Once the new recordings were pressed on a CD and uploaded on i-tunes the band prepared for another tour.
Mark their manager set up a month long trip, one long leg rather than many little ones like the last tour. Interest in the band was growing and it was easier to get consistent gigs.
Mark came and asked Payton to have a business meeting before their first show of the new tour.
"Payton I want to talk to you about your look." Mark said closing the door to her dressing room. "The songs are much more sexual now, and you are very beautiful. You have this girl next door look going right now, but your singing isn't like that anymore."
"You want me to sleaze it up?" she asked, unsure of how she felt about that.
"Naw. Nothing slutty. That isn't you. But something more sexual somehow. More in keeping with the sound. A more experienced manger would probably know what to do, but you are the first female singer I've worked with and I like you too much to make you into a commodity. But we need to find a new thing."
"I get it. I'll think about it. I'll look online for some ideas, and I think you should do that too. I already feel like I'm 'in character' out there, so we can massage that and find something appropriate."
"Yeah. Great. That is the spirit. I love the new sound; let's get the look in line with that." He let himself out.
Looking in the mirror at her straight hair and t-shirt and jeans she saw what Mark was talking about. Payton still looked like a girl in her parent's garage practicing her craft. Now she was a woman out on the road supporting a second independent album. One with a focused sexualized vibe. She needed to support that sound.
Rummaging through her suitcase she saw that she had very little that would work for the stage persona she was looking for.
Doing her best she dressed and did her hair and make-up with the thought of being as sexual as she could with the wardrobe she had.
Payton went out on stage that night in a mini skirt with fishnet stalking and a short sleeved button up shirt with a few extra buttons undone. Her bright red bra was clearly visible in the open space between the undone buttons and she felt scandalous knowing her minimal cleavage was on display.
Her hair was more teased up and her make up a little more sexual. She shadowed her eyes more, and gave herself longer lashes, and brighter cheeks. She wore a crimson lipstick that matched her bra and the woman singing the songs that night looked a few years older and more overtly sensual.
Within two songs a crowd of men lined the edge of the stage, and she felt like an exhibitionist. Bending down as she sang, Payton let the men see the swells of her breasts. Lifting a leg up onto the monitor she had in front of her she gave them a glimpse under her skirt at the panties that matched the bra she wore.
All through the first set Payton sang and teased both her audience and the men in the band, who were all watching this new version of their singer closely.
Payton spent more time posing and letting her audience watch her than ever before. She strutted the stage and emulated all her favorite rock stars by engaging the crowd and the band in new and exciting ways. The whole enterprise had her feeling amazing and aroused.
By the time the first set was over she was wet with desire. Showing off like that was getting her really horny.
Taking a break, the band scattered after slapping each other on the back and laughing at how amazing the energy in the room was.
As she leaned against a wall to the side of the stage Payton caught her breath and marveled at the great reaction everyone was having to her performance.
A handsome man in his early thirties approached her with two clear bottled beers and offered her one.
"You guys are amazing. You are such an incredible singer." He said over the sound of background music in the room.
She stood up straight, took the beer and looked at the bottom to see if anything was dissolving in the bubbles. She didn't need to be spiked. "Thank you."
"Your music is incredible. Did you write those songs?"
"I did. Me and the guitar player."
"Are they about him?"
"They are about a lot of things." She replied evasively. Was he hitting on her?
"Well they are about sex, that is for sure."
"Sometimes." She leaned back against a wall letting herself enjoy the beer, which she only sipped.
"Look," he said, "I'll be straight with you. I would love to spend the night with you. You are rocking my world. I'm hoping you don't have a thing going with that guy, but if you do please just let me down easy and tell me before I fall in love and make a fool of myself."
Payton laughed at his earnest delivery, and he grinned back. Feeling squishy between her legs she impulsively did something she couldn't believe she was doing.
"How would you like to give me head?" she asked, shocked at her own audacity.
"Really?" He gaped. "I would love that!"
"Okay. That's all though. I still have two more sets and don't have much time. But I need to get off right now."
"Wow! Sure!"
"Come on then."
Leading him back to her dressing room Payton was reeling from what she was doing. She felt clear and sober, but her pussy was dripping and burning for some attention making her do something she would never normally do.
Closing the door behind him she went to a counter by the sink in the little room. The man came up beside her and put his beer bottle down next to her. Sinking to his knees he looked up at her, eager but waiting patiently.
Payton unzipped her skirt and pulled it off, she pulled off her fishnets and then, trembling nervously, she pulled down her panties. Never in her twenty years had she had sex with a stranger, and certainly not in such a transactional way, but the need to get off, and the thrill of using this handsome man to do it was far too intoxicating not to do.