“Mitch!” I smack his arm. “He’s going to get holy hell for that!” I say with a bit of exacerbation. Mitch ignores me as he opens the door to the room. I no sooner step in and he’s slamming the door shut and pushing me up against it.
“This is the last time I’m telling you—Mitchell!” he says through his teeth with a subtle mixture of anger and irritation.
“Oh, honey, you must’ve had a little too much to drink. I’m Charlotte.” I place my hand on my chest. “You’re Mitchell.” I place my hand on his chest. Mitch looks down and shakes his head. He backs away from me a little.
“Forget it. This isn’t going to work. I’ll pay you for tonight, but you can leave.” He pulls out his wallet. I’m trying to decide which action is offending me more—his dismissal or the wallet reaching? Of course, getting pissed about either and walking (storming really) out of here is not going to put food in front of my kids and a roof over their heads. AND ... I like him. Yeah, he seems to have some quirks—we all do. But I like him. I feel ok with him. Ok with what I’m going to do with him. Well—was going to do unless I rectify this situation.
“Whoa ... wait.” I reach out and touch his arm. “I’m sorry.” I take a step or two closer to him. He stares down at me intently. “You made me nervous. I joke when I get nervous. I can’t help it.” He tosses his wallet on the table and places his hands on my hips pulling me closer to him.
“I made you nervous?” he asks before he plants a light kiss on my nose.
“Well, yeah. You slammed me up against the door and yelled in my face.” I pull my head back from his advances. “Third rude thing you’ve done to me in the hour that I’ve known you, by the way.”
“Third?” he questions with a smile.
“Yes.”
“When was the second time?” He leans in to kiss me.
“You made me gasp in the elevator ... in front of other people.” I pull my head back again.
“The horror!” He widens his eyes. “Well,” he starts before he palms my face, “I can do better than that.” He leans down and captures my lips. My knees weaken as I part my lips allowing him to deepen the kiss. Holy shit—this guy can kiss! I hear a slow waltz playing in my head. Our mouths keep in perfect hold while our tongues dance skillfully together as if this was their millionth waltz and not their first.
Mitch pulls away—abruptly. He stares down into my eyes again; his left thumb strumming across my bottom lip.
“What?” I ask, feeling a bit self-conscious.
“You’re different,” he finally says after a few more moments of awkward silence.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “Come. Let’s look at the contract.” He leads me over to the sofa. The sofa has a bajillion pillows on it. It looks nice but you have to pull off half of them just to sit. I scan over the room while Mitch gets the contract out of his briefcase. Must remember to call him Mitchell! God forbid! What’s up with that anyway?
The Ames (A Morgan Original) is quite the contemporary hotel. Not too overbearing though; there is more of a softness to it than a sterile feel. The walls are gray. There’s a beautiful white decorative engraved fireplace. I’m not sure if it’s real, though. The room is very calming with its gray, white and deep purplish tones. I’d love to curl up on that chaise lounge over there, in the corner, and read a good book.
“Charlotte ... here.” He hands me a manila envelope. I turn it over and open it up. The first paper I see in a Non-Disclosure. I look up at him. “This is to protect both of us, really.” He leans in so that we’re almost cheek to cheek as he looks on with me. “Basically, this states that you can tell people about us. However, you cannot tell anyone about our business arrangement or our real one.” I can’t help my confusion or the fact that it’s blanketing my face. “You’ll understand in a minute. Do you have any questions about what you can say or can’t?” he asks getting ready to hand me the pen. I read it over. “C’mon, Charlotte,” Mitch breathes a bit of impatience. “I just explained it to you. Sign so we can move on.”
“Excuse me.” I look over at him. ‘Do you have a lot of contracts handed to you at work that you have to make decisions on?”
“Sometimes several a day. Why?”
“Do you read them over or do you just go by whatever they tell you?” I look back down at the paper.
“I read them over. That’s different. It’s business.” I jerk my head back up at him and give him “The Look”. “Yeah ok, but you haven’t even gotten to the contract, yet.” He points for emphasis.
“Pen.” I hold out my hand. He gives me the pen and I quickly sign. I hand the Non-Disclosure to him and move onto the contract.
It’s only a page long. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I find this odd. Instead of questioning it, I decide to read.
Holy shit! I jump up out of my seat and walk over to the fireplace to continue to read. Most people need to sit when they are receiving information that is life altering—not me! I need to feel the ground under my feet.
“Charlotte?” Mitch walks up behind me.
“Shh.” I wave my hand and continue to read. I feel his arms slip around my waist. His lips fall to the back of my neck gradually working their way to the right side of it.
“Baby, it’ll be so good, I promise.” He murmurs between kisses. Wait! Did Mr. Formal just call me baby?”
“So I can’t have any other clients?” I ask.
“No. I’m your only client and as you can see.” He points to the retainer fee of $25,000. “I compensate you well for it.”
“And this is a monthly fee?” I turn to him.
“Yes. Did you read it all?” He flicks the paper.
“Yes ... but ... I’m not quite sure what to make of it. Am I right to believe that you are contracting me to be your girlfriend?” I wince unsure.
“You are very right. Come. Let’s sit down and I’ll explain this in my words—not my lawyer’s.” He grabs my hand and leads me back to the couch. I sit down crossing my right leg over my left. Leaning my left elbow on the back of the sofa, I rest my head against my hand.
“Ok?” he asks. I nod. “The reason why I’m doing this is because I’m the owner and CEO of Colton Technologies. Unless you’re big into cars and technology for their parts, you probably haven’t heard of us,” he starts.
“Actually, I have,” I say thoughtfully.
“You have?” He’s seems taken aback. “Did you Google or Wiki me?”
“Not you, your company. I had no idea you were the owner. I was helping my dad research companies for his stock portfolio. You have a very impressive company, Mr. Colton.” I smile.
“Yes, I think so.” You can see his sense of pride in his accomplishments. “Well, then you know that we serve more than a hundred countries. I’m always traveling. I don’t have time for the whole courting process. I take a girl out on a date then I don’t see her for two months. It doesn’t go over too well. If they do stick it out—it’s usually for my money. If it’s not entirely for my money and they do actually like me, I get the nagging about never being there. So ...” He takes a deep breath. “I’ve decided enough is enough. I know what I want and if I have to pay for it to get it ... so be it.” He slaps his knee.
“But, Mitchell, you’re a good looking guy and you seem nice to be around,” I start but he cuts me off.
“Charlotte, I want to know every inch of your body. I will tonight. There’s no waiting, there’s no wondering, and there’s no bullshit. I don’t have time for that stuff. I let you know when I’m in town and I expect all of your focus to be on me. It’s simple, Charlotte. You’ve got it made. Even if I was a complete asshole—you still have it made.” His argument is compelling.
“This says something about a house.” I glance back down to the paper.
“I have a house in Andover. You will live there as long as we are under agreement.” His left hand rests on my outer right thigh and he squeezes. “You get a house, twenty
-five thousand a month plus double the going rate for each night we spend together and health insurance.”
“Uh ... health insurance?” I ask.
“Yes.” He laughs a little. “I can’t just give you a personal check each month for you to deposit in your bank. It’ll raise red flags with IRS. You’ll be on my company’s payroll ... hence the medical benefits.”
“Do you offer a 401k plan and how much do you match?” I ask in the most serious way as one would during contract negotiations.
“You’re quite the smartass, aren’t you?” He grins and squeezes my thigh again.
“Well, your ad did say you wanted an educated woman.” I shrug. He laughs lightly and rolls his eyes at me.
“Do you have any other questions?” he asks as his right hand starts playing with the back of my hair. I feel him slowly pulling a pin out.
“What are you doing?” I instinctively reach back.
“Is your hair long?” He pulls another pin out.
“Yes ... stop.” I lean forward.
“Please try to leave your hair down for me and never cut it shorter than just below your shoulders.” He pulls out another pin.
“Mitchell! It took Ava almost two hours to do this with my hair.” I try to push his hand away.
“I want it down.” He states calmly. “Who’s Ava?” he asks as he continues on with the destruction of her masterpiece.
“One of my best friends,” I offer in defeat.
“The one who texted you earlier?” he asks. I nod slightly.
“Does she know what you are doing here ... the nature of your business?” he asks. “Turn.” He commands and taps my leg.
“No. Yes, she knows I’m here for a date, but she doesn’t know what kind of date.” I uncross my legs and turn away giving him full access to my hair. I can’t help but smile at how careful he’s being not to pull my hair. It’s kind of sweet.
“Charlotte.”
“Yes?”
“As soon as I’m done here, I’m going to bring you into the bedroom whether you sign the contract or not. If you have any questions—now’s the time to ask.” his voice is soft yet assertive. I feel as if there are little gymnasts in my stomach, flying around a bar, getting ready to do a triple mound or whatever the hell it is gymnasts do!
“Right!” I finally find my voice. “I have my own home. I won’t need to live in yours.”
“I want you to live there. It’s part of the condition.” He stops pulling pins out.
“I can’t. I won’t. I am willing to compromise.” I add quickly.
“Compromise how?” I can tell he’s working hard at not becoming irritated.
“When you call me to say you will be here, I will make sure I am at your house for when you arrive and stay with you the entire time.” I wait for him to shoot my offer down. Slowly he works at pulling pins out again.
“I’ll deal with that for now, but it’s not off the table. We will revisit this subject later.” He pulls on the hair that’s loose for emphasis. I decide it’s best to carry on with my other questions.
“You mentioned you will be paying me double the going rate each day that we spend together.”
“Yes.”
“Why?” That seems excessive. I mean, I’m sure I can make it on twenty-five thousand a month. Christ ... is he related to my Aunt Clara?
“I’ve learned that loyalty comes with a big price tag. You sign that contract, Charlotte, and you become mine. I don’t want another man’s hands on you whether a client or not. I’m willing to pay you a lot of money to guarantee that you comply.” He runs his fingers through my hair combing out the curls he’s released.
“Have you done this before? If so, how long do you usually stay with the same woman?” I try to hide the sadness I’m feeling for him.
“Just once; it didn’t work out well. Apparently, I didn’t pay her enough to stay loyal. To be quite honest, I realized she wasn’t really for me.” He sighs then continues on with my hair.
“How so?” I turn my head to look at him.
“I wasn’t picky enough; wasn’t clear enough about my expectations. But, I chock it up as a learning experience. By the way, I will be having my people randomly checking in on you to make sure you are complying.” He stops again, I think, waiting for my reaction to this information.
“From what I’ve read, your expectations are just for me to be your girlfriend in every way—not just sex.” I move along in my questioning, noting that he almost has all of the pins out.
“Yes. I want a companion too. It’s not just about sex. Although, I should warn you, I have quite the salacious appetite. I’m sure, given your line of work, that won’t be a problem for you.” Huh? Oh right ... yes, I almost forgot, I’m supposed to be a high priced whore—only I’m not and now thanks to Mitch—I won’t be. Well, I’ll be high priced but not a whore. I can’t very well be a whore if I’m sleeping with only one man. Right? Eh, these moral conflicts, I fear, will be the death of me.
“I’m sure I’ll be able to keep up with you.” I smile.
“Does that mean you will sign?” He asks as he lightly grabs my chin and turns my head to face him again.
“How long is the contract for and will there be others around the world?” The last of my questions—for now.
“Indefinitely—as long as we are both happy and content with it. And no; you will be the only one. It’s only fair of me to bestow the same courtesy I expect from you. Besides, like I said, my free time is limited.” He pulls the last pin out. “Beautiful,” he whispers before undoing the braids at the top.
“Can I have the pen?” I hold my hand out again.
“I need to see your physical and blood results first.” He hands me my purse. “You did bring them, right?”
“Yes, yes of course.” I sit straight up. I didn’t even realize I was leaning up against him. I open my purse and hand him the papers.
I remember Dr. Timmins’ look of confusion when I asked to be tested for every STD known to man. I was prepared for that, considering the man has known me most of my life. I told him I just wanted peace of mind with Josh’s odd behavior the last year of our marriage. Like a light bulb quickly flashing on; he got it.
“Here is mine.” He hands me the paper. “Are you on birth control?”
“Yes.” I nod and scan the paper.
“And you’re good about taking it properly?”
“Yes.” Geez ... this is now finally starting to sound like a business deal. I feel my stomach turning a bit. “I get the shot.”
“Oh ok. Good.” He nods. “Before you sign I feel the need to remind you again that you will be at my beck and call. I also want to make it clear that it will never be more than this. I will never want more. I will never give more. I’m not trying to sound like a cocky or arrogant bastard but if you find you feel more for me and want more from me—our contract will be through. I don’t do the marriage thing, I don’t do the kid thing and I certainly won’t do the falling in love thing. Sorry, I just want to make myself clear.” He holds the pen back from me.
I smirk playfully and grab the pen from him, “Cocky Bastard.” I murmur loud enough for him to hear me.
“Smartass!” he murmurs back, grabbing the pen and paper from me so he can sign as well.
“Now what?” I widen my eyes and bite back my smile.
“Now,” he stands up and grabs my hand to pull me up as well, “I finally get to peel you out of this dress.” He grasps my lips with his and unzips my dress at the same time.
“Don’t you want to know my favorite color?” I pull away and tease.
“No.” He pulls me back.
“Flower? School I went to? Names of my sisters? My philosophy on life?” I keep my hands on his shoulders, holding him at arm’s length to continue my teasing.
He takes in a deep breath. “There’s only one thing I want to know right now.” He pulls my hands away and holds them behind my back.
“What’s that?”
&
nbsp; “What you sound like when you come.” He pulls me to him aggressively not allowing an inch between us. His mouth lingers over mine. His eyes telling me to knock it the fuck off. My only response to his behavior seems to be erratic breathing.
“Well,” I kiss him, “good luck with that.” Good luck indeed! I can’t remember the last time I “came” naturally.
“Good luck? You don’t think I’ll be able to make you come?” His brows arch up.
“Probably not but, since you’re paying me so well, I’ll make sure to fake in a believable manner.” I say thoughtfully.
“I don’t want you to fake anything!” He snaps lightly. Except our relationship. A slow smile embraces his lips abating his temper. “So ... a challenge?”
“Quite.” I sigh with a mixture of sentience and disappointment.
“Hmm ...” A flicker of amusement hits his eyes. “Have a little faith, baby.” He nudges my nose with his before planting a quick sweet kiss on my lips. Bringing my hands back around to the front of me, he continues the lead to the bedroom.
“What happened to the formality you insisted on, Mr. Colton? That’s twice you’ve called me baby.” I tug on his hand.
“You’ve signed the contract ... you’re officially my baby.” He tugs back forcing me onward at a quicker pace.
“You called me baby before I signed.” I remind him.
“Yes, but I knew you would capitulate to the terms quickly given the position you are in.” He says upon entrance to the bedroom.
“And what kind of position do you think I’m in?” I pull my hands away swiftly. Honestly, what an offensive thing to say!
“Charlotte,” he pulls me to him, “I don’t know exactly what position you are in outside of this room.” His fingers push my hair behind my ears. “But ... in this room ... I can think of several positions you will find yourself in tonight, baby.” He licks his lips before claiming mine again. Holy Shit! He certainly doesn’t fall short on saying the hottest things ... effortlessly, if I may add.
Slowly, my lips part enough to allow his tongue entrance. A small moan escapes my throat as his tongue explores my mouth skillfully. I feel him slip my dress off of my shoulders.
Goodbye Uncertainty Page 28