CardsNeverLie (5 page)

“You’re asking me out?”

Rob noticed she sounded more offended than pleased. “I know
we haven’t gotten off to a very good start, but I’m not normally a twit. And as
a general rule,” he took a deep breath, “I’m only X-rated when encouraged. Why
don’t you give me a second chance?”

Melanie stiffened in her chair and took another gulp of
coffee. “I—”

Rob smiled. She was tongue-tied. “So what do you say? Come
eat with us then we’ll go. Tim can cover the symposium.”

“You have got to be kidding. I’ve got no interest in anyone
who works at LeatherWorks! You’re pigs!”

Rob opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t get anything out
of his mouth before Melanie stood up, grabbed her plate with the mangled
sandwich on it and stalked off. He watched her go in disbelief. What was that
about?

* * * * *

Tommy Joe ignored the knock on the door and turned back to
the phone. Hopefully it was just the extra towels he had ordered and not
Melanie. God she was hot. He couldn’t wait to get her out to the pool in a
swimsuit and see if her legs were as sexy as he remembered from that party back
when she was married. Her divorce was a dream come true.

“Tommy Joe?” his brother Billy Joe said sharply and Tommy
Joe shifted his attention back to the phone.

“Yes, I’m here.”

“What have you got?” Billy Joe demanded.

“Nothing much. After all, I’m not at the office right now.
But before I left I saw the July stats and it was looking bad. Sales are way
down and complaints are up.”

“Interesting. I wonder what is going on.”

“Bad quality oils.”

“Professional Massage doesn’t usually buy cheap.”

Tommy Joe thought about comments heard over the coffee pot.
“I think they are conserving cash for something, but at the same time…”

“Yes?”

“Melanie’s boss is threatening her if she doesn’t come up
with a new product line. And that takes money.” Poor Melanie. She ought to have
someone to take care of her.

“Christ, Tommy Joe, can’t you ever hold a conversation
without bringing up that woman? It’s like you’re obsessed!”

“I’m going to marry her,” Tommy Joe said. “Her divorce is
final.”

“Who would want to marry you?” his brother said derisively.

Tommy Joe clenched his fists. One way or another he was
going to command his brother’s respect. “Love Lotions,” he said, hating to give
away Melanie’s idea. But what choice did he have? To take care of Melanie he
needed a bigger salary. His brother would hire him into a high-paying position
if he came through.

“Pardon me?”

“That’s the name of Melanie’s new product idea. Love
Lotions. A new line of erotic massage products.” Tommy Joe tried to swallow
away the hoarseness in his voice.

“Do you have any details?”

“No, that’s all she’s said so far. We were on the plane down
here when she came up with it.”

“Good. Keep me posted. I’ll put out a press release
announcing our new Love Lotions line.”

“But you don’t even know what will be in it!” Tommy Joe
protested.

“It doesn’t matter. You’ll get me the information. In
business you have to be first, Tommy Joe. You need to learn. Winners don’t
finish second.” His brother hung up.

Tommy Joe slammed down the phone. Winners should come up
with their own damned ideas. He was so sick of helping his brother build his
company by stealing other people’s ideas. If only his financial standards
weren’t so high. But he would do anything for his Melanie.

Chapter Five

“Welcome one and all to this year’s conference,
Sin-sational!”

Rob sat next to Tim as the clapping died down. He had waited
until the last minute to enter the room where the keynote speech was taking
place, burying himself in email. He could see no point in wasting time being
ribbed by his employees for striking out with Bombshell’s cousin. In Rob’s
opinion, you should never have to defend yourself to someone wearing a dog
collar.

“Let’s take a look into our past as we begin to build our
sin-sational future!” The speaker, a men’s magazine publisher, stepped back
from the podium as curtains were raised behind her to reveal a movie screen.
Scenes began to flash by,
Debbie Does Dallas
and
Deep Throat
among the other classics of porn. Rob only had eyes for LeatherWorks’ product
line as it was displayed on the screen, until a blonde wearing nothing but a
sin-red lipstick smile appeared on screen. She looked like Bombshell…or her
cousin! He couldn’t believe Bombshell had ever been in porn though. He’d known
her for years and she seemed to have no knowledge or interest in the industry.
But her cousin—well, she was here at the conference, wasn’t she?

He ruminated over this while the speaker continued her
presentation. “As we look to the future, we must also look to the past. As you
know, the Film Preservation Society has been working to restore and preserve
film classics. I ask you, can we do any less for the classics of our genre?”
Clapping and whistles from the crowd made the room shake.

The speaker clicked a button on the podium. Rob’s gaze was
glued to the screen as the blonde woman’s image appeared again on the screen
and was paused.

“
Techno Dreams
.” The clapping and catcalls resumed.
Speaking over the noise of the crowd with difficulty, the speaker continued.
“The master of this precious bit of our history has been damaged. As you know,
this film marked the debut of a young Anita Press, as well as the only known
performance of Honey Luscious, in a dark sci-fi fantasy.”

Anita Press? Rob was elated. Anita would know if Honey
Luscious were Bombshell’s cousin. How ironic. He could remember calling the
woman “honey” when they first met. A slip of the tongue? But he couldn’t
remember having seen Anita’s first movie—or most of them, for that matter.
Spanking had never done it for him and that had been her calling card since the
beginning of her career. Rob Black was all about the basics and what was wrong
with that? Statistics showed women have the most orgasms in the missionary
position.

“We need one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the
restoration of this movie,” the speaker said. “Dig deeply into your pockets,
everyone. This is our history here.”

Rob was surprised to see a collection plate, actually a bowl
formed to look like two perfect butt cheeks, passed around. He wondered if
Anita had come up with the idea. To his surprise, he found himself writing out
a check. Anita’s first movie was almost a treasure, if only because by the porn
world’s standards, she was a class act.

While the butt bowl was making its way around, the speaker
said, “Anita, will you please rise?” Thunderous applause rang out as Anita
stood, wriggled her famous derriere and kissed her hands to the crowd. “I just
wanted to remind you what we’d be losing if we don’t raise enough money.”

The speaker gamely continued through the catcalls. “I’ve
heard a rumor that Honey Luscious is here. I had been led to believe she had
lost touch with her friends in the business years ago, but could it be true?
Honey, are you with us?”

Rob craned his neck. Was she there? But no one stood.
Perhaps she was shy. Though it seemed unlikely, judging from the actions of the
confident girl up on screen. She was very athletic and had the cutest
heart-shaped mole low on her right hip. Rob wondered how he could get a look at
Bombshell’s cousin’s right hip. Surely it could be done. In his experience with
porn stars, it didn’t take much to get their clothes off. Since he seemed to be
holding model auditions, he might as well take advantage of the situation and
try to get Bombshell’s cousin to audition for him. If he offered enough
money…he shook his head. How crass could he get—and why did she fascinate him so?
If only he didn’t have such a weakness for sassy blondes. They made him horny.

Just then, he saw a flash of blonde hair on the right-sized
body at the back of the theater. Could it be her? He stood, with his hand over
his eyes. A roar went up from the crowd and a man pointed, but she was gone.

Melanie backed out of the theater. Once again, no one seemed
to be checking badges, so she had sidled up to the rear of the open doors in
the back and peered in, too curious to resist the keynote speech of a conference
named Sin-sational. People were clapping and there was some kind of movie
playing on a screen at the front, but she couldn’t see from this vantage point.
She had taken a step forward and caught her purple mule in the rug.

When she flipped her fine, long hair back out of her face,
she saw a man pointing at her. She backed away. Rats. She had been hoping to
get an idea of the hot trends among this crowd. Maybe even run her love lotions
idea by a few people and see if it had been done too many times before. It was
just her luck to be caught by some officious jerk again and this guy wasn’t
hot, but middle-aged and looked like a low-level accountant.

She walked back toward the elevators, stepping carefully.
These new shoes weren’t very practical. Maybe at twenty-eight she was too old
to be fashionable. In these low-rise jeans, she was afraid her butt crack would
show when she sat down. But this look was today’s sexy and she wouldn’t get any
loving without putting her goods out there in the socially approved way. She
reached out to hit the down button on the elevator.

A hairy arm reached out to grab hers. She flinched back.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I left my badge upstairs.” Lying again and this guy
wasn’t even cute enough to warrant an excuse. Nor did he wear the puke-colored
security guard uniform.

“Honey?” the man asked. “Honey? Is that really you? It’s me,
Harvey.”

What a jerk! It had sounded sexy when Adonis, aka The
Whipmaster, had called her that. She had to admit, as goofy as the actual words
were that came out of his mouth, the delivery in that deep, caramel voice of
his was out of the stratosphere.

“I’m sorry,” Melanie said with a frosty smile. “Do I know
you?” Maybe he was some guy she had dated in high school who had let himself go
so completely as to be unrecognizable. His dark hair hung greasily to his
shoulders and his plaid suit didn’t do anything to hide the sloppy bulk inside.

“I’m Harvey?” the man repeated, turning his name into a
question. “Harvey Stein? When I was talent I was Harvey Long. I worked with
you, remember?”

Melanie shook her head. “I think you’ve got the wrong
person.”

“No really,” the man said urgently. “Think of me ten years
and fifty pounds ago.”

“Ten years ago I was in college. I didn’t work.” Melanie
punched the elevator button again, as if it would come faster the more times
she pushed it.

“It was just the one time, I know. You came out of nowhere
and vanished.” He looked at her with admiration. “It’s like ten years never
passed, Honey. You’re just as beautiful as you were then.”

Melanie took a step back from the overeager and persistent
man. Another man was approaching and she looked to him with relief. Maybe he
would distract Harvey and she could get away. If only the elevator would come
already!

The man coming quickly toward them across the wild
neon-floral carpet was tall and thin, his body a mere hanger for his gray and
black-toned clothing. His thin lips twisted as he spoke. “So we meet again,
Honey.”

Did every porn person on the planet call women “honey” and
speak in cliches? “Listen, buster, I’m not your honey.”
Open, open, open
,
she chanted in her head at the elevator door.

“Don’t you sass, Honey. You owe me two grand.” The second
man pointed a long thin finger with a chewed cuticle at her. “Plus interest.”

Bewildered, she wondered if “Honey” was someone’s name. Who
was she? “I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

The tall man coughed in the disgusting, hacking way a
two-pack-a-day smoker does, his limp, gray hair drifting from its loose
ponytail. “Good try, you brat. But don’t think you can escape me so easy. You
came back and I’m not gonna lose track of you again until I get my money.”

Melanie looked around her. Harvey was still gazing at her
with cow eyes. No one else loitered nearby, though a line of people started to
emerge from the ballroom. She heard a ding and her knees nearly buckled with
relief. The elevator. She turned to it with anticipation but the tall man put
his leg in front of her. Backing up, she felt a soft, squishy something give
behind her. Whipping around, she saw Harvey grinning.

She tried to remember self-defense training. “Get away,” she
shouted. “Help!”

She saw the gladiator-guy whose foot she had stepped on
earlier lumbering toward her, ahead of a crowd of about fifty. “Can you help me
please?” she shouted.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” he said, starry-eyed as he came
up to her. “I had no idea it was you today. I’m sorry I yelled at you, Ms.
Luscious.”

“I’m really sorry I stepped on your foot,” Melanie said,
grateful that he seemed willing to help her, though the name he called her
meant nothing. A number of conference-goers had reached the elevators and
stepped in, ignoring their little drama despite the excitement she had caused
in these three men.

“No problem,” he grinned. “Can I shake your hand? Maybe some
of that Honey magic will rub off on me. I’m trying to break into the business.”

She shook her head. “I’m not Honey. These people are
mistaken.” She tried to move into the elevator before it closed but her arm was
grabbed again and she was jerked back against the tall man. The elevator door
shut.

“Don’t get involved, buster,” he said to the gladiator-guy,
spittle spraying from his mouth. “This bitch owes me money.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to put your hands on her,” the
gladiator-guy protested. Melanie wished he seemed more menacing, but he had
that “aw shucks”, just-off-the-bus feel to him. She hit the elevator button
again with her free arm.

“Do you know who I am?” the man asked.

Gladiator-guy shook his head.

“Drew Huntley,” he said, with impressive hauteur for someone
who looked like the Uriah Heep of the porn business.

Gladiator-guy drew back. Damn, Melanie thought. Now what?
This disgusting creep was someone important? Out of the corner of her eye, she
noticed that even Harvey had stepped back when Huntley announced his fearsome
name, though surely he had known the identity of the man before. It was as if a
super villain had removed the mask covering his evil, scarred face.

“I’m not Honey,” she repeated, trying to rip her arm out of
Huntley’s tight hold. She had a flash of insight and forced air into her
fear-constricted lungs. “Is anyone from LeatherWorks here?” she yelled. “Does
anyone know Tim from LeatherWorks?”

“What’s going on?”

The deep voice sent a shiver through Melanie. Her shiver
should have been from fear of this crazy situation becoming even worse, or from
the air-conditioned cold creating goose pimples on her bare arms, but it was
that voice. She had never been so thrilled to see an X-rated Mother Goose in
her life.

Adonis stepped from the crowd. He grinned. “So they caught
up to you?”

Melanie stared at him. He couldn’t be with them, could he?
How could someone so delicious be evil? “Where’s Tim?” she asked, her voice
hoarse. “I need him to tell this Huntley person who I am.”

“You’re Brisa’s cousin,” Adonis said in an amused, superior
tone and crossed his arms over his infuriatingly solid chest. She wondered if
he could feel his own nipples through his shirt.

Stop it, Melanie. You have more important things to focus
on. “That’s right!” She glared at Huntley. “He knows me. Let me go.” She tried
to jerk her arm away.

“I didn’t say you weren’t Honey Luscious,” Adonis said with
a smirk.

Honey Luscious? What kind of name was that? Melanie gave
herself a mental slap on the forehead. A porn name, what else? What was the
joke? Something about the name of your favorite superhero and your first pet?
If she had it correct, her name should be Electra Puddles, not Honey Luscious.
Melanie didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.

“Stop kidding around,” she said. “I don’t know these people.
It isn’t funny. This jerk says I owe him money.” Huntley tightened his painful
grip on her arm.

“Do you?”

“Of course not,” Melanie retorted. “I don’t owe anyone a
damn thing.”

“You have a short, convenient memory,” Huntley sneered.

Harvey piped up. “You were never very good with your money,
Honey. Maybe you just forgot you owed him. I remember you made enough money for
a Porsche doing featured dance spots in only two months, but you never even had
money for dinner.”

“What was this money for?” Adonis asked, pointing in an
authoritative way at Huntley.

“None of your business,” Huntley snapped.

“It is my business,” Adonis said calmly. “The lady brought
me into this affair.”

Harvey giggled. “She’s no lady.”

Melanie relaxed a little when she saw the dark stare Adonis
trained on Harvey. This Whipmaster exuded power and for once it wasn’t trained
on her. The little man took a step back, his hands palm out. Adonis was in
control.

“Well?” he asked.

“She broke her contract,” Huntley responded.

“I’ve never heard about that,” Harvey said. “She didn’t have
a contract for another movie. I remember us talking about it. Remember, Honey?”