Stuffed Page 9

  She turns her head away from her computer screen to finally look my way. It’s the first time she’s bothered to look at me since another woman led me into her pristine office. This place is nothing like I thought it was going to be. I’d swear I was in a law office and not a place for call girls and strippers.

  Her large red-rimmed glasses sit on the edge of her nose. She looks like a naughty teacher ready to give out a spanking, and I swallow hard because I’m definitely not looking for one.

  “I want the job,” I rush to say as I wet my lips.

  I can’t remember the last time I was naked in front of another person and I thought we’d build up to it. Looks like I was wrong. I slowly get up from the chair and pull my dress over my head. I clench it in my hand, telling myself over and over not to cover my body with my hands. Her eyes go from me then to the papers on her desk. Her eyes scan the document as they scanned me—with precision and no emotion.

  “Cheerleader?” Her lips twitch.

  “Yeah.” The application asked for dance experience. I left out that it was for the elementary school football team in my small town. She leans back in her chair and her eyes roam over me again. The urge to bring my dress to my chest to cover myself so strong I have to fight my twitching muscles.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? You can’t even take the rest of your clothes off.” She motions towards my bra and panties.

  “I can.” I put my dress in the chair behind me and begin to unclasp my bra.

  “Put your dress back on.” She lets out a long sigh.

  I realize I’m not getting the job and I start to panic. I’m desperate.

  “I can do this, I swear,” I hurry to say. Gah. I’ve messed this up and I need it so bad right now. What is wrong with me? Of course I have to take my clothes off for this.

  Fear swamps me and I think for the thousandth time, how did I get here? Then it’s followed quickly by the memory of my brother once again getting himself in too deep.

  “I’ve seen enough. This might actually work.”

  I’m shocked as I quickly put my clothes on and instantly feel better. Please, I silently beg.

  “The shy innocent thing sells.” She scribbles something down on the paper. “I have a bachelor party tonight. You only have to strip for him and the panties stay on.” She grabs another piece of paper and starts to write more. “I’m giving you a chance, so don’t screw it up. I’ll send a driver for you and you’ll have a bodyguard.” She reaches out, handing me the paper. I take it from her hand with shaky fingers. “Light makeup and play the innocent thing up.”

  That won’t be too hard since there’s no playing.

  “Thank you. I really need this.” I swallow hard as I clutch the paper to my chest.

  “Word of advice. Never let anyone know how desperate you are.” I nod. “The name Bambi fits you. I like it.”

  I realize she thinks it’s a fake name and I feel so dumb. I guess I should’ve given her one, but it’s too late now.

  “Is there anything else you need from me?” This is all happening fast. Shouldn't there be paperwork and something I need to give them? She didn't ask me for my ID or anything. I know all this is legal in Vegas, but for some reason this doesn't feel above board. I guess what I need money for isn’t exactly legal either. My brother is in deep with a loan shark and is running out of time.

  “Don’t fuck this up. You only have to dance for one person, so it’s a good way to test the waters.” I look down at the paper and my eyes almost pop out of my head when I see how much I’ll be getting paid.

  “I don’t sleep with him, right?” I blurt out, because why else would I be getting paid so much?

  “Not this one.”

  “I can only dance. I don’t think I can do other things.” There’s no way I could sleep with a stranger. I have to draw a line somewhere and I’m already way out of my element.

  “That’s what everyone says until more money starts rolling in.” I shake my head. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We’ll see if you still have a job come tomorrow. Then we’ll worry about the other details.”

  “Thank you,” I say again, tucking the paper into my purse.

  “There is more where that came from,” she calls after me as I walk out of her office.

  I make it outside the building before I’m pulling the paper back out to read over everything she’d written down. Two thousand dollars for a private lap dance. That’s nothing compared to the ten dollars an hour I make at the movie theater. And this is only an hour of work.

  “Bam,” my stepbrother calls, and I turn around. He’s in a different car than the one he dropped me off in. “You good?”

  Am I good? No. He got me into this mess and I’m nowhere close to good.

  “Whose car is this?” I ask, walking over to it.

  “Get in,” he orders without answering my question.

  “Is it stolen?”

  “Get in the fucking car. Jesus.” I do as he says, not wanting to have a fight with him in the street. “You get the job or not?” He cuts right to the chase as his hands clench the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turn white.

  “Yes.”

  “I knew you would.” He pulls out of the parking lot and looks pissed, but this was his idea to begin with. He needed quick cash, and this would get us that. “When do you start? The sooner the better.” How do I always let him get me into these messes?

  Probably because I owe him. If it wasn't for Jero, I would have been on the streets or in the system a long time ago.

  “Tonight.”

  He glances over at me and tugs the end of my long braided ponytail. “We have some work to do then. I promise this won’t happen again.”

  It’s his mess, but I’m the one stuck cleaning it up. Maybe it’s mine too because he makes me feel that way when he brings it to our front door. He said he had to get the loans because he was on a hot streak at the casino, but of course he lost it all. Bills needed to be paid to keep a roof over our head and my current job is a drop in the bucket.

  “I’ll walk a straight line after this, Bam, I swear. We just need to get the five grand and I’m done.”

  I’m not sure if he’s trying to reassure me or himself, but for once I actually don’t believe him.

  * * *

  Filled… coming September 18th!

  THICK

  by Alexa Riley

  Teeny has just moved into a brand new place and curiosity has gotten the better of her. When she meets her new neighbor she’s not prepared for how big or how hot he is. The gentle giant has her fantasies running wild and she’s learning what it means to love thy neighbor.

  Bull has always been the biggest in the room and it’s annoying. He’s a former security guard who now does online consulting to stay away from the stares. But when his young little neighbor wants to make friends he can’t help himself. He’s tearing down all his walls and breaking the rules just to have a shot at what he never thought was possible.

  Warning: Will Bull be too big to make Teeny his? Will it somehow work anyway? You betcha! Find out what happens when this bull meets his china shop…because it’s wild!

  Chapter 1

  Teeny

  “Can you put that on there?” I point to where I want the next batch of boxes to go before I trip right into one and almost fall over it.

  My phone slips out of my hand and goes flying into the air. One of the movers grabs me by my shirt right before I face plant onto the ground for the second time this afternoon.

  “Jesus, kid,” the guy says as he gives my shirt a good yank and puts me back on my feet.

  “Thanks,” I tell the older man, who looks like my great uncle John on my dad’s side.

  His name tag reads Paul and tells me he’s the owner. He lets go of my shirt when he sees I’ve got my feet back under me.

  “Thank me by parking yourself in a chair until we’re done here.” He points to my daybed that’s set up in the living room. It can work as b
oth a bed and sofa since the one bedroom I have is going to be my office. I don’t need a lot of space, but somehow I have a lot of things. Maybe I should have let some stuff go. It doesn’t help matters that my parents are downsizing and let me have my pick of a lot of stuff before they move.

  “I can help,” I try again but catch my foot on one of the boxes. It tips over and one of the movers grabs it before it hits him in the head. I cringe and my face heats. I almost nailed the guy right in the face. “Sorry.”

  “What’s in that box, air?” Paul laughs from beside me.

  “Stuffed animals.” I say and sigh.

  “You’re eighteen, right?” Paul looks me up and down. “Never thought to ask someone’s age before I moved them.” His eyebrows pull together and worry etches his face.

  “Yes, I’m eighteen.” I roll my eyes. I get that a lot. I’m small and my cheeks are round. Those two things together and people always think I’m younger than I am.

  “They’re not my stuffed animals.” I know having boxes of stuffed animals doesn’t help with the age thing.

  “You stole them?” Paul gives me a teasing smile.

  “No.” I scrunch my nose. “They’re mine for work,” I hurriedly add.

  “For work?” Now he doesn’t fight the laugh trying to escape when he teases me about having them, and a few of the other guys join in.

  “Yes for work. See? It says ‘office’ on it.” I point to the words scrawled on the box in pink marker. I know they’ll want to know what I do for a living next, but I don’t offer to tell them.

  “Glad we cleared that up.” Paul shakes his head when he sees I’m not going to give them any more information. “How about you sit.” He motions towards the daybed again.

  I don’t want to sit, I want to unpack. I’m too excited to be still right now. I’ve never had a place all to myself. It’s scary but I don’t care. I’m ready for this.

  “I don’t need a lawsuit because you hurt yourself.” This time Paul’s tone is serious and he’s not really asking.

  “Fine.” I walk over to the daybed and sit down. I know I’m clumsy.

  I get it, I just don’t care anymore. If it were up to me, of course, I wouldn’t be clumsy, but I’ve learned to accept it for what it is. I can’t sit in one spot for the rest of my life. I kick off my shoes and tuck my feet under me. I’ll stay out of their way because they’re just trying to do their jobs. I don’t need to add to the chaos of three men in my tiny apartment. With my luck I’d end up flattened.

  They all go back to working since they’re almost finished. I sit and watch and try to direct from my seat. There’s really no point because my place is so small they might as well put everything in one big pile.

  After a few minutes I give up because they’re not really listening to me. It’s another problem with being small and people taking me for a kid. You can go unnoticed even when you’re talking to someone, which is more annoying than being clumsy.

  “Fine,” I mumble as I pick up my phone to play with.

  My laptop is on the other side of the room, but Paul can cut me a look better than my dad. They’re almost done anyway, so I’ll wait.

  I pull up my emails and see if I’ve gotten anything new in the last few hours. I’m ahead on my work projects so I have some wiggle room. I’m debating on letting them know to toss a few more my way, but I’m not sure how my move will go or what I’ll be doing now that I live in the city. At least I’m calling it the city. Mom corrects me every time that it’s more of a suburb, but compared to where we live this is the city if you ask me.

  As if she knows I’m thinking of her, my phone rings.

  “Hey Mom,” I answer.

  “How’s it going, sweetheart?” I can hear a touch of annoyance in her voice and it’s clear she still isn’t happy with me about this.

  I planned my move on the same day they were set to take off on their trip. They’re going on a year-long cruise around the world where they end up back in Florida where they plan to live. With my move the same day it’s physically impossible for them to be in both locations at the same time.

  “Great.” I chirp, pretending not to see Paul watching me. “The movers are almost done and I can start unpacking.”

  “That’s good. I wish we could have helped.” She sighs into the phone. She wishes she would have hovered. It would have been sweet but annoying.

  “Mom, I’ve got this. You’ve already helped enough.”

  I was a late-in-life surprise for my parents. They’d always planned to retire early, so I knew when I turned eighteen and graduated it was off to college or move to Florida with them.

  I chose neither and instead moved to the city not far from our small town. Maybe I could go to college; it’s still an option. But living out in the middle of nowhere, I’d gotten a jumpstart on my passion and it took off when I’d only been fifteen. The Love Toy Company was surprised by my age when they signed me up but they still took a chance on me anyway.

  At this point I’m riding the wave, but maybe I should look into college. I could go for something like business maybe? Right now I don't want to think about that. I’m enjoying my first taste of being on my own. Even if I don't look old enough to be doing it, I’m doing it anyway.

  My parents are older and they should be out seeing the world. They’ve done right by me and I want them to enjoy this time. I don’t want them to be worrying about everything I’m doing. I might be clumsy, but I think I can take care of myself. I bounce back better than most and I can handle this.

  “I know, but I want to see what your place looks like when it’s all done.”

  I laugh because I’m sure she can picture it already. She helped me find this apartment and we packed up my childhood home together. Their stuff went into storage and mine was boxed and tagged for the movers, who came the day after they flew out.

  “I’ll send lots of pictures.”

  “I know, but don’t photoshop me into them!” She uses her mom tone on me and I laugh.

  “But it will be like you’re here with me,” I say.

  “You pick the worst pictures.” I laugh harder when I hear my dad in the background laughing with me. A second later I hear a loud horn.

  “We’re setting sail, honey,” I hear my dad say to Mom.

  “I’ll email them.” I know they won’t have the best service out at sea. Mom has told me this five million times since she realized I wasn't actually going to move down to Florida and stay at the new place.

  “You be careful,” she adds. “Don’t get too worked up.”

  “I’m not.” It’s not a lie because I’m not worked up right now.

  I’m sitting on my sofa bed not moving. Mom says I only get clumsy when I get worked up. What she really means is when I get excited, and I get excited easily. I can’t help it. My parents didn't try and keep me in a cage when I was growing up, but living so far from everything, I didn't get to see much unless we were traveling. Now there’s excitement at every turn here.

  “I love you,” I hear Dad say.

  “Love you both,” I tell them before ending the call.

  When I look up I see Paul standing by the door writing on a clipboard.

  “All done?” I ask as I stand up and make sure to walk carefully to the door so I don’t fall again. I take the clipboard and sign where he points. “Thanks,” I say as he leaves with his guys and I close my door.

  I’m finally all alone in my new place and I turn around to take it all in. When I do, I catch sight of one of the movers’ hats sitting on top of a box. I grab it and open my door to call for Paul. I remember a second later I forgot my phone and I promised my mom I wouldn’t step outside my place without it. Quickly I turn to grab it and run right into my closed front door.

  “Ouch!” I yelp when as I rub my head. “Of course,” I mumble to myself as I reach for the knob.

  I pause when I hear something behind me and turn around to look to the door across from mine. Am I supposed to introduce mys
elf to the neighbor, or are they supposed to introduce themselves to me? Maybe you wait until you run into each other?

  “Oh, you found it.” I see one of the movers making his way back towards me with his hand held out for his hat.

  “Yeah, it was on top of one of the boxes,” I say, handing it to him. He glances at my forehead and fights a laugh.

  “Thanks.” He walks away and I hear him laugh as he goes.

  I look back at the door across from mine and something pulls my attention to it. I stand there for a long moment with the urge to knock.

  So I do.

  * * *

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