by Ashlee Price
I lean over her and take a few strands of her red hair. I press them to my lips.
“Sign a new contract with me,” I whisper.
Those brown eyes turn to me. Then she sits up and gets off my desk.
“If you do, you won’t only be rewarded,” I speak louder. “You’ll receive a generous compensation, and not just money. Clothes. Jewelry. Trips.”
She fixes her shirt and her bra and picks the rest of her clothes off the floor to put them back on.
I frown. “Are you going to ignore me now?”
She slips into her shoes. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I don’t feel like giving you a class today after all. If you don’t want me to be your instructor anymore, I understand. I apologize for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”
My eyebrows furrow as I rub my chin.
She’s pretending nothing happened?
Without another word, Dani leaves the room. I go back to my chair behind my desk and sit on it. I tap my fingers on my empty desk.
Is she playing hard to get?
Slowly, my frown turns upside down.
If so, she’s even stronger than I thought she was, which will make it even more fun to make her submit to me.
And I will make her submit.
It’s only a matter of time.
After all, now that Dani’s had a taste of what I can give her, how can she stay away?
Chapter Fifteen
Dani
Why the hell can’t I just stay away from the bad guys?
I cross my arms at the same time that I cross my legs on a bench in the park and stick out my lower lip like a five-year-old.
Yes, I’m sulking again.
This time, I have more reasons to.
Yesterday, a famous Hollywood actor wants me to pretend I’m his fiancée, and today my crazy client wants me to be his sex slave or something.
I slap my forehead.
I can’t believe I let him do that to me. Yes, it felt good. Really good, if I’m to be honest. But once again, I wasn’t thinking straight and so my feelings got away from me.
Seriously, Dani, this has to stop happening.
It’s strange actually. Two men have made me offers that I thought were only made in movies.
Doesn’t any guy just want me to be his girlfriend like a normal person? Isn’t there a single normal, good guy in this neighborhood?
“Dani?”
I turn my head at the voice. As soon as I see Scott, I put my arms and my leg down and smile.
“Scott.” I push my sunglasses up to the top of my head. “What are you doing here?”
“I just brought a sick friend a cup of coffee,” he says.
“How sweet.”
“I would have brought an extra one if I thought I was going to see you here,” he says. “Especially since you seem like you need it.”
He glances at the empty space beside me.
“Can I join you, or are you busy fantasizing about killing someone?”
I frown as I scoot over. “You saw that, huh?”
He sits down. “Well, you’re easy to spot from a mile away.”
“Even with my glasses on?”
He puts them back over my eyes. “Yeah.”
“Speaking of glasses, I should have returned yours by now, but…”
“No rush,” Scott says. “They looked better on you than they did on me anyway. These look even better, though.”
I shrug. “Maybe, but you still recognized me, so they’re not working.”
He grins. “At least I’m the only one who did.”
“Yeah, considering hundreds of people probably know my face by now.”
“Really?” Scott touches his chin. “I think you’re exaggerating. I think only thousands of people have social media accounts.”
I make an attempt to punch his shoulder playfully, but he evades my hand.
“Somehow, I knew your friend was lying when she said you were still single,” he continues. “I thought to myself, it’s impossible for someone as beautiful and smart as you to be single.”
“Well, most men prefer unattractive, stupid women.”
He narrows his eyes. “I thought it was the other way around.”
I sigh. “I guess we’re all fools when it comes to matters of the heart.”
“Or maybe the heart was made to be foolish so it would stand a chance against the brain.”
I narrow my eyes at that unexpected, confusing bit of wisdom.
“I read that somewhere,” he adds.
“Oh.”
Just then, I hear another voice calling my name.
“Dani?”
I turn my head and see Reilly walking towards me. He’s wearing a blue-and-white plaid shirt, khakis, sunglasses and a blue Dodgers cap.
“What do you know?” Scott says. “I’m not the only one who recognized you.”
I sigh. “I should have stuck to your glasses.”
“You can keep them.” He stands up and gives me a pat on the shoulder. “Good luck.”
He walks away, and a few moments later Reilly takes his place.
“Who’s that?” he asks.
I look at him. “Why, just another guy I sleep with.”
Reilly frowns. “I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about everything I said.”
“You are?” I lift an eyebrow.
“I was upset,” he confesses. “I guess I was hoping you’d come around and still be my friend. Then I saw your picture with Kaleb and I just got all jealous and insecure.”
“You? Jealous? Why would you be jealous when you’re the one who dropped me like a hot potato?”
“I didn’t…” He stops, sighing. “Alright. I’ve been a jerk and I’m sorry. That’s why I’ve been looking for you. I’ve been wanting to apologize.”
I remember the phone calls I’ve been getting from him since yesterday evening, none of which I’ve bothered answering. I’ve lost track of how many there were.
“I’ve driven past this park a dozen times today, actually, hoping to see you,” Reilly adds. “Even though it meant risking having another crazy fan attack me.”
“Why?” I ask him. “Because you want me to continue being your yoga instructor?”
“Because I want to be your friend,” he corrects me.
I narrow my eyes. “With benefits?”
Reilly reaches for my hand. “I think there are enough benefits to just being your friend.”
I blink.
Since I never expected to hear them, it takes a few moments for the words to sink in, but when they do, I smile and squeeze his hand.
Come to think of it, we did start out as friends, and we’d still be friends if we hadn’t had sex.
Well, I did want something more, and a part of me still does, but maybe Cora’s right. Maybe I expected too much.
Maybe I shouldn’t.
“Friendship sounds good,” I say to him. “Especially since I’m kind of in need of a friend right now.”
“Really? But you were just with a friend, weren’t you?”
“Scott just works at this cafe where Melanie and I had coffee once,” I tell him. “I don’t really know him.”
Reilly smiles. “Then I’m happy to fill the need. As it so happens, I don’t have a lot of friends, either.”
“Because your mother scares them away?” I ask him.
He frowns.
“What?” I lift my hands. “I’m just saying your mother can be kind of scary.”
“Aren’t all mothers?”
I nod. “Yeah. You have a point.”
“She used to be a model, you know. She was a star on the runway when she met my father.”
My eyebrows arch. “No wonder she looks so sophisticated.”
“My father left her when he found out she was pregnant.”
I grimace. “What a jerk.”
“She gave everything up for me,” Reilly adds.
“Then I admire her. But she’s still scary.”
He chuckles. “So as your friend again, are you going to tell me what’s going on between you and Kaleb Wilson?”
My eyebrows go up again. “Seriously?”
He is not still jealous, is he?
“I’m just concerned,” Reilly says. “I’ve heard a lot of stuff about the guy, and not all of it’s nice.”
“I know.” I draw a deep breath. “Well, he’s my client, too, which you already know, and the other night, he asked me to go to this party with him. I drank a little too much and we kissed, but that’s all. Apparently, that’s enough to ruin my life.”
“It is when the man you kissed is a Hollywood star hounded by paparazzi.” Reilly sits back. “Are you sure he didn’t kiss you just for show? Like he knew someone was there and he…”
“No,” I interrupt. “I’m quite sure that’s not what happened.”
Yes, I was drunk, but I know that kiss was real.
Hmm. That kiss was real, and yet Kaleb wants a pretend relationship with me.
I glance at Reilly. Is there something about Hollywood actors and real relationships? Are they incapable of having one?
“What?” Reilly asks.
I shrug. “Nothing. I was just thinking I don’t really get my new clients.”
Except for Noah. Noah’s a good guy, though he’s by no means normal.
“So what’s going to happen now?” Reilly asks. “What did Kaleb say?”
“Why are you so interested in Kaleb?” I ask him. “You’re not a fan, are you?”
“No,” he answers quickly. “Like I said, I’m just concerned about you.”
“Kaleb was concerned, too,” I tell him. “He asked me to be his pretend fiancée. Well, it was his agent who asked it first, but yeah, that’s what happened.”
Reilly’s eyes grow wide. “Whoa.”
“Yup.” I lean forward on my knees. “My thoughts exactly.”
“And did you say yes?”
“Of course not. I want a real, serious relationship, remember?”
“Right.” He nods. “That’s why you didn’t accept my offer.”
“Speaking of offers, I got another one,” I go on. “It’s weird, actually. I feel like I’m getting more offers than a movie star.”
He leans forward. “Well, maybe you’re really special.”
I turn to him and my heart thumps as our eyes meet.
I guess I’ll never stop hoping for us after all. Not when he still gives me looks like that.
I clear my throat. “Anyway, this other offer is a bit like yours except maybe it’s more sex and less friendship.”
“Okay.” He clasps his hand. “Aren’t there women in that line of work?”
“Yeah.” My eyebrows furrow. “It’s weird. I’m not Pretty Woman.”
“Well, you kind of are… a pretty woman, that is.”
I nudge his shoulder. “Stop it.”
“What?”
“Stop flirting with your friend.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles. “So did you say yes?”
I throw him a puzzled look. “Do you really think I’d say yes?”
There’s no way I would have said yes. Then again, I thought there was no way I’d let a stranger do stuff to me down there, either.
Wicked stuff.
“I’m not that crazy, you know,” I add.
“Okay.” Reilly nods. “That’s good to know. So you got two offers, three if you count mine, and you turned them all down. Wow.”
“Well, they weren’t the offers I was hoping for,” I tell him.
He falls silent and so do I, a bit of awkwardness creeping in.
I guess that happens when you become friends with a crush you had sex with.
Thankfully, Reilly’s phone rings. He takes it out of his pocket and answers it.
“Yeah?” He presses the phone to his ear.
I watch his expression from behind my dark glasses. At first, it’s pensive. Then his eyes widen in surprise. His face gradually lights up, and by the time the phone call is over he has a huge smile on his face.
“What?” I ask him, unable to rein in my curiosity.
“It seems like I got an invitation,” Reilly tells me with a smile. “It’s not as good as an offer, but it is a start.”
“An invitation for what?”
“An audition for what seems like a big movie.”
I place my hands over my mouth as I gasp. Then I throw my arms around him.
“I’m so happy for you.”
He squeezes me. “Thanks.”
His chest and arms feel warm. Too warm. Immediately, I’m reminded of how they felt against me without any clothes between us.
I pull away as I fight off a blush.
Maybe it’s too soon for hugs.
I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “When’s the audition?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” He stands up. “I have to go. I have to discuss this with…”
“It’s fine,” I tell him. “Go get ready and give it your best shot.”
Reilly places a hand on my shoulder. “Thanks, Dani.”
I nod.
He walks off, breaking into a jog midway across the park.
I can’t blame him for having a spring in his step. I know this invitation must mean a great deal for him, what with all his seriousness about his career and all.
A few minutes later, my own phone rings. I grab it and answer the call from Cora.
“Yup?”
“Dani?”
I sit up as I immediately hear the worry in her voice. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I’m at the county children’s hospital,” Cora says, her voice almost breaking. “I need you.”
I nod as I stand up. “I’ll be right there.”
~
Even after taking all the shortcuts I can think of and nearly going over the speed limit more than once, it takes me nearly an hour to get to Cora.
When I do, I find her with her hands over her mouth as if holding back sobs. As soon as I wrap my arms around her, she lets them go.
“Shh. I’m here now,” I whisper as I stroke her back.
My mind is racing just as fast as my heart. I have no idea what’s going on. All I know is that it must be a health issue since we’re at a hospital and it must have something to do with one of the children since we’re at a children’s hospital. And it must be bad. Very bad. I’ve never seen Cora cry like this before, not even at our parents’ funerals or Joel’s, and it scares me.
I let her cry so she can calm down. When she finally runs out of tears and just before we run out of tissue, we find an empty couch in the hospital corridor to sit on and talk.
I grab her hand and squeeze it. “What happened, Cora?”
She squeezes my hand in turn and draws a deep breath. “It’s Zeke.”
My chest grows tight. “What happened to Zeke?”
She sniffs. “Apparently, a lot of stuff has been happening to him and I didn’t even know it. Today, he collapsed in school, and when he regained consciousness, he couldn’t walk. The teacher said there were a few times in the past when his legs suddenly hurt and he couldn’t walk, but she didn’t think it was serious.”
My eyebrows crease. “Zeke can’t walk?”
“The doctors ran some tests, and apparently he has a rare condition called PVL.”
“What?”
“It’s not easy to diagnose since the symptoms don’t show immediately, but they do eventually, and the condition gets worse with age.”
“No.” I shake my head in disbelief. “That’s not possible. Zeke is a healthy boy, if not healthier than most.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Cora says. “But we were wrong, Dani. He’s sick, and the worst part is he’s going to wither before my eyes. They say he’s going to lose control over his muscles. He may even become blind and deaf.”
I lift my hand to my mouth as a gasp of horror sneaks out.
“He may ev
en die young if the condition leads to other complications, which it usually does,” Cora adds. “Although they can’t really say when.”
I place my hand on her thigh. “Isn’t there a cure? There must be a cure.”
Cora dabs the corners of her eyes with her last piece of tissue. “Actually, there is. I spoke to a doctor who said there’s a place in Switzerland that specializes in treating rare conditions like PVL. They might even be able to cure him since he’s still a child.”
Hope swells in my chest. “That’s great, isn’t it?”
“But it costs a lot of money,” she says with a frown.
“We can use the money Mom and Dad left us.”
She looks at me with high eyebrows. “But I thought we were going to use that for our island?”
I take her hands in mine. “Zeke’s health and wellness is more important than anyone else’s, Cora.”
She pulls me into her arms. “Thank you, Dani.”
I shake my head. “No need to thank me. We’re sisters.”
She nods as she pulls away. “But even with that, I’m afraid it’s still not enough.” She sniffs. “After all, we’ll have to relocate to Switzerland and all. You are coming with us, aren’t you?”
I don’t answer that.
“So you need more money?” I ask her instead.
Cora nods. “I’m afraid so. We’ll need at least a million, I think.”
A million.
Just then, an idea comes to mind. Two, actually, but I push the other aside.
“You just take care of Zeke.” I pat my sister’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of the money.”
Cora’s eyes grow wide. “You know where to get the money?”
I nod. “As it happens, I do.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kaleb
“You agree?” I lift my gaze up from my phone to stare at Dani with wide eyes.
I was already surprised when she suddenly showed up at my apartment, but this…
I never thought she’d say yes.
I had hoped, but I didn’t expect this.