by Ava Wood
Sara anxiously stared at the crowd, watching with a heavy heart. The realization that her concentrated focus on her sister had taken away every ounce of drive she had to find a man of her own niggled her. Sure, she had dated the occasional guy, but she was never capable of committing herself to anything serious when her every concern was focused on Talia’s happiness. Her sister’s personal life had become her highest priority.
It took an elbow jab to the ribs to pull her thoughts away from her regret.
“Mira. Over there.” Reina pointed at a couple across the way. The woman was waving her arms and shouting, although the voices didn’t carry over the loud beats of the music. Her date looked confounded as she laid into him. He didn’t speak or move, only standing with his mouth agape. “Poor maje didn’t know what hit him.”
Sara pitied the poor guy. He had potential, with his sparkling green eyes and stark-raven hair. He may have needed a little maintenance, but surely he would do. She just needed to decide how to approach him; after all, he seemed in a fragile state.
Before Sara made a move, Reina ushered her on, “Ándale, before he leaves.”
Sara approached him cautiously as he continued to stare after the woman that was now leaving the club. His hands were tucked in his jeans just below where his Polo shirt fell away from his long torso. When she got closer she saw his shoulders fall. What was she going to say to make him feel better and convince him to help with her plight? She searched her brain but the answer didn’t come. When she was at his side, she gently touched his arm before she said the first thing that popped into her head. “I’m so sorry.”
His head jerked her direction and Sara was finally able to see tears forming in the corners of his eyes. There was no way this was going to work.
“What? Who are you?” His brow creased.
“I’m Sara. I was watching you from the bar and I saw what happened.” Wow, could I come off as more of a creeper? “I’m so sorry.” She was repeating herself.
“I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” His head dropped and he started to walk away, but Sara stopped him.
“Look, I’m sure you’re not up for it, but my sister is kinda in the same situation and I thought maybe you guys might keep each other company.”
He stopped, his head still hanging. “What happened to your sister?”
Great, she was going to have to lie. Talia didn’t get ditched, but Sara had to tell him something. “She and her fiancé split up. She could really use a friend.”
He turned around and looked Sara in the eye. “What’s her name?”
“Talia.” Sara began to smile.
“Shawn.” He held out his hand to Sara and returned her smile.
Maybe all hope wasn’t lost. Maybe he would be the one to bring Talia around, even if it was solely for revenge or on the rebound. “She’s upstairs at a table by herself. I was just down here getting her a drink when I saw you. Would you mind taking it to her for me? She’s wearing a black shirt and denim skirt. I’m sure you can’t miss her in here with all these hearts and flowers.”
“Sure.”
Sara led him to the bar and grabbed Talia’s martini then passed it off to Shawn. “Remember, her name is Talia.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
Sara nodded, concern flooding her as he walked away. She hoped this wasn’t a totally bad idea. Anxious about the outcome, Sara followed him, hanging back a bit so he wouldn’t notice. From a few tables away, she saw the whole exchange between Shawn and Talia. He was genuinely trying to be nice, setting the drink before her and asking if he could sit down. Of course she said no. She’s so hard headed. Shawn was still standing, staring at Talia. Sara wished she could hear what was being said. Shawn looked so sincere and Talia looked what, pissed, sad, amused? She’d become so hard to read since the breakup. What is going on in that head of hers?
Shawn reached for the seat again and Talia threw her drink in his face. Seriously? What is her deal? Shawn marched away, wiping the martini from his face and looking worse than before. Sara chased after him, trying to find out what happened. She felt like this whole thing was a disaster, a lost cause.
“Shawn, wait.” Sara was practically running, pushing through the bodies in the club. Obscenities were screamed behind her as she continued on after him. “Shawn.”
He stopped and spun, seething. “Was this some kind of sick joke? Did Avery put you up to his?”
“Who?” She could only assume he meant the girlfriend. “Look, I don’t know what she said, but I’m sorry. I really thought you guys could be good for each other.”
“Whatever. You might want to reevaluate her sexual preference, because she definitely has no interest in men.” Shawn didn’t say any more. He turned and walked away, leaving the club.
Sara felt terrible for doubly ruining his evening. Sending him in blind was a terrible idea. She returned to the bar in search of Reina, who was lost somewhere in the chaos. The bar was now three people thick with the barstools concealed. On tiptoes, she walked behind the crowd, looking for the top of Reina’s coal hair. She found her behind a group of men placing their orders and flirting. “Reina!” she yelled over their heads, trying to get her attention.
Reina turned on her stool and stood on the leg supports to see over the crowd. “Sara?” She pushed through the mass of people and appeared at Sara’s side. "¿Qué pasa?"
“That guy was a huge mistake. Talia threw her drink in his face.”
Reina tried to suppress a giggle, with no luck. “¡Que mamada!”
“This is so frustrating.”
“Why don’t we find Camey and see if she’s had any better luck.” Reina took Sara’s arm and squeezed past patrons who were now a little more intoxicated than before. They found Camey grinding on the dance floor with a very attractive blonde who had to be in his mid-thirties. Reina tapped Camey on the shoulder, stilling her rhythmic movement.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“I take it you didn’t have any luck?”
Camey’s eyes shot open. She’d obviously forgotten all about their plan. “I’m sorry. I met Ken and Talia totally slipped my mind.” She gave her signature puppy dog eyes and pouty mouth. It was her way of getting out of trouble and, for some reason, it always worked.
“Whatever. I’m taking Talia home. This is a bust and God knows she’s not having any fun around all of these lovebirds.” Sara walked away without another word. She was giving up on the whole mess. She didn’t know what to do about her sister, but sending a man in her direction wasn’t going to fix the funk she was in. She’d just have to learn to like it. This was who her sister was now, for better or for worse. Sara found Talia at the same table, staring at her empty martini glass and retrieved her to take her home.
“I’ve got it.” Camey came running in from the front of the shop after Talia went out to get lunch. Reina and Sara were moving arrangements to the cooler while Izzy, the animated, blonde high school intern, ran the counter.
“What now?” Reina was over all the hair-brained schemes Camey had been secretly proposing all morning.
Camey held out her cell phone. “Look.” A deliciously well-built man named Landon Havens appeared on the screen, shirtless, his left arm covered halfway with an ornate dead tree containing what looked to be the edge of a lifelike treehouse. His wheat-colored hair stuck up in all directions in that sexy way and his sapphire eyes nearly leapt off the screen. His lips were plumped perfectly around his beautiful white teeth and were surrounded by a sandy-blonde goatee. The man was a near-perfect specimen.
“He’s nice, but what’s your point?” Sara rolled her eyes in true Talia style. Sometimes there was no denying they were sisters.
“He’s an escort.”
“What?” both Sara and Reina shrieked in unison.
“We didn’t have any luck with the guy at the club, and, honestly, it is going to take a lot of persistence for a guy to want to stick around for more than five minutes with Talia. Surely with a little monetary ince
ntive, this guy will at least try to keep her interested for, say, an hour? Surely an hour would wear her down.”
“I don’t know about this. I mean, can’t these guys be dangerous? They could have an STD or something,” Sara, always the cautious one, piped in.
“Escorts are very careful these days. They always use condoms and get tested quite frequently.” Camey noticed the inquiring stares she received from the girls after the information she just unloaded. “My sister used an escort once after she and her husband got a divorce. It got her through a tough time.”
“Mija, this could be bad for all of us. If she finds out that we put this together, she may never forgive us.”
“At this point, that’s a risk I’m willing to take. She’s miserable to be around and I can’t fathom what is going through that head of hers. Something isn’t right up there.” Camey swiped across her screen to display the escort’s information and set her phone on the counter. “They don’t even have to sleep together, but if they do, maybe this will brighten her mood a little.” All of the girls looked at each other quizzically. “It’s worth a shot.”
“How is this going to work?” Sara was the first to concede.
Camey had hope that this plan would be successful.
“I say we all chip in and meet the guy together. If he’s a total skeeze we leave and never speak of it again. But if we do this and he agrees, what’s the worst that could happen?” Camey clicked the phone number on the escort page and saved it to her phone.
“Talia could find out and never forgive us. That would be pretty awful,” Reina, being the level-headed one, stated.
“She won’t find out. We carry this to our graves. Just trust me.” Camey heard the front door of the shop open and, peeking through the pass-through to the front, saw Talia walking in. She whispered, “I’ll call him tonight and set up a meeting. We can make a decision from there.” She slipped her phone in her pocket and returned to work.
Talia entered the workroom and set the deli bag on the counter. “Why aren’t these arrangements in the cooler?” She fixed her eyes on Sara, waiting for an answer.
Sara’s head fell, downcast. “I was just finishing up.”
“What’d you get us?” Camey drew Talia’s attention away from the work left to be done. She dug in the bag, removing sandwiches carefully wrapped in parchment paper from the deli down the street. The bottom sandwich had a name and phone number scrawled on the wrapper. “I think the cutie at the deli likes you, Talia.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Talia seethed.
Camey removed the sandwich and held it out for Talia to see. “Jonathan? He’s got nice handwriting.”
Talia snatched the sandwich from Camey while rolling her eyes. She walked to the trash receptacle at the end of the counter and, groaning, dropped the sandwich inside. “Sara, you have twenty minutes to eat your lunch and get those deliveries out. Move it.”
When Talia was out of the workroom, Camey saluted and snickered.
“How soon can we meet him?” Sara muttered as she walked by Camey, depositing the last of the arrangements in the cooler.
Landon backed his Harley to the curb, pulling off his half-helmet and placing it on the back of his bike. Removing his riding gloves, he shoved them in his back pocket, surveying the tiny coffee shop with its worn green awning flapping in the wind. He was intrigued by Camey’s phone call, but slightly confused. He knew she wasn’t hiring him for herself, but the details were incredibly vague. He hoped this trip to East Dallas wasn’t a waste of time. He could have been spending an extra hour in the gym to make up for that large pizza he had for dinner the previous evening. God knows he couldn’t afford to lose his muscle definition with his line of work.
He’d been making money off his body for six years now and he made it a point to put in the work to make sure he continued to earn good money until he was at least in his mid-forties. He’d seen several guys working well into their fifties and he admired them. This job took a lot of dedication and an ability to mentally elude emotional attachment. That was the biggest perk for him. He never wanted to become attached to a woman. Not the way his father did. He’d never be ruined by a woman and his profession made sure of that.
As he entered the coffee shop’s meager half-wood, half-glass front door, he saw a table with three attractive women seated near the back of the shop with steaming coffee placed in front of each of them. Being the only patrons inside, he made his way to their table.
The place was dark and antiquated. It reminded him of the soda shops he saw in old movies. A large bar sat to the left of the door with various coffee and cappuccino machines stationed along the mirrored wall behind it. A glass display held a selection of pastries and desserts and he had to avert his gaze to ignore the temptations inside.
Approaching the table, he saw the girls’ faces flush. It was a response he was used to, whether out of embarrassment for meeting an escort or from pure adrenaline due to the excitement of something considered forbidden. He’d never viewed himself that way, but he knew how society saw him. They would never understand how he felt or the way he fulfilled his needs. He was allowed sexual release without the worry of anyone’s feelings getting hurt. He showed his hand before the cards were even dealt. It’s how he protected himself from the expectations of a relationship.
“Good evening, ladies.” He knew how his raspy voice made women melt. He loved how he could make their panties drop with a single stare. It made his job so easy. “I’m Landon.”
“Camey.” A fresh-faced blonde stood and extended her hand. This was the woman he spoke to on the phone. She was practically drooling as she stared at him, not releasing his hand.
Landon nodded as he shook her hand, examining the other women at the table. When Camey had released her grip, he unzipped his black leather jacket and smoothed his gray T-shirt down to where it was tucked into the front of his dark wash jeans. After removing his jacket, he slipped it over the back of his chair as Camey continued.
“This is Reina and Sara,” she motioned to each of them as she said their names.
Reina slouched in her chair with her arms folded over her, but Sara smiled sweetly back at him.
“Nice to meet you.” He nodded and took a seat in the vacant chair. “So who is the lucky lady?” He smirked, forcing his eyes to smolder in a way that he’d learned made heads turn.
“Actually, she’s not here,.” Camey interjected. “She doesn’t actually know we’re doing this.”
Landon was intrigued. Could he be a gift to a woman? This was a first for him, although not unheard of. “I just need the facts. Where, when? The who doesn’t really matter.”
“Actually, it does.” Camey began biting her lip as the other girls sat silently. “We need you to seduce her. She’s been out of the game for a while and is a bit stand-offish from men.”
“A bit?” the Hispanic friend sniggered, her arms still tightly crossed in front of her as she surveyed Landon. He tried to recall her name, but it escaped him.
“You must not understand. I get hired to take women out, willingly. I don’t seduce women. Women pay me to keep them company.” Landon knew he sounded smug, but this wasn’t how he did things. What they were asking sounded problematic.
“We’re willing to pay you, but…” Camey stopped talking.
Landon waited for her to say something, but she returned to chewing her lip. He wished she would just spit it out. What did these chicks expect him to do? Whatever it was, it was definitely not in his job description. “Look, ladies, it’s been fun, but I’ve got more pressing matters to attend to. You have a nice day.” He stood from his chair and began to walk away when Camey’s cute little blonde friend called after him.
“What if we throw in an extra thousand? Would that make this worth your while?”
Landon stopped dead in his tracks. An extra thousand was a lot of money. He could put that in savings and not have to worry about the next time his dad ran into trouble. He turned around to
see Camey regarding her angrily. “An extra thousand? What are we talking here? Are you wanting me to entertain her all night or just for a couple of hours?” He rubbed his chin curiously. “You’re not going to rob the girl, are you?”
“For God’s sake, she’s my sister. We’re trying to help her.” The blonde’s gray eyes nearly popped out of her head.
“Okay, okay. What do you want me to do?” Landon returned to his seat, attentive.
“Look, Talia and her fiancé split up about six months ago and she’s been a hard ass since.”
Landon tossed the name Talia around his brain. He tried to form a face for the name, imagining a short brunette with a witch’s nose and gangly teeth. He missed half of what Camey said as the picture formed in his head.
“We just need you to talk to her, make her feel special. Maybe ask her out to the local diner, see where things lead. I think she’s needing that from a man.” Camey’s nerves had seemingly turned to concern for her friend.
“So basically, you just need me to talk to her and make her feel good. And if she turns me down I still get my money, no questions asked?” Landon started to think this would be easy money.
“Yes.” Camey looked at her hands that were fidgeting in her lap.
“When do you want me to do it?” These girls looked desperate and Landon resolved to help them out.
Camey looked up from her hands and the attention of all three girls flew to Landon’s face. “You’ll do it?”
“Yeah, when?” Landon leaned against the table, waiting for the details.
“We go to the nightclub, Satin every Friday. It’s our own sort of tradition, so she’ll be there.” Camey began digging in her purse for something and produced a picture of a breathtaking woman with auburn hair and sparkling hazel eyes. She looked somewhat reserved, except for the simple diamond stud in her nose, which seemed out of place with the rest of her appearance. “This is Talia. She’ll most likely be sitting at a table alone. She doesn’t do much more than lurk in the corner since she called off her engagement.”