EPILOGUE
THREE MONTHS LATER
Like a beacon in the night, the neon lights flashed “TOMCATS” repeatedly over the top of the door of the club. After many long nights and a lot of hard work, Tillie and her guys had worked their magic.
What was once a run-down deserted property was now a sleek and modern Mecca for women looking for a no-strings-attached good time.
Fox, Blaze and Daine jumped at the chance to move to Los Angeles, and together with Richie and Tillie, they’d worked nonstop in preparation for tonight — the opening night of Tomcats.
For months, they’d advertised throughout the city, until the buzz and hype was so great, they’d sold out as soon as they’d made the first tickets available. They were exhausted, running on fumes, and more excited than any of them had ever been in their lives.
In full swing, the club was swarming with women, the only gender allowed in, outside of the men that worked there. They’d hired several more dancers and bartenders, and even a few special ‘attendants’ to work in the bungalows, servicing the women who bought the special VIP packages that were available, in addition to the nightly shows.
There was the “Domestic Bliss” package, where you could retire to one of the bungalows and enjoy a ‘boyfriend-experience’ — where a hunky dancer would make you dinner, watch a movie with you, snuggle with you for a few hours.
Then, there was the “Spa Date” which included a sensual massage and a bath in a luxurious marble tub, provided by any dancer of your choosing, the “Dom Package” where you could choose your own custom made BDSM scenario, or even “Shakespeare’s Delight” where you could choose to have a guy read you poetry all night.
They stopped short at providing sex acts, but there was a lot of other stuff under the umbrella of ‘custom’ services to satisfy the customer.
In the main lounge, nightly shows were performed that far surpassed anything the guys had done in Vegas. Everything was bigger. The costumes, the acts, the dances, too. On a small side stage, there was the feature that Richie had always dreamed of: a mechanical bull that the women could ride, with one of the dancers perched in a g-string riding behind her. It was a huge hit, to say the least.
They’d pulled out all the stops and tonight, the five of them stood together, watching the fruits of their labor finally come to life right before their eyes.
“We did good, guys,” Tillie said, beaming with joy. “We really did it.”
“We sure did,” Daine said, smiling huge. “This is fucking amazing.”
“I love it!” Even Blaze stood there with a smile plastered on his face.
“Looks like everyone’s happy,” Richie said, his hand firmly clasping his new love’s hand. Tillie was everything he’d imagined and they’d only grown closer over the last three months.
“We couldn’t have done this without you, Tillie,” Fox said. “We owe you big time.”
“No, you don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I”m just so happy it all worked out. I love you guys so much.”
“We love you, too, sweetheart,” Daine said, embracing her.
“We should go get ready,” Blaze said. “Our number is up soon.”
Blaze, Daine and Fox were dancing together tonight, having choreographed a new routine to bring the house down. Richie had decided to retire from dancing altogether, choosing instead to remain behind the scenes and make sure everything was running smoothly. Whether that retirement was permanent or temporary, he’d not decided just yet. But for now, it felt good to focus on something other than costumes, songs and baby oil.
The guys walked away, leaving him alone with Tillie, his arm slung casually over her shoulder.
“Have I told you tonight how much I love you?” he asked.
“Like a thousand times,” she said.
“Good,” he laughed.
“We pulled it off, didn’t we?”
“We did really good, Richie,” she replied.
They gazed out over the crowd, watching with glee at the smiles plastered on the customer’s faces as they watched the sexiest men in LA dance for them.
“I’m sorry, sir, there are no men allowed in here, other than dancers,” a voice sounded from the front door behind them. A security guard stepped in front of the door, blocking the way as Tillie and Richie turned to look.
“No men, what the hell?” A man’s voice bellowed.
“Oh, fuck,” Tillie murmured.
“Let me in or I’ll call the police!”
“Shit!” Tillie said, rushing forward.
“Sir, you can call whoever you want, but I’m not letting you in!”
“I’ve got this, Drake,” she said, placing her hand on the security guard’s arm, and stepping between him and the other man.
“What the hell are you doing here, Reggie?” She demanded, seething at the sight of her ex-husband.
“Me? What the hell are you doing, Tillie? What is this nonsense? I saw you on the news this afternoon!”
“It’s my new business, Reggie, and you aren’t allowed to be here.”
“You started a fucking brothel, Tillie!?”
“It’s not a brothel, Reggie!”
“I can’t believe this is what you’re spending my money on!” he cried. “And my name will be ruined!"
“Your money? Your name?” she exclaimed. “It’s my settlement money, I can do whatever the hell I want with it, and it’s none of your business!”
“No, you can’t, Tillie,” he insisted.
“Reggie, I have an army of lawyers and accountants that say otherwise. Don’t be absurd! Now, leave! You aren’t welcome here!”
“I practically fucking own the place! You don’t have a dime of your own.”
“Like hell you do, what is wrong with you? That settlement money is mine, fair and square. Once you divorced me, all your power over me disappeared,” she cried, anger rippling through her. Richie watched with wide, disbelieving eyes, ready to step in at a moment’s notice, should she need him. Fortunately, she was doing just fine by herself. “Reggie, go home to your child bride, okay?”
“I’m not married.”
“Not yet, I bet. You knocked her up, though, didn’t you? In fact, you did that while we were still married, didn’t you? Without even telling me!”
“I tried to tell you when you were in Vegas.”
“Bullshit, Reggie!” she exploded. “And if you really want to get into this, we can. Maybe we need to revisit the settlement all together. I’m pretty sure there was a clause in the prenup about adultery and impregnating another woman, you asshole! If I’d known at the time, I never would have let you get off so easy!”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Wouldn’t I?” she asked, cocking her head. “You have no idea what I’m capable of, Reggie.”
He leaned in close to her face, red with anger.
“I won’t let you get away with using my money on this — this — whore house!”
Richie had enough. The dude was way too close to Tillie for his comfort. He stepped up next to them and peered down at the guy, who was much shorter than him.
“The lady told you to leave.”
“Who are you?” Reggie spat.
“He’s my business partner,” Tillie said.
“And her new man, so step the fuck off, Mr. Thorne!” Richie growled.
Reggie looked him up and down with disdain, shaking his head.
“What has happened to you, Tillie?” he asked, turning back to her.
“I’m living my life. I suggest you do the same. Now, go, Reggie, before I have security expel you from our property.”
“Tillie!” he growled with anger, leaning into her again. Richie took a step between them, shaking his head in a silent warning. Reggie puffed up, squaring off against him.
“Back off, you piece of rancid meat,” Reggie said.
Richie shook his head once, half smiled, then cocked his arm back, hitting Reggie square in the face. Reggie flew across the ground, landing on his ass. He scurried to his feet, rage storming in his eyes.
“The lady told you to leave,” Richie said, his voice seething. Tillie looked over at him in awe, suppressing the urge to laugh.
Reggie stepped back in frustration.
“I’ll leave now. But you haven’t heard the last of this, Tillie!”
She stepped back in front of Richie and laughed.
“Do your worst, Reggie.”
He got back in his waiting car, the tires kicking up dust as it drove away, disappearing down the driveway. Tillie was left shaking with anger, and Richie pulled her into his arms.
“I can’t believe you hit him,” Tillie said, laughter bubbling up from her chest.
“What the fuck was that?” Richie asked.
“Our first obstacle,” Tillie replied, smiling up at him.
“Ain’t nothing we can’t handle together, babe,” he said, bending his head, his lips kissing her gently, a fitting reminder of the truth of his words…
TO BE CONTINUED….