Black Dog Nights (Book One)
by Ren Monterrey
My student loans are due and I still haven’t found a job that pays more than minimum wage. So I decide to make an arrangement through The Club. I’ll get what I need…money to pay my loans. And he’ll get what he wants…access to my body…whenever and however he wants it.
JAE ROTHKO is a wealthy and renowned artist who doesn’t have the time or patience for a relationship.
Jae joins The Club so he can have one woman when he wants and how he wants with no attachments and no expectations. He selects Rose to be that woman.
By the time we get to The Rock Stop
it’s already crowded with twenty-somethings, who all look eager to hook up with
anyone who’s willing.
I pass by two guys, who are already
half-drunk and gawking at my breasts, before I hit the relative safety of the
bar area.
“What do you want to drink?” Cali
yells over the loud Top Forty music.
“Would I look too conspicuous just
holding a glass of water?”
Cali purses her lips at me. I tell her
she looks like a duck when she does that but it doesn’t stop her.
“I’ll get you a beer. You don’t have
to drink it but I don’t want you to embarrass me or yourself.”
“Yes, Daffy,” I tease.
“I do not have duck lips,” she
insists.
“You do when you pucker them like
that.”
“I think you’re on crack.”
“Just get the beer.”
She waves in order to get the
bartender’s attention but no such luck. He’s busy with a group of girls at the
other end of the bar.
“Hey, Babe.” An arm reaches over
Cali’s shoulder. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you tonight.”
David nods in my direction. “What’s
up?”
He never addresses me by my name even
though he’s been hooking up with Cali for over a year and I’ve seen him dozens
of times.
David is the kind of guy I always
hated in high school. His family has money and he’s never had to work a day in
his life for anything. Cars, clothes, expensive vacations, you name it, and his
parents have handed it to him on a silver platter. As a result he has a sense
of entitlement that knows no bounds.
No doubt that’s why he feels like he
can treat Cali any way he pleases and she just keeps coming back for more.
He runs his fingers through his short
brown hair. I’m not sure whether it’s a nervous habit or if he thinks that his
fingers are like some kind of comb but he does it all the time.
David is a good-looking guy in a
frat-boy kind of way. Cali says he played baseball in high school and he looks
like he probably still plays sports. He’s not huge but he’s definitely in good
shape.
Cali met David at a frat party. Even
though she’s never set foot in a college class she’s spent a lot of time at
college parties. David likes to brag about the fact that he’s a business major.
I don’t see what the big deal is though. I feel like business is a degree for
people who don’t really know what they want to do with their lives.
Not that I have any room to talk.
Apparently I earned a degree for people who don’t really want a job.
Before I know it, Cali and David have
disappeared somewhere and I’m alone at the bar.
Great.
I didn’t even want to come here in the
first place.
I have a choice. I can leave or I can
order a drink. After the day I’ve had a drink is actually starting to sound
appealing.
As soon as the DJ starts mixing,
nearly everyone moves to the dance floor. The bar area is now pretty empty
except for a young woman seated at the far end. She glances up at me when I
approach and gives me the faintest of smiles.
She’s an attractive blonde with
stunning ocean blue eyes. She’s the definition of a blonde bombshell. She’s got
curves that would give Marilyn Monroe a run for her money.
I order a Crantini and the bartender
wastes no time filling my order.
“Tough day?” the blonde asks.
I nod.
“Have a seat.” She waves to the stool
next to her.
“Thanks.”
I climb onto the stool and take a sip
of my drink. It’s strong and I cough a little as it goes down.
“Russ likes to make them strong.” She
laughs. “Maybe he thinks he’ll get lucky at the end of the night.”
The bartender looks like he’s in his
mid-thirties and kind of rough. He’s completely bald and built like a brick
house. Definitely someone I would want to have on my side if a fight broke out.
“Are you waiting for someone?” I ask.
She looks a little too dressed up for the place we’re in. It’s mostly a denim
crowd and she’s in a little black dress and pumps.
“You could say that.”
I nod. A cryptic response but I get
the impression that she’s not going to say much more about who she’s waiting
for.
“So what’s your story?” she asks.
I laugh. “Do I look like I have a
story?”
“You definitely look like you have a
story.”
“You’ve probably heard it millions
times before.”
She glances at her watch. I can’t help
but notice it’s a gorgeous Rolex. The blonde doesn’t look that much older than
me. I doubt she’s even twenty-five. It makes me wonder how she can afford such
an expensive watch. When I look at her more closely, I notice she’s also
wearing a diamond tennis bracelet and huge diamond stud earrings. Also very
expensive.
Maybe she’s like David and has a
generous daddy with lots of money.
“I’ve got a few minutes before my
friend gets here. Tell me this story I’ve heard a million times before.”
I take another sip of my drink. She’s
right. Russ does like to make them strong.
“I recently graduated from art school.
I have a fine arts degree but no professional job and no prospects. My student
loans are set to go into repayment and I have no way to pay them. I’m barely
making ends meet on my salary busting my ass at the local coffee shop. Pathetic,
right?”
She shakes her head. “It’s not
pathetic but you’re right. It’s a story I’ve heard a lot. Maybe not a million
times. Half a million tops.”
We both laugh. It feels good to laugh
about it. At least for one night.
She reaches into her purse, a pricey
Coach bag, and pulls out a business card. I expect her to hand it to me but she
places it on the bar between us instead.
“I don’t do this very often but I feel
bad for you so I’m making an exception.” She points to the card. “You can pick
it up if you want to, after I tell you what it’s about. Or you can leave it on
the bar. It’s completely up to you.”
My curiosity is definitely piqued.
When I glance down at the card I notice it only has two words: The Club followed by a phone number.
“What’s The Club?”
“It’s a kind of dating service.”
I frown. “Do I look like need a date?”
“No, but you said you need money. This
is a special kind of dating service for extremely wealthy men.”
I assume that’s how she got her Rolex
and other jewelry but I don’t want to be rude. “Are you saying it’s kind of
like having a sugar daddy?”
She laughs. “That’s kind of an
antiquated term but sort of. Most of the men in The Club are older and they
have very specific tastes. Most of them want younger women but more
importantly, they want women who will be there whenever and however they want.”
I gulp. Then I whisper. “Are you
talking about prostitution?”
She gives me a little smile.
“Prostitution implies that you’re with multiple men and they’re paying you for
sex. It’s not like that. It’s more like you’re being paid to be one man’s
mistress.”
“Are they married?”
She laughs. “Some are. Some aren’t.Does it matter?”
“I think it would to me.”
“Why?”
It’s a good question. I’m not married.
He’d be the one doing the cheating.
“Do you mind if I ask how much money
you’re talking about?”
“That’s negotiable between you and the
man who selects you. It’s called an arrangement. You can negotiate any sort of
arrangement you want.”
“Could you give me a ballpark figure?”
“Usually between three and five
thousand a month.”
My eyes grow wide at the thought of
that kind of money. My ten dollars an hour at the coffee shop, even with
overtime and tips, doesn’t even come close to that.
“And that doesn’t include all of the
perks. A lot of the men like to provide their girlfriends with generous gifts
in addition to their arrangement.”
“You said a lot of the guys are older.
How old?”
An image of a geriatric using a walker
crosses my mind. I’m not sure I’d be able to have sex with someone that old, if
he could still even have sex.
“The guy I have an arrangement with is
fifty-four.”
That’s ten years older than my dad. I
can feel my stomach start to knot. Am I really considering getting involved
with some kind of club and being paid to have sex with a guy who could be older
than my father?
The blonde leans in close. “Don’t let
his age fool you. He can still perform in bed. And I only have to see him two
days a week for a few hours. And my arrangement is non-exclusive. He doesn’t
mind if I date other guys.”
“I don’t really date that much,” I
confess.
“That’s even better. There are a lot
of guys who want exclusive arrangements. Not as many girls go in for that.”
I stare at the business card for a few
seconds. Is this something I’m actually considering? I’m just not sure. There’s
no doubt that I need the money but I’m not sure about having sex with someone I
don’t even know…for money.
“It’s really not that bad,” she
insists. “I wasn’t sure at first either but you get used to it. And Alex can be
a really sweet guy.”
She makes a point of pushing the
business card a little closer to me. “At least meet with Claudia. You can
always back out if a guy selects you and you don’t like him.”
I pass my hand over the card and
hesitate for a moment. I feel like this is a pivotal moment. Like my whole life
could change just by picking up the card.
I take in a deep breath then grab the
card from the bar. Now that it’s actually in my hand I feel like calling the
phone number is inevitable.
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REN MONTERREY lives in a small town outside Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and their bloodhounds. She writes New Adult and Contemporary romance under a number of different pen names.
Connect with REN:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RenMonterrey
Blog: http://karenmuellerbryson.tumblr.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenmbryson
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