“An Energizer Bunny? Oh shit! You did not.”
“You’re going to complain that other women know that you keep on going?”
“Okay, fine, just don’t share anything more intimate than that.”
“Define more intimate.”
“Oh, f**k!”
“Would that include the information that the Harvard endowment is very large?”
“The Har … Oh Jesus! Gabrielle!”
“I didn’t think guys would really mind women knowing that. I mean isn’t that, like, a source of pride?”
“Yeah, when you’re twelve! Honey, the size of my dick is nobody’s business but yours. How about from now on we both try to be a little more discreet, okay? If you do let anything else slip, though, don’t tell me about it. There’s some shit that I just don’t want to know.”
“Okay, it’s a deal. So what’s the plan, Harvard?”
“Well, this is supposed to be a date, but Adam, Mark, Cameron and Drew are on their way here now and we were just talking about cabbing it because we’ve all been drinking. Drew’s crashing with Cameron, so he’s at his place.”
“Why is he crashing with Cameron instead of with you?”
“Cameron has an extra bedroom so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch. Besides, I want to get really freaky and mildly kinky with you tonight and I have a feeling you may have a hard time being quiet.”
“Oh! I see.” That tickly feeling? Yeah, it was way beyond tickly now.
“Anyway, I got us on the list. How about if you three share a cab and we’ll meet you there in the VIP lounge lobby at about ten?”
“Sounds like a good plan. See you later sudsy guy.”
“Bye. Too much information, girl.” He laughed and hung up.
I went over to the mirror to check myself out one last time. I looked sexy without looking sleazy. Exactly what I had been going for. My long brown hair looked a little tousled and Jess and Lily had done a fabulous job helping me do my makeup. They had used smoky colors to compliment my hazel eyes and a deep rich color on my lips. I had decided to go without stockings and I rubbed lotion onto my legs and slipped on my black heels.
“Who else is going again?” Lily asked suspiciously as soon as I came back into Jess’s room. She must have overheard me mentioning Adam to Braden. The walls in that place were so thin. I went over to sit down on the bed and take my turn at adoring Bruno.
“Braden’s younger brother Drew, Cameron, Mark from our office, and Adam.”
“Oh Christ!” Lily said, making a face. “Why didn’t you warn me?” She came over and sat down beside me with a thud, looking like I had just told her she would have to take the bar exam again.
“He’ll also be there this weekend too,” I admitted and she took on a pained expression and stared at the ceiling. “But I warned him to behave! What is the problem between you two anyway?” I put Bruno on her lap. Nobody could stay upset when faced with that much cuteness.
“He thinks I’m an uptight bitch,” she answered with a distinctly unhappy look on her face. Could it really be that bad? Bruno nuzzled her hand and she petted him … and smiled. See, I told you.
“Uptight?” Jess asked, turning around to look at us. “You write raunchy books.”
“He doesn’t know about those. He sees me as a mousy librarian who writes thrillers to make her boring life seem more exciting.” Lily looked very annoyed by that. I wondered why his opinion mattered so much to her.
“Well, you look like one of your sexy book heroines tonight,” I said with a smile.
Actually, in the past year, Lily had really blossomed. She had always been attractive, but now she just exuded a new sense of confidence that made her seem very sexy. I wondered if it had anything to do with her parents moving away, and I was also curious to see if Adam would notice the difference in her.
The cab pulled up to a big, plain, industrial-looking building. There was no outside line like at other clubs but there was a sign pointing toward the back. We went through a pair of heavy steel doors and immediately saw that everything was hidden behind the facade of what looked like an old abandoned factory.
We followed along a winding hallway with bare brick walls. Videos were being projected in various places — newsreels with reports about Elvis sightings, Lone Gunmen, and aliens. There were framed editions of papers like News of the World and the National Enquirer hung on the walls and various Masonic symbols and hieroglyphics painted or scrawled here and there as well. This joint was really well done. We approached two large men dressed all in black of course. (Men in Black? Get it?) They had ear pieces in and held clipboards. I gave them our names and they directed us to what looked like an elevator from a sci-fi movie to our left. Apparently the VIP area was on the second floor.
When the doors slid open again with a whoosh, I saw people mingling about, a bank of TVs on a wall, all showing UFO footage, and another set of doors straight ahead just beyond a sign for restrooms. Jess said that she had to make a pit stop and Lily decided to go with her. I told them that I would go in and let the guys know we were here. I let another set of men in black have my name and they directed me through the doors. I walked down a hallway that turned around a bend. Up ahead I could see a large room with several sofas and low tables scattered around. The bare brick walls were lit only by the ominous glow of recessed green neon lights but I could still make out the details of the room and what was going on inside. I figured that this must be the VIP lounge lobby.
There were arches on the left and on the right that looked like they led into the actual VIP lounge and club area. Like everywhere else in the building so far, the décor was industrial with a sort of Metropolis feel. There were people sitting on the sofas and others standing in groups chatting, including our gang of guys.
I paused to take it all in. Leaning against a wall, tall, blonde and beautiful, Braden stood in the middle, wearing a white linen shirt rolled up at the sleeves, and a pair of tan pants. Adam, with his dark hair and eyes looked sexy dressed all in black. As usual Mark looked funky, dressed in a black jacket over a white T-shirt. And then there was Cam, stylish as always, in what looked to me like Armani. Drew looked just like a younger version of Braden, but I saw that he had his own style – a horizontally striped baby blue and white shirt that showed off his blonde good looks in a summer beach boy way. There was something for everyone.