Alpha Billionaire by Helen Cooper Page B

to see a seedier side of life as a reporter, but I wasn’t sure this was how I wanted it to start.
    “Don’t worry girl.” Crystal shook her head. “We’re classy girls.” She pasted two stars on her nipples. “We don’t fuck ‘em or give them blow jobs. We just dance.”
    “Yeah, we’re not hoes.” Starr pouted her lips and applied some bright red lipstick.
    “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest that—” I started but stopped as Starr started laughing.
    “Girl, it’s not that serious, trust me.” She handed me a bikini. “Put this on. Mark’s going to wheel the cake in soon. You’ll stay in there until you hear a bang. Then just pop out. Once you pop out you can do a little dance and then just come back in here and wait for us.”
    “That’s it?” I looked surprised. “I guess I can do that.” I took the bikini from her. It was basically two pieces of string. I held it in my hand and took a deep breath. Did I really want to prance out of a cake in a string bikini? Not really. “Do you have any other options?” I asked Starr hopefully. “I’m not sure this is going to compliment my body.” I laughed awkwardly and Starr and Crystal started laughing. “Is that a yes?” I asked hopefully.
    “Girl, just put the bikini on.” Crystal rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine. And make sure to take your glasses off.”
    “Oh?” I bit my lower lip. “I left my contacts at home.”
    “Girl, I don’t care if you left them in an elephants ’ butt.” Crystal rolled her eyes. “You ain’t going out there with no librarian glasses.”
    “Not unless that was part of your dance.” Starr added. “These men, they love them a dowdy librarian turned sexpot.”
    “I won’t be able to see much.”
    “You don’t need to see nothing.” Crystal responded. “Just hurry up and put the bikini on. We gotta go out in a bit. If we’re late, the guys will be mad.”
    “Okay.” I sighed and looked around. “Is there a changing room for me to put this on?” My voice drifted off as they both looked at me as if I were crazy. “Or I can just change here.” I sighed and undid my jeans. Hailey really owed me. This was going to be so awkward. I didn’t care if I was popping out of a cake, a bunch of random guys were going to see me in a string bikini that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. I cringed as I pulled the top on. It was so small, that I knew my boobs would pop out with one wrong move. The only saving grace was that my nipples were covered. I pulled the bottoms on and frowned as I realized that my ass was hanging out completely in the thong bottom. I would never wear a bathing suit like this normally. And when I say never, I mean not even if someone gave me $100. I laughed to myself as I realized I was doing it for five grand though. Oh the humiliation. I looked down at my body and ran my hands over my stomach. No one could ever mistake me for a Victoria’s Secret model. And I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be getting any information from any of the bankers at the party. It wasn’t even realistic for me to think that I could go around dancing and asking if anyone knew anything about insider trading on Wall Street.
    “Don’t worry.” Starr looked at me with a smile. “These guys don’t want stick and bones. They like women with a bit of meat on them.”
    “Uh, thanks.” I smiled back at her, not sure if that was a compliment or not. I didn’t want to be referred to as someone with a bit of meat on her. I wanted to be thin and beautiful with a flat, taut stomach and defined abs wouldn’t hurt either. Though, I knew that wasn’t something to be worried about right now, as I couldn’t turn back time.
    “Hey, do you guys have any bronzer?” I asked quickly thinking about a magazine article that I’d read that said you could add some definition to your body using makeup.
    “Yeah, here.” Crystal handed it to me. “You’re looking a bit pale.”
    “It’s for my stomach,