Hands On (Bride of the Billionaire)
“Ow, okay!” I grumble. “I…I miiiiight have just kissed Grayson Radcliffe.”
I expect Melissa to explode with a huge loud, “WHAT?!” Or maybe just jump to her feet and look at me with a huge gawking expression of disbelief. Instead, she just slowly slides out from underneath me, stands and stares at me with an unreadable frown.
“Fuck off.”
“What?!” I laugh, sitting up.
“Fuck off,” she repeats. “You did not.”
“I—okay…”
She stomps her foot on the ground and points at me. “Stop messing with me, girl!”
“I’m not!” I protest. “Do you think I came home looking like this just because?!”
“You kissed him!?” she asks. “Are you – what the hell!?”
“I know, I know,” I sigh, holding my head. “I don’t know what happened. I went in there and told myself I was going to be professional.”
Melissa laughs. “So much for that.”
“Ugh, I know,” I groan, flopping over onto my side. “But…Melissa, you should have seen him!”
“I’ve seen pictures.”
“But it’s so different in person!” I exclaim. “Like—a completely different ballgame.”
“What do you know about ballgames!?” Melissa asks. “Or balls for that matter!”
I groan again. She’s right. I’m a virgin – bigtime. In fact, Grayson was my second kiss ever, my first being Ronnie Greene in 4th grade as part of a dare. I don’t know what it is, and maybe it’s even ironic, but I just can’t seem to loosen up around men. I freeze up whenever I get hit on, which is why I request female clients at the parlor. Most men don’t get fresh, but I’d like to avoid that possibility at all costs.
I only took this job today for the money. Melissa owns the business, which means she rightfully takes a cut of each of my massages. I still have student loans to pay off, rent every month, and without parents to fall back on, all the other expenses an adult woman has to deal with. Having a billionaire paying me full-time sure wouldn’t hurt.
But it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen now.
“So…are you going back?” Melissa asks. “I assume you got the job!?
?
“No.” I shake my head. “I am never going back there.”
3
Jennie
It’s 10:30 when I turn into the lot of the massage parlor. My first client is at 11 and I like to get there early to make sure I’m ready, but when I pull up to the front, I see Melissa standing outside talking to two police officers. She’s a tough cookie, but she looks like she’s on the verge of having a breakdown. Quickly, I get out of the car and rush over to her.
“What’s going on here?” I ask. One of the officers glances at me, but Melissa chimes in before he can speak.
“They’re shutting us down, Jennie! Can you fucking believe that?!”
“Miss, I need you to keep your voice down,” one of the officers says.
“Or what!?” she explodes. “What are you gonna do? Fucking arrest me?”
“We’ve had reports that you are operating without a valid business license,” he continues calmly. “And until we can verify things, we can’t allow you to serve customers.”
I can’t believe this. “No license?” I ask. “How—how could you possibly think that would be a thing? Black market massage? Is that even a thing?”