Falling Hard (Billionaires in Disguise: Lizzy, #1) (3 page)

A groan creaked from the bed. Georgie rifled
the closet for a second as they passed by.

In their own bedroom, Georgie shut the
bathroom door behind them. Their rooms had framed art nailed to the
walls, not tacked-up tacky stuff. Georgie flipped on their stereo
system with a click from the remote. Music cascaded from the tiny
Bose speakers screwed into the corners of the ceiling, covering
their voices.

Georgie stood right next to Lizzy, demanding
in a harsh whisper, “What in the name of all that is holy did you
just do?”

There was no freaking way that Lizzy was
backing down from this. “I’m helping her.”

“You’re getting her hopes up when you have no
right to. It’s unkind.”

“Not if we prepare her. We’ll have a
Devilhouse cram session in the car. We can turn her into a
first-rate courtesan in an hour. It’s not frickin’ rocket
science.”

“You know how she grew up,” Georgie said.
“She’s barely twenty-one. The Dom is going to chew her up and spit
her out. Actually, I don’t think he’s going to get that far. If she
manages to get an interview, he’s going to take one look at her
application and laugh her out of that office. We have some
experience in life. A girl like Rae, and I do mean a
girl,
can’t handle what we do.”

“She has dreams. She has ambitions beyond
what she can pay for. She’s
exactly
the kind of person that
The Dom hires, other than the weirdly sheltered thing.” Lizzy said.
“She deserves a chance.”

“It’s not kind,” Georgie repeated. “We should
march in there right now and tell her that we are indeed heartless
bitches, that we were kidding her, and that there is no job that
pays two thousand dollars a week.”

“Give her a chance,” Lizzy said. “We’ll do
this one step at a time. Let’s talk to The Dom about getting her
into the party tonight and get her some clothes.”

“You know that if she screws up, it reflects
badly on us. I need this job. There is no way that I could pay for
undergrad or law school without it. Getting fired would be the end
for me, and for you, too.”

Lizzy knew. “She just needs some money to
finish college. That autism clinic of hers is a pretty cool
idea.”

Georgie scowled. “We could just give her the
money.”

“Do you really think she would take it?” Rae
insisted on paying for her own drinks when they went out,
calculating tax to the penny, even though they all knew that she
was scrimping and they weren’t.

Well, they
were,
but they were
scrimping to save their money.

Georgie rolled her eyes. “No.”

“And if she works at The Devilhouse, she
could actually save enough seed money to start it. There’s no way
in Hell that we could give her that much.” It wouldn’t be even
close, even if Lizzy and Georgie drained their accounts.

“Yeah. There’s no way we could do that,”
Georgie admitted.

“So yank that stick out of your butt and
let’s help her.”

Georgie smoothed her hair back to her braid.
“Okay. Fine. If we’re going to do this, then we need to do it
right. I’ll talk to The Dom. You’re still too weird around
him.”

Lizzy nodded. “I’ll get a dress.”

Georgie’s lips were pressed thin. “She’s a
size eight. There isn’t much in those middle sizes. Do your
best.”

Just before the girls walked out their front
door, they both kissed their fingers and smacked their bank
statements pinned to the wall beside the door for luck.

Lizzy stood on the street corner with her
black pumps dangling from two fingers. The university’s auditorium,
a round building like a giant’s grandiose wedding cake with sloppy
loops of frosting, spilled its shadow at her. She edged toward the
street, staying in the sunlight and keeping her feet on the warm
cement and out of the cold shadow. Even in the middle of the
Sonoran desert and far from the Nor’easter snowstorms where Lizzy
had grown up, it was still the last week of February and quite cool
in the shade.

A black town car with deeply tinted windows
pulled into the parking lot and stopped in front of Lizzy. She
grabbed the handle and leaned back to open the heavy door.

“Thanks!” she called to the driver, some
white guy she didn’t know, as she slid into the car and hauled the
car door shut. She yanked her short gold skirt down over her thighs
and slipped her shoes on.

Georgie was already in the back seat, as she
had been picked up first in the shopping center’s parking lot. A
little subterfuge was necessary to keep things quiet. Lizzy’s
night-blooming jasmine perfume mixed with Georgie’s sexy spices and
lady musk.

“Where’s Rae?” Lizzy asked.

“She’s next.” Georgie tugged the long skirt
of her crimson dress that flowed onto the floor. “Still time to
tell her to take a hike.”

“It’s on my head,” Lizzy said. “I’ll slip
away and talk to The Dom and tell him it was all my idea.”

“Too late,” Georgie said. “I already took
credit for this fiasco.”

“If it goes south, I’ll tell him that I roped
you into it.”

“Or we can make sure that it doesn’t go
south.”

“Even better idea,” Lizzy said. “Plan?”

“I’ll prep her and feed her all the
information we have on The Dom. We’ve got to make her wary of him.
She can’t go into this all giggly. We can’t let her get toasted, no
matter how depressed she is about stats.” Georgie chucked her chin
at Lizzy. “You sex her up.”

Lizzy’s mouth dropped open. “No way.
Rae?”

“Yup. Put on your Lezzy Lizzy act for her
tonight. Rae needs a good head of steam heading in there. She can’t
be under the influence of Hester the Repressor. Get her going. You
don’t have to do anything with her, just get her feeling sexy.”

Lizzy grunted a laugh. “Or she might jump out
of the car.”

“In that case, our problem is solved. I don’t
know, though. When she’s out from Hester’s influence, Rae can get a
little wild. She’s a little more toward the center of the Kinsey
scale than she thinks she is.”

Well, Georgie had such highly developed
gaydar that she was a sex psychic. They joked that, if this whole
law school thing fell through, she could open up a palmistry shop,
spelled
The Psex Psychic,
of course. “Okay. I’ll try.”

The black town car drove into the parking lot
and rolled to stop beside Rae. The silver-spangled mermaid dress
hugged Rae’s curves just like Lizzy had thought it would. Her
curled auburn hair shone in the setting sun like forge-hot bronze.
Lizzy smiled. Rae might catch The Dom’s eye, all right. Now they
just had to prep her to catch his interest.

Lizzy shoved open the car door for Rae, but
she stepped back toward the dusty cars in the parking lot.

“Come on!” Lizzy peered out of the dark car.
The sunlight pouring from the sky and reflecting off Rae’s silver
dress dazzled her eyes. “Time to go!”

Lizzy scooted to the middle to make room. As
the short one, she always ended up in the middle of the back seat
with her feet on the hump. Tall people always looked even more
uncomfortable, so she didn’t mind.

Rae stepped into the car and snuggled up
tight to Lizzy.

Lizzy snuggled back.

The car pulled away from the curb, pressing
Lizzy’s arm against Rae’s chest.

Georgie leaned forward and asked Rae,
“Feeling better?”

Rae’s embarrassed smile melted Lizzy’s heart
a little. Rae said, “Yeah, I’m better.”

The car drove them out of the university and
onto the freeway, speeding toward the party and The Dom. They only
had about fifteen minutes to prep Rae.

On the high overpass, the brown desert city
spread under the sunset that looked like burning roses. Even the
colors were hot in the desert.

Every time Lizzy breathed, her shoulder
rubbed the tan skin on Rae’s arm. She would give that a few minutes
before she shifted.

Georgie patted her hair, which looked like a
simple twist with curls, but Lizzy had watched her construct it for
an hour. It wouldn’t come loose even if she went body surfing down
the shore.

Georgie leaned across Lizzy, pressing her
against Rae’s arm, and said, “We want you on your toes tonight.
This is going to be a great party. Don’t worry about what to do or
anything. Just be,” Georgie looked at the car’s black headliner or
to Heaven for strength, “
vivacious
. Be yourself—funny and
snarky and little wide-eyed innocent at times,—but
more
of
all that.”

Rae dropped her mouth open in exaggerated
offense. “How in the heck am I ‘wide-eyed innocent?’”

Lizzy laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No.”

“Rae, honey, have you
met
you?” Lizzy
shifted a little closer to Rae, practically spooning her.

“I’ve lived with me all my life. Have you met
my cousin-roommate? Since when am I the
innocent
one in my
family?”

Georgie dismissed Rae’s protest with a flip
of her hand. Her scarlet nails matched her gown. “Oh, we didn’t say
in your family. I
would
say that roommate of yours is
practically Amish, but even the Amish aren’t
that
Amish any
more. What cult does she belong to, anyway?”

“It’s not a cult. She’s Baptist.” One of
Rae’s eyebrows dipped.

“Southern Baptist?” Georgie asked.

“Oh, no.
First
Baptist. Those Southern
Baptists are going straight to Hell, what with all that singing and
shouting out in church and whatnot.”

Lizzy and Georgie laughed. Rae missed a beat
but then laughed, too.

Georgie said, “Oh, God. Wait until The Dom
hears that crap. He will eat that up.”

Lizzy flinched just a little because when
George said
The Dom,
Lizzy remembered his brilliant blue
eyes right next to her face, watching her. Twitching every time
Georgie said The Dom’s name, or title, or whatever, was not part of
their plan.

The driver took the downtown exit off the
freeway and drove them into the desert city. The hot asphalt
streets looked too wide, and the pounding sunlight and hot wind had
stunted even the buildings from growing properly tall in the
desert.

Georgie said, “Rae, honey, you just bat your
eyelashes when you say stuff like that. The guys will be all over
you.”

“Can’t say anything yet,” Lizzy said, hoping
Georgie got the hint to be more general.

“I know. I won’t say anything until The Dom
gives us the high sign.”

Lizzy flinched again and stared straight out
in front of her, watching the road through the front
windshield.

Rae glanced down at Lizzy, concern written in
her brown eyes.

Georgie motored on, oblivious. “Rae, just
remember that we’re on your side, because we like you and don’t
want you to have to leave college.”

“I’m glad,” Rae said. The car took a corner,
shoving Lizzy closer to Rae. The silver material of Rae’s dress
rubbed the sensitive skin on Lizzy’s back. Rae said, “I like you
girls, too.”

Georgie continued, “Here’s what you need to
know. When we get to the party, you should mingle, have a drink or
two and have some fun, but
do not
make an embarrassing
spectacle of yourself like last night at Delta Chi.”

Oh, thank God. Generalities. Rules. Maybe
Lizzy wouldn’t have a freakout here in the car.

Rae said, “Oh, heck no. I was just upset. And
rufied. You guys sound tense.”

“Nope, we’re fine,” Georgie said. “These
parties are fun, but this isn’t the job. This is just advertising.
At some point, after an hour or so, if everything is going all
right, we’re going to introduce you to the The Dom.”

Lizzy’s body began to compress at the mention
of his name.

Rae asked, “This guy’s name is Dominic?”

“No. He’ll ask you whether you like the
party,” Georgie took a breath, gathering herself, “and
this is
crucial,
you tell him the truth about exactly what you like and
don’t like about the party, about the people there, about what you
see.”

Rae’s voice rose. “What kind of a party is
this?”

“Just a cocktail party,” Georgie said, “like
the Delta Chi house but with better booze and no rufies. All you
have to do is have a few drinks—they’re really good, you should try
a few, and I mean
a few,
—and talk to some interesting
people, meet our friends, and eventually talk to The Dom, probably.
He may not even have time to talk to you tonight, but he’ll be
watching.”

Lizzy twitched again, and she looked down at
her tiny hands with their fresh pink manicure, trying to think
about something else.
Anything else.

“And then what?” Rae asked.

Georgie shrugged. “After the party, a limo
will take us back to the dorm and drop us off. You can get buzzed.
You won’t need to drive. Geez, Lizzy. You’re trembling.”

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.
Lizzy looked
over Georgie’s shoulder and out the window at the darkening city.
The car rumbled over the asphalt, spitting loose gravel behind the
tires. “It’s just the first time that I’ve seen him since last
week.”

“Seriously, stop freaking out.” Georgie
wedged herself back into the seat, nudging Lizzy closer to Rae
again.

If Georgie didn’t stop mashing Lizzy up
against Rae, Lizzy was going to end up straddling her. Just how
much sexing up had Georgie meant?

Every time Lizzy took a breath, her back
rubbed against Rae’s chest, irritating the skin. Her skin felt raw,
but it felt good.

Georgie said, “After that Dom-Date I had a
couple months ago, he was great. After five minutes, maybe even
three, it won’t be weird any more. You’ll be fine.”

Lizzy prayed that was true, but she couldn’t
get him out her head. It felt more like pain bleeding from her
heart than anything like love.

Rae asked, “You dated this Dom guy?”