The Pleasure Set Read online

  “And I assume that before you could verify that the check was unfunded, they wrote a check against that account.”

  “Yes. Within twenty minutes. But here’s the strange part. Rather than move the money to an account at another bank, someone else wrote a check against that same account. And guess what? They came in here to cash it.”

  “Well, it sure makes it easier when they actually appear in the bank to withdraw the cash.” Sandrine glanced at the paperwork. “Are they both on the tape?”

  “Yes. Plain as day.”

  “Have you seen them before?”

  “No.”

  Sandrine smiled kindheartedly and Laney smiled back. It was a little silly, but Laney felt safe around her. The detective regarded her intently and Laney grew warm inside. She took Sandrine to the back foyer where the security equipment was housed. Tapes were stacked on top of a metal box, one pile marked “Ready” and the other pile, “Recorded.” She reached to the side of the piles and pulled out a lone tape.

  “Here it is. As you must know, we insert a tape every day and keep two weeks’ worth, rotating them as we go. I had this one marked and the record tabs punched out so it wouldn’t get recorded over.”

  Sandrine was standing very close behind her. Laney had always considered Sandrine lovely, even fascinating. Now that she was single, she found being this close to Sandrine incredible. Her immediate proximity ignited a heat inside Laney, and a sudden desire flashed inside her. Her thighs twitched and she gulped down a breath. It would have been easy and natural to melt back into her, and Laney wanted to do just that. She closed her eyes, trying to quell these unprofessional feelings.

  What was going on? Had she suddenly unleashed her wanton libido onto the world? First Theresa had appeared in her life, and now Sandrine was standing right behind her, stealing any proper sense she had.

  Sandrine was here on business. And this was a public bank. For those reasons, and, admittedly, to buy herself a little time to allow her logic to return from its sudden departure, Laney had to restrain the feelings that had just flared up inside her. Instead of following her desire, she moved forward a little, then turned around to face Sandrine. That way, maybe her obvious longing wouldn’t be in extreme close-up.

  Sandrine stood there with a roguish expression. Laney was convinced Sandrine had read her body language correctly. But all Sandrine said was, “Let’s take a look at this tape, then.”

  *

  As Sandrine drove away from the police station parking lot just before six that night, she pondered why she had been in such a great mood all day. Granted, it was heart-rending to hear that Laney had ended her relationship with Judith. Breakups could be very difficult.

  Even though Laney had said it was for the better, she knew Laney’s heart had been hurt and she felt for her.

  Guiltily, she also felt hopeful about the change in Laney’s status. She had had a huge crush on Laney since the day they met. She had often thought about Laney and had carried quite a torch for her. Of course, it became apparent right away that Laney was in a relationship, but secretly, Sandrine often wondered what it would be like to have Laney’s heart. Sandrine’s previous lovers had all been dark with brown eyes, and she wasn’t sure why. But Laney certainly was not that type. Sandrine liked the golden blond hair that rested gently on Laney’s shoulders. And Sandrine had always been enthralled with Laney’s eyes, the color of tumbled blue sea glass. She imagined Laney to be a romantic lover and considerate partner, based on the way she interacted with her customers and employees.

  Sandrine’s recent dating history had not been satisfying. She hadn’t clicked with anyone on all levels. The women she dated were either beautiful but empty, or nice but too unlike her in personality to make a decent match. And the few relationships she had been in were disappointing.

  She had never been able to trust her lovers. Sadly, she understood the connection between the trauma of her mother’s abuse and the way she now distrusted people. The one person she needed to rely on to care for her, love her, and never leave her had abused her, seemed to hate her, and eventually abandoned her. A seed of despair had been growing in Sandrine’s soul since then—the knowledge that she had developed the ability to pick women who lied and misled her. Her first couple of lovers had crushed her heart like her mother had. And though she hadn’t given up trying, she hadn’t found anyone who could challenge her conviction.

  The woman she was currently dating was nice enough, but like it had been with all the others, Sandrine couldn’t ease up on the gut feeling that made her suspicious of the woman’s intent. She and Felicia had been seeing each other for about a month. Felicia had deep mahogany skin and eyes and was tall, with broad shoulders and wide, sexy hips. As a real-estate broker, she was very motivated and full of energy, and Sandrine liked the time they spent together. They hadn’t slept together yet, but they might.

  So would that change now that Laney was single? Sandrine had a fairly practical view of dating. It didn’t necessarily mean with only one person at a time, which was probably the best way to sort things out, but, with limitations, dating more than one person could also work. She just didn’t like the possible drama. Clear lines of communication were always crucial. Nevertheless, things could get sticky.

  Felicia was open to dating others while they were going out, and they had agreed to tell each other if they had slept with, or were planning to sleep with, someone else.

  Quickly Sandrine’s thoughts returned to Laney. A bolt of excitement raced through her as she pictured Laney at the bank just hours earlier.

  When Laney took her to the security equipment, she could have sworn Laney was attracted to her. Once, Laney froze, seemingly disconnected from the business at hand and tuned in to Sandrine’s presence right behind her. Sandrine believed that desire swept through Laney because of the way she stood there, breathing deeply, seeming almost afraid to turn around. And when she did, her beautiful features were flushed with something that looked like longing.

  Sandrine wanted to kiss her right then. Without a doubt, that would have been the wrong thing to do. She was there on business, but the desire had still gripped her.

  She turned from Santa Monica Boulevard onto Laurel Avenue and drove the one block north toward her house, all the while hoping that Laney would go out with her but not wanting to push anything so soon after Judith’s departure.

  Sandrine didn’t want to be a rebound. However, even if they did date, many of her own trust issues and fears would probably come up and she might bolt. And, given that possibility, she hesitated to start anything. But she so much wanted Laney to be the one she could finally depend on.

  If Laney would accept a date, Sandrine would be as careful as possible. The chance to be with Laney was too wonderful and too important to screw up. But would her old demons return to obliterate any opportunity with her?

  Chapter Six

  While the thought of a hot bath and early bedtime tempted Laney all day, she succumbed to Theresa’s invitation to meet the girls at the Tire Store.

  By eleven o’clock, she was with ten women in the Queen’s Salon and five others were out in the customer lounge. Dance music pounded from the sound system, and the extraordinarily large plasma TV played a strange movie showing mostly nude women at a party in a lavish mansion. Some wore leather collars attached to leashes that other women held. They all had seductive smiles, and Laney couldn’t keep her eyes off the screen as an orgy slowly began to unfold.

  She was slouched down in a thick, comfy couch next to Kay Kitterman, who was stoned on something. Nudging Kay, Laney said, “Did you know we’re called the Pleasure Set?”

  “We’re called a lot of things.” Kay slurred her words, her eyes set in happy slits. “Bitches, nefarious nymphs, whores.” Her voice trailed off to a murmur.

  “My ex used the term as if it were a terrible thing.”

  Kay shrugged. “I dunno. It’s just a name. People are always jealous. We’re in, they’re out. Out, looking
in.”

  Theresa wandered over and sat down on Laney’s other side.

  “Naked women floating on rafts in a pool with sushi on their stomachs,” Laney said aloud. “And other women being pulled around by their collars. Doesn’t this seem a bit depraved?”

  Theresa sighed indifferently. “It’s a Hollywood tradition.”

  “The Oscars, now that’s a tradition. This one, I never knew about.”

  “It’s a statement about the empowerment of women. When men make women wear collars or lie around naked, they’re treating them like objects or whores, making them feel powerless. But look closely at these women. Do they seem powerless?”

  Laney continued to watch the movie. It became apparent that the collar-bound women were managing themselves quite well.

  Theresa’s leg was pressed into Laney’s, and with the movie she was watching, coupled with the heat of Theresa’s thigh against hers, Laney’s head swirled and she began to get aroused.

  “In an S-and-M situation,” Theresa continued, “who do you think is really in control?”

  From her other side, Kay giggled and squirmed, but Laney was too absorbed in what she was seeing and hearing to care. “The dominated ones?”

  “Yes. Those women have power,” Theresa said. “Look at how they’re controlling their activities. And another thing, they’re more powerful than you or I as we sit here right now. We’re hiding behind our clothes. They’re standing there, lying there, saying, ‘Fuck you for your shame, I’m not hiding. I’m wearing my power proudly.’ Do you feel sorry for those women?”

  Laney stared at the screen. One collared woman was on top of her leash-holder, grinding her pelvis in slow gyrations while the other looked up in yielding ecstasy. “No.”

  “They certainly command our attention, don’t they, Laney?”

  Laney nodded.

  “Power and control. Like I said, it’s a Hollywood tradition, honey. But not all power and control comes from men in suits.”

  *

  Tuesday and Wednesday were busy days at the bank, made more difficult because of Laney’s recent late nights. She was out until four a.m. Monday night at the Tire Store, and then on Tuesday night, when Morgan Donnelly and some of the women took over the back room of the Equinox, they talked about new business ideas until the sun began to rise over the streets of Hollywood. Morgan had said Theresa was busy being a wife that night, but she and the rest made sure that Laney had an exceptionally productive time.

  The prospect of becoming involved in some of their business ventures sounded very inviting. What Laney lacked in creative thinking, she could certainly make up for in financial expertise.

  Quarterly bank financial reports were due, and Laney would be spending hours reviewing the details. She struggled through lunch, realizing, when her stomach rumbled, that it had been a week since she’d had lunch with Hillary. With the way her inbox was filling up, however, it might be another week before she saw clear to grab a bite with her best friend.

  But she really wanted to talk to Hillary. Things were moving along with Theresa in a way Laney hadn’t expected. She thought Theresa was hot and was definitely attracted to her, but she never imagined that Theresa might return the interest. Not that she had, exactly. But their conversation about the porn film Monday night hadn’t felt like their usual run-of-the-mill chats. While Theresa hadn’t touched her with more than a thigh against hers, Laney had become remarkably aroused.

  Then again, after four years of living with Judith, a pedicure would arouse her.

  They were growing close, but Laney couldn’t tell if Theresa was just being friends or was interested in her.

  Would she pursue a straight woman? She’d never considered it. Though Laney admitted that she was a bit sheltered, she knew those kinds of things happened. And people had sex without being in relationships all the time. The thought of sex with Theresa populated her thoughts. It had to be nothing short of amazing. Theresa was confident and strong and poised. And she was astonishing as well as commanding. Laney had never been with anyone like what she imagined Theresa to be—a sexual tiger that would take Laney and devour her for dinner.

  Wait! Where the hell is this train of thought going? Theresa’s married. Just calm the hell down and enjoy the new friends you’re making.

  Kelly broke into her fantasies. “Phone call on line two.”

  “Laney, it’s Theresa.”

  The three words sent a buzz of excitement through Laney. “Theresa, hello.” She hadn’t expected the phone call.

  “I will not take no for an answer. Be ready at ten tonight. I’m coming by to pick you up.”

  Laney laughed. “Where are we going?”

  “It’s not so much where we’re going as what we’ll be doing.”

  “So, what will we be doing?”

  “Fucking the system.”

  Theresa hung up. Momentarily surprised and confused, Laney shook her head and said to herself, “I have absolutely no idea how to dress for fucking the system.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mug shots of three Hondurans stared back at Sandrine. The two women scowled at the camera, and the man, looking more disheveled than the others, appeared uninterested.

  So these were the bad guys who had tried to kite checks at Laney’s bank. Sandrine was happy they had been able to identify these people. They had achieved justice swiftly, and she would be able to see Laney sooner to tell her of the outcome of the investigation.

  Rocking back and forth in her squeaky chair, she wondered whether Laney would accept an invitation to dinner. She might, but Sandrine didn’t want to appear pushy. However, it was just dinner, so hopefully Laney would say yes. The energy generated between them at the bank, even though unacknowledged, was palpable. Sandrine didn’t think she misread anything, though Laney might not be interested in that way. Or she could already be dating someone else. Or others. She certainly was single now and unquestionably attractive.

  But after a number of years of thinking about Laney and considering every time she visited the bank a high point of her day, Sandrine didn’t want to miss an opportunity to get to know her better.

  She hadn’t been with anyone on a deep, serious level in two years. Her last relationship had been good for a while, but when her lover deceived her, too many painful memories of childhood emerged. All her dates since then had been pleasant but unfulfilling. Not a single woman had caused her heart to say yes.

  Laney, however, was different because Sandrine had been able to spend a lot of time getting to know her without the possibility of dating her. She now considered her a great businesswoman and a kind friend.

  Everything she knew about Laney encouraged Sandrine. It was time to exorcise the loathing she had suffered at the hands of her mother and the bad memories that haunted and manipulated her. If she pledged her heart to someone once more, especially if it could be Laney, she would go all the way.

  She would call her tomorrow and ask her out. Hopefully she would say yes.

  *

  The huge black Suburban drove down the Hollywood freeway with Laney and several other women from the Pleasure Set inside. It exited at Gower Boulevard, traveled south, and turned into Kingdom Crossing Studios.

  The Suburban rolled up to the guard gate at the entrance. Laney and five others watched as Morgan waved some credentials out the window. Security promptly let them in.

  They parked on the studio’s back lot, by old Western movie sets and the southernmost soundstages, and piled out of the car. Theresa carried some manila envelopes while the rest carried bottles of Cristal and Dom Perignon, and Morgan led them into a darkened soundstage. As Morgan fumbled around with the huge door and a few women chuckled and giggled, Theresa rested her hand gently on Laney’s shoulder. The door swung open suddenly and brilliant lights came on inside, revealing the elaborate sets of a motion picture obviously in production.

  “What movie is this?” Laney asked.

  Kay Kitterman led them toward the first set. �
�This is Rance’s new motion picture. He’s starring with that bitch he’s fucking around with.”

  When they got to the set, Morgan switched two klieg lights on. Laney took in the room, which appeared to be part of a trendy New York apartment. A big picture window looked out onto a huge still photograph of the New York skyline.

  As Theresa, Morgan, and Laney sat on the couch, the others pulled up chairs and they formed a small circle in the middle of the set.

  Morgan drank from a bottle of Cristal. “Welcome, ladies, to our newest, if only temporary, office.”

  Kay guffawed. “May our success be better than Rance’s. And I’m gonna dump his cheating ass after he wraps this movie.”

  Laney smiled and turned to Theresa to share in the amusement, but Theresa was frowning at Kay. What an odd reaction. Did Theresa disapprove of the breakup? Laney was about to ask when Morgan tapped Laney’s knee with the bottle. Laney accepted it, took a long swig, and gave it back to Morgan. “So this is fucking the system?”

  Theresa nodded. “It’s doing whatever we can think of that’s against the rules of those in power—our husbands, boyfriends, whomever. We’re not supposed to be here but we make ourselves at home anyway. The system says you can’t do this or that, and we say ‘fuck you.’”

  Morgan added, “Cindy Marrans took us to Universal Studios a few weeks ago. She’s a studio executive there, and her husband is on the board of directors. In the middle of the night we snuck up to the Psycho house to smoke a little dope. The challenge was figuring out a way to get around security and not get caught.”

  “Why do you all do that?” Laney said.

  Theresa answered as if it was obvious. “Because we can.”

  Kay laughed. “Another time Theresa got us into the L.A. Superior Court at night and we partied on the judge’s stand.”