What A Girl Wants by Liz Maverick Page B

it.”
    Suz pinched the air tube and tucked it into the dress. “Okay, now it needs just a little positioning.”
    Hayley started to bend over at the waist so she could sort of work the bra setup into place, but Suz grabbed her by the back of the dress. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hayley, didn’t you study the principle of torque in high school?”
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    â€œYou bend over like that in that thing and at best you’ll get a head rush like you’ve never had in your life, and at worst the weight imbalance will tip you over and you’ll end up with a concussion.”
    â€œWow. It’s all so exciting,” Hayley said in a deliberate monotone. “Fraught with danger and risk to life and limb.”
    Suz rolled her eyes. “Here, let me.” She dived in with both hands and jostled things around for a few seconds while Hayley stared up at the ceiling trying not to think about being groped by one of her best friends.
    â€œYou know, the Beer Garden gets a lot of Financial District clientele. Some of Audra’s friends could be here. What if they do recognize me? I might see these people again.”
    â€œThey’re going to want to see you again. Watch them fall allover you.” Suz stepped back from Hayley, her hands up as if touched by angelic light. “Wear it and they will come,” she said reverently.
    â€œYes, master.”
    Suz didn’t crack a smile. “Remember. You have what they want. With or without the costume, you have what they want.”
    â€œI have what they want,” Hayley intoned. She stepped forward, swaying slightly as she adjusted to the ballast of the petticoats. One boob seemed like it might be losing a little air, and her wig had slipped over one eye.
    Suz impaled her with a couple of hairpins to stabilize the wig while Hayley awkwardly leaned down and pumped more air into her chest.
    Then Suz quickly dressed herself in the matching costume and handed Hayley a pair of shoes. They were a half size off, but not too bad. Hayley stuffed a wad of tissue in each of the toes and slipped them on.
    â€œLet’s go,” Suz said, and handed her a bag of Johnny Beer bottle-cap–opener promotional giveaways.
    Hayley took the bag and gingerly stepped out of the dressing room into the hall. Peeking around the corner into the main room of the bar, she took a shaky breath.
    â€œIt’s going to be fine. You’ll love it,” Suz whispered.
    â€œSuz, what exactly am I supposed to do? Do I just hand these out?”
    â€œJust pass out the swag,” she said, pointing to the sack of bottle-cap openers. “You pass out the swag and party with the customers. Encourage them to drink Johnny Beer. That’s all you need to do. Other than that, just have a good time.”
    â€œThat seems doable.”
    â€œOh, and if a customer wants to buy you a beer, no problem—as long as it’s Johnny Beer you’re drinking.”
    Hayley nodded, then expanded her stride and took a few experimental steps into the room. She felt like she was waddling, but she had to believe Suz wouldn’t go so far as to make her waddle amongst strangers. It must look better than it felt.
    She also had the urge to keep adjusting her chest. This was what it must feel like to have to keep moving your jock around to get it comfortable. Okay, well, that was an interesting takeaway.
    And then suddenly, as she moved away from the door into the center of the room, it was as if a giant spotlight turned on her. People started cheering and waving their arms. “Over here!”
    Over there? Me or Suz? She looked back at Suz, but her friend just stood back in the shadows of the door frame with her arms crossed, smiling.
    Hayley turned her attention back to the loudest table, filled with guys who seemed tremendously happy to see her. It was a normal batch of guys. Some were quite disgusting, from a purely aesthetic perspective. Some