Peyton Barnes never had an easy life, even with her spellcasting abilities. As a teenager, she became involved in crime and used magic to work as a burglar. She did get caught and spent time in jail.
Then, a few years ago, she decided to make a change for the better. But instead of stealing things, she set out to steal hearts.
She became a sugar baby because she enjoys receiving gifts from men. Peyton isn’t interested in commitment, so living with just one man never appealed to her. Instead, she ended up with five sugar daddies, all under the same roof.
The first is Leonardo Sloane. He’s an alien who chooses to disguise himself as a human gardener, though he isn’t especially attractive by human standards. Despite his awkward appearance and quiet manner, he enjoys tending plants and finds satisfaction in his simple job as a Gardener. It doesn’t pay much, but Leonardo always finds a way to give Peyton unusual gifts she can’t get anywhere else.
Next is Reid Banks, a vampire who works as a healer. He stands out with his dark skin, strong jawline, and long hair, all of which add to his striking presence. Reid carries himself with an unmistakable aristocratic air. Even Peyton is drawn to his hypnotic healing touch and values the calming influence he brings to the spa.
Lincoln Homa is a werewolf who also happens to be a talented singer. In his human form, he has tan skin, a beard, and tousled black hair. His broad shoulders and confident stage presence make him stand out. Lincoln’s voice remains impressive, even when he transforms into a wolf. He is famous, with recognition that matches Peyton’s next sugar daddy, Kellan Swift.
Kellan was already a famous rock star during his lifetime, though he didn’t look the part. With short, spiky hair and an unassuming style, he doesn’t fit the usual image of a rock legend. Nonetheless, he was well-known for his notorious bad temper.
One day, after a recording session for a new album, he discovered that his manager had been stealing from him for years. The shock of the news hit him hard and anger quickly followed. As he threw things around in a fit of rage, he suffered a heart attack and died instantly at the age of thirty.
After Kellan returned as a ghost, he sued his former manager and won the case. But even after his death, he continues to make music as a singer-songwriter. Peyton met him around the time he won the lawsuit.
Finally, there is Connor Burn, who is just as famous as Kellan and Lincoln. Unlike them, he is a movie star. Connor looks every bit the classic leading man, with short dark hair and a stubbled beard. He often has to leave to either audition or work on a new film.
All three are busy with their social media accounts and promoting the latest products. Kellan and Lincoln perform concerts, but Connor seems to be the only one who never gets a break.
One of the best parts of dating these three superstars is all the free stuff they receive. Gifts come not only from advertisers but also from devoted fans. So far, they have received items such as picture frames, a barbeque, and even a huge statue from a fan that now sits on their front lawn.
Before going to bed, Peyton sat down to look into her ancestry online. She wasn’t expecting much, but during her search, she came across a digitized ship log belonging to one of her ancestors. She decided to print it out, grabbed the pages from the printer, and logged off.
Peyton walked over to a reading nook near the fireplace to see what her ancestor had written.
The log belonged to a pirate from Tartosa, which surprised her. As a spellcaster, Peyton had always assumed that most of her family came from Glimmerbrook. This ancestor, however, had sailed all the way to Sulani and traded with the locals. Her family history reached farther, and was more unusual, than she had ever imagined.
She found herself smiling at the idea of having a pirate in the family. Until now, she had believed she was the only one with a criminal record, but she was wrong. The talent for bending the rules ran deeper than she had realized.
Whatever she had done in the past to survive was behind her now. She yawned, picked up a bookmark, and slipped it into the page she would finish later. After putting the log away, she headed upstairs to bed. She needed the rest because she had a beauty and health spa to run first thing in the morning.
Having five sugar daddies brought other advantages too, including the chance to start a small business. Her business, called Celebrity Beauty and Spa, was a salon with a meditation room and a massage room in the basement. The building stands right in front of her house, so she only needed to walk over to get there.
But she wasn’t the only one who could walk to the spa in her household. She had hired Reid to help with that side of the business. He could walk to work if he wanted to, but he could also turn into a bat and fly there faster than she ever could on foot.
Peyton ran her business with care. She was usually the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night.
The first thing that she did every morning was to unlock the front door, step inside, and close it behind her. But her day always started with a checklist. On that list she made sure that she counted all the supplies she had, checked each station, and made a note of anything that needed restocking. If something was running low, she made sure to contact her suppliers before the end of the day.
As Peyton moved through her morning routine inside, Leonardo quietly stepped out to the small garden patch on the front lawn.
He crouched down on the soft grass, pulled a trowel from his pocket, and began to dig. Each hole matched the last, just deep enough for the seeds he would plant. He set the trowel aside and reached into his other pocket for a seed packet. He opened it and shook a few seeds into his palm. Then he pressed them gently into the soil. He brushed the earth back over the spot, and then moved along the row to start again.
Leonardo approached gardening with care, whether or not anyone noticed. He grew a little of everything: Fruits, vegetables, and tucked among them, a plasma tree, which was for the only vampire he lived with.
While Leonardo tended to the garden, Reid left the main house and made his way toward the spa section of Peyton’s business.
But along the way, he noticed Jade, one of the other employees at Celebrity Beauty and Spa. She sat alone at the small table in the gazebo, which served as their only break room.
He walked over, climbed the gazebo steps, and took the seat beside her without saying a word.
“Good morning, Jade,” said Reid in a slight aristocratic way. “How are you this lovely start to the work day?”
“Good morning, Reid,” Jade replied with a sigh. “The drive here was hectic with all the construction on the main road. I’m glad Peyton has us take your meditation class before work; it really helps.”
“Speaking of which,” Reid said, rising from his seat. “I should go in and get the meditation room ready before everyone arrives.”
He walked down the gazebo steps and made his way to the smaller building beside the main salon. It was easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there. He opened the door, which led to nothing but a staircase going down to the meditation and massage rooms below.
But, it wasn’t long before the first students began to filter in.
The room filled steadily. A woman, whom Reid didn’t recognize, came in first. She sat on the second row of meditation seats, but right in front of him. Reid was already sitting down and patiently waiting for others to show up. And they did, with Jade, followed by Tom, and then Leonardo arriving shortly after. Other students also filtered in behind them until the room was almost full.
“As some of you may know,” said Reid in a calm voice. “I am your instructor Reid Banks.”
“Today,” Reid continued, “our intention is clear. We are here to leave behind anything that came with us this morning. That could be worries about traffic, a poor night’s sleep, or thoughts about the day ahead. For the next little while, we can set all of that aside. Now settle in and let us begin.”
Everyone sat in the lotus position on their meditation chairs and closed their eyes. As they settled in, soft atmospheric music began to play in the background.
“Now, make sure that your spine is straight, and let your shoulders drop away from your ears,” said Reid. “Once you’re comfortable, take a slow, full breath in through your nose… feel your stomach rise… and then, slowly exhale through your mouth.”
While the class was going on, Peyton was outside waiting for her first walk-in customer to arrive. She checked the schedule and found that there was only one appointment that day. That was for Lincoln, who wanted Jade to do his pedicure later on after his recording session ended.
Peyton didn’t want herself, Jade, and Tom to sit around doing nothing for eight hours. She needed to leave the salon and start looking for customers who might want a haircut or a manicure.
“Excuse me, sir,” she said, stopping a man as he walked by. “Would you be interested in a manicure or a haircut?”
“I’m not interested,” he said, continuing to walk past her.
She realized today would not be easy. It brought back memories of her days hustling on the streets. Making money, legally or illegally, was never as simple as people would think.
But she had to do something to get more customers.
She repeated her offer, by raising her voice so everyone could hear. “Would anyone be interested in a manicure or a haircut?”
Still, people walked past without giving her a second look.
She walked back to her salon disappointed. Maybe walk-ins were the answer. But how would she promote that?
Just as she got to the front door, she noticed one of Reid’s students coming out of the room earlier than expected.
“Hi, can I help you with anything?” Peyton said to the old woman before she even left the salon.
“No, thank you,” said the woman. “I was just on my way out. The class wasn’t what I expected it to be.”
“But are you interested in a manicure or a haircut?” asked Peyton.
The old woman paused, thinking about that for a moment.
“Well, maybe,” said the woman, looking at her nails. “I haven’t had my nails done in a long time. How much would it cost?”
“Well, looking at your nails,” said Peyton, “I think we could do something special for you. And don’t worry about the cost. The salon is all about looking like a celebrity on a budget.”
While Peyton was busy with her new client, back at the main house, Kellan and Lincoln had already settled into the music room to work on something new.
“Kellan,” said Lincoln, unsure of himself as he stood behind the microphone. “I don’t know if this lyric suits the song or my voice. Maybe you should sing this part?”
“You should try it out first,” said Kellan sitting at the piano. “If you don’t feel that it’s your style, then we can swap it out.”
“Are you sure about this?” asked Lincoln.
“Try it,” Kellan said as he settled at the piano and placed his hands on the keys. “We can start from there.”
Lincoln took a breath and began to sing. His voice filled the room, as smooth and steady as ever.
When he finished that line, Kellan stopped playing.
“How does that sound?” asked Lincoln.
“It sounds great,” said Kellan. “Don’t doubt yourself, you should sing that line.”
“I guess you’re right,” said Lincoln. “I don’t know why I doubted this.”
“Hey, I doubt myself too sometimes,” answered Kellan.
“I don’t know,” said Lincoln, glancing at the song sheet. “I just never feel confident about a lyric until I sing it out loud.”
He set the sheet down and looked over at Kellan. “Did you promote anything on social media today?”
“Nope,” answered Kellan. “I was busy writing this song for the both of us.”
“Well, I had to promote that energy drink and that Barbeque that the advertisers gave me this morning,” said Lincoln.
“And I did see Connor spending most of the morning doing that,” said Kellan. “Now he’s working on a movie with a film crew just outside of this house.”
“What made him think this is the perfect place to film a movie?” Lincoln asked. “It’s raining outside. Peyton and Reid are busy with customers coming and going. Plus, Leonardo is alone in the garden.”
“Leonardo loves being around plants,” said Kellan. “He even talks to them.”
Lincoln looked at his expensive wrist watch and then said, “Look, I’ve got to go, cut five tracks for my next album. We’ll continue this later.”
“Good luck,” said Kellan. “We’ll get to this after your pedicure appointment then.”
“Thanks,” said Lincoln, rushing out.
Kellan faced the piano again and studied the song sheet. The bridge continued to bother him, though he couldn’t quite identify the problem.
Hours later, back at the salon, Peyton, Jade, and Tom were doing what nobody in the beauty business wants to do: waiting for clients.
Tom was doing his best in mopping up the floor. But there was not much else to do. To make things worse, it had started to rain.
“Oh great!” said Peyton, looking out the window. “It’s raining outside.”
“I can see that,” answered Jade, doing the same as she stood around with a magazine in her hand.
“I thought it would be easy to get people into this salon to change their looks,” Peyton sighed. “I didn’t think there would be this much competition. Let alone times where there isn’t much to do.”
“Well, the floor is clean,” said Tom, putting away the mop. “Do you want us to check if we’ve got everything in stock?”
“I’ve already checked this morning,” Peyton replied, walking to one of the displays. “But it’s great to check again.”
“I’m still waiting for my only client to come in,” said Jade. “He should be here any minute now.”
A familiar figure appeared at the entrance of Celebrity Beauty and Spa. Peyton recognized him instantly. It was Lincoln, who always carried himself with the confidence of a stadium headliner as he stepped inside her business.
“Hi, Lincoln,” Jade greeted him warmly. “How have you been since I saw you?”
“Busy as usual,” answered Lincoln.
“Tom and I are going into the storage room to count inventory,” announced Peyton as she and Tom headed to the back. “If you need anything, Jade, you know where to find us.”
Downstairs in the massage room, Reid was already focused on his next client. The man possessed a quiet stillness, as if he belonged more to the ocean than to dry land.
“My god,” said Reid, as he gently massaged his client. “You have been carrying a great deal of tension lately.”
“Mm-hmm,” were the only words out of the client’s mouth.
