Free Pushing the Envelope: A Prequel from "The Barter System" World by Shayne McClendon

your hotel.  That doesn’t make the least bit of sense.”
    “I have to immerse myself in my research, Dad.”  She sighed.  “It isn’t just you.  I’m not calling Tawny or Maggie either.  I have to focus.”
    “Hmm.  You come back with so much as a scratch and I will put you over my knee like you’re four years old again.”
    She couldn’t help it, she laughed.  “You never spanked me even once .  Mom was the one who did a drive-by butt smack if she thought I wasn’t listening.  She called you a softy.”
    Her father grunted on the other end of the line.  “The point is that you are my only child.  You are the last link I have to your mother and if you do not come back here in the same condition that you’re leaving in, I’m going to be livid.  Livid , Riya.”
    “I hear you, Dad.  You’re going to have to trust me.”  They talked for a few minutes and she started the process of ending their call. 
    “Be safe and don’t do anything crazy, princess.  I don’t have much company when you’re not around.”
    Would sex with eight virtual strangers over two months be considered crazy?
    “I’ll see you soon.  The time will fly by and you won’t even notice I’m gone, Dad.”  Twirling her hair around her finger, she mentally rolled her eyes.  “Don’t you have Summer…Autumn… somebody there this week?  I saw her a couple of days ago.”
    “Her name was Solstice and no, she’s not here.  That guitar of hers was too much to handle.”  He humphed .  “Your Aunt Maggie helped her pack.  That was interesting.”
    “You know how she feels about the young ladies you tend to date.”
    “I’m not hurting anyone and those women know I’m not interested in long term.  We’re all consenting adults.  It’s all out in the open from the beginning.”
    This was not a topic she was touching right now.  “I know.  I’ve got to get some sleep, Dad.  If there’s a true emergency, Tawny can get me.”
    “Why can Tawny call and I can’t?”
    “Not going there, Dad.  I love you.  Don’t worry about me.”
    “I love you, too and fat chance of that, Riya.”
    After she finally got her father off the phone, she turned off the lights, and left an envelope containing her few valuables on the kitchen counter for Tawny, who would lock them up until she got back.  Her regular cell phone was also inside. 
    She’d paid her basic bills for the next several months and stored her trusty 1998 Toyota Corolla in her dad’s garage.  A rental car sat in her driveway, gassed up and ready to leave. 
    In her backpack, she had one credit card and access to cash if she needed it.  She wouldn’t, or rather, she shouldn’t need it – with the exception of one subject – if everything went as planned. 
    If she used her own money, a large chunk of her project was pointless.  It was called bartering for a reason.  It was a trade – something she wanted for something each of her subjects wanted.
    In her small bathroom, she took a long look at herself in the mirror above the sink.  She was pretty but didn’t consider herself beautiful.  Long brown hair that tended to curl fell past the center of her back.  Her greenish hazel eyes were set in a heart-shaped face.  Her body was well-proportioned, fit, and golden thanks to her mother’s Brazilian roots. 
    Her ex-boyfriend during her first year of college had described her as “just right.”  Enough curves to please without becoming a caricature.  Considering he barely showed a physical interest in her over the time they dated, she’d honestly been surprised he noticed. 
    She was neither tall nor short, standing five-six in bare feet.  According to her research, she generically appealed to a broad range of men, symbolizing the typical girl next door . 
    That would work to her advantage over the next couple of months. 
    Riya was confident about her ability to complete her research but she wasn’t arrogant.  There was a nervous