Author's Note: Thanks for your patience, everyone! Lots of fun to come, starting here. The next few chapters are going to be jam-packed with hot sex and some key plot developments! Please enjoy! And, of course, I always love your feedback!
* * *
"You're joking," I said to Jess.
"I'm not!" she said, mock defensively and with a laugh.
"There's no way," I said.
She was sweaty and wore a white baseball cap, a ponytail poking through the rear closure. Her face was still flushed from the round of tennis she had just finished with Kat. She took a swig from a water bottle, and smiled at me. Her white tennis skirt was short and tight. Her nipples poked through the half-damp fabric of her white top.
"She's all in," Jess insisted. "And I really believe her."
"When is her tryout?" I asked.
"I'm glad you asked," Jess said. The smile turned into more of a cocky smirk. "In an hour."
"Now I know you're full of shit," I said.
I looked out the window and watched Rita breasts bounce happily as she charged the net to return a shot from Kat, who was drenched in sweat as she entered her third hour of tennis for the day.
"You know I'm not," Jess said. "And you're going to love it. It's at the St. Regis."
"Do you want to come with me?" I asked.
"I need to shower," she said. "And then Kelly and I are having a video conference. We're going over the final contract on the Vegas condo."
"Are you serious?" I said, and we laughed. Crystal's catch phrase never got old.
"Crystal and Julie are bringing her," Jess said.
"You are serious," I said, dropping my sarcastic facade.
"As a heart attack," Jess said. "Now, come on, mister. I need you to shower up."
"Shower with me," I said.
"Okay," she said. "I'll brief you while you clean me off."
The steam billowed out of the shower when we opened the door and went inside. I had started to see Jess in a new light in recent weeks. Our connection and attraction for so long had been rooted in this magnetic, irrepressible sexual fire. From that standpoint, nothing had changed between us. If anything, I felt more attracted to her. She had gotten more beautiful, the increased exercise and focus on the business side of the agency giving her a new aura of independence and confidence. The role of budding mogul suited her.
I held her as the water beat down on us, and we kissed lightly. Her pale blue eyes gazed up at me, and I gazed back.
"So what's the story with this Nikki girl?" I finally asked.
"She's not very experienced," Jess said, but then she paused. She bit her lip, and I knew there was a secret coming. "And I didn't exactly tell her that we're an escort agency."
"Oh?" I said. "What did you tell her exactly?"
"That we're a group of girlfriends who like to have fun with wealthy men," she said.
"Fucking for money would have scared off the good little minister's wife?" I asked.
"I had to make a judgment call," Jess said. "She's so ripe for it, but we're going to have to push her just right."
"What are my instructions, darling?" I asked, as I soaped Jess's body with my eyes closed, letting my intimate knowledge guide me.
"Seduce her," Jess said. "Make love to her. Don't be rough. Not yet. She's teetering. I need you to be the one who unlocks this world for her."
I kissed her, feeling the spray of hot water against our faces. Jess's tongue flicked against mine. She wanted me to do this. She was begging me. She loved me, but she also loved that I was useful to her and that I was useful to Infinity.
"I mean, that's easy enough," I said with a bit of detachment.
"She's pretty," Jess said, her pale blue eyes boring a hole into me while she batted her eyelashes. "Really pretty. The kind of girl you're going to want to break in half."
I raised my eyebrows and cupped her breasts, slick with the water.
"Don't break her in half," Jess said with a laugh. She put her hand behind my neck and pulled me to her. "Turn on that Cameron charm," she said between light kisses on my lips. "Make her want it."
Jess stopped. She looked at me seriously.
"I want this, John," she said. "This girl is a goldmine waiting to happen."
"But it's more than that," I said, sensing something lurking behind her last statement.
"It is," Jess admitted. "She's so repressed. She wants this so much more than she knows. And I can give it to her. We can give it to her. We can show this sweet, beautiful girl what a big world is out there."
"You want to wreck her," I said.
"And I want to wreck her," she said with a laugh. "In a good way. She'll thank us for it. We'll show her what life can really be like. Come on, dry me off. You need to get going."
* * *
I thought about my conversation with Jess as I drove the Maserati to the St. Regis. She was so grown up and had matured so much. Jess's unilateral decision to step back from escort appointments to manage the business showed me something. Something important. It made me want to do more business. Business with her. I needed to figure out where this new Hollywood finance potential would take me -- and how it might dovetail with Jess's Infinity agency.
But my attention snapped back to where it needed to be when I got a text from Crystal. She and Julie had arrived with Nikki, and they were in the room already. I pulled into the valet too fast, tipped in advance, and made my way to the elevator.
When I reached the room, Crystal greeted me at the door with a lingering hug and a discreet kiss. She looked at me with desire, and it was impossible for me not to want her. She wore short, high-waisted black shorts and matching stilettos. Her white tube top left little to the imagination, barely covering her tits and showing the pink tops of her nipples. She smiled faintly of cigarettes.
"Hey gorgeous," I said as I walked inside.
"I have a treat for you," she whispered. The look on her face was a mixture of serious and mischievous. "Come on."
Julie was sitting on the desk chair, her red hair unkempt and curly. She wore a flower-patterned summer dress and she suppressed her smile slightly by biting her lip as she looked at me as I entered. Her eyes moved to her left, and I followed them. It led me to the strikingly tall, slender figure standing before the bed. And for the first time I laid my eyes on Nikki Powers.