Page 22 of Lethal Seduction

"Right, love." Jake crosses his arms. "What happened?"

"Nothing," she says. "I auditioned, but clearly, the producer saw I was overqualified to be some spacey-headed dumb sidekick. His exact words were, 'There's no way she's right for the part.'"

Jake looks at me for a second with an expression that asks if she's being serious. I nod and smile. I feel awful for her. She's tried so hard and for so long to get any acting part in any legitimate movie and has come up with nothing. The world hasn't yet seen the true potential of my best friend.

"Tina, you were way too good for that movie," I say. "Maybe it's a sign we were meant for bigger and better things."

"See," she says with a smile. "Signs are good."

Jake shrugs and goes over to the vending machines and retrieves a candy bar and soda. "I'll see you two later." He winks as he leaves, the door slowly closing behind him as he disappears into the hallway.

"He winked at me," Tina says, bouncing in place. "I bet if I were to approach him after work tonight, ask if he'd like to come over to my place and stream some movies while we chill, he'd say yes."

Despite wanting to go on the date with Michael, I also don't want to lose my bet with Tina. "Are you pushing me to go on this date so you can beat me at our bet? Jake winked at me, actually."

Tina bursts into laughter. "My delusional, misguided, ever-hopeful friend. Mr. Jake Bloom winked at me. Dude, he wants to lick chocolate from my boobs and bury his face in whipped cream and cherries. There's no way he wants to slob on your knob. He likes pussy. Plain and simple."

"If you say so," I say. "Personally, the way he looks at me makes me self-conscious. It's like he's undressing me with his eyes."

"Do you still want to do this bet or not?" Tina asks. "I can tell you're torn."

"I've had my eye on Jake for a while now. Only just met Michael and it's not like we are officially dating each other."

"True."

"How about we keep our bet until after I have my first date with Michael. I can gauge it better that way."

"Sounds like the scientific method if you ask me,” she says with a smile. “Science is science and who are we to argue with that?"

"And math is math," I say before we both burst out laughing. “Neither of us is good at numbers, but we both know we love six to eight inches.”

"You're such a whore and I love it." Tina slaps my arm. "We really need to go back to work. It's been over an hour."

We make our way back to our departments to finish out the day. Tina goes into the salon area of the country club to finish her day waxing old lady coochie and ass crack. I feel sorry for her in that role. Even though she gets to inflict some pain onto her tormentors, she says no matter how many times she reminds them to come back before the stubble turns into a bush, they never listen.

I, on the other hand, will be passing out towels at the pool, fetching drinks, and manning the stretch class. Despite the groping and lewd commentary I'll be subjected to, I rely so much on the tips to make ends meet. Even though, they’ve been a bit shitty lately, I’ve been known to pull in a few hundred on a good night. Especially when my ass is on-point. That money will come in handy when I go shopping for the perfect outfit to meetMichael for the concert. I'm imagining a new pair of jeans and a nice fitted black buttoned-down shirt.

The usual nervousness that accompanies the idea of going on a date settles into my belly like a swarm of butterflies. Excitement, damped slightly by self-doubt, is building the more I give life to the idea of having an actual boyfriend.

"Hey, Patrick," Jake says as he walks past me. "Can I talk to you tonight after our shift?"

I turn to face him as he walks backward away from me waiting for my answer. "Sure, what's going on?"

"Nothing," he says. "I just need to talk to you about something."

"I'm off at ten, but I usually don't get out of here until ten-thirty or so."

"Perfect, same here," he says and smiles. His dimples light up the room and my confidence about going to the concert takes a hit. What if he asks me out?

"Have a good rest of your shift," I say and wave as he's about to round the corner, on his way to the bar area where he mixes drinks for the clients all evening.

He waves back and wags his eyebrows before disappearing from sight.

Goddammit, he’s sexy. I bite my inner lip as I watch him leave. My inner hoe struggling with the good person I know I truly am. I wipe my chin and close my mouth. After all, no one likes a drooler.

12

MICHAEL

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