Chapter One
"If I have to screw one more virgin, I swear I'm going to become celibate for the rest of my life."
"You're a paid escort. How are you going to do that?" Liana shook her head at her friend and roommate, Crystal. "And what do you mean, screwing virgins? How many actual virgins have you had sex with on the job?"
Crystal shrugged, tugged at the corner of her left eye, and applied thick black eyeliner to it. She watched Liana with her other eye from the reflection in the mirror. "Way too many to count, I have to admit. You wouldn't believe how many men hire escort services, wanting to rid themselves of their virginity."
"Are there any young guys?" Liana hopped onto the bathroom counter. She didn't need to declare celibacy--celibacy had declared her long ago. She had never thought she would ever admit it, but she envied Crystal her job. A job Crystal hated, but the money was good, and it paid her college expenses. She also had sex on a frequent basis. Albeit, paid sex with men she didn't know, but the idea still held some appeal to Liana. Just the tiniest little bit.
"If you're talking teenagers, no. You wouldn't believe how many middle-aged men are still virgins." Crystal moved the eyeliner pencil to her other eye. "I've even had a few in their late twenties. And all of them were terrible."
"What do you mean, terrible?" Liana would give anything just to be held close against a warm male body, however temporary it may be. To feel a man's hands on her, his mouth, to have him slide deep inside her, to move within her. No matter how inept he might be, anything would be better than being by herself. By herself and accompanied by the few nondescript sex toys she kept nestled in her bedside table. Boring, boring, boring.
"Awkward, sloppy kissers. They don't know where to touch me and are too embarrassed to look me in the eye. Then when they finally make it inside, it's over in seconds. They always shoot their wad way too early." Crystal threw the eyeliner into her makeup bag and pulled out her mascara. "I think I'm going to try and back out of it."
"What time are you meeting this guy?"
"Eight o'clock, at the Wiltshire. Swanky, huh?" Crystal applied her mascara with a heavy hand. "I'm going to call right now and tell them I'm sick or something. Let someone else deal with the virgin. I wanna go clubbing, pick up a real man, someone who knows what he's doing. Care to join me?"
"I'll take care of your virgin." Liana couldn't believe the words even left her mouth. Pretend to be a hooker and help a tense virgin relieve himself of his unwanted status? Was she crazy?
Yes. Crazy for sex, any way she could get it.
Crystal turned to face her. "Are you serious? You've never done anything like that before in your life!"
"I've certainly had sex before, although it's been a while--but like a virgin would notice." Liana swung her legs back and forth as they dangled off the countertop. "How hard can it be? Not that I'm knocking your profession or anything--"
"Are you for real?" Crystal stared hard at Liana, her bright red mouth hanging wide open. "You want to pretend to be an escort and de-virginize some guy who's probably terrible in bed. Why?"
"Because I'm bored?" Liana's cheeks burned. Could this be any more embarrassing? "Because it's been too long since I've had sex?" Because I'm not in the mood for a relationship, and this is the perfect way to satisfy my distracting itch, at least temporarily. Maybe I have completely lost my mind.
"Are you hard up for money, Liana? Is that why you're doing it? I could talk to Mary, see if she has any openings--"
"Oh, my gosh, no. I don't want to do this as a real job. No offense." Crystal smiled at her, and Liana continued, "I'm just looking to get laid, I guess."
"By a virgin? Trust me, it's no picnic."
"It might not be so bad." Liana shrugged and hopped off the counter. "It could be fun to teach him a few tricks."
"Listen, they're usually so nervous they can't focus, and this guy certainly won't be up to learning any new tricks. More like touch, touch, grope, grope, stick it in, done." Crystal exited the bathroom and headed toward her bedroom, and Liana followed her.
"Is it really that awful?" she asked. Of course, with the state she was in, Crystal's description didn't sound half bad. Sick of her vibrator and unsatisfied by her own hand, she decided any man would do. Virgin or no.
Crystal nodded and went into her closet. "Terrible. No finesse. Bad kissers. Sometimes they're so nervous, they're shaking. Only one wasn't half bad, but that's it, and I've been in this business for a couple of years." Crystal paused and watched Liana closely. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, do you really? Because if you do chicken out, it'll reflect back on me. I'd rather just cancel than have the client mad at me, and the service demanding money back or whatever. Plus, I'll get in trouble."
Liana nibbled on her index finger. Could she really do it? Dress up, meet a strange man, and introduce him to sensual delights? Was she confident enough? Did she know enough sensual delights to give the man a proper introduction?
Why did she keep referring to sex as "sensual delights"? She decided that watching too many made-for-TV movies made for a strange vocabulary.
You can do it, a little voice whispered inside of her. Try it at least once. If it's bad, you can forget all about it. You'll never see the guy again.
"I can do it." Liana's voice sounded surprisingly firm, even to her. Confidence flooded her as she imagined just how to go about it. What she would wear, how she would touch him, what she would show him. If she handled it just right, maybe she could groom him into her very own personal sex slave--giving herself a man to pleasure her whenever she wanted.
Or ... she could be left with a fumbling jerk who wouldn't know good sex if it hit him on the head. A risk, she quickly realized, she was more than willing to take.
"I'll pay you, Li," Crystal said. "I'll give you my entire cut. Believe me, you'll deserve it."
Liana shook her head. The idea of being a prostitute for one night was naughty enough without actually getting paid for her trouble. She remembered how shocked she'd been when she'd first moved in with Crystal and realized exactly what her friend did for a living. Now she was so blasé about it, she was even going to pretend to be an escort. Talk about a complete turn around. Liana had to admit she found the idea liberating. Exciting, even.
"I don't want your money, Crys," she said. "I simply want to live out a fantasy, just for one night. Accepting money for it will ruin the illusion."
"Let's just hope he doesn't ruin your illusion." Crystal paused, stuck her head out of the closet, and contemplated her. "Can I give you a couple of words of advice?"
"Of course."
"Don't try too hard. Let it come naturally." Crystal laughed at her own joke, and Liana did, too. "Don't talk to him too much. He won't be with you to take counsel, but to get laid. And third, don't kiss him. It's too personal."
"No kissing?" Liana wrinkled her nose. "Are you serious?"
"Totally. They're usually not that good at it, anyway. Remember, we're talking about virgins, usually old virgins. The reason they got this far in life and never had sex is because they're not that skilled in the first place. You're not missing a thing with the no kissing part."
"Well ... if you say so." Disappointment flooded Liana. She'd love nothing more than to grab a guy by the neck and lay a long, hot, wet kiss on him.
Panic welled up inside of her. Maybe taking Crystal's place wasn't such a good idea after all. What if the guy was ugly? Smelled bad? Had terrible breath? What if he was mean? What if he--God forbid--tried to hurt her?
"You've got freak out written all over your face, Li. Just forget it. I'll call Mary." Crystal walked over to her dresser, picked up the cordless phone, and pressed the talk button.
Liana grabbed the phone out of Crystal's hand and turned it off. "How carefully does this place you work for screen their clients?"
"Very carefully." Crystal smiled. "This is not some rinky-dink operation that any schmoe off the street can use. It's strictly a word-of-mouth referral business. Clients are hand selected. Some of the wealthiest men in the world use Mary's escort service."
Wealthy men could still be ugly and smelly. But Liana figured it was a chance she was willing to take. If she spotted the guy before he spotted her, and she didn't like his looks, she could easily walk out and never even talk to him. Crystal would be mad at her, but Liana figured she could get her to understand.
"I'm going to do it," she said firmly. "But first, I need you to help me figure out what to wear."
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