EXETER — Dressed in a skimpy black outfit, the Boss Lady welcomes men into a secluded, two-car garage.

“How did you hear about us?’ the Boss Lady asks as they enter her exotic dance studio. Many of the men say they heard about the garage by word of mouth.

A long, dirt driveway leads to the home and its unattached garage at 1431 Avenue Road. Several pickup trucks and cars are parked on the lawn, and a portable toilet stands by the garage.

Studio 1431, as the garage is called, is operated on Friday and Saturday nights by the adult entertainment company Bod Squad. The studio is located about 20 miles west of Bangor in this small, rural town.

The residence at 1431 Avenue Road is being leased to Diane Hilyard. Last Friday night, about 15 men paid $10 apiece to enter the garage.

For a $2 “donation” to the pool table fund, guys are quickly told they can get their hands on a can of beer.

As dance music is played, young women named Barbie, Brandy, Busty and Monique take the small stage at one end of the garage. The women wear nothing more than G-strings during much of their dance routines.

The topless women also frequently step off the stage and work the room for tips. The dancers parade around the garage floor in front of the men, who are seated in chairs, on a couch and on stools.

As the men whoop it up, the strippers sit in their laps and gyrate to the beat of the music. A few of the men grope the dancers’ legs, arms and breasts.

Dollar bills are slipped into the women’s G-strings as they move from man to man.

At one point during the night, the women give a stage performance involving whipped cream, cherries and ice cream. The dancers slather their bodies with these items and eat them off one another.

Men are also invited to lick whipped cream off the women for a small fee. After Busty lies on her back, some whipped cream is put on one of her bare breasts and is topped off with a cherry. A man proceeds to walk on stage and uses his mouth to remove the whipped cream and cherry from Busty’s body.

Brandy also puts whipped cream on the G-string between her legs. As she sits at the front of the stage, men dig out their money and get a taste of the whipped cream.

After more than an hour of stage dances, the women begin doing private dances for the men at the garage. The private dances are held in a tiny room behind a curtain. Men pay $10 for a “lap dance” in which the woman strips down to only a G-string. The men are charged $20 for a nude dance.

“You can touch for a little extra,” Monique says as she performs privately behind the curtain.

During the dance, which lasts about the length of one song, the man sits on a couch. The woman dances in front of him and occasionally sits on his lap as she moves to the music.

“Are you a cop?” Busty asks before beginning a private dance.

“I ask everybody that,” she adds.

Chief Glenn Ross of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department said Monday afternoon that police have received numerous complaints about Studio 1431 from residents of Exeter.

“We’re aware of it,” he said.

The chief said investigators have been informed of the complaints. However, Ross would not say whether his department is investigating. He also would not comment on whether undercover officers have been sent to Studio 1431.

“Whether it’s a violation of law, that has yet to be determined,” Ross said.

The state Legislature recently amended law to include sexual contact in the definition of prostitution. According to the law, prostitution means engaging in, or agreeing to engage in, or offering to engage in, a sexual act or sexual contact in return for a pecuniary benefit to be received by the person engaging in prostitution or a third person.

Sexual contact is defined as “any touching of the genitals, directly or through clothing, other than would constitute a sexual act, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.”

Exeter Town Manager Robin Bennett said selectmen are working on drafting an ordinance regarding sexually oriented businesses. According to the town manager, Hilyard has been leasing the 1431 Avenue Road residence since early September.

Hilyard was the proprietor of Body Magic in Ellsworth, which specialized in full-body relaxation massage and nude dancing. However, Body Magic moved out of Ellsworth last October when the city adopted an ordinance prohibiting hand-to-genital contact.

Bennett said several Exeter residents have called the town office about Studio 1431, and some residents have started a petition against the operation.

“Someone called in and wanted to know what the scoop was,” the town manager said.

“I don’t know per se what’s going on behind closed doors,” she added.