Pleasure Workers Read online

  Back of the Book

  Alex Cortez is accomplished at two things, fixing broken equipment and pleasuring women. She is happily doing both at the Ranch in Nevada until she involves herself in a domestic dispute between one of her clients and her abusive husband. Now Alex finds herself on the run...again.

  Danna Nichols, newly widowed, feels lost and alone. When her good friend Lindy invites her to check out the newly established Trophy Wives Club, it awakens dormant feelings and desires. Danna challenges herself to find out who she really is and what she wants in life and love.

  The first time she sees Alex, there is an attraction she can’t define, wants to explore, and can’t resist. The two form a bond under unlikely circumstances. Will the challenges of their social status tear them apart before they can enjoy the pleasures of their new love?

  Pleasure Workers

  © 2019 by Annette Mori

  Affinity E-Book Press NZ LTD.

  Canterbury, New Zealand

  1st Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-98-858825-4

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form without the express permission of the author and publisher. Please note that piracy of copyrighted materials violates the author’s rights and is illegal.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Editor: Angela Koenig

  Proof Editor: Alexis Smith

  Cover Design: Irish Dragon Designs

  Production Design: Affinity Publication Services

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, thanks to Ali Spooner for agreeing to this collaboration and allowing me to add to her Trophy Wives Club story. Ali is a delight to work with and I always appreciate any opportunity I have to work with such a talented author. A huge thank you to all of my beta readers: Gail Dodge, Carrie Camp, Ameliah Faith, Dana Holmes, Elle Hyden, Gayle Teller and Maria Siopsis who made great suggestions to improve the initial draft. As always, I have to acknowledge Erin O’Reilly who is a constant support and encouragement to me. I am honored to call her a friend and have her support me in my journey.

  I would also like to express my gratitude to Affinity Rainbow Publications and the wonderful trio (JM Dragon, Erin O'Reilly and Nancy Kaufman) who continue to provide feedback to tighten up manuscripts that need assistance and publish my unconventional work. I am eternally grateful for the opportunities they give me to let my stories see the light of day. My other family members who are also very supportive, include my nephew, Aaron and his wife, Chelsea, my older sister Val, and my father who struggles to read my books with one eye. I always enjoy working with the beta editor Nancy Kaufman who helped tighten our stories.

  Thanks to Angela Koenig for her magic as the final editor to tighten the story even further. She is a delight to work with. Inevitably, there are those pesky final errors that slip through and I am thankful that the final proof editor, Alexis Smith, caught those before the book went to print. Thanks to Nancy Kaufman for the final cover. Nancy is also a promoter extraordinaire. A huge thanks to all the other readers and fellow writers who have sent personal e-mails, written reviews and posted nice things on Facebook (you know who you are). The Affinity authors are an especially supportive group and often share posts or send words of encouragement. Finally, my wife, Jody, continues her support even when it interferes with our time.

  Dedication

  To Ali Spooner who is the absolute best writing partner and person to collaborate with. And, as always, to my beautiful wife who I love with all my heart.

  Also by Annette Mori

  A Window to Love

  The Book Witch

  The Book Addict

  The Dream Catcher

  Free to Love with Ali Spooner

  Unconventional Lovers

  The Organization with Erin O’Reilly

  Captivated

  The Termination

  The Review

  The Ultimate Betrayal

  Locked Inside

  Out of This World

  Asset Management

  The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Elves in Love

  (Affinity 2014 Christmas Collection)

  Love Forever, Live Forever

  The True Story of Valentine’s Day

  Vampire Pussy...Cat

  Nicky’s Christmas Miracle X3

  (It’s in Her Kiss, Affinity’s Charity Anthology)

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books from Affinity

  Chapter One

  Alejandra Cortez stood on the edge of the dusty side road, coughing as dirt invaded her lungs. The wind kicked up the particles that tickled her airway as they weaved their way inside. Covering her mouth with her hand, she made a vain attempt to keep the tiny intruders from taking over. She squinted at the distant truck rolling down the sparsely traveled lane. Maybe she’d catch a break and the truck would take her a fair distance down the road. She wasn’t sure what direction she should go, but east sounded as good as any other. Certainly, that would be far away from border patrols or anyone who hated Mexicans. An increasing number of people saw her and her family as a blight on their pristine white land.

  Alejandra didn’t feel like her name ever fit her. As soon as she earned the right to make a stand, she’d declared to her parents her preference for Alex. That name seemed to fit a whole lot better for reasons she’d never shared with her very Catholic parents. When she was growing up, her mama had wanted her to learn a more fitting vocation than handywoman, something more suited to a woman, like nursing or teaching. Both were professions that contributed to society. Alex tried to remind her mama that even if she managed to get an education, she couldn’t possibly work for a hospital or a school without a valid social security card. The real reason was she didn’t have an affinity to medicine or education, but preferred to follow her papa around and learn all about fixing things. Papa was her hero. Juan could fix everything. He could do anything. She wanted to be just like her papa and she was good at it too. She took to plumbing, electrical, painting, and all manner of machinery, like a duck to water. Her mama had given up well before Alex hit puberty and seemed resigned to what was clearly Alex’s preference.

  The wind kicked up again and the dirt swirled around her, causing another round of uncontrolled coughing. As the truck approached and pulled onto the shoulder, the dirt tornado expanded. Her need to expel the foreign material from her lungs took on a new level of desperation. She was a desperate woman with no job, very little money, and no idea where to go. Not that she’d collected very much while living in Nevada, but for the second time in less than a year, she’d had to go on the run with little more than what she could carry in a pack on her back. A memory surfaced from the last conversation she’d had with her papa. Alex liked giving her papa shit, so she’d joked with him on the afternoon right before everything came crashing down around her family and forced her into her current situation. That had been nearly eight long months ago.

&nbsp ; Her papa kept blowing his nose and complaining loudly as he tinkered with the small motor Old Man Hartford had brought in for him to fix.

  “Hey, Papa, you should really find some triactin.” Alex handed her papa a small screwdriver, anticipating his need.

  “Triactin?” Her papa scrunched his face. “Is that a new remedy, Mija?”

  “Uh huh.” Alex laughed. “Try acting like a man.” She leaned back and held her stomach while laughing without restraint.

  “Very funny, Mija. You should become comedian and stop following your old papa. You not laugh so hard if you catch this cold from me.”

  “Sorry, Papa. I couldn’t resist. Mama always says how much the men complain when they get a tiny sniffle and how the women endure so much more. She says that’s because it is expected of us.”

  “True, your mama endure a lot to bring your enormous body into world. At nine pounds, I thought surely she give me a son.”

  “Do you regret she could only give you one child and it was a girl?”

  Juan reached over to pat Alex. “Never. You my pride and joy. So beautiful and talented. You take over family business when I die. It will expand. You not make the mistakes I have. I do not have good judge of character like you and mama.”

  Alex sobered quickly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t handle all the work. I wish you didn’t have to hire anyone else and then we wouldn’t need to trust someone outside of the family.”

  Juan shrugged. “Price of success and fulfilling American dream.”

  “I suppose.”

  The truck skidded to a stop and Alex brought her face to the passenger side window as she peered in. The gapped-tooth smile of a man with a deeply lined face studied her. He seemed harmless enough. Besides, at nearly six feet tall with well-defined muscles, Alex could easily fight her way out of a tight situation if she needed to. The man looked like a strong wind could blow him over, but it was always the small wiry ones she’d had to watch out for. The men who knew a hard day’s work and spent the day in the hot sun were not to be taken lightly. Even though the owner of this beat-up jalopy appeared to be in his 70s, he was one of those hard-working types she’d known from hanging around her papa’s friends. Most of the men worked the farms. She made a split-second decision and tossed her ratty old pack into the back of the open truck.

  “Where ya headed, young man?”

  “East.” Alex wasn’t about to correct his error. Sometimes she was mistaken for a guy. She could live with that, especially if it kept the assholes from hitting on her. She lifted her baseball cap off her head and pushed her fingers through the perspiration that had collected in her short thick locks.

  When she pulled on the silver handle to open the door, the truck groaned and squawked at her, almost as if trying to communicate that, like its owner, she was old and this sprite young’un ought to treat her with gentleness and care. Folding her tall lean body inside, Alex cautiously closed the heavy door and winced at the loud clang. The vinyl seats were covered with gray duct tape in an attempt to patch up the numerous cracks and tears in the upholstery. No air conditioning. Well, beggars couldn’t be choosy.

  “Thanks for the ride. However far you can take me is fine with me.”

  The old man’s eyes narrowed as Alex pulled the seat belt across her chest. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you was a fella. I suppose I shoulda looked closer. You sure don’t have a man’s face or uh, body.” He coughed. “You ain’t got nothing to worry about though. Been married to my wife for nearly sixty wonderful years. You know you shouldn’t be out here hitchhiking. There’s a lot of crazy people running around in the world today. Some that ain’t so nice.”

  He offered his words of wisdom and Alex thought there was something sweet about him. She knew how shitty some men and women could be. This wasn’t the first time someone had mistaken her for a boy, albeit a pretty boy, they had said. She’d gotten her full lips and high delicate cheekbones from her mama. Her papa had contributed her smoldering brown eyes that some had described as bedroom eyes. She was glad to have inherited them from her papa. Many a woman had fallen prey to her expressive eyes.

  The low rumble of the engine played in the background instead of music as the old man pulled his ancient truck onto the rough road. Alex noticed a large hole where a radio may have resided long ago. She settled in as the engine’s sound lulled her with the familiarity of riding inside an old jalopy.

  “I’m pretty good at taking care of myself. Been doing it for a while now.” The reality was that she hadn’t always taken care of herself. She’d depended a whole lot on her family. It wasn’t until she had to go on the run that life had handed her a crash course in how to be an adult. Before that she’d led a sheltered life in her sleepy little town, following her papa around and taking the evening meals with her mama and papa. She hadn’t even felt the need to move out of her family home.

  “Name’s Henry,” he grunted. His cheeks looked like an alien was moving around inside, before he turned his head toward the open window and spit out a sunflower seed.

  “Alex.”

  Henry shook his head. “Just like my granddaughter. Had a perfectly good name, but said Georgiana don’t fit her. Makes us call her George. I don’t like it much cause it makes me think of those Bushes from Texas.” He cackled. “You a lesbian, too?”

  Alex raised her eyebrow. “If I answer honestly, will you still give me a ride?”

  “Course. Love my granddaughter. She can’t help how she was born. God don’t make mistakes, ya know.”

  Alex smiled. “In that case, yeah.”

  Henry eased his truck back onto the road. “You single?”

  Alex laughed. “Why? Is your granddaughter?”

  “As a matter of fact, she is. But you ain’t her type. She likes em a bit frillier. You know, them lipstick lesbians.”

  “Too bad. I don’t have a type. I like them in all shapes, sizes, and styles. Never met a woman I didn’t appreciate.”

  Henry grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds. “Me too and then my wife tamed my wild side. When you meet the right one, she becomes your type for life.” Nodding, he shoved the seeds into his mouth. He pointed at the bag, offering some as they traveled along the road kicking up more dust.

  Alex declined his offer. “If you don’t mind me asking, how far can you take me?”

  “How far you need to go to get away from whatever you’re running from?”

  Alex stiffened in her seat. “A couple of hours on this road should do it. Maybe to a truck stop where I might be able to catch a longer ride. How’d you know?”

  “I been on this planet for a lot of years. I reckon I know about stuff sometimes. It’s the way people look around or carry themselves. I can tell when someone’s a good person and hasn’t had a fair shake in life. Never been wrong before and I don’t ’spect I’m wrong now. I got just the place to drop you off. I might even know a trucker who will give you that lift.”

  “Thanks, Henry. You remind me a little of my papa. Maybe my luck is changing and this is a sign.”

  Alex turned away and looked out the open window. She didn’t want Henry to see the tear that had formed and think she was soft or something. She suspected he knew but ignored her sudden flash of emotion. Yes, he was a lot like her papa. She was going to find a way to bring them back, no matter what it took. She figured Henry might see the resolution in the setting of her jaw, so she forced herself to relax and smiled at him.

  †

  Holy shit. Henry screeched into the truck stop, his tires leaving their mark along with the pungent smell of burning rubber.

  “Henry, I still have a lot of years ahead of me. Are you trying to kill us?” Alex placed her hands on the dash bracing herself as the truck skidded to a stop.

  Henry pulled on the door and jumped out. “Come on, Alex, Rosie’s getting ready to leave. Guess I got to jabbering too much and lost track of time.” He began running toward an eighteen-wheeler starting to ease out of the parking space the big rig had recently oc cupied. He was waving his hands madly in the air.

  Alex thought for an old man, he was very quick. She was afraid the truck couldn’t see him as the sky was growing darker. She jumped quickly out of Henry’s old beater and joined him in his waving routine. She winced when she heard the squealing brakes. A minute later a compact woman with short-cropped salt-and-pepper hair jumped down from the cab. She placed her hands on her hips and frowned.

  Alex didn’t ever like to feed into stereotypes, but diesel dyke was what popped into her head and she mentally chastised herself. For an older woman, she was certainly attractive enough, but then again as Alex had told Henry, she didn’t have a type. All women were appealing to her. Nothing compared to the sheer beauty of a woman reaching climax as she threw her head back in pure ecstasy. Alex lived for those moments, although she’d had to discover those opportunities outside of the tiny town where she’d grown up and lived most of her life before she went on the run.

  “What the hell, Henry. I almost mowed you down,” the woman said. As if the woman all of a sudden registered there was another person standing next to Henry, her eyes roamed across Alex’s body. Alex felt like the woman was leaving no stone unturned as she checked out every inch of Alex’s tall frame. Her eyes spent a few extra seconds on Alex’s breasts and then a slow smile emerged on her face. “Who’s your friend, Henry?”

  “This is Alex. She’s a sweet young gal who needs a ride east. I didn’t want her accepting a ride from some low life, so I thought you might give her a lift.”

  “I sure can. Come on, sweet thing. Grab your bag and I can take you as far as Atlanta. Name’s Rosie.” She took several steps closer and held out her hand. “Very pleased to meet ya.”

  “Um, I sure am appreciative of the ride, ma’am, but can you not call me sweet thing? I’m a bit more sour than sweet.” Alex took Rosie’s hand.