“Who else is here?” Vinny asked.
“Just us and Mark,” Bradley replied.
Vinny turned to me. “Do you want to hang with us or …?”
I looked to the guys and then back to Vinny. “I’ll just go look around.” I didn’t want to impose on whatever guys did as they got ready for a wedding. Paul needed his friends, and even though I was hopefully becoming a friend, I didn’t feel like they needed a woman present.
“The caterers are setting up the bar. I’m sure they’ll pour you a drink,” Bradley stated.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Vinny asked.
“Of course.” I smiled up at him.
“Are you two a thing or what?” Paul questioned.
“We’re something.” Vinny kissed the side of my head as he brought me against his side, and I blushed.
“It’s about fucking time.” I turned to see Gabe walking in from the backyard.
Paul slapped Vinny on the back. “Well, I’m glad you finally pulled the trigger, but this is my day, and it’s time to get me ready so I can marry the love of my life.”
Vinny looked down at me, and I shooed him away. “Go. I’ll be fine.”
He kissed me quickly, and then he and the guys went up the stairs. Once they were out of sight, I turned and went toward the backyard, assuming that was where the wedding would take place.
When I got outside, I gasped as I took in the pool that looked as though it went on for miles and miles into the desert. People dressed in black pants and black polo shirts were placing flowers and floating candles in the L-shaped infinity pool, and I added that look to my mental wedding wish list most women had. From what I understood, Paul and Joss hadn’t had long to prepare for the wedding, but as I looked at everything being set-up, it seemed as though it was going to be gorgeous. Strands of white lights crisscrossed over the pool and adjacent dance floor. Just beyond, two large sections of chiavari chairs stood in neat rows on either side of a white runner. White roses hung at the end of each row, flanking the aisle as it approached an arbor covered in more white roses. The mountains in the background made the whole scene breathtaking.
“Bride or groom?”
I jumped slightly at the man’s voice and looked up to meet his eyes.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No worries. I was just fantasizing about my wedding.” I smiled. “And groom, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Well, I know them both, but I’ve known Paul longer.”
“Ah. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Mark, Paul’s—well, I was his boss.” He chuckled and stuck out his hand.
I grinned again and stuck my hand out as well. “Tessa, Vinny’s—”
His brows furrowed. “Vinny’s?”
We shook. “I’m not exactly sure. We’re friends for sure.”
Mark placed his hands on his hips and eyed me curiously. “Are you and Vin serious?”
It was my turn to furrow my brows. “Why do you ask?”
“Because it seems as though they’re dropping like flies around here, and I have a business to run, so I’d like to know with more notice than what Gabe and Paul gave me. It seems I might need to talk to the ladies in their lives and find out what’s really going on since they keep me in the dark.”
“Oh,” I chuckled. “I’d suggest talking to Vinny actually.”
“Because you don’t know, or because he’s quitting?”
“I don’t think he’s quitting.”
“Okay, good.” I wasn’t going to tell him Vinny had said he was going to take a break. That was for Vinny to talk to Mark about, not me. “Well, Tessa, it was nice to meet you. Guests should be arriving any minute now, and I need to make sure the boys are dressed and ready to be escor—ushers. And please, have a drink.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Mark walked back into the house, and I went to the bar as suggested. I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for, but after I scanned the bottles behind the bartender, my gaze landed on the bottle of Bacardi. I smiled and ordered a rum and Coke. I would never be able to look at rum again without thinking about Vinny. The night of our dinner we each drank a couple, and when we kissed, he tasted of rum and the sweetness of Coke—a perfect combination.
Just as the bartender placed my drink in front of me, two couples stepped up to the bar. “Two beers, two vodka cranberries.” I turned to glance at the man who’d ordered, and he smiled a smile that instantly dampened my panties. What the fuck? How did that happen just by looking at this guy’s smile? “Bride or groom?” he asked.
“Groom,” I replied, and looked to his group. The guy he was with looked as though he could be his brother. One of the women was brunette and gorgeous, and the other was blonde and equally as pretty.
“Us too.” The guy stuck out his hand. “I’m Brandon. This is my wife, Spencer, my brother, Blake, and his friend, Sarah.”
“I’m Tessa. My … um, boyfriend worked with Paul.”
“Oh yeah?” Blake asked. “Your boyfriend’s an escort?”
“I guess he is.”
“You guess?” Spencer asked and took a sip of her drink the bartender placed on the bar.
“It’s new,” I clarified.
“Who is it?” Brandon questioned.
“Vin—I mean, Duane.”
“Vinny?” Blake boomed. “Seriously?”
“Um, yeah?”
“No shit?” Blake continued.
“Those boys are droppin’ like flies,” Brandon stated.
Spencer hooked her arm with mine and started to guide me toward the seats. “I’ve actually never met any of the guys, but they go to the gym we own. I just came to get out of the house. We live in San Francisco—well, Brandon and I live in San Francisco. We just had a baby not too long ago, and I needed a vacay.”
“I’m from San Francisco too,” I gushed.
“Really?”
“Yeah, moved here about eighteen months ago.”
“Small world.”
“I guess so.” The two of us walked to a row of seats, and I realized Sarah had stayed with the guys. “Totally random, but are you a Giants fan?”
Spencer’s eyes lit up. “Of course I am.”
“Oh, phew.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Vinny’s a Dodgers fan.”
She sucked in a breath. “And you’re still dating him?”
I laughed. “I know, right?”
“He must be something for you to date a rival.”
I smiled. “He is.”
At that moment, something told me to turn around. Vinny and the guys walked into the backyard, all of them dressed in black and white tuxes, and all of them looked hotter than the last time I’d seen them only thirty or so minutes prior—especially Vinny. Good lord, he could fill out a tux like nobody’s business.
“Are those …” Spencer trailed off.
“Yep,” I answered, knowing she was wondering if they were all men of Saddles & Racks.
“Who’s who?”
“Well, left to right is, Bradley, Gabe, Paul, Vinny, and Nick.”
“My best friend, Ryan, is going to die when she finds out I hung out with hot male escorts.”
“Aren’t you married to Brandon?”
“Yep, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make my best friend jealous.”
I grinned. “Totally understandable.”
“And I have to admit Vinny is the hottest Dodgers fan I’ve ever seen. I totally get it.”
We both laughed just as Vinny’s gaze met mine. He walked over to us. “Sweets.” He kissed my lips. “I see you’ve made a friend. I’m—”
“Vinny,” Spencer interjected. “And I’m Spencer.”
“Brandon’s wife?”
“How many female Spencers do you know?”
“True.”
“But we can’t be friends.”
Vinny balked. “And why not?”
The next three words out of Spencer’s mouth sealed our frien
dship.
“Fuck the Dodgers.”
Vinny’s mouth dropped open, and his gaze moved to me. “Seriously?”
I shrugged. “Fuck the Dodgers.”
“Do you want to walk home?” he teased.
I grinned. “You know I can never root for the Dodgers, and you know you’d never let me walk home.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine again. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
“Everyone,” Mark called out, “the bride has arrived.”
One of my best friends was married.
Holy shit, how did that happen? Watching my friends love their women, made me recognize that I wanted that in my life. I’d never realized it before, but I was lonely. That, of course, was before Tessa walked into my life. Now, she was all I ever thought about. Was that what happened to Gabe and Paul? Did Autumn and Joss consume their world so much that it made them want to settle down? It had to be, and honestly, it scared me, but I was going to see where things went with Tessa because I couldn’t imagine my life without her.
It all moved so fast, but what was fast? My group of friends seemed to be settling down at lightning speed, but I guess if you know, you know. Tessa and I hadn’t done anything beyond kissing, but that didn’t stop my desire for some kind of future with her. Everything was there. We got along, laughed together, had amazing chemistry, and the sexual tension was off the charts. I could feel it with every look, and I’d never had that connection before.
I knew she was a little hesitant at first because of Colton, but I had the knowledge, the skill, and the personality to help her with him, and I hoped she realized that, because I felt as though I was on the lightning speed roller coaster just like my friends.
“Your boss asked me if you were quitting,” Tessa stated as we were eating dinner in Mark’s backyard.
My fork stopped at my mouth as I looked over at her. “He was asking you?”
She shrugged. “I guess since you brought a date to the wedding and that’s not normal? And also because Gabe and Paul quit?”
“Well, I plan to talk to him on Monday about taking time off.”
“Okay.” She smiled. “Want to make dinner at my place on Monday too?”
I grinned. “You bet your sweet ass I do.” I wanted to have dinner at her place every night. “But, the Dodgers are playing the Padres, so ...”
“I already told you they won’t ever be on my TV. Plus, the Giants are playing the Diamondbacks.”
“So, you’re telling me I need to bring over my own TV?”
Tessa laughed. “Yeah, if you want to watch your team. Otherwise, Colt and I will be watching the Giants.”
“You’re killing me,” I teased.
“Speaking of killing …” my brows furrowed at her change of subject. “I followed up with Metro, and they gave me the report. Apparently, the guy who followed me home is a regular at the club.”
“Really?”
Tessa nodded and took a bite of her fish. “He’s actually been coming to the club for as long as I’ve worked there. Not sure if this was the first time he had followed me or not though.”
I dropped my fork and turned my body to face her. “What did the cops say?”
“When I saw the name, I realized who it was, and they said to get a restraining order if I wanted.”
“A restraining order’s not going to do shit. You better tell Galen and all the other bouncers. Fuck, we’re changing your locks too.”
“Change my locks?” she asked. “You really think that’s necessary?”
“You think I want to take a chance on something happening to you? I bet you could ask every single one of these people who work at S&R if they’ve had a stalker, and they would all answer yes. I’m not going to take this lightly.”
“Okay,” she replied.
“Sorry, to interrupt,” Spencer cut in. “Did you say you have a stalker?”
Tessa nodded. “Yeah. I work at a strip club, and this guy tried to follow me home one night.”
Spencer looked at Brandon briefly and then back to Tessa. “You probably don’t know my story, but Brandon’s ex tried to kill me, and his college classmate kidnapped me. If something seems off, you need to take every precaution there is.”
“Oh my god,” Tessa gasped. “You almost died and someone kidnapped you?”
My gaze flicked to Brandon’s, and he gave me a tight smile with a nod. As I listened to Spencer tell Tessa her story, it solidified the fact that the world we lived in was dangerous and you never knew what lay beneath the exterior of a person.
“… so, move if you need to,” Spencer finished.
Tessa turned her head back to me. “I don’t want to move. Sophia is there for Colt whenever I need her, and Melony lives a few doors down. I’m happy there.”
I kissed the side of her head. “We’ll figure this out. Even if I need to get Seth to pay the guy a visit.”
Seth wasn’t Metro, and as far as I knew he was moving back to D.C. when the case he and Joss were working on ended. But, if I needed to scare the guy stalking Tessa, I would. Hell, if I needed to spend every night at her place, I would. I already followed her home each night she worked. Last night, I wasn’t able to, but I got Seth to do it, which she didn’t know about.
Which also meant she wasn’t good at making sure someone wasn’t following her.
I introduced Tessa to everyone I knew. She loved Leah and Nina, who both wanted to recruit Tessa to join S&R. That, in turn, made me tell them I was taking a break.
“You too?” Leah asked.
I shrugged and brought Tessa to my side, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “We’re gonna see what happens.”
Leah turned to Nina. “We should make a bet on who’s next.”
Nina’s eyes became wide. “Yes!”
“I’ve got Bradley,” Leah stated.
Nina thought for a moment as she looked over at the guys doing shots. “Okay, I’ll take Nick, but it’s going to need to be a strong woman to take that boy down.”
I had a feeling Leah was going to win the bet. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know when, but out of the two, Brad was for sure the one who’d get attached to a woman before Nick would. Or hell, Nick might surprise me and be the one to settle down first. Only a few months ago, I assumed I’d never settle down, and now I was thinking about cooking dinner every night at Tessa’s.
“Come on, sweets. I wanna show you something.” I took Tessa’s hand and led her toward the stairs that led to the roof. Before we could get there, I saw Seth walking with Joss’s childhood friend, Cat. Even from where I stood, I could tell he was a man on a mission and Paul must have been correct when he said something was going on. Then it hit me: Seth had said he’d only been in love once, and I’d bet my next paycheck that Cat was the one he loved. And from the looks of it, I’d say was still in love.
“Where are we going?” Tessa asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Oh, well, I was going to take you up to the roof, but seems we’re too late.”
“The roof?”
“Mark’s wife turned it into a garden. She reads up there. It’s like an oasis.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ll show you another time, but now, I want to be alone with you.”
“What time does the wedding end?”
“Not sure, but let’s go.”
“Go where?”
I looked toward the house and remembered the room where the guys and I had gotten dressed in, and then I remembered the bathroom. “I want to show you one of the reasons I’m still escorting.”
“Still?”
“Well, why I’m hesitant to leave S&R.”
“I don’t understand.”
I grabbed her hand, lacing our fingers together, and started for the house. The music was bumping, and I figured no one would know we slipped away. “Don’t worry. After tomorrow, I’m still taking a break, but maybe you’ll understand why it’s hard for me to walk away.”
&nb
sp; “Okay …”
I stopped walking just before we got to the stairs. “I’m not saying I’m only going to take a break. If we work out, of course I’ll quit.”
“I understand.”
“I’m not sure you do. It’s not because I like fucking for a living, sweets.”
“It’s not?”
“No.” I chuckled. “I like the money.”
“Who doesn’t?”
I grinned. “Exactly.”
“So, you’re going to show me a pile of money or something?”
We started up the stairs, and I brought her into Mark’s bedroom. At least I assumed it was his bedroom. “Not exactly.” We walked down the hall and into the last door.
“Holy crap. This bedroom is bigger than my apartment,” Tessa stated in awe.
“I don’t think it’s that big, but wait until you see the bathroom.”
I led Tessa into the adjacent room that had what I assumed was marble floors, at least a six-person glass shower with multiple rain shower heads, a step up sunken tub perfect for two people with a fireplace to the side of it, and beige granite encasing the tub and counters.
“Holy crap,” Tessa breathed.
“Right?”
“It’s amazing,” she gushed as she ran her hand along the side where the tub was.
“Right?” I repeated.
She turned to me. “How is this why you don’t quit S&R?”
I sat on the ledge near the tub and reached for her, bringing her between my legs as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “Because one day, sweets, I want to own a place like this, and working for S&R gives me the means to be able to save for it. Granted, each year I tend to go on trips and spend some of the money, but one day I will own a place like this one.”
“You make that much going on dates?” She wrapped her arms around my neck.
“That and my teacher’s salary, which isn’t nearly enough on its own.”
“So, you don’t want to quit?”
“I’m not saying that. I’m telling you why it took me so long to pull the trigger, so to speak.”
Tessa looked around the room. “So if you quit, you won’t ever be able to afford a place like this?”
I shrugged. “Just means it will take a little longer than planned.”
“Are you sure? You’re making it sound as though I’m crushing your dreams by asking you to stop escorting if we start dating.”
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