Sweet as Candy - Karla Doyle Page 0,7

be easy to-to…” Ginger hair fell over Adrienne’s face as she lowered her head. “Maybe I should just quit.”

“Maybe you should.” Candy nodded toward the door when Adrienne’s head snapped up and their gazes met. “I don’t say that to be mean. But you should know right now, upfront, the money is good, but earning it isn’t easy.”

“I’m sorry, Candy. I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t.”

“I’m not offended, just giving you the truth because I think you need to hear it. Our last receptionist was awesome and I miss her like crazy, but she didn’t realize that working out front was a temporary, introductory phase of the job. If this is where you want to work, I’ll teach you the ropes. All the ins and outs, literally. But be sure it’s what you want to do—or, at least, what you’re prepared to do—because time is money, and I don’t appreciate having mine wasted.”

“I need to be able to do what you do. I need the money.”

Nothing new about that. That’s why Candace had taken the job three years ago. That’s why all the women worked here. She walked around the massage table and hopped up, patting the space beside her.

Adrienne moved forward stiffly, awkwardly joining Candace on the freshly covered table.

“Look, it’s not all horrible. Especially once you get some regulars who treat you like a human being, not just a random collection of holes. Plus, most days, we have time to shoot the shit and make each other laugh. At the end of our shifts, we take home good cash. Addictively good cash.”

“That’s what I need. I’m so broke.”

“I get it, I’ve been there.” She gave the new girl a solid once-over. “You’ve got that fresh-off-the-honor-roll look that’s going to appeal to a lot of guys. Put on a kilt that barely covers your ass and tie a white shirt just below your boobs and every guy harboring a schoolgirl fantasy will come running. You’ll be as busy as you want to be, but you need to find your inner steel, and fast. No matter what persona we choose to show our clients, the women who work here need to have bigger balls than the men we service.”

“I’ll try.”

“I hate to sound like Yoda here, but in this business, there isn’t much room for ‘try.’ You can do it or you can’t. You’ll know soon enough which one it is.” Candy squeezed Adrienne’s fidgety hand. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?”

The girl’s eyes opened wider than Candy would’ve thought possible. “Oh, yes. There’s a guy out front asking for you.”

“Shit,” she said, hopping off the table. “You should’ve told me that right away.”

“Sorry, I—”

Candy’s raised hand halted whatever else the new girl might’ve said. “Time is money, remember? Go give your sweet little apology to the customer while you’re showing him back here to my room.”

“I’m on it,” Adrienne said, practically stumbling over her feet to get out the door. “Be right back.”

Newbies. Candace shook her head. Experience told her Adrienne wouldn’t last the week. Part of her envied the girl’s inevitable failure.

She ducked into the attached bathroom to apply fresh lipstick and adjust her boobs for maximize cleavage.

If he’d requested her, the guy in the lobby had to be a return client. Thank God for that. She knew what to expect with her regulars. Even when they mixed things up and asked for something different, it was still more comfortable than feeling out somebody new. Or getting felt up by somebody new, such as her last customer, whose sweaty palms had squeezed her boobs with more gusto than necessary. At least he’d only been interested in her upper body. Hopefully it stayed that way if he came back for another round.

At the sound of Adrienne’s stammering, Candace moved toward the doorway. A deep, male voice answered the girl’s repeated apologizing, telling her not to worry about it.

Candace couldn’t put a face to the voice, but it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar either. She’d find out who he was soon enough.

She took a few steps back and struck a pose. Chin tilted down and head slightly angled, one leg in front of the other, arms at her sides with both hands braced on the edge of the massage table, boobs thrust subtly forward. A pinch demure and a whole lot sexy, without being completely raunchy. Her persona of choice here at Lucky’s.

“Come on in,” she said, at the light rap of knuckles on wood.

The