“After the end of the month, I will be shutting it down.”
“What?” They all shouted at once, except for Lyla, who could care less about the news. She said she was temporary, but after being here for a while, I thought that maybe she would change her mind. I guess not.
“How can you do this to us?” Pepper asked. “Where the hell are we supposed to go, Jett?”
“Are you going to kick us out?” Tootse asked with tears in her eyes. Francy gently wrapped her arms around Tootse and pulled her into a hug.
“Jett, are you serious?” Babs asked, looking almost mad.
These were the exact reactions I was expecting from the girls, and I’m glad I got them, because if they could care less about the club, then I would have felt like what I was doing for the past couple of years meant absolutely nothing.
“Ladies, you know I only have your best interest in mind, right?”
“I thought so,” Pepper said, while folding her arms across her chest. “But then you go and take away our jobs, so I’m a bit confused.”
“Pepper, I would never do anything that would hurt you; you know that. I’m only here to help you, so that’s why, when the community center at Lot 17 opens, I want you all to be a part of it.”
Confused looks faced me, as the girls tried to understand what I was telling them.
“I’m open about most things, but a strip club at a community center may be a little too eccentric,” Francy stated.
“I agree, that’s why you will be utilizing the education you’ve been earning the past few years to help out the community. I will pay you, and if you would still like to stay at the club, you are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you want. I want you ladies to use more than your bodies. I want you to use your brains, your hearts, and your souls. You are some of the most amazing women I’ve had the privilege of getting to know, and it would be my honor to have you working at the community center. We will have classes ranging from dance to cooking, to exercise. There’s a spot for all of you, and I’m open to whatever you would like to teach. Tootse, you could easily give sewing lessons. Francy, you could help with the day care, because I know how much you love children. Pepper, easily, you can run dance classes. There’s a spot for each of you.”
“What about Kace?” Babs asked, while nodding at him.
I turned to look at Kace and then smiled. “What else would he do? He’s already agreed to manage the center for me, as well as give boxing lessons.”
“Seriously?” Babs asked, excited for Kace. “Jett, that is so great.”
“So, I’m guessing you approve then?”
Babs looked around at the girls and I could see all of them smiling, confirming what I thought…they loved the idea.
“Does this mean we can wear normal clothes?” Babs asked.
Laughing, I nodded my head. “Yes, please wear normal clothes.”
“Well, just that would make it worth it,” Francy said, as she plucked at her shirt. “If I never have to see another dress shirt again, I would be a happy woman.”
“But, you look so hot in them, and you know how I love ripping the buttons off,” Tootse whined.
“Ah, I see. So your kinky sex is why I had to keep buying button up shirts for you two,” I asked, while shaking my head.
“What can I say? I know how to please my lady,” Francy shrugged her shoulders.
“Hey!” Tootse said. “I thought we were supposed to keep things between a lady and a lady.”
Francy patted Tootse’s bright blonde hair and said, “Babe, I didn’t say anything revealing.”
“Oh, okay. So as long as I don’t talk about how you like me to use my left hand on you…”
“Babe!”
“Are you ambidextrous?” Babs asked Tootse.
“When I’m knuckles deep, yes.”
“Jesus,” Kace muttered from behind me.
I checked my watch and noticed it was time for me to leave, and not just because I didn’t want to be late for my date with Goldie. I really didn’t want to hear about Tootse going knuckles deep.
I said my goodbyes and listened to the girls try to tease me one last time about my outfit before I left. I ignored them and popped into my Aston Martin, the car I used when I took Goldie out on her first date with me. I felt like being a little nostalgic, plus I knew how much she liked the car. Maybe, just maybe, I would let her drive it. That would be a very big maybe. Knowing her, she would be the worst driver ever.
Pulling up to Diego’s apartment made me even more nervous than ever, and not because of my date with Goldie, but because of the last time I talked to him. I was an abhorrent bastard, blaming him for my problems. Diego didn’t deserve that kind of treatment, and I owed him more than an apology. I just wasn’t sure whether he would accept it or not.
I parked my car in the back alleyway and headed up to the back entrance. The door was unlocked, so I let myself in. I called out, but no one came to the back, so I headed up the stairs to Goldie’s room, hoping she was ready to go.
As I approached her door, I could hear her talking, so I paused to make sure I didn’t walk in on a private moment. When I only heard her voice, I grew slightly confused, so I pushed forward to see what she was doing.
Her door was cracked just enough that I could see her standing in front of her mirror…talking to herself.
“Oh, this old thing? I just pulled it from the closet, but thank you, it really does accentuate my breasts, doesn’t it?” she leaned forward and showed off her cleavage. “Eat your heart out, Jett Colby,” she said in a deep voice, while shimmying at herself in the mirror. “What’s that? You want to take me in the port-a-potty? Why, Jett Colby, I thought you had more class than that, but if it’s a dream you’ve always had, then who am I to stop you from achieving your dreams? Just make sure you wash your hands afterwards. Who knows what happens in those things?”
She brushed her hair out of her face and then curtseyed with the bright green dress she was wearing, which was tight around her breasts and waist and then fell loosely at her hips. It was a gorgeous sundress for a gorgeous woman.
In a hoity voice, she held her hand out and said, “Why, I do believe we’ve met, Mrs. Havershire. Yes, I’m the woman who fucked Jett’s brains out at the event a while ago, yes, that’s right, you smelled my puss…”
“Mrs. Havershire?” I asked, before she could finish her sentence.
“Fucking hairy balls,” she shouted, as she backed up into the mirror at being startled. I quickly caught her before she fell over. “Why, why would you do that?” she asked, while she pulled herself away and tried to right her dress.
“Because I couldn’t help myself,” I answered with a grin. “What were you practicing?”
“Who knows who we will meet today? I wanted to make sure I was prepared.”
“By talking about when I banged you up against a wall at an event?”
“Yes,” she replied with her chin held high.
“Okay, I’ll make sure to introduce you to everyone as Goldie, the girl’s pussy you smelled…”
“Stop it,” she laughed, while covering her face, making her absolutely adorable. “Do not introduce me like that,” she warned.
“Or what?” I asked.
“Or I will make sure I embarrass you in the most horrid way possible.”
“You think you can embarrass me?”
With a big grin, she nodded and said, “Oh, I know I can embarrass you.”
“Why are you so confident?” I asked, while nudging her chin with my finger.
“Because, you’re Jett Colby, Mr. Social Standing. You have a façade you have to live up to. One mention of the wrong thing in front of the right person, and I’ll have your face turning bright red before you can unzip your pants and introduce everyone to the Douglas Fir you keep locked up in there.”
“Douglas Fir? Really? Not a Redwood?”
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her purse and asked, “Are you ready?”
&n
bsp; “Not quite. I bet you I can embarrass you more than you can embarrass me.”
She placed her hands on her hips and looked up at me with disbelief on her face. “You can’t be serious. You and I both know I could make Charlie Sheen blush with the things that come out of my mouth, let alone a little debutant like yourself.”
“Alright, game on,” I challenged her.
She paused for a second, while eyeing me carefully, and then said, “Fine, what are the stakes?”
“If I win, I get to come back here with you tonight.”
“No sex!” she said, while pointing her cute little finger at me.
“No sex, just…” I bit my lip for a second and said, “I just want to hold you.”
Her face relaxed as my words sank in.
“Ah, hell, that’s not fucking fair. You can’t say things like that.”
“And why not?” I asked.
“Because it makes me have all the feels, and I don’t want to feel for you right now. I still want to be mad at you.”
“Okay,” I laughed. “When are you going to stop being mad at me?”
“I’ll let you know,” she smirked. “Okay, if you win, we come back here, but if I win…I get to drive your car.”
I knew that was coming. I’d called it the moment I stepped inside the Aston. Even though my car was my baby, nothing was more important to me than Goldie. The bet was by far worth it, especially if I had a shot at staying with Goldie for the night.
“Deal,” I agreed, while I held out my hand to shake on it.
She shook my hand with a giant smile on her face.
“Oh, you are so going down, Mr. Colby.”
“Keep dreaming, Little One. I don’t lose.”
“We’ll see about that,” she said, as she brushed past me, leaving a trail of her intoxicating perfume behind her. Fuck, I needed to start thinking of embarrassing things to do to her, because hell if I was going to lose. Nope, I would be ending my night in her small room with the average-sized bed and with my Little One in my arms. There was no other choice for me.
25
“Shut Up and Dance”
Goldie
The drive from Diego’s apartment to Armstrong Park, where the festival was held, was a short five minute drive, but it felt like half an hour as I was trapped in the small confines of Jett’s Aston Martin, watching the muscles in his forearms flex as he shifted gears. Life was so unfair. When did a guy’s forearms become the sexiest part of their bodies? Well, one of the sexiest parts of their bodies, next to the cock, abs, and dick divots.
“Did you just say dick divots?” Jett asked, as he parallel parked into a spot on St. Phillip Street.
Did I really say dick divots out loud? Was I talking out loud that entire time?
“Um, what are you talking about?” I asked, trying to pass it off.
He cut the engine and turned toward me, swinging his arm to the back of my seat, making him that much closer. “You were mumbling to yourself and the only thing I caught was at the end, you said dick divots.”
“Huh, imagine that,” I smiled, as I tried to get out of the car, but of course the infuriating man stopped me.
“Goldie, please explain to me what dick divots are.”
“You’re annoying, you know that? Can’t you ever let something go?”
“No,” he smiled brightly.
Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “Dick divots are those little things that point to your dick, turning every honest woman into an idiot as they direct their gaze down a path past your waistline and straight to your…redwood. You know…the v-cut,” I said, while pointing to his side.
“Not sure what you’re referring to. Can you show me? Need me to lift my shirt?”
“No!” I practically yelped, not wanting to see one bit of Jett’s body. It was bad enough the man wore his sleeves rolled up and the top few buttons of his shirt undone, showing off his perfectly bare and tight chest.
Fuck, he was a walking god. All bronze-like with his designer clothes that were simple but looked so damn good on him, like he was a walking Ralph Lauren catalogue.
“Come on, Little One,” he winked, as he got out of the car and came to my side to open the door for me, always the gentleman.
Helping me out of the car, he grabbed my hand and shut the door, just as a man walked up to us for Jett to toss him the keys, once again the guardian of the car, just like our first ever date. Some things never changed.
The entire walk into the festival, Jett held onto my hand tightly, making my heart beat rapidly in my chest. It was just a little hand holding, but it was who the hand was attached to that had my tongue hanging out of my mouth like a cat in heat.
“Have you ever been to the festival before?” Jett asked, as he led us through the crowd with ease.
“No, surprisingly I’ve never been.”
“That is surprising, given your infatuation with the classic dish.” I gave him a sideways look which made him laugh. “Chef told me how much Gumbo you used to eat at the club; I made sure he cooked it once a week.”
“So, you’re the reason I had to work my ass off in the gym every week?”
“You didn’t have to work anything off,” he smiled while squeezing my hand.
Charming, just too fucking charming. I could feel myself slowly slip into the Jett Colby world he was sucking me into. Not good, it was only the first ten minutes of our date and I was already losing it. Time to start thinking about my game plan on how to win the bet we made so I could get my hands on his perfect little car. All I had to do was act inappropriate in front of the right people, and I was good as golden.
Music from the brass band filled the air, as festival-goers walked about with their hands full of gumbo bowls. The smell of the spicy and favorable dish hit me hard as we walked deeper into the festivities. My stomach growled at me, practically begging me to feed it. I patted my stomach and secretly told it to be patient; good things were coming its way shortly.
“Over here,” Jett directed, as he led me to a tented off area where people milled around giant cooking vessels.
The cook-off.
Best date ever! Shoving my face full of food and having no shame while doing so was one of the best date ideas I could ever conjure up. The man knew me all too well.
“Jett Colby,” a deep voice spoke out as we passed through a tent opening.
The mayor walked up to us while holding out his hand to Jett. The mayor of New Orleans, what a perfect subject for Mission Embarrass Jett. It was almost too easy.
“Mayor Rupert, what a pleasure to see you. Are you judging the contest today as well?”
“That I am,” the mayor said, as he patted his stomach. “And, may I ask who this lovely lady is who seems to be attached to you?”
“How rude of me,” Jett said in an apologetic voice. “Mayor Rupert, this is Goldie, my girlfriend.”
Girlfriend? How easily the man forgot about our relationship status, but I would let it slide because the damn title sounded so good to me. Bested again by the conceited man.
“Goldie, I’m very delighted to meet you,” Mayor Rupert said, while taking my hand in his.
“It’s a pleasure,” I responded, as I looked up at Jett, gearing up for my embarrassing moment.
“Will you be judging the contest as well?” the mayor asked me.
“I will be. Gumbo is my all-time favorite dish, so I can’t wait to sit back, shove my face full, and belch out the winner, am I right?” I asked, as I nudged the mayor in the stomach, showing less class than expected from me.
The mayor chuckled and Jett just smiled, not affected one bit. Hmm, this was going to be harder than I thought.
“I’m right there with you,” the mayor said. “Gumbo is a New Orleans staple. I’m always fascinated to see how different chefs try to reinvent the classic dish.”
“Me too. I eat gumbo like a son of a bitch eating out a lady for the first time. Although, seafood gumbo isn’t my favorite, I pr
efer chicken sausage. Any sausage really, isn’t that right, Jett?”
The mayor pulled on his ear a bit to make sure he was hearing me correctly, as Jett stood there with a stoic smile and his eyes beaming with pride, as if I was the most majestic woman he had ever met.
Mother fucker.
Clearing his throat and pulling on his collar, the mayor totally fake laughed at me and said, “What an interesting description.”
“Given the fact that you have a gorgeous blonde that sleeps next to you, I would guarantee you prefer seafood gumbo over the old saw-seege,” I said, while wiggling my eyebrows, embarrassing the mayor more than anything.
A small trickle of sweat from the awkward moment I put myself in started to gather at the base of my back, and I ignored the fact that my plan was backfiring tremendously, and I was the one who was about to be embarrassed in a few seconds.
Jett, on the other hand, was just smiling widely, proud as could be. Bastard!
“Um, yes, I do appreciate seafood,” the mayor said uncomfortably, his face bright red. Oh, Jesus, this was not going the way I wanted. “It’s a shame this is a vegan gumbo cook off.”
“A what?” I practically shouted as I looked up at Jett. “A vegan cook off?”
Jett snapped his finger and said, “Oh, did I not tell you? Yes, it’s a vegan cook off, but don’t worry, sweetheart, I packed an extra pair of clothes for you in the trunk.” Sweetheart? What was he up to? He looked up at the mayor and put his arm around my shoulder as he said, “You see, my girlfriend has a bit of an…irritable bowel, so if she eats too many soy products her bowel flares up and she has a bit of a sharting problem. You know, a shit and fart come out together, but it’s okay, I’ve got back-up underwear in the car at all the times. It’s like her own personal diaper bag. Isn’t that right, Goldie?” Jett asked, as he tugged on my shoulder and smiled down at me.
My mouth hung open as I tried to figure out what the hell to say. To say I was mortified was an understatement. Point Jett.
The mayor nervously laughed and then turned in the other direction without a word, leaving Jett and me alone.