Sherelle Green - A Los Angeles Passion

“The Moguls never go cheap,” Miranda whispered back. “Every party I attend with Vaughn is grander than the last.”

The Moguls’ motto, written on the wall, caught her eye. From generation to generation, lifting each other up. She’d heard their motto before, but for some reason, seeing it written in an official Prescott George chapter location felt different.

Kiara followed close behind Miranda and Vaughn as they made their rounds and greeted other Moguls and their families, respectfully introducing her as a close family friend. Kiara wore her most professional smile and tried her best not to fidget under the stare of some of the Moguls.

“Could you pretend to be a little more comfortable?” Miranda teased.

Kiara frowned. “I can’t help it. I almost feel as if I’m on display here.”

“Well, you do look fabulous, my friend. But I’m sure it’s because of the type of party this is, too. Some of the Moguls are trying to figure out if you’re going to rent them.”

Kiara lifted an eyebrow. “Rent them? Exactly what type of party is this?”

“Funny you should ask,” Miranda said with a sneaky smile. Before Miranda could explain, Kiara was tapped on her shoulder.

“Well, if it isn’t Kiara Woods of LA Little Ones.” Kiara turned to glance over her shoulder and was pleasantly surprised to see a good friend.

“Tell me it isn’t Kyra Reed of Bare Sophistication Lingerie Boutique,” Kiara said with a smile. The two women hugged before Kiara introduced Kyra to Miranda.

“Kyra, this is my friend and old college roommate, Miranda. Miranda, this is Kyra. We were on a couple of the same panels together at the women empowerment conference I was telling you about a few months ago.” Both women greeted each other.

“I’ve been dying to check out that boutique,” Miranda said. “And I know a couple women who took photos at your boudoir studio and they loved how the pictures turned out.”

“Thanks,” Kyra said with a smile. “We’re really excited about how well LA has received the boutique. We’re headquartered out of Chicago with a store in Miami as well, so we’re hoping to open more locations soon.”

“I’m looking at expanding my locations, too,” Kiara said. “And I’d love for us to get together and share business ideas, but first, Miranda was just going to explain to me what type of party this was since she knows that I’ve sworn off men right now. Yet I could have sworn that she mentioned something about renting men.”

Kyra’s mouth formed a perfect O as she looked from Kiara to Miranda.

Miranda giggled. “About that. I may or may not have left out the part about this party being the first Rent-a-Bachelor silent auction in which a woman can rent a Prescott George bachelor of her choice for up to a week or just a few days.”

Kiara’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious! Rent-a-Bachelor? This can’t be a real thing.”

“Oh, it is,” Kyra said. “Girlfriend, why do you think I’m here? My friend and her husband were invited by one of the Moguls, but of course, I’m the single friend, so they brought me along to support the cause. I have no problem with finding a date, but who can pass up the opportunity to rent a sexy piece of chocolate.”

Kiara shook her head as she and Miranda laughed at Kyra’s candor. She’d only hung out with Kyra a few times, but the girl was nothing if not honest.

Kiara glanced around, noticing for the first time just how many good-looking men filled the room. “I must admit,” she said, “there’s definitely some good eye candy here.”

Kyra nodded. “There truly is. Women are renting bachelors left and right.” Kiara and Miranda followed Kyra’s outstretched hand that pointed to a corner of the penthouse, where a herd of women stood in front of a row of Apple computers.

“I don’t see any men wearing name tags or anything, so I wonder how the women are renting the bachelors,” Kiara said.

“Right by the computers, they have an impressive black double-stitched booklet that contains a photo and bio of all single, divorced or widowed eligible Moguls who have agreed to participate,” Kyra said. She snagged a glass of wine off the tray of a waiter who passed by, before continuing.

“If you register, you can also see all their info online. Their bio includes their occupation and age, as well as other hobbies that women may want to know. Tonight is the event kickoff, so they have bid assistants to help if you don’t want to do the online registration. But going forward, online registration will be the most prominent way to rent bachelors. Since it’s a silent auction—and in true Millionaire Mogul fashion—once you make it to the front of the table, one of the bid assistants takes your written bid and contact info. I assume the bachelors predetermine how much time they can give, because some of them are only allowed to be rented for up to two weeks out of a month, while others claim to have the entire month open. Some of the bachelors are so sought-after that they have an open and close bidding time to ensure they aren’t double-booked. After you place your bid to rent your guy, for an extra fee, you can receive a small gold pamphlet on the bachelor you rented, as a keepsake. The entire process is really quite nice, because every woman who is willing to lay down some bucks feels like she’s won.” By the time Kyra was finished talking, Kiara and Miranda were looking at her with blank stares.

“What?” Kyra asked. “I thought you both wanted to know.”

Kiara laughed. “How do you know all this? Is it safe to say you rented a bachelor?”

“Girl, please.” Kyra reached into her clutch. “I promised one of the bid assistants our newest lingerie set so she could give me the inside scoop. Then I rented two bachelors and brought these sexy gold pamphlets along with them.”

“Two dates, huh,” Miranda said with a laugh. “Go big, or go home.”

Kyra shook her head. “Nope, not dates. I already have my flavor of the month. These hot cakes I just rented will be some great eye candy for a masquerade lingerie event that Bare Sophistication is planning for a women-only eightieth birthday party.”

Kyra waved the pamphlets in the air. “Our client was a famous actress back in the 1950s and 1960s and came into our shop a couple months ago saying that she heard about our parties and wanted us to plan one for her. But she didn’t just want us to showcase our women’s lingerie like we typically do at our masquerade parties. She wanted us to showcase our men’s line, equipped with enough eye candy to give her senior citizen friends whiplash. There was no way I was going to turn down this party and my only hope is that I follow in her footsteps when I’m her age. So, I plan to pimp these men out for the one day that I rented them.”

Kiara and Miranda were laughing so hard, they didn’t hear Vaughn approach. Kiara was grateful that Vaughn introduced himself to Kyra because she still hadn’t stopped laughing a few minutes later.

“I must have missed something really funny,” Vaughn said, placing a kiss on Miranda’s forehead. Kyra just smiled up at him while Kiara and Miranda’s laughter finally started to die down. Kiara had been so caught up in Kyra’s story, she hadn’t noticed the commotion happening near the entrance.

“I wonder what all the fuss is about,” Miranda said as they all glanced around the room.

Kiara rose on her tiptoes to try to see over the women in front of her. “Whatever it is, it’s clearly the object of some gossip.”

“Well, damn,” Kyra said as she lightly tapped Kiara on the arm. “I think I see what all the fuss is about.”

Kiara glanced toward the direction that Kyra was looking at and froze. Standing toward the front of the penthouse, directly under one of the crystal chandeliers, had to be one of the sexiest men she’d ever seen.