Nothing is more humbling to me than my inability to lie. It’s always been a weakness of mine. People can see a lie coming out of my mouth from miles away and it always bites me on the ass.

 

Knowing this, I made sure that I never lied to Devyn in person about my sudden business related trip to Nevada. She begged me repeatedly to let her in on what I was planning but I intentionally kept it vague, but positive. To keep our spirits up. Lord knows we need to keep our spirits up.

 

I’ve driven through Nevada in the past. Never enjoyed the sights, but from what I was told by my peers, there wasn’t much to see other then the Las Vegas Strip and the Grand Canyon. Just a lot of ghost towns and supermalls, an odd juxtaposition. Little did my peers know that in the heart of Reno was a humble little country club and business known as The Gentlemen’s Club. A place where one could stop by after receiving their yearly tax returns to treat a lady of the red light variety to a nice night out or a quick roll under the sheets.

 

As soon as I step into the place, every head turns to me. Old men dressed up in penguin tuxedos looking me up and down. Scantily dressed women smiling seductively at me. It was an odd experience, to put it lightly.

 

“I’ll take it you’re Tessa Chambers.”

 

The crowd of employees and patrons disperses to reveal a buxom lady donning the most extravagant dress I’ve seen outside of an awards ceremony.

 

“What a pleasure it is to meet you, darling. Come with me”, she whimsically chimes as if she’s about to spring into a Disney-style musical number.

 

She holds my hand daintily and leads me through the glorified whorehouse and into an overly perfumed room near the back of the building. The lady shuts the door behind me and drops her cheerful facade so quickly it almost gave me whiplash.

 

“Look here, honey. If you’re going to come in dressed like that, come in through the back and change into something more… elegant. Sexy. Jeans and a hoodie don’t exactly get our older patrons riled up”, she explains in a much more boorish voice.

 

I apologize and explain that I wasn’t given any solid instructions on how to act or what to do upon arrival.

 

“Don’t worry about it. This time at least. Just change into something hot and come back so I can give you the rundown on how you can make the most money while you’re working here”, she says. “Name’s Doris, by the way. But you have to refer to me as Madam out there, alright?”

 

“Hold on”, I stammer. “I never agreed to start working. I thought I was going to get an explanation as to--”

 

“Let me stop you right there, honey. If you’re here, you’re going to work. Otherwise you can hit the skids, and your little ‘tard kids will spend their lives bouncing from hospital to hospital, being ignored.”

 

“Do NOT call them that”, I demand with gritted teeth.

 

Doris’s face cracks into a smile. “Struck a nerve, did I? Look, girlie, you want your school back? You’re going to need money.”

 

I shake my head. “You don’t know what I need. It’s not just money.”

 

She leans over to whisper something in my ear. “You’re very naive if you think that money can’t get you everything you need. Ever heard of a bribe? Come on, honey, use your brain here and PLEASE don’t waste my time.”

 

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this book, please . If you would like to join my ARC team and receive free advanced reading copies of books, please send a screenshot or link of your review to .

 

Can’t get enough Tessa and Ben? , and receive an extended epilogue to this book, which is bonus content exclusively available to subscribers, as well as a free steamy romance story “Corrupted,” which is also exclusive to newsletter subscribers. !

 

Bonus books follow for your continued reading enjoyment!

Thank you for your support and for reading this book. Love, Eva