Using the club’s website to browse for a suitable sub, Jett finds the profile of Asia. Not only is she gorgeous, but she’s a college student, meaning she must be smart, and the cherry on top is she still has her cherry. He’s found himself a good girl to take to occasions he has lined up. Pretty, smart, and virtuous means he’s got it made in the shade with this choice.
Or does it?
Jett’s main mistake is taking Asia on as his sub before he tells her about the fake marriage. She’s not accustomed to lying. When he shows her the list of rules he made out and she accepted, number seven is, she must do as he says at all times, that includes being whoever he asks her to be. A rule she didn’t look at close enough. She’s stuck, but she’s not happy about that part of the contract.
Their time as Dom and sub in his Portland mansion teaches her things about her body she finds amazing. Their time as husband and wife teach them both more about what it means to make marital sacrifices.
Will the fake marriage be a thing that brings them closer or will it break their bond at the end of summer and when their contract is up?
Part 1
Jett
“I don’t need your help to find a wife, Mom!” Getting out of my comfortable office chair, I strode over to the floor to ceiling windows. The sun was setting over the Pacific, creating colors on the water that only it can. “I’m not even looking for one. I am only twenty-eight.”
“By the time I was your age I was married, had you, and was developing the recipe for the cinnamon buns that got us all where we are today.” Her voice had taken on a nasally tone as she bitched at me. “Your father would like to retire someday. A thing he can’t do until you’re ready to take over the CEO position. This is a family business, Jett. You’re our only heir. And you’ll need an heir of your own in the future. Don’t let all that your father and I worked so hard for go to waste.”
And there was the guilt!
Always with the guilt. My mother was a master at wielding it like a double edged sword. She inherited it honestly, her mother used it like a weapon too.
“Mom, can you get to why you called? It’s after five, everyone else has gone home for the day, and I’d like to get the hell out of here too.” I leaned my shoulder against the wall and sighed, wishing I could just hang up the damn phone. But it was my mother on the end of the line, no one hangs up on their mother!
“Oh, yes dear. I completely forgot to get to that. First, how’s it going in L.A.? Is business good? I hope you have those numbers up. After going global last year, we have to uphold those sales figures. We put you in charge of our largest distribution office for a reason. To get your executive feet wet after college. Which you graduated from six years ago, by the way. I thought you’d be at the top by now, giving your old dad a much-needed break. That man peddled my baked goods all over the United States for three years before we made a name for ourselves.”
“Mom!” I pinched my brow as she was making my head begin to ache. “I get it. And our sales are great. Now, can you please get to the point of why you called? Surely, it wasn’t just to lecture me on how hard you and Dad worked to make Sin-a-buns Sweetshop the successful business that it is.”
“Oh, yes! The vacation! The whole family, your grandparents from both sides, Uncle Pete and Aunt Sally, their twins, and everyone else will be at our summer place in the Hamptons during the second week of June. It’s like a reunion of sorts, only a really long one. And I’ve invited a few of the neighbors to stop by for our evening meals. Hopefully, you’ll like some of the eligible young women who’ll be coming over for the extravagant meals I’ve planned for each night that week. Maybe find one who suits you and marry her and give me some grandchildren.”
“Kind of getting ahead of yourself, aren’t you, Mom?”
“Not at all. You need to find a woman, Jett. I mean it. You know you’ll have to be married, and all settled down before your father hands over the keys to the company, so to speak. Living like a rock star, the way you’ve been doing, won’t cut it.”
Shoving my fist in my pocket, I made my way back to my chair. I wasn’t happy about a family gathering that would last an entire week. Topping it off with my mother playing matchmaker for me and all the snooty rich bitches from the Hamptons was icing on top of a cake that was making me sick to my stomach. “I hardly live like a rock star, Mom.”
“What would you call it, Jett? You haven’t had a steady girl since high school. You broke little Sandy Smith’s heart when you dumped her and went away to college. I saw her mother last week when I went to see your grandmother in New Jersey. She said Sandy and her husband Dave moved to the street we used to live on. Only three doors down from our old house where you two used to sit on the porch swing, holding hands. She was such a sweet girl, Jett. What happened?”
That sweet girl wasn’t what she seemed to be. Sandy Smith was the biggest manipulator I’d ever met. Not even eighteen yet and she wanted to get married. She wanted it so badly, she tried to get her ass pregnant to trap me. Lucky for me, I noticed the box of condoms had been messed with and found the pin holes she’d stabbed through the foil pouches. She was quite the bitch.
“We just weren’t as compatible as we seemed to be, Mom. Anyway, how’s Grandma doing?”
“She’s just fine. Her gout was flaring up, so I took her some homemade soup. The trip from Manhattan to Jersey was a bit rough for me, though.”
“And how’s that? Didn’t you let Stan drive you? That is what he’s paid to do you know.” I spun around in my chair, glancing at the now dark window and wishing I could get off the phone. “Mom, can I call you from my cell?”
“No, I hate those things. I like land lines. You know that, Jett. Anyway, Stan had a doctor’s appointment, and I took the car. It’s been so long since I’ve driven myself that I found it difficult to navigate my way back to where we lived for twenty years. And I got melancholy about our simple life in Jersey. I mean, I love our Manhattan penthouse. I love the money that came from all of our hard work too. But it’s just such a difference, and I only seem to notice it when I go back there.”
“Then don’t go.” I leaned back in the chair, sure that she was going to make me stay at the office all night just to talk to her.
“My parents live there, Jett. And your father’s too. I can’t just not go.”
“I don’t go there. Send the car to pick them up and bring them to you. There, I’ve fixed your problem. And, Mom, don’t go trying to drive yourself around. Let Stan do it. I bet Dad didn’t know you took off like that, did he?”
“Well, no. And he was upset with me when I got home, and he saw me getting out of the car. He gave me what for, especially when I told him how I had gotten lost twice.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I felt my father’s pain. The woman was a genius in the kitchen. In other aspects, not so much. “I love you, Mom. That’s why I’ll say it one more time, let Stan drive you where you need to go. If he’s got an appointment, you can wait. Grandma’s gout won’t get any better or worse if she gets your soup a few hours later.”
“Maybe you’re right. Anyway, about finding you a wife, I talked to Gertrude the other day. We were talking about some of the things we could do during the family vacation. Well, she told me that Mrs. Finkerstein’s granddaughter will be staying the summer with her. Now, that family is like Hamptons royalty, as you well know. I think that girl might be perfect for you.”
And there we were, back to the matchmaking. “Mom, you don’t even know her. How could you possibly think she’d be perfect for me? I think you just want to get me in with some snooty family so you can claim to be part of them. Not cool, Mom.”
“What’s wrong with wanting to belong to a prestigious group? And what’s wrong with wanting to see my one and only child happily married? I’m going to push this, Jett. I am!”
I could see that she was. My wheels began to spin. How could I get her off my back?
Lie, of course!
“Mom, I actually
have been seeing someone.”
“No!”
“Yes. She’s actually taken me completely by surprise and, well, dare I say it? I’m head over heels in love, Mom!” The burden of the lie wasn’t as heavy as I thought it’d be.
“Jett, why didn’t you tell me this from the start? I wouldn’t have gone on so long about finding you a suitable wife. Now, tell me all about her. Is she pretty?”
“Gorgeous.”
“Is she nice?”
“The sweetest girl I’ve ever met.”
“What’s her name? Can you send me a picture of you two? When will we get to meet her? Will you be bringing her to our vacation?”
“I’m not saying another thing about her. You’ll just have to be surprised. Who knows, I may be bringing her to meet you as my wife.”
“Oh, Jett! I’m so happy!”
So, Mom was off my back, but now who was I going to get to play the part of my gorgeous, sweet wife?
Asia
The big fat F stared back at me as my eyes glossed over. That was the third test I’d failed in my Data Extraction class. One more failed test and I’d have to repeat the class. And that would cost me, dearly.
I had one other class that was giving me fits. I knew I’d fail that one too if I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of statistical models. I had no idea becoming a Statistics Analyst would be so damn hard!
High school had been a breeze for me. I sailed through it with nothing but high A’s. I was awarded a full scholarship to Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It wasn’t too far away from my home in Queens, New York, but far enough away I got to practice being an adult.
There were stiff stipulations to the scholarship, though. Fail a class, and I would lose it. The whole thing. It paid for my classes, books, dorm room and all my meals on campus. If I lost it, I’d lose everything. And I had one more year of school to get through. All would’ve been wasted.
Since I had everything covered, I didn’t have a job, not even a part-time one that I could maybe get more hours at during the summer to build up some money to be able to take those classes over again, plus the others I’d need to graduate.
My parents didn’t have much, but maybe they could pull it together to help me out. I’d come too far to just quit. I made a call to my mother to feel her out about some financial help. “Hi, Mom. How’s it going?”
She made a long, drawn out sigh that already told me things weren’t going well. “Your father was laid off yesterday. After fifteen years as a delivery driver, they up and cut him in the first round of layoffs. Can you believe that, Asia? Now, he and I will have to get by on what I make as an administrative assistant at the law office.”
So, they were out!
“That’s terrible news. How’s Dad taking it?” I waded up the failed test and threw it in the wastebasket. Then I slumped my way to lay on my bed in the dorm I shared with my roommate, Stacy.
“You know your dad, he’s taking it hard. He sees it as something personal, which I’ve told him it isn’t. He’s one of their highest paid workers. Of course, the company has to get rid of the employees who are paid the most. It’s just finances.”
“Poor Dad. And how are my sisters? I haven’t had time to call them with all the end of the semester testing.”
“Spring is about to pop. She and Max are super excited that their first born is almost here. You’ll have to try to make if to see her after she has the baby, Asia. I know South Dakota is a ways from here, but she’s your sister, and she’s worth it.”
“I’ll do my best.” I had no idea how I’d be able to get my ass to South Dakota with no money, but I wasn’t about to burden my mother with that.
“Rainbow and Stewart took their brood of three and moved to Alaska. How crazy is that?”
I huffed and rolled over. My sisters were living their dreams as I was failing mine. “That’s pretty crazy. What made them want to leave Washington to go way up there?”
“Stewart got a job as a park ranger in some park in Alaska, so they up and moved. Bow says the kids are happy. She’s going to homeschool them because they live in the middle of nowhere.”
“Damn, she’s brave.”
“I know! And how about you, my baby girl?”
I wasn’t about to let it all out. No matter how bad I felt, I couldn’t do that to her. “Me? Oh, I’m fine. I’m getting a job this summer.”
“Oh, yeah, what kind?”
I drummed my fingers on the yellow pillow cover as I conjured up a job. “Um, it’s a job in retail. I mean, I don’t have it yet. I have classes to finish, but once I’m free, then I should get the job.”
“Only one more year of school too. I bet you’re getting all types of excited about that. Next year will be your last!”
This would be my last year if I couldn’t come up with a way to make about ten thousand dollars. Again, Mom didn’t need to be bothered with that. “Yep. I am all types of excited alright.”
“So, what are your plans, Asia? Where will you be once you’ve accomplished your goal of a Master’s degree?”
“I guess I’ll get a job in New York. That’s always been what I thought I’d do. I have to do a year of interning next year. Maybe the company that hires me on will keep me.”
I had no idea how I’d do a year of intern work. That paid next to nothing. I’d have to do that, take classes, and take on a part-time job somewhere in between it all.
How was I going to do all that?
It was hopeless. I’d never be able to do it all. And even if I could, I doubted there would be enough money to pay for classes, books, and the dorm room. I was fucked!
It was then that I had to contemplate for the first time that I’d end up just like my parents. Uneducated and living by the skin of my teeth. A chill ran through me.
I had to find a way to pay for school. My parents were in their fifties. Dad had lost his job and chances were, at his age, he’d have hell finding another one. And if he did, it wouldn’t pay nearly as much as he was making at a job he’d had for years.
“New York is so expensive to live in, Asia. You should think about coming back to Queens. I’m sure you could commute. Maybe live here with your father and me for a while. You could help out with bills. I don’t think your father is going to get another job that pays as well as the one he lost.”
And there it was. They needed me. Guilt piled up on me like a ton of bricks.
“Yeah, I could do that, Mom. You can count on me. I’ll figure it all out. I will. You and Dad took good care of us all, I can help you out when I get a good job after I graduate. You’ll have to hold out until then, but I’ll be there for you guys. I promise.”
The sigh of relief she made had my heart hurting. My parents were in dire straits. Any savings they had would run out, and they’d be left living on crumbs. I had to make it all work out. There were no other choices. I’d do whatever I had to.
“You have no idea how good that is to hear, Asia. I’d never ask this of you if I had any other choice. I’m going to tell my boss that I need a raise and we’ll get rid of any bills we can. I don’t want you to have to live with us forever. The house will be paid off in five years. If you can live with us and help us until that bill is gone, then we’ll be fine after that.”
Five years!
I couldn’t let her know how much that affected me. “I can do that, Mom.”
“You’re such a good girl, Asia. I know I’ve told you that a million times, but I have to say it again. You’re good as gold. Always such a good girl and my little helper. I don’t know what we’d do without you. Your sisters have their own lives and families, I could never ask them for anything. But you’re alone and will have a great paying job in just a bit over a year. We can make it until then. We have enough in savings to do that.”
“I’m glad I can help. So, let me get off here and check out the internet to start searching for a summer job.”
“Hold on. Why do you suddenly need a job?
I mean, your scholarship pays for everything.”
She finally caught on that things weren’t exactly alright with me. “I might have to pay some, that’s all. Don’t worry.”
“Why would you have to pay some all of a sudden?”
I was squirming for an answer when one came to me. “Extra classes that the scholarship won’t cover. I want to take a few extra classes.”
“Oh,” she sounded relieved. “For a moment there I thought you were having some problems of your own. You’d tell me if you were, right?”
With all the shit she had on her, why would I do a thing like that?
“Sure, I would, Mom. I gotta go. Love you.”
“Love you. Talk to you soon.”
I ended the call and buried my face in the pillow. I was up shit creek without a paddle, as my granddad used to say. With no clue of how I was going to make it all work, I did what any girl does. I started to cry.
Jett
Sipping a cold beer as I sat on the deck of my Malibu beach house, I got a message from a guy I went to high school with back in Maplewood, New Jersey. Hot on the heels of my mother’s news of a huge family vacation came the news that our high school was having our ten-year reunion on July twenty-fifth at the gym.
Josh was one of my best buddies back in the old days. He was already married with two kids, and anytime I talked to him, his wife was shouting out female names. She wanted to pair me up with one of her single women friends so we could all pal around together. I, of course, wasn’t into it.
In college, I messed around with a few different women, not a ton of them. I wasn’t quite the playboy my family thought I was. When I turned twenty-five, a friend of mine took me to an exclusive club in Portland, Oregon. He told me I’d find women there that would be more my speed.
Ron and I went out with a couple of women we met at a bar one night. He noticed the way I treated the one I was with. I had certain expectations that she couldn’t seem to comply with.
Dirty News (Dirty Network Book 1) Page 26