We reached a tall building located in Midtown Manhattan―the home of skyscrapers and one of the wealthiest counties in the United States―and pulled over where a valet boy waited upfront. Damon climbed out of his car and has beaten the valet boy in opening the door for me. I couldn’t stop liking Damon Rhodes and his sweet gestures and gentle man ways that I was sure would definitely sweep off any girl’s feet. I stepped out of his car as he held the door for me, flowers cradled in between my chest and my arm while smiling like a lunatic. I felt like princess, he made me feel like a princess.
We walked inside the lobby and Damon handed the car keys to the valet who took it with unhidden admiration for both the car and the owner.
I could not help but notice the way the valet looked at me before jumping inside Damon’s Aston Martin. He looked at me with pure disgust painted all over his face as if I had a disease. It made me feel self-conscious. I tugged the very short skimpy red dress I wore, wishing that somehow it would grow an inch or two in length. I never felt like this before, because I have never been in a place like this before.
Damon draped his coat over my shoulders to my surprise then continued walking through the lobby past the concierge as if nothing happened. He must have noticed what I was doing with my stupid dress. I could not help but smile as I touched the coat on my shoulder. I looked up and saw him taking a left turn toward the elevators and I tried to catch up in long exaggerated strides.
But my steps got shorter by the minute as each head turned to me. They stared at me with appalled glances as if I was the dirtiest person in the room. I tried to make myself disappeared by hunching my back and bowing my head as low as I could. I took small steps to minimize the clicking noise my heels made.
I caught up with Damon who was waiting in front of the farthest elevator. I took a breath of relief as if I just crossed a hanging bridge with a river full of crocodiles beneath. Their teeth bared and mouth wide opened as if they are waiting for me to fall and land inside their jaws.
“What’s wrong?” Damon asked.
“Huh?”
“You look like you were relieved about something.”
I shook my head and told him that nothing’s wrong. I did not tell him about what happened in the lobby. I tried not to look in his eyes so he will not know that I was lying. But I gaped at him when he said, “Don’t mind them.” How did he know?
The elevator arrived and we stepped inside. Damon pressed a code and we waited as it ascended. We stood side by side in silence as the numbers increased. The elevator stopped at the tenth floor where a man probably around the same age as I was joined us. I stepped closer to Damon to give room for the man. The man looked at us and gave me a friendly smile. I couldn’t help but return it.
I felt Damon stiffened behind me the moment I bared my teeth. I shifted my eyes from the guy towards Damon and he looked like he had swallowed a bitter pill―tensed jaw, fisted hands and stone cold eyes. He looked like he wanted to kill someone although he kept his eyes ahead. His aura changed, from warm it turned into glacial coldness.
“Paul Jenkins.” The other man inside the elevator held out his hand in front of me.
I took his hand and shook it as I concealed my worry towards Damon with a practiced smile plastered on my face. “Amanda Sparks.”
As Paul and I shook hands, Damon snaked his hand around my waist and pulled me closer to his side while glaring at Paul Jenkins. If looks could kill a man, I bet Paul would be six feet below the ground by now.
“Damon Rhodes.” He interjected. Who would not recognize the infamous Damon Rhodes?
The guy ashen, Damon’s usual effect on those around him but this didn’t stop Paul from clinging to my hands longer than he should have. Damon noticed our hands so he pulled me closer to him that my fingers slipped away from Paul’s. Paul stared at Damon who looked so pissed as if he wanted to snap off his head.
The elevator opened at the twenty-first floor and Paul exited. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Damon Rhodes.” Paul smiled at me. “You too Amanda Sparks.”
I contemplated whether I should return the smile, but of course, I did because I was a people pleaser. I felt Damon’s fingers dug painfully on my waist, it bit into my skin like claws.
“Damon, you’re hurting me.” I said once the elevator door closed and started to ascend once again, leaving Damon and I alone.
He took one look at me and his glare immediately changed. He looked apologetic as he removed his hand on me. “Sorry.” He raked his fingers through his hair, messing it in a sexy kind of way. Damn, even messy hair suited him. He was perfect.
The elevator stopped and Damon stepped outside. I took a step out the elevator and paused as I took in the place. My jaw dropped to the floor when I realized where we were. The penthouse? Damon was living in a freaking penthouse!
Damon tilted his head to the side. “Aren’t you coming?”
I snapped my jaw close and blinked, trying to regain my composure, before following him.
The penthouse was so grand and luxurious. Damon’s home was like those that I saw in the magazines. Every part, corner, furniture, maybe even the dust here screamed billionaire was residing here. This was the kind of place someone like me could set foot, maybe, on a one in a million chance only.
Damon’s intimidating persona was gone and backed was gentle man Damon. “Come. I’ll give you a tour.”
We toured inside his two-storey penthouse as he described ever room for me. Our last destination was a room that we bypassed earlier and I wondered why we did now that we were standing in front of the closed door. I hoped it was not a BDSM playroom because I was not really into the whole Dom/Sub thing that was a popular crazed right now. It was beyond the boundary of comfort for me.
He opened the door and stepped aside so I could look. A big bedroom filled with white, black, and gray confronted me. Everything was dull, sterile and clean, and it looked like a neat freak owned this room. The bed, silk curtains and the walls were stark white. The carpet was gray. The furniture and other small fixtures were a mixture of black and gray―contemporary art pieces that looked quite expensive and elegant for my taste. This was Billionaire Damon Rhodes’ bedroom, I supposed.
What really made this room perfect was the floor to ceiling glass window that overlooked the whole New York City at night. The view was magnificent.
The New York Skyline was a beautiful sight to look at, especially at night. The lights of the big apple twinkled like little stars. The dark starless night served as the perfect backdrop to it. It was so beautiful and magical that I was lost in its fairy dust. It locked me in a trance. I was drawn. It felt as if there was this power pulling me over to stare and took in the view closer that I unconsciously walked toward the window with my eyes fixed at the skyline.
How I wished that every night I could also have this kind of view to look upon before I go to sleep. To stare at the beauty of the city that never sleeps, every night so I could dream about it. But how possible was that? I bet this view cost more than a million dollar. This was not just any ordinary apartment. This was the penthouse.
I did not notice him approached but I saw his silhouette through my peripheral visual field, he was watching the skyline beside me. How lucky of him to have this every night. I wondered if he devoured the beauty of his view just like the way I felt like doing right now.
We stood by the window side by side in a comforting silence. I could feel the back of his hand touching mine, and it made me feel those butterflies comeback inside my stomach. His body heat made my inside warm. His scent made my stomach tingled and responded in a way no one made it before. It was a novelty for me. I had never felt like this before.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” I was the first one who broke the stretching silence.
“It is.” His voice was low and gentle, like a soft caress in my ears.
I turned and stared at him, he was looking at me instead of the skyline. I felt something warm crept up in both of my cheeks as he con
tinued staring at me. Did the air-conditioning broke, why did it suddenly felt warm in here?
I swallowed and tried to divert his attention elsewhere. “So where do you want us to start?”
His brows rose to his hairline and he blinked as if he was lost. “What?”
“Sixty dollars an hour and I’m a sure thing. I did everything, except stare in the eyes of my partner while having sex.”
I looked away, unintentionally but I felt like it. Why did suddenly it became so hard to negotiate when the costumer was him. I felt his blue eyes trained on me and I saw him shook his head. I slowly turned to face him and saw his frown. I did not understand it. Did this mean… “You don’t want to have sex?”
“That’s not the reason I brought you here.”
“Then what?” I was now officially confused.
“To talk.”
“To talk?” He nodded. “To talk.” I repeated as if to convinced myself.
Damon looked serious, which meant we were really just going to talk.
“Then let’s talk.” I could not help but add a bit of sarcasm into it. Come on, who hired a prostitute just to have a talk?
Damon chuckled as if he found me amusing. I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at this man. He had this way of surprising me.
~***~
Hours passed by and I hadn’t noticed how late it was already. Yeah, we just talked, like what he paid me for and we covered many topics. Take note, we were in his bed, facing each other and wait for it―with our clothes on.
First time in the two years that I have been in the sex working industry, where a man never dared to removed even my top. The first time that I had lay in a bed with a man beside me where my clothes were intact.
It was a new thing to me, but somehow, I liked it.
Damon told me about his company, Rhodes Estates. He said he inherited it from his father who inherited it from his grandfather. They owned land properties across the globe, resorts, hotels and shopping malls.
“Your turn.” He said.
“What’s there to tell?”
“Tell me about your work.”
“Uhm, which one?” I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping that it was not my work as a prostitute he wanted to know about.
“Both.”
“Both?” Did I really have to?
He nodded and stared at me expectantly, obviously waiting for me to start talking.
I sighed. “In the morning I was a waitress and you have come to my work area before. At night, I was a hooker.”
I stared at him and I was wondering what he was thinking. I hoped he would never change the way he looked at me. I would be crushed if he thought that I was just a worthless piece shit liked the rest of them thought that I was.
“Tell me more about your night time work.”
It surprised me that he was curious about my work as a hooker. He didn’t seem like prying on my life or being judgmental about how I chose to survive.
“Well, I started being a hooker two years ago. I was eighteen and I just graduated from high school. I knew Margaret through the diner where we work together and she told me she was a hooker so she could send money to her family back in Mexico. She introduced me into the world of sexual workers and told me I could be one if I’m willing to do it. She said the money she earned helped her family a lot.”
Damon took my hand and caressed my knuckles with his thumb.
“Funny thing was I preserved my virginity for the man I am going to marry someday, but during that time I also needed the money so I could help my twin brother to go to college. His scholarship does not cover all the expenses and I did not want him to drown in student loans. So I took the job.”
He stared at me with those blue eyes of his that softened along with every word I said.
“The first time I did it, it was horrible.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I hated the feeling of it. The guy was older probably twenty-seven and I was just eighteen by that time. He paid me enough, drove me back where he picked me up. And when he was gone, I cannot help feeling degraded like I was the dirtiest person in the whole world. It felt like all the values that I have been keeping all my life faded in just three hours. I cried, cannot help it, and Margaret soothed me as we sat on the stairs of a closed store located at the farthest corner of the street.” I took a deep breath and tried my best to stop the tears but my eyes stung. Every time I went back to that day, I could not stop being emotional as if that story was the magic spell to brought out this side of me.
Damon took me again by surprise when he reached out and wiped the tear that had fallen down from my eyes with his thumb. His gesture tugged a corner of my heart that I thought was frozen forever. “I’m sorry about it.” He murmured as he stared at me with the softest blue eyes I have ever seen.
I stared back at Damon and in his blue eyes. How did he do it? Change the intensity, the vividness, the clarity and the contrast of his eyes in an instant. Don’t tell me he really was a deity?
“Don’t be. It was not your fault.” I said. “No more sad talk okay, let’s talk about something else.”
We talked for hours until I felt the heaviness tugging the lids of my eyes. I yawned in front of him and he chuckled at me.
“You look sleepy.”
“I’m sleepy.”
“You could sleep here.”
I could not help but stared at him as I felt my heart swelled by his gestures. He really was a sweet caring guy with a tough exterior.
He got up from the bed, pulled the duvet over me and tucked me in his bed like a five-year old kid. He stared down at me with a smile and I could not help returning it.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“I have some work to do. You go to sleep.”
I nodded. “Okay. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Amanda.” He took me by surprise when he bended down and planted a kiss on my forehead. Then he left the room as he shut the door gently behind him. I stared up at the ceiling as I listened to my heartbeat.
Four
The light came from the small gap between the curtains when I woke up. I opened my eyes then blinked, and blinked…and blinked.
Where was I?
I scanned the room with my eyes. This didn’t look like a motel to me. The walls, curtains and the sheets were stark white. Everything was sterile.
Was this what they called heaven?
I blinked again as I took in the room one more time before it finally dawned on me.
Oh, right.
I was in Damon Rhodes’ bedroom.
I sat up, not believing what happened. I glanced down at my body and found that my clothes were still intact. Wow, this was a first. First time that I have spent the whole night in a man’s home, slept in a man’s bed without the need to have sex with him.
I got out of the bed and gathered my things, and put on my shoes as I walked out of the bedroom. I walked through the hallway and into a main room that was bigger than my whole apartment. I found Damon with his back facing me as he talked on the phone. He turned around, paused as he took me in with his eyes before smiling his mega-watt smile. I could not help myself from returning that smile back. He spoke to the person on the other line and wrapped up his call.
“Good morning.” He said as he sauntered towards me.
“Good morning. I have to go.”
“Grab some breakfast before you go.”
I shook my head and said, “I’ll grab something on my way to work.”
“No. I insist. Stay. Eat breakfast with me.” He stared at me with those blue eyes that seemed to talk to my soul and I could not force myself to say no.
“If you insist I’ll stay for breakfast.”
A huge grin had split his face in half and he looked so cute. He led me towards the breakfast counter that was overflowing with food. There were pancakes, croissants, fruits and cereals. Everything was prepared before me and it looked like a breakfast buffet they served for hotel guests more than a breakfast f
or two.
“My housekeeper was on a day off and I have no idea what you wanted to eat so I ordered everything on their breakfast menu.” He ordered everything on the menu for me, wow.
After breakfast he insisted (again) on giving me a ride back to my apartment and I could not say no. It was as if he had this control over me that forbade my lips from saying the word “no” to him.
He pulled over in front of the apartment and got out to open the car door for me. I eased out of his Aston Martin as he held the door for me. We walked side by side toward the front door and paused when we reached it.
I inserted the key and turned it clockwise. I heard the clicked of the locked but I didn’t do anything to open the door. I knew once I open this door and face him, I had to say goodbye. And I didn’t want to. In the hours that we had spent together, it felt like he had taken a piece of me with him. But I have to say goodbye. It was the right thing to do.
I turned around, faced him and saw the sparkle in his eyes that made me took in a sharp intake of breath.
“So, this is me.” I could not let go of his stare.
“Good bye.” And he was not letting go as well.
“Bye.”
He took me again by surprise when he bent down and kissed my flushed cheek.
I could feel my whole face burning. My heart was beating stronger and I felt dizzy as of the moment. He straightened without letting go of his stare, smiled that beautiful smile before walking back to his car, and left me wanting more from him.
Later that day at the diner, Margaret cornered me at the storage room. “Spill.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What happened with you and Damon Rhodes last night? Was he good? Did he pay you a big amount of money?”
I shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Oh come on. The moment you stepped in the diner you were glowing and I knew there was something great that happened last night.”
“I’m not glowing.” I retorted.
Unlikely To Fall In Love Page 3