Prologue
Paolo
“What’s wrong with you tonight?” Nico Salazar, a friend of mine from boarding school days and beyond, tossed back his whiskey and stared at me.
“Nothing. I just have another black tie charity gala to attend this weekend. And I don’t want to go.”
“What’s the big deal? Just take some woman you want to fuck and kill two birds with one stone.” Nico leaned his arms on the table as a large-breasted blonde started her set onstage.
“I don’t have time to meet the kind of women I can take to events like that,” I sighed. “I go to work, and I come here. I won’t fuck anyone I work with, and I won’t date anyone I fuck here.”
Nico frowned and gave me his full attention. “You should do the auction. I could call Carmen out to talk to you about it.”
I shook my head. This wasn’t the first time he’d tried to sell me on the sugar baby style auction his younger sister had started. Of course, she didn’t call the women sugar babies. She called them cinnamon girls. But it was the same thing. Basically.
“No. I’m not interested. I’m looking for women I can take to charity events and work functions.
I can’t take someone like that,” I said, gesturing towards the woman on stage performing raunchy dance moves.
I’d fuck her, sure. But I wasn’t going to try to have a conversation with someone who probably couldn’t string together a complete sentence.
“Are you serious?” Nico shook his head at me. “You know, you can come off like a real snob, Paolo.”
I shrugged. I wasn’t trying to be snobby or elitist. Just realistic.
“I’m just saying,” Nico Salazar continued, as I stared absentmindedly at the naked woman dancing onstage, “we do have some hostesses, dancers, and bartenders who are very classy. These are women in college, women in graduate school, women in medical school, women in law school—you catch my drift?”
I nodded, still not convinced.
“These are women who would look good on your arm at society functions…”
I waved my hand in the air, cutting off my friend. “I’ll tell you what I want. I want a separate, elite auction with society types who don’t work here. Maybe they’re a bit down on their luck, but they haven’t fallen so low they’d work in a place like this.”
Nico stiffened, and I realized what I’d said. “I mean…”
But he cut me off, his blue eyes focused on someone beside me. He was pissed but doing his best to hide it. “Here’s the hostess I wanted you to meet.”
I turned and did a double take as I saw one of the most beautiful, sexiest women I’d ever seen in my life. I grinned at her. Damn. Maybe Nico was right. This woman would look perfect on my arm at any of the stuffy society events I had to attend as one of West Bay’s leading pediatric surgeons.
She didn’t smile back at me.
“Hello,” she said with a slight uplift of the corners of her mouth. “I’m Ray Ann, but I go by Jelly when Carmen’s not around to hear people call me that. What can I get you?”
I turned on the charm. If this girl was in the auction, I’d bid on her. She had a sort of standoffishness about her that screamed class, even elegance.
“A date?” I gave her my best smile, the one that made panties drop and legs open. She cocked an eyebrow at me, clearly unimpressed.
“Oh, I didn’t think you were interested in the kind of trashy women who would work in a dump like this.” She gestured around her at the luxurious surroundings.
I winced. I was an idiot, and she’d heard me. “That’s not what I meant…”
“I’ve found people tend to say exactly what they mean,” she said. “Don’t mind me. I’m not here to try and attach my classless ass to you like a barnacle. I have no desire to date you. I’m only here for your drink order.”
I gaped at her.
“And I have other tables.” She stared at me pointedly.
This woman was rude. I turned to Nico to see if he would reprimand her, but saw that he wasn’t even trying to hide his amused smile.
The dark-haired beauty before me rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently. “You know what? You’re taking too long. I’ll bring you a Tom Collins.”
She turned and started walking away.
“Wait! I’d like a whiskey. Make it a double.”
She turned and smirked at me.
I looked at Nico, who was chuckling softly.
“I’m not getting that whiskey, am I?” I asked, watching the beautiful Jelly walk away from me, her short skirt showing off a perfect ass and mile-long legs.
“Not a chance in hell, man.”