Chapter Fifteen
Forty-five minutes later Nicole pulled into an empty parking space next to Annie’s foreign coupe. Paulina was already there.
“How did you manage this?” Nicole asked Paulina.
“I was at a trade show yesterday and I met the manager. After I turned him down for a date, he offered me a complimentary massage. I told him I’d take him up on it if I could bring my friends.”
“Unbelievable,” Annie remarked, shaking her head.
“He was more than happy to oblige, especially when I said my friends were female. The only catch was it had to be on a Monday.”
“Why Monday?”
Paulina shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe it’s one of the days he works, although I hope not. He’s kind of a dirty old man.”
Wanda careened into the lot, swinging her SUV into two empty spaces. She jumped out and hurried over to them.
“Am I late? I’m not late, am I?”
“Chill, Wanda,” Paulina said. “You’re not late, so relax. That’s the whole point of this evening.”
They walked toward the entrance of Bacchanalia. “I’m so excited. I’ve never been to a place as fancy as this,” Wanda said.
They were stopped at the front door by an East Indian woman wearing a flesh-colored gown with nothing underneath.
“Do you think she knows it’s see-through?” Annie whispered to Nicole.
After checking on their comp status via her walkie-talkie, she proceeded to usher them in.
“Jeez, you’d think this place was…” Nicole’s words hung in mid-air.
“All nude!” Wanda exclaimed, her eyes bulging out of their sockets.
There were men and women walking around, completely naked. Even the staff behind the desk was naked.
A cheerful woman greeted them. “Welcome to Bacchanalia. Is this your first time here?”
As if their shell-shocked expressions weren’t answer enough. Thank goodness Paulina recovered her composure quickly.
“As a matter of fact it is, and we’re not quite sure of the protocol.”
“Monday night is the one night when everyone remains clothing-free.”
“How lucky for us,” Paulina said dryly.
“Didn’t Victor explain that to you when he invited you?”
“He neglected to mention that small detail.”
The woman smiled and held out her arms in an expansive gesture. “You’ll find it incredibly liberating. Let me show you where you can get undressed.”
They followed her naked rear end into an enormous women’s lounge area.
“You can choose to wait in here for your massage therapists, or if you’re feeling uninhibited, there’s a co-ed area with a pool through that door.” Their gazes followed her finger as she pointed toward a red door. “If you need anything, press the call button by the urns of tea.”
They watched her naked rear end stroll away. Wanda opened one of the teak lockers, threw in her purse, and lifted off her sundress.
“When in Rome…” she announced.
Annie and Nicole looked at each other, took a deep breath and followed suit. Paulina cracked open the red door and peeked through.
“There’s champagne out there, lots of fruit, and some very hairy men’s asses,” she said.
“Is anyone brave enough to venture out there wearing nothing but a smile?” Nicole asked.
Paulina stripped off her clothing and crammed it into her locker. When she turned around, they all gawked at her.
“What?” she asked.
Annie was the first to speak. “We had to know where you stand in the pubic hair department.”
“Oh, Jesus,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Of course I wax it all. I do it myself, which is no easy task, mind you.”
A blonde woman with her hair pulled back in a long braid approached Paulina. “Are you ready for your massage?” She motioned to Wanda, Annie, and Nicole. “Please follow me.”
They followed her naked rear end down a long corridor leading to a series of rooms. When Nicole entered hers, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. There were lit candles everywhere. In one corner of the room was a sunken tub already filled with warm water. There were red rose petals floating on the surface. In another corner was a dry wooden sauna large enough for six people. Meditative music played softly in the background and a subtle floral scent filled the air.
She settled herself face down on the heated massage table, pulled the sheet over her and waited to see God.
He came in the naked form of a six foot three Adonis.
“I’m David, and I’ll be your massage therapist today,” he said in a deep, pleasant voice. “Are you experiencing any areas of discomfort I should know about?”
You mean besides my head that’s freaking out right now because I’m about to be massaged by a naked hunk?
“I tend to hold my stress in my shoulders,” Nicole said, trying to keep her eyes on his face.
He squeezed some oil into his hands and rubbed them together. “Most people do,” he said, as he came to stand at the crown of her head. “Go ahead and put your face down inside the doughnut.”
It’s a good thing her face would remain down, because where he was standing put her at eye level to a part of his body that only his significant other should be privy to.
“Do you like it firm or soft?”
“Excuse me?” she said.
“How do you like the pressure?”
“Firm,” she said. She forced herself to concentrate on the task of relaxing, or else she’d wind up more tense than when she began.
Imagine they’re Wil’s hands.
Toward the end of the massage Nicole was in a state of total relaxation. David had done his job well. So well, in fact, that she was on her back now, fully exposed and she didn’t care. He was a professional. Hell, he saw naked bodies all the time.
He was in the process of rubbing her feet and each one of her toes when he asked, “Would you like a glorious finale?”
If it can get better than this, Nicole figured she had nothing to lose. “Sure,” she murmured.
David gently spread her legs apart. Nicole’s eyes flew open, her head shot up, and when she saw his face down there, her thighs smacked together like a nutcracker, crushing his head.
“Ow,” he yelped, jumping away from her.
“I’m sorry. It’s an involuntary reflex I have when men I don’t know crawl between my legs.”
“Did you not understand what I meant when I asked if you wanted a glorious finale?”
“I thought it was a massage technique,” she said, reaching for the sheet to cover her body. “Look, it’s my first time here.”
“Now that you know, are you interested?”
Nicole smiled shyly and shook her head no.
“My work is done then. Take your time getting up, and be sure to drink plenty of water tonight to help flush out the toxins from your body,” he said, before quietly leaving.
They all met back in the women’s lounge after massages. Their faces were flushed, with doughnut creases in them.
“Let’s check out the co-ed area. I’m dying for a glass of champagne,” Wanda said.
They walked through the red door, grabbed flutes of bubbly, and found some chaise lounges to stretch out on.
“How was it?” Paulina asked Nicole.
“Just what I needed.” Paulina waited for her to say more, but Nicole just smiled and sipped her champagne.
Paulina turned her gaze on Annie. “And you?”
Annie smacked her lips. “Better than I expected.”
Paulina snorted while shaking her head. “How was your massage, Wanda?” she asked.
Wanda folded her hands behind her head and thrust her chest out. “Glorious.”
“You didn’t!” they all yelled at the same time.
“Ha, got ya!” Wanda yelled back. “No, I didn’t. I’m a married woman. It was a thrill just to have another man’s hands on me.”
“Nic?” Annie said.
“I’ve had more naked men touching me lately than I’ve had in years. One is plenty, thank you very much. Annie?”
“I don’t come and tell,” she said, taking a sip of her champagne.
“Mmm honey, you’re a lucky girl. What about you, Paulina?” Wanda asked. “Wait, you had a female masseuse, didn’t you? Too bad for you. Maybe you can order a quickie, like á la carte off the menu.”
Paulina smiled serenely. “I’m good.”
“Ah, Paulina, my beauty. You decided to take me up on my offer.” The voice came from a balding man who was strolling over to them, with gray pubic hair, and a small penis flapping left and right.
“Yes,” she said, “and if I weren’t so relaxed I’d belt you one, Victor.”
He appeared crestfallen. “You don’t like the place?”
“It’s a glorious place to air one’s pores. I just wish I had known beforehand I was going to be airing them.”
Victor leered down at Paulina’s succulent body like he hadn’t eaten for a week and she was a leg of lamb. “How else was I going to get a glimpse of you naked, my dear?”
Wanda shoved her hand in front of Victor’s face, causing him to jump back a bit. “We haven’t met. I’m Wanda. Thanks for inviting us.”
Victor reluctantly took her hand and shook it. He glanced over at Annie.
“Annie,” she said, giving him a slight nod.
Nicole crossed her arms over her breasts. “Nicole.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m glad you enjoyed our services,” Victor said, rather uncomfortably. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.” He bent over to whisper something in Paulina’s ear, giving Nicole and Annie full view of all things hanging. They had to bite their lips to keep from laughing.
“If you’d ever like to come again, don’t hesitate to call me.” Victor straightened and gave Paulina one last meaningful look before striding off.
She shivered. “I feel like I need to take a shower.”
“Forget him,” Nicole told her. “Because of you, I feel like melted ice cream right now. Thank you.” She held up her glass of champagne to toast Paulina.
“Hear, hear,” toasted Annie and Wanda.
“To Paulina,” Annie added, “for having to put up with the sleaziest of men so her friends can benefit as well.”
****
Wil’s cell rang late that night and he decided not to answer it. He was dog-assed tired and didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Besides, his phone was across the room and in order to get it he’d have to haul himself out of bed.
Of course his curiosity got the best of him, because he knew that if he didn’t find out who had called, he’d be up all night obsessing over it. When he saw Nicole’s name, his entire body grew hot. Now her he would speak to. He pressed her number on speed dial.
“Hey, you,” Nicole said when she picked up.
“Why didn’t you leave a message?”
“I assumed you were busy.”
“Babe, I’m never too busy for you,” he said.
“What are you doing right now?”
“What do you want me to be doing?”
Her voice lowered an octave. “I want you to be here, touching me.”
“I want that, too.” He groaned. “I really, really want that.”
“I had another man’s hands on my body tonight, but I kept wishing they were yours.”
Wil was silent, his defenses up.
“Wil?”
“I’m here,” he said stiffly. “I’m waiting for you to go on.”
She quickly said, “It’s not what you’re thinking. The girls and I got massages at this spa called Bacchanalia.”
Relief ran through him, until he remembered the services offered at Bacchanalia. “Please tell me it wasn’t glorious.”
She gasped. “How do you know about that?”
“Everyone knows about Monday nights there.”
“Have you ever been?” she asked.
Wil chuckled. “Not on a Monday, no. You still didn’t answer my question?”
“Which was…?”
“Was the massage glorious?”
“Let’s just say it ended abruptly,” she said.
“Didn’t know what you were in for, huh?”
“Is it even legal?”
“Sure. In Nevada. I’m glad you didn’t—you know.”
“Of course I didn’t. What’s the expression? Why go out for imitation crabmeat when you have lobster at home? Something like that.” She paused. “It’s late there.”
“Yeah, believe it or not, I made it an early night. I was in bed when you called.”
“I should let you go. You must be tired.”
He didn’t want to go. He wanted to fall asleep to the sound of her voice.
“But before I go, I was wondering what you were wearing?” she asked shyly.
“Hmmm, let’s see…” He stretched, kicking the covers off him. “A lot of skin and not much else. How ’bout you?”
“I have on a skirt and, wait”—he heard her pull her blouse off and lay back down again—“and a bra.”
Wil’s voice deepened. “Do you want to know what I’d do to you if I were there, Nicole?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
He closed his eyes and imagined. “I’d start by tracing the outline of your collarbone, the sides of your neck, and your ears. I’d go over those areas lightly with my tongue, and then I’d slowly move down your body. I can feel your skin right now. It’s hot and very soft.”
Wil waited. When he didn’t hear her, he assumed she wasn’t into any of this at all. “You still there, babe?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”
“Tell me what you want me to do to you.”
“I want you to suck on my neck like you did that first night. When you were inside me, and sucking hard…”
Speaking of hard, he was already hard from just the sound of her voice. He wanted to be making love to her, but knew he’d have to settle for his hand instead.
“You liked that, did you? Can you feel me biting and sucking on you now like an animal? You make me crazy. You turn me into an animal.”
“I want you to touch yourself, Wil.”
He let out a laugh mixed with a groan. “I got you beat. I’m already there.”
“The thought of you touching yourself is turning me on.”
“You still have your skirt on?” he asked.
“Yes. Do you want me to take it off?”
“No, leave it on. I want to lift it up with my teeth. Are you wearing any panties?”
“Ah, the question every man wants to know.”
“Let me hear you say it.”
“No. I’m not wearing any panties.”
Whether she was in actuality didn’t matter. Wil already had the visual image in his head. “Do you want me to taste you?”
“Yes,” she sighed.
“Can you feel my tongue on you? Do you want me inside you now?”
He could hear her breathing hard. He was so close to exploding. All Wil needed to do was imagine he was there with her, watching her as she came.
It took less than a minute for each of them to have glorious finales.
****
Sienna came over to Nicole as soon as the photo shoot on Laguna Beach wrapped for the day. “There’s a problem, isn’t there? What is it? I never see you chew your fingernails like this.”
Nicole tore off a sliver of nail from her thumb and spit it out. “I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Don’t you think the shoot went well? We finished on schedule, the weather cooperated, the models did fine.”
“That’s just it,” she said, “the models did fine, but that’s not good enough.”
Sienna could see how agitated Nicole was. She followed Nicole’s gaze out to the ocean, watching the waves go in and out. “It might help if you talk it out,” she suggested.
“Okay,” Nicole began, trying to corral her thoughts into coherent form. “I loved the Family set of shots. The clothes looked great on the model. The little boy and girl were perfect. I couldn’t be happier with the action shots, and Wil’s going to really like the more contemplative ones.”
“But…” Sienna prodded as they began walking up the beach.
“It’s the Love part that’s not right.”
“The models were gorgeous.”
“Yes, they were,” Nicole agreed. “But they weren’t hot.”
Sienna looked confused. “What’s the difference?”
She smiled. “Wil would say there was a definite difference.”
Sienna thought about it. “Okay, but it’s about love, not sex.”
Nicole stopped walking and turned to her. “True, but think of Wil’s line. It’s edgy, sexy. Don’t you think we need to see some heat between the couple? Some passion? I didn’t get that. Did you?”
“I thought we were going for what we ultimately got from the models.”
She shook her head slowly. “We were, but now I’m not so sure. I think the true essence of Family was caught, but Love is too tame.” Nicole suddenly realized what it was that was specifically bothering her. “The look in the woman’s eye toward her lover was the same look of love that she would give her child, and that won’t work. They are distinctly different.”
She and Sienna headed back down the beach to the waiting crew. “What do you want to do?” Sienna asked. “It’ll cost to reshoot.”
Nicole was between a rock and a hard place. She didn’t want to disappoint Wil, especially since he had left this entire shoot in her hands, but her gut knew what he wanted. The man embodied heat and passion, and that’s what he infused into his designs. She knew they hadn’t captured it today.
“It’s not within our budget,” Nicole said, “and if I want to reshoot, I’ll have to admit I screwed up and didn’t catch the mistake in time.”
“I say we don’t make any decisions until we see the shots.”
Nicole nodded. “Okay, but we have to come up with a tagline soon, Sienna.”
“I’m on it. Brent and I have a couple of ideas we’ve been kicking around. Once we see the entire collection on Friday night, we’ll all be much clearer.”
Sienna was right, of course, and Nicole was feeling much calmer. “You’re better than Valium,” she told her. “How much do I owe you for that session?”
“I’ll settle for an In-N-Out burger and fries.”
“You’re on.”
****
When Wil phoned later that night to ask how the shoot went, Nicole kept her reservations to herself. “Smooth as hundred-year-old scotch,” she said, reasoning that it was pointless to worry him unnecessarily.
“I knew I could leave you in charge of everything.”
“Mmm-hmm, so when are you coming home?”
“I wish I could say tomorrow, but it looks like I won’t be flying in until late Wednesday. I have a run-through with the models on Thursday night, some last-minute preparations for the party…” Wil’s voice trailed off, no doubt thinking of the many details he still had to take care of.
“Oh.” She couldn’t hide her disappointment. It was like her ex-husband all over again, always having to squeeze her in between his work projects.
“I know things are insane right now, Nic,” he said, “but I’m all yours once this party is over. I promise.”
His voice sounded tired, which made her feel like an insensitive jerk. She knew how hard he was working, how important this show was to his career, and here she was only thinking about when they could have sex again.
“Don’t worry about me,” Nicole said. “You need to focus on business. I’ll see you Friday night.”
“You’re coming home with me after the party.”
She noticed it wasn’t phrased as a question. “Am I?” she said.
And in that deep, throaty voice of his that never failed to make her insides turn over, he said, “I plan to show you just how much I’ve missed you.”