but before they did, I made a last minute decision to use the stairs instead.

  When I opened the stairwell door, I remembered that I was on the twenty-seventh floor. My heart was pounding and the ache between my legs was unbearable, but there was no time for me to think about what had just happened in the hotel room. I needed to get out of the hotel before Marco, Jose, or even Tony saw me. I didn’t know what my plan was, but I had a wad of cash and no desi
re to go back home to the woman who sold her daughter.

  After three flights of stairs, I slipped off my heels and ran the rest of the way as fast as possible. By the time I’d reached the bottom, I was out of breath and my adrenaline was through the roof. I didn’t see or hear anyone following me as I gave one last look up the stairwell before I exited and burst into the humid Miami night.

  The door emptied on the side of the hotel and instead of going to the front where I assumed Jose had the limo parked, I ran the opposite way toward the back. My lungs were on fire, my hair was sticking to my neck, and rocks were digging into the soles of my feet, but I kept running. This was life or death to me.

  “… you and your mother are going to pay.”

  She deserved to pay after she’d sold her own daughter to be a whore, but I would miss Bryce. My eyes began to sting at the thought of never seeing him again, but there was no way I could go back for him. Mrs. McKenna would take care of him if something happened to Mother, I was certain of it. But right now, I needed to save myself and get the hell out of here.

  As I approached the street, a taxi was coming and I flagged it down. It stopped and I jumped in.

  “Where to?” the driver asked.

  I had no idea. I just needed to get away from the hotel. I thought for a moment. “Um … Is there a bus or a train station nearby?”

  “There’s a Greyhound station,” he replied in an Armenian accent, “but it’s not that close.”

  I meet his gaze in the rearview mirror. “That’s perfect. Thank you.”

  “The fare will cost you.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Chapter Four

  Paul

  Twelve years later …

  Present Day

  Helping my best friend plan his proposal felt as though someone had a death grip on my heart and wouldn’t let go.

  For the last ten or so years, I hadn’t been able to think about spending the rest of my life with only one woman. After Vanessa, I didn’t want to be tied down. I wanted as much pussy as I could get. And I was getting it. Now helping Gabe pick out the ring for Autumn and coming up with the proposal brought back memories of her and how you’re supposed to marry your first love. At least that’s what I’d thought.