“Heavens no! She’s a right bitch she is.”
“Mrs. Covington! I’ve never heard you utter such a word.” She had certainly shocked me with her choice of words describing Faith’s mother.
“Well, Joe, sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. She’s a nasty old witch, she is. Oh, she’s super sweet to my face. See, I have more money than she does, but I’ve had dinner with her family once or twice, and as sweet as Mr. Graham is, Mrs. Graham is rotten to the core! Of course, I remember your Faith, too. What a nice young lady she is. Nothing like that skinny sister either. There are two other sisters that I don’t remember as well.”
I certainly remembered them. “Sassy and Marge. I actually met Faith when I escorted her to Sassy’s wedding.” I went on to give her a quick recounting of the wedding. “The second I saw her at Perfect Ten, I knew there was something special about her. I want to find out what it is. Please don’t say anything to them if they happen to speak to you. I don’t want them having more ammunition to attack Faith with. They don’t know I’m a paid escort, although I would have taken her for free.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing, dear. Oh, and please, call me Esther in there, or better yet, Essie. That will drive Patricia Graham crazy. That’s how it works in these silly circles. I have more money than her so she calls me Mrs. Covington, but I call her Patricia.” She let out a sneaky laugh and nudged me toward the door. “This is going to be such fun.”
When Mrs. Graham spotted me across the room, she froze, mid-step and stared at me with her eyes wide open. Dana turned and did the same.
Mrs. Covington continued to lead me directly over to them. “Oh, hello, Patricia. Fancy seeing you here this evening. May I introduce you to a close friend of the family? This is Joe Starling. Joe, these are the Grahams, Patricia and—oh, I’m sorry, dear, I’ve forgotten your name.” It took all I had not to burst out laughing at her antics.
“Her name is Dana, Essie. We’ve actually met. I’m dating one of Mrs. Graham’s other daughters.”
“Oh, please say it’s Faith and not that other one.” I couldn’t believe she said that! And I was further surprised that Mrs. Graham had no retort.
“Actually, yes, it is Faith. I quite adore her.” Quite adore her? I guess I was getting into my role, too. It was fun.
“E—Essie? You know Esth—er, Mrs. Covington?”
Mrs. Covington was leaning a bit more on her cane so I placed my hand under her elbow and began to lead her to her usual table, allowing the Graham’s to follow or not. I spoke to them over my shoulder. “Yes. Essie and I go back a ways, don’t we? She’s one of my favorite people, not to mention one of the most interesting.”
“Joe’s such a flatterer. Stop that now.”
“I’m no such thing. You should know better, Essie. I never say things I don’t mean.”
We had arrived at her table, and I pulled out her chair, assisting her as she sat down heavily. The hours at the museum had obviously taken their toll. “I think I’ll take a glass of wine, Joe. I am so happy to hear about you dating sweet Faith Graham that I believe we should celebrate. You deserve a good girl to enjoy your time with.”
“Actually, I don’t deserve her. She’s too good for me, but I won’t let that stop me. Her beauty alone lights up a room as soon as she enters, isn’t that right, Dana?”
Both Dana and Patricia still looked as though they couldn’t believe I would dare grace their beloved country club, and with Esther Covington, no less.
“Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Faith is, um, very pretty.”
Mrs. Covington sat and stared at them for so long, even I was getting uncomfortable. “Please take your seat, Joe. I’m sure the Grahams were just about to sit down to their meal, as well. Good day, Patricia, and Dana, was it?” With a brief smile, she plucked up her pink cloth napkin and shook it out, laying it expertly on her lap.
Well, if that wasn’t a cutting dismissal, I can’t imagine what it would take.
“Of course. Yes, well, it was good to see you, Mrs. Covington.” The next words out of her mouth surprised me and were potentially difficult to agree to. “Joe, we’re having a family dinner this Saturday at seven o’clock. Why don’t you and Faith come early, and we can chat?” Without waiting for my answer, she grabbed Dana’s arm, none to gently, and steered her decisively to their table.
“Oh, that was fun, dear. Now, about that glass of wine?”
Halfway through our meal, I was still trying to think of a way for me to be able to go to the family dinner Faith’s mother invited me to. See, the problem was I had a damn date Saturday night. I was seriously regretting allowing Stan to talk me in to so many last dates, but I’d given him my word. I may be a lot of things, but when a man gives his word, he keeps it.
When I finally dropped Mrs. Covington off at her house, I promised I’d call her to set up a time for Faith and I to come back and visit—yes, I know I’m being optimistic, but I will have her.
“I’d love that, dear. Thank you for giving an old woman such a lovely day. I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun.”
I leaned down and gave her a gentle hug. She was one of the bright spots in my life, and I looked forward to our next visit.
Now I had just three more dates to go until I was a free man.
***
On Friday morning, I went into the office to discuss the possibility of Stan getting someone to cover my Saturday night date, so that I could go with Faith to her parents’ house for dinner. There was no way he was going to be happy about it, but he was going to have to accept it.
Stan’s door was closed when I got there, which was a bit unusual. His secretary wasn’t at her desk either, so I knocked on the door myself.
“Come in.”
There was a tall dark haired guy sitting in the chair across from Stan, looking like he had the world by the balls. I figured he must be my replacement. Fresh meat, so to say. If I were any judge of what the women who hired escorts wanted, this kid would work out well. As long as he could be elegant and sophisticated when called for, and then fuck the hell out of them, banging headboards until they came so hard they saw stars, he’d do great. He needed to be good with his fingers—deliver gentle strokes to—fuck! See how my mind wanders when I’ve been without sex? Christ.
“Hey, Stan. Sorry to interrupt. Your secretary’s not out there. Can you let me know when you have a minute to talk?” I still had my hand on the door, ready to leave him to his meeting.
“Come on in.”
I walked in and stood next to the new kid. He got up out of his chair to size me up. Stan stood as well and introduced us.
“Vaughn Hollywell, meet Joe Starling.”
Vaughn? I didn’t know if that was his real name, but either way, that was going to work for him here in the land of the rich and famous. Who was I to judge anyway? I couldn’t tell you how many people thought Starling was a made up name.
“Wow. Joe Starling. You’re leaving some pretty big shoes to fill.” He looked down at my feet and then actually glanced at my crotch on the way back up before he said, “But I think my feet are even bigger than yours.” He winked at me like we were sharing some inside joke. God, I wonder if I was as much of a tool when I started escorting.
“Yeah, okay. Good luck to you.” As each day went by, I had less and less tolerance for Perfect Ten and everything they stood for. I just wanted it to be over. I could feel anger bubbling up at the prospect of having to go on three more dates. I mean, if this hotshot was raring to go, why the fuck did I have to take those last few dates?
“So, Stan. Can we talk?”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Fuck it. If he wanted to talk in front of the new kid, so be it. “I need you to get someone else to take my Saturday date. I had something come up. I can still take my Sunday and next Saturday’s if you need me to, but I’d really prefer to be done with all of this today.”
“Oh, no. You can’t back out now. Especially from Saturday’s date, Joe. You
were specifically requested. When I told her you were retiring, she insisted on an all-nighter, too. That’s eight-thousand dollars. You’re not fucking me out of eight-thousand dollars.”
Goddammit! “Then change the day, Stan. I can’t do Saturday.” You know how much I wanted to do an all-nighter? About as much as I wanted to have my dick removed sans anesthesia.
“I’m not sure that’ll work.” He got a shit-eating grin on his face, while he let me stand there waiting for him to continue. “Sophia DeMarino is not a woman to be put off.”
“No way, Stan. I told you last time that I wouldn’t be her escort again.”
“Yeah, well, things change. And Vaughn here’s going to go with you, too. That’s another three grand. Guess she wants you to go out with a bang.”
Vaughn piped up at that. “Only three grand for me and eight for him?” He was severely offended that he didn’t garner as much money as I did.
“You work your way up here, kid. That’s how Joe started and that’s how you’ll start. You please the ladies, and get a good name for yourself, and you’ll be pulling in the same kind of dough.”
“Look, Stan. I can’t do it.” There was no way I was going to miss that fucking family dinner on Saturday. I’d just not show up if I had to.
“Vaughn, let me have a minute with Joe. Go wait in the outer room, please.”
When Vaughn was out of the room, Stan lit into me. I’d seen him pissed off, I’d heard about his underhanded ways, but I never experienced it first-hand quite like this. “Listen up. You gave me your word that you’d finish these appointments. Aside from requesting that you not have to see Sophia again, there were no restrictions set forth. You will take the date with Sophia DeMarino, you will show Vaughn the ropes with that nasty slut, and you will earn me that fucking eight thousand dollars. If you don’t, well, I don’t think your girl would care to have her family find out about her having to hire an escort for her sister’s wedding. I’m also pretty sure she wouldn’t want to know how many women you’ve actually fucked, would she?”
Now I’d had enough. Who the fuck was this asshole to threaten my private life? “Are you fucking insane? You can’t do that! You do that, and I’ll drag the name of Perfect Ten through the mud so deep, you’ll never recover. I can spread secrets too, Stan. Remember that.”
After my little outburst, Stan stood there with an evil grin on his face, obviously not one iota worried about my threat. As if he were on a Sunday stroll, he walked back behind his desk and sat down. “Joe. What’s my last name?”
“Venziani.”
“Nice old Italian, name, huh? Do you remember Mikey Thompson?”
I really didn’t like where our conversation was going. Years ago, Mike Thompson disappeared after he got rip-roaring drunk at a ball for the newly elected Governor of California. The day after, Perfect Ten’s name was all over the news for employing drunks who could do no more than embarrass themselves and their dates, not to mention the thousands of dollars of damage he caused as he fought off the security guards who tried to restrain him.
“Yeah. What about him?”
“He cost Perfect Ten quite a few thousand dollars and gave us a bad name for a while. We don’t like that here, Joe. We provide a service and we provide the best. Anything less is unacceptable, you understand?”
“I understand, Stan, I just can’t do Saturday night.”
“Joe, Joe, Joe. What happened to Mike?”
“No one knows.”
“Yeah. Weird, huh? You should think about that. Tell you what I’m going to do for you. And I’m only doing it because, all things aside, I actually do like you, Joe. I’m going to push Sophia off until ten o’clock. Can you get your shit done by then? You get there by ten at night and stay there until ten the next morning. I’m not saying you have to fuck her. We never say that here, but she paid to have you all night and she will. You and Vaughn. Got it?”
Well, okay. Guess I was going to be seeing slutty motherfucking Sophia one more time. But at least it gave me time to have dinner with Faith. “Yeah. That’ll work. Thanks, Stan.” I saw no reason to anger him any further. Whether he really did have anything to do with Mike’s disappearance or not, I thought it was time to cut my losses and run.
“Send Vaughn back in, will you?”
“Yup. Sure thing.” I was outta there.
CHAPTER 21
FAITH
I HADN’T HEARD from Joe in a few days, so I gathered up my courage and gave him a call. It wasn’t too hard to do since it was Friday night. I knew there was a good chance he’d be working, so when he picked up the phone at seven o’clock that night, I was a little surprised, and a lot nervous.
“Faith?”
“Hi, Joe. I kind of thought you might not answer. You’re not um, working tonight?”
“Nope. I’m sitting on my balcony listening to the waves hit the shore with Heidi. We do that a lot. I’d rather be out to dinner with you, but you keep turning me down.”
I heard a soft yip in the background at the mention of Heidi’s name. “So you live on the beach, too?”
His chuckle let me know that he noticed the way I skipped over his comment, but he let it go. “Sort of. It’s not as nice as your place. I live in Long Beach on the twentieth floor of one of those high rise condo buildings, so I at least have a great view of the ocean and the harbor. I’m thinking of selling it though. Heidi would love to have a yard to roam around in, and I’d like to have a grill.”
From what I knew of Joe, the condo suited him more than a backyard with a grill. “I can picture you sitting out there now. Dressed up in a suit and tie, sitting very proper so as not to wrinkle your clothes while you sip a glass of red wine, being ever so careful not to spill any.” That isn’t how I was really picturing Joe, but it was better than telling him that I was picturing him shirtless and sweaty, bouncing a basketball around, wondering how long I’d have to wait to inspect that mysterious happy trail of his. I’d like to follow it down below his waistband. Run my fingers down his length, cupping him with one hand while stroking him with the other.
I’ve dreamed about getting my lips on his again. And I really wanted to nibble on his neck. I’ve always loved to do that, I’m not sure why. I know I’d feel clumsy with him at first, but I also knew what I wanted to do. Licking every inch of his body was a good place to start, I’d say.
“Faith? You still there?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was, um putting my laundry in the dryer.” Well, that was embarrassing.
“I call bullshit. You were day dreaming, weren’t you? Dare I hope you were thinking about me?”
“Maybe.” I hate playing these games. I’ve played them all my life. Telling the guy I’m interested in exactly what I thought I was supposed to say. Why not try honesty for a change? I mean, all the time. Pure honesty. What did I have to lose? Nothing I haven’t faced before.
“You know what? I wasn’t picturing you like that. I was picturing you the way you looked playing basketball. I was picturing you shirtless and sweaty. I was thinking about all your muscles and the way they flexed as you moved around on the court. I like looking at you, Joe.”
“Wow. She’s back.” What did he mean by that?
“Who’s back?”
“My vixen. My sex kitten. It’s like there are two of you, Faith.”
Great. I screwed up already. “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult.”
“I don’t think you’re difficult, sweetheart. I think you’re a woman who is a little unsure of her own power. You’re a little bit afraid of that hot woman inside you, and that’s okay. I like all sides of you, and believe me, I’m more than willing to help you explore that sensual side, every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Don’t ever doubt it.”
Oh, man. Why was I even waiting until our date? I could be in his bed right now. Damn my morals. “So, how would you, um, do that? Explore my other side?”
“Sensual side. I’d start by kissing you. I know you lik
e the way I kiss you. While my lips are covering yours over and over, my hands would run all over you, searching out your most sensitive spots. I’d know I found one when you would make one of those sexy sounds I love so much. Then I’d deepen the kiss, giving in to the lust running through my veins.” He was really good at this. I could literally feel my body reacting to his words. I actually slipped my hand up my shirt. Not something I’ve ever done before with someone on the phone.
“Faith? You still with me?” Like I was supposed to carry on a conversation now?
“Uh, huh.”
Another chuckle came over the phone and caused me to smile. “You want to know what else I would do?”
“Uh, huh.”
“First, tell me where your hands are. And no lying.”
“Well, one’s holding the phone …”
“And?”
“Oh, God. This is embarrassing.” I thought I could just do the honesty thing, but it was hard.
“No, it’s not. It’s just you and me here, Faith. Now tell me.”
“I slipped it under my shirt. I’m just rubbing my belly and under my breasts with my fingernails.”
“Oh, God. That’s good, Faith. Keep doing that. So, I’d go back to kissing you deep, thrusting my tongue into the sweetness of your mouth, gently sucking, pulling back, and then plunging in again. Slowly, I’d lift your shirt up over your head. After I tossed it to the floor, I’d turn my attention to your lovely neck. You’d tilt your head back for me, granting me better access while you grabbed my ass, pulling me hard up against you. My lips would find that tender spot on your collarbone you seemed to like so much, and I’d give you a nip. Still with me?”
My breathing was definitely getting ragged and my bra was gone. “Uh huh.”
“And?”
“I took my bra off and am pinching my nipples.”
“Oh, fuck. Faith, let me come over there?”
I thought about it, I really did, but by the time he got here, I’d have changed my mind. I know I would. “No, Joe. Not yet. Crap. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be a tease or play around. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
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