Free Watchers - an erotic novella by Jodie Johnson-Smith

Chapter One
    What do you wear to watch a stripper?
    The question had haunted Maria since yesterday morning when she’d decided to check out Ken’s tart.
    Maybe she shouldn’t have answered her husband’s mobile when it had rung so early in the day. That way she’d have been none the wiser. But it had woken her up, and Ken was nowhere to be found.
    ‘Ken’s phone, how may I help you?’ she’d asked, stifling a yawn and hoping she didn’t sound weary. As a successful property developer with her own small company called Elevate, Maria knew it was important to sound professional at all times.
    ‘I’d like to book Ken’s waitress for tomorrow evening if she’s available. Well, I say waitress.’ The unknown man had laughed. ‘I’m not sure if that’s the right word.’
    Brain still half-fuddled from sleep, Maria frowned. What the hell was he on about? Then she remembered Ken muttering something about a girl he’d met in the village, a girl with a shady past who needed work.
    She hadn’t been listening to him. She rarely did. Her husband was a lovely man but he didn’t have a solid business idea in his head, whereas Maria was obsessed with money-making plans 24/7. And it was just as well because Ken didn’t earn a bean.
    ‘Ah yes, if you let me have the details, I’ll pass them on to Ken.’ Maria reached for the notepad and pen she always kept on the bedside table and scribbled down the man’s info.
    ‘I’d like the Special Service,’ he added. ‘At least, I think that’s what it’s called.’
    Special Service – what the hell was that? Knowing Ken, it was something to do with cars. Perhaps he’d started up a valeting firm. Cars were his passion. He was always online, eyeing up the latest models. But then what had that got to do with waitressing?
    ‘What do you want exactly?’ Maria asked.
    There was a pause. Then the man cleared his throat. It was almost as if he was embarrassed to be talking to her.
    ‘Well, the girl, Suzy, she stripped herself naked and masturbated to a climax last night at the Smith-Harrisons’ party. I want a repeat performance …’
    After the man rang off, Maria lay in bed wondering if she’d heard right. Ken, her workshy husband, hiring out a stripper sounded about as likely as Haystocks Village FC winning the FA Cup.
    But although Ken’s alleged actions were baffling, Maria was curious about the girl the man had called Suzy. Who was she? Where had she come from? Was she having an affair with Ken? And had she really gone that far at the party or had it just been a clever act?
    Maria sighed as she headed for the shower. She should have been at the Smith-Harrisons’ party herself. But an important meeting concerning planning permission for Mannings Hotel, a property she desperately wanted to knock down and redevelop, had arisen, so Ken had gone alone. If only I’d been with him, Maria thought as hot water from the power-shower needled her skin, then perhaps I’d know what all this was about.
    As she’d shuffled into a navy-blue, knee-length skirt, Ken’s phone had rung again – another booking. And then she’d taken two more. Suzy’s act had obviously been quite something.
    Maria wanted to quiz Ken, find out if she was missing out on a business opportunity, but he still wasn’t back from wherever it was he’d gone. He was a genius when it came to vanishing into thin air. He was probably at the garage, washing his beloved vehicle. He’d been obsessed with the bloody thing ever since she’d bought him it. He lived the life of Riley, what with not working and Maria funding him. When it came to relationships, she was an idiot. But then, she knew, a lot of men would be turned off by her obsession with profits, not to mention her choice of clothes.
    Rattled by the unanswered questions, she pulled on a jacket that matched the skirt and arrived at the office late, only to find that thinking straight was impossible. Visions of a naked girl performing the lewdest of