“No. I think you’re perfect,” I say softly.
I realize now that we are stopped in front of my office. He looks over at me and his face is blank of emotion. Finally he gives me a small smile.
“I’m far from perfect, Adrienne, but I’d like to think I can be perfect for someone…someday.”
We continue to stare into each other’s eyes; my heart starts beating faster and I lick my lips. His gaze drops to my mouth before moving back up to my eyes. In my mind I’m begging him to kiss me, but then there’s another part of me that says I need to just get out of the car. I want him. There is no denying that, but I want him to want me and only me. I don’t think this friends thing is gonna work out. I won’t be able to hang out with him and not have thoughts of wanting more. I’m about to say just that when he reaches over and grabs my hand in his. My small hand just about disappears within his own. My poor heart is working overtime; I can feel it beating hard through my chest. He leans in closer, and closer still, and any rational thoughts that I could or should have, go out the window. In this moment I want his mouth on mine. I want to feel his tongue move over my tongue. I want his smooth and soft lips to caress mine.
His other hand moves to the side of my face and without thought, I close my eyes and nestle into it. He strokes my cheek with his thumb and I open my eyes and meet his gaze. His face gets closer to mine and I close my eyes waiting to feel the warmth of his mouth.
When I do, it’s not what I was wanting. He kisses me…on the corner of my mouth. It’s mostly on my cheek, but he lingers for a few seconds, and I revel in it. When he pulls back and I open my eyes, he’s already studying me. He caresses my face one more time and gives me a smile.
“Thank you for coming with me today. I had fun.”
I take a deep breath and smile back. “Me too.”
“Maybe I’ll see you soon?”
“Yeah. Maybe,” I say with a smile. What I don’t say is that I want to see him tonight. In bed. Naked.
He shows off his perfect smile, and squeezes my hand gently before letting go.
I get out of the car and once inside the building, I go straight to the bathroom. I’m completely wet.
“So what you’re trying to tell me is that you’re giving up pussy.”
“Troy, nobody said anything about giving up pussy,” I respond with a laugh.
“That’s basically what you just said. You said, ‘I’m lame as fuck and don’t want to get no more pussy.’ That’s what I heard anyway.”
“Whatever, fool. You better get your hearing checked then.”
I continue to get my suit on, and since Troy is already dressed, he’s standing in the doorway of my bedroom giving me a hard time.
“Are you really getting out of the escort game, though? I mean, you’ve made a shit load of money doing this.”
“Yeah, I know, but I can’t keep doing it forever. We’re gonna make a shit load of money with the club, too. It’s not like I’m gonna go broke.”
“Well I know that. Maybe I just love pussy too much. I don’t think I’ll ever stop,” Troy says while mindlessly playing with his watch.
“Come on, bro, you know you could get pussy without this job, so don’t act like that’s the only reason you do this.”
When he doesn’t say anything, I sit on the bed and put my shoes on.
“I knew Carla was cheating on me. She didn’t do a very good job at hiding it. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought she was cheating on me with my cousin, though.”
I look up at him and he’s still looking down at his watch. He doesn’t bring up what happened a whole lot, so I decide to let him talk until he doesn’t want to anymore.
“I was hoping that if I just spent more time with her that she would be happy and we would be okay. She never expressed her feelings to me. I had no idea how unhappy she was and I just wish she would have told me. Instead, she decided to sleep with my cousin while I was at work, making money for our wedding. It had been going on for months. I only found that out through him, because she tried to tell me it was only the one time.”
He finally lifts his head and looks up at me.
“I never treated her wrong; I worshipped the ground she walked on, and got her anything she wanted. I didn’t realize that I was buying her love. I had no idea she loved my money more than me, and I didn’t have a whole lot compared to now,” he says with a smile. “I bet she’d really love me now. I’m just afraid to go through that again, and with the money I have now, I feel like women would want more. More than just me. They’d want what I can offer them, and I can only offer myself.”
I take a minute to take in what he said before responding.
“Troy, you’re a good guy, and the right woman won’t want you for your money. The right woman will only want you for you. Carla seemed to be happy. She was happy getting the material things that you got for her and…whatever she was getting elsewhere.”
I pause, gauging his reaction. I don’t want to hurt him anymore, but I want to tell him what I think. When he doesn’t say anything, I continue.
“I’m sorry to say it, man, but Carla wasn’t the one for you, and I think you dodged a bullet with that one. That doesn’t mean you should swear off relationships altogether. You’re letting her win if you do that. Move on, meet someone, and be happy. You deserve that, it’s her that doesn’t.”
After a few minutes of silence, he finally speaks up.
“Yeah. Thanks for listening, man. I don’t mean to be all sensitive,” he says with a small laugh.
“No problem. We can stop being like girls now, right?” I ask with a grin.
“Definitely. You ready to go? We’re gonna be late, and you know the boss will have our asses if we are.”
“Yeah, let’s go. I don’t want to deal with that drama.”
We leave my place and grab a cab to head to the hotel. Almost all the other escorts from our agency will be there since we were invited by our boss, and you can’t really say no.
“You think there’s gonna be any hot chicks there?” Troy asks.
“Probably,” I say with a shake of my head.
“What? Maybe I want to find the one.”
“Right. The one for tonight maybe.”
“So you ain’t gonna be lookin’ for any hot ass tonight?”
“Looking and seeing are two different things. I may see some hot ass tonight, but I won’t be looking.”
Troy’s face transforms into a look of shock.
“What the fuck, man? Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask.
“Who is she?” he asks.
“What are you talking about?”
“The girl that obviously has you so pussy whipped. She’s why you aren’t lookin’ to get laid tonight. She’s the reason why you want to get out of the escort business too, huh?”
When I don’t respond right away because I’m thinking about what to say, he starts in again.
“I knew it! My boy’s in love.”
“Whoa! Calm down. Nobody is in love.”
“Well, what the fuck?”
I let out an exasperated sigh because I know he isn’t going to leave this alone.
“I did meet someone, but it’s complicated. We hooked up once already, and then she disappeared. I ran into her again because she’s the same woman who’s setting up our opening event. So the day you called me to take your place is the day I saw her for the first time since hooking up.”
“You’re welcome,” he says with a smug look.
“Anyway, she’s made it clear that she’s seen me with several different women and thinks I’m a player. She refuses to be with me again, but has agreed to be friends. So that’s where that is.”
“So she doesn’t know what you do then?”
“I told her I wasn’t in a relationship with anybody, and that with the opening of the club I wouldn’t be dating around so much.”
“You’re really not gonna tell her what you’ve been doing as a career? That
doesn’t seem like it’s gonna end well.”
“Thanks,” I respond blandly.
“I’m just being honest, brother. She’ll find out. Women find out everything. Then it will be ten times as bad than if you told her.”
“I don’t even know how I’m supposed to tell her something like that. She’ll go screaming for the fucking hills and I’ll never see her again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I just feel like if we establish more of a connection, then it will be harder for her to hate me if she finds out the truth.”
Troy smiles and shakes his head. “I can kinda see what you mean, but I don’t know.”
“I don’t fuckin’ know, either.”
We stop talking when the cab pulls up to the hotel. I toss him the money and Troy and I get out. Nico and Kade are out front laughing about something, and I see Marc talking to another escort, Adrian a little further away.
“Y’all ready for this shit?” Nico asks.
“I guess,” I respond.
“Why did we have to come, exactly?” Kade asks.
“To be seen, to be eye candy, who knows?” Nico says.
“The boss says to come, we come, that’s that. Probably in hopes to pick up clients. There are gonna be some wealthy people here,” Troy answers.
Marc makes his way over to us.
“You ready, guys? Best behavior tonight, don’t forget,” he says, looking at Nico and Kade.
Kade looks around at all of us. “Why did you look at me when you said that? I’m always good.”
“Not when women and liquor are around,” Marc laughs.
“Whatever. Like I wanna get on the boss’s bad side tonight. Thanks for the advice though, dad,” Nico quips at Marc.
We all make our way into the hotel and follow the crowd to where the party is. I’m hoping to get in, be seen by the boss, and then be able to leave.
We stop along the way to talk with some of the other guys, and then finally make it to the huge ballroom where everybody is. Our first stop is the bar. Marc orders everybody some shots, and then we each get our individual drink.
As Marc is passing around shots, he stops at Nico.
“Think you can handle this?”
“As long as it isn’t that nasty shit you had at your house.”
We all laugh, down the shots, take our drinks and begin mingling with people.
After about twenty minutes, I run into Troy.
“Hey, man. Seen any hot ass tonight?” he asks quietly.
“I’ve seen old ass, but that’s about it.”
“Same here,” he responds, still looking around. “Wait. I think I see some potential.”
I turn and look where he’s facing. I only see a huge group of people dancing, but can’t really make anybody out.
“Where?”
“It was three or four women. They are on the other side of the dance floor. I can’t see them anymore.”
“Well go check it out. Maybe you’ll find the one.”
“Maybe I will. Have you seen the boss yet?”
“Nope, but I need to so I can get out of here.”
“Alright, man. I’ll come find you soon.”
“Alright.”
As I’m at the bar getting another drink, I hear a couple high pitched laughs that make me turn around. First thing I see is Troy, he’s facing my direction but he has a couple of women in front of him. Guess he found the potential. He gives me a wink and then goes back to talking with the ladies and making them laugh. I can’t see their faces, but I’m going to assume they’re good looking or he wouldn’t be wasting his time.
I turn back towards the bar, take a sip of my drink, and listen to the conversations around me. I’m looking towards the dance floor when I hear two female voices behind me.
“What the hell is going on here? It’s like fucking hot guy central. Did all these guys just step out of a GQ ad or what? I mean, I’m about to lose my mind, and my panties. I don’t know who I want to talk to first. What do you think? Has anybody caught your eye?”
I can’t help my smile. Troy would be all over this girl. I might have to make sure I get a good look at her so I can point her out to him later.
“Ssh. You’re so loud. I haven’t been looking at anybody. I’ve been working.”
That familiar voice instantly washes over me. I turn around and see that her back is to me, and her friend is looking in my direction. It’s the same friend she was out with when I saw her at the little night club. It’s obvious she recognizes me because I see the smile begin spreading across her face. I raise a finger to my lips, letting her know not to give me away. She gets the hint and drops the smile.
“So Adrienne, what ever happened with that God-like creature?”
I can’t help the smile that crosses my face, and I have to stop myself from laughing.
“What are you talking about? I just told you about him yesterday. The lunch date.”
“Oh, that’s right. So where do you think that’s gonna go?”
“You’re being weird,” Adrienne says.
“No I’m not. I’m just curious. He’s fucking hot! I just want to know if you’re stupid enough to actually only be friends with him.”
She glances over at me with a hint of a smile. I like this girl. She’s on my team. I hear Adrienne let out a sigh.
“Em, I’ve already been over this.”
“I know, I know. He’s hot, you like him, but you don’t know if he really likes you or just wants to sleep with you. You want him alllll to yourself. I get it.”
Her friend glances at me, but this time with a serious look, like she’s trying to let me know that I need to do something with the information she’s giving me.
“Maybe you should just give him a chance. He seems like a nice guy, and if he’s not, I’ll chop his dick off for you.”
I raise my eyebrows at her and she just shrugs and begins looking around again.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” Adrienne answers.
I’m surprised by her response. She’s actually considering it, even if it’s only a slight chance. At least she didn’t say no fucking way.
“Gah, Em. You have no idea how much I wanted him to kiss me after lunch, like kiss me, kiss me, but at the same time I knew I shouldn’t let that happen. God only knows what else would have happened.”
“Yeah right, like you would have slept with him in the car in front of your office,” Emilie laughs. “Didn’t you say that he made you…” she trails off and wiggles her eyebrows with a devious smile.
“Sssh! I can’t tell you anything.”
Emilie laughs, and I figure I’ve had enough time to eavesdrop. I see Adrienne begin looking around; probably hoping nobody overheard her friend. Before she turns around to see me, I take a few steps closer to her and lean down over her shoulder. I put my mouth next to her ear and whisper.
“I made you what?”
I hear her gasp as she jumps. She quickly turns and faces me, her eyes wide. She looks back at her friend who’s laughing, and then back at me.
“How long have you been there?” she squeals.
“Not long,” I say with a shrug.
“Did you know he was there?” she asks Emilie.
Her friend gives her best innocent act, but I don’t think Adrienne buys it.
“What are you doing here?” she asks me.
“Saying hi to a friend,” I respond and lean down to kiss her cheek.
She smiles and before she can say anything else, I see Troy walking over with the two women he was talking to. I barely glance at them before turning back towards Adrienne.
“Adrienne? Emilie? What are you guys doing here?”
Adrienne and Emilie turn and look at the two women coming over with Troy.
“Oh, hey! Small world. What are you guys doing here?” Emilie asks. “Adrienne is working this event. I was lucky enough to be invited. Have you seen the guys here?” she says, fanning herself.
I’m watchin
g Adrienne as she tries to act like I’m not standing right next to her. Troy looks at me and nods his head in Adrienne’s direction and mouths ‘this the one?’ I nod back in response and he smiles.
The blonde that Emilie is talking to responds to her question. “Yeah, they’re all hot, but that’s because…” she trails off as she looks back at me and Troy, and when she makes eye contact with me, I freeze.
Are you fucking kidding me?
“Jay?” she asks.
The brunette turns to look at me, along with Adrienne, Emilie and Troy. All eyes on me, and I have no idea what the fuck I’m supposed to say or do here. The brunette blushes and ducks her head. Oh great. Could this get any worse? Probably.
Adrienne looks confused; Emilie is looking between me and the blonde with a scowl on her face. Troy looks just as confused, but I think he’s starting to put it together.
“Hey,” I respond with a forced smile.
The blonde, whose name I still don’t know, looks at Adrienne and then back at me. A mischievous smile appears before she speaks again.
“Well, I think we should all get some shots. What do y’all think?”
Nobody says anything, but she orders six shots anyway and passes them out to us.
“Oh, I don’t know if I should drink. I’m working,” Adrienne says.
“Come on. Just one,” the blonde replies. “Let’s toast to reunions and…” she pauses to look at me, “to nights we’ll never forget.”
Fuck.
I drink half of my shot before putting it back onto the bar so nobody can see that I didn’t finish it. Vivian is acting strange, and does she know Jace? She called him Jay. I wonder if that’s a nickname, and then wonder just how well they know each other. Jace has gotten awfully quiet, which is unlike him.
“So, Jay, how have you been? It’s been a while, well not that long,” Vivian says with a laugh.
Jace’s face is hard, and the smile on his face couldn’t be more forced. It’s almost like he’s gritting his teeth. “I’m fine,” he responds.
Living in Sin (The Escort Series) Page 13