by Claire Adams
I wanted to know what that button was and embody the essence of it. I wanted him to want me because I wanted him. “This is dangerous,” I said.
He nodded. “Life is all about the risk.”
“I’m not a whore.”
“No, you’re not. Trust me. I’ve seen whores, and you are the exact opposite of everything they represent.”
“Like what?” Now I was curious.
“Exactly what you’d expect. They’re desperate for drugs and money, so they tease men to get what they want out of them. All they care about is their own selfish desires and the way they look. Most of them have had so much plastic surgery, they’re barely human.”
“I watched a show once where women would go into plastic surgeons’ offices to get them to help with their botched surgeries.”
“I could write an entire library on that,” he said.
My face went sour. “How do you deal with that?”
“I close my eyes.”
“You do this a lot, don’t you?” I asked.
“My life is busy. I don’t have time to seduce women, take them to dinner. and get them to like me. So, I take the easy way out. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. If they aren’t into it, even if they say it’s okay, I wouldn’t do it.”
“I guess. If you’re respectful.”
“Does that mean you’ll give it a try?”
“I’m not a whore,” I said.
“No, you’re not.”
“But, I have to admit, that was one good fuck. I still can’t believe you’re willing to pay me to do that again.”
“Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” he said. “Most people never get this kind of opportunity.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“You’ll do it?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Fuck yeah.” He rested his head against the back of the couch. He seemed relieved. It was strange. He could have anyone, but the chance to be with me again excited him. I wasn’t special, or even that good-looking, but he saw something in me. As strange as the arrangement was, I was flattered.
“I’m not a whore,” I said again.
“I’m still paying you.”
“Okay, but I’m not doing this for anyone else, and you’d better not tell anyone about me.”
“I can sign a nondisclosure agreement,” he said.
“No. No legalities, no lawyers, and no paperwork. I will not have a paper trail leading back to me.”
“Not a problem. Just so long as you know I’m gonna wear you out. My sex drive is wild, and I mean that literally. I’ll need you a lot.”
My stomach flipped, and I caught myself. I couldn’t react like that. “That’s fine with me. just don’t call me at 2 in the morning demanding to see me.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” A predatory grin lit his face.
“And I have my limits. Nothing kinky. I mean it.”
He held up his hands. “I promise. I’ll behave.”
“And you’d better not be cheating on anyone. You let me know right now. I’m not jumping out of a window to avoid some catty bitch with a shotgun.”
“I don’t date.”
“Why not?” I shouldn’t have asked that. It made me sound like I wanted more, but I was still curious.
“It’s not me. I don’t like to be tied down.”
“I don’t get it. You could have anyone you want.”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “Once you can have everything, you don’t want anything. Life gets dull.”
“But you still chase thrills,” I said.
“Of course. Who doesn’t?”
I shrugged. “Just sex. Things can’t get complicated.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with that,” he said.
“Good, because I’m not here to get into anything crazy.”
“Me neither.”
“So long as we’re clear.” I started to get up.
“There is one request I’d like to make. Don’t take me wrong, please.”
“What?”
“None of my family knows about what I do. They wouldn’t understand, and they’re pushing me to start looking for somebody.” I sat down, intrigued. “I need your help with that. Do you think you could come with me to some get-togethers and pretend to be my girlfriend?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Nothing crazy. They’re easy to be around. It’s just something that they’ve been hounding me about.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine.”
“Thank you. I know this is a lot for you. I figured all the girls knew why they were here. You know that package is empty, right?”
“Really?”
“The whole thing’s a front.”
“Of course it is.” I got up. “I should go. I have to go slit my cousin’s throat.”
“No, you should thank her.” He grabbed me by the collar and pressed our lips together. When he pulled back, he said, “I’m sorry. I just had to do that.” I couldn’t think of anything to say. I was too shocked. So I just thanked him and walked out.
Chapter Nine
Jake
I sat in a sterile conference room at the head of the table, watching as one of our rookie financial analysts set up a presentation on his laptop. My eyelids drooped with boredom. When the projector came on, the numbers blurred together, and I had to blink to clear the image. When I did, I caught a flash of Maria’s face.
It was so vivid that I could actually see her brown irises and smell her cherry Chapstick. My cock hardened at the image. Somebody was going to see if I wasn’t careful, so I scooted my chair forward and lowered it, so the tip wouldn’t rub against the bottom of the table.
The sound of a slide zooming past brought me back to reality. “Our quarterly earnings were up 16 percent, but we’re facing a downturn during the fall and winter in the Midwest.” The analyst pressed a button, and the sound of a bomb blowing up the slide crashed through the room.
I couldn’t pay attention to this. I hadn’t been able to focus on anything but Maria since I’d met her. The analyst kept glancing at me, probably looking for some sign of approval. I gave him a half-smile, and he froze in panic.
“That’s really astute,” I added to make him feel better.
His face went bright red, and he kept going. “The marketing department has sent us a list of proposals so that we can get rid of some of the losses. I’ve attached them in the email I sent you all this morning.”
The other board members looked just as tired as I did. None of us liked sitting through this kind of crap. It was just a way for the departments to impress us so they could keep their jobs and make more money. I didn’t care about our quarterly profits or whether people would go to our restaurants when it was 10 below. I just wanted to run out of there and hunt down Maria.
Finally, the meeting ended, and I left as soon as I could to get my things from my office. My landline started ringing when I was just about to walk out. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jake. How are you?” It was my brother, Andrew.
“I’m all right. How you been?”
“Good. Good. I was thinking of taking Haylie out for dinner tonight, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me.”
“I’d love to. Where were you thinking of going?”
“Somewhere with booster seats and coloring book placemats. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I haven’t seen her in months. How is she?”
“Terrifying as ever,” he said. “I’m gonna start getting her ready. You wanna meet up at Frank’s down on Fifth?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you there.”
When I walked into the lobby at Frank’s, the smell of burnt grease and old hamburger assaulted me. I loved it. I’d eaten at some of the most exclusive, exotic restaurants in the world, and nothing compared to small, family-owned restaurants. T
he greasier, the better.
Haylie jumped up onto the seat of a booth to my right when I walked in. “Down.” She pointed at the floor. Andrew picked her up and set her down on the floor. The second her feet hit the floor, she ran straight at me and latched onto my leg. “Uncle Jake!” She reached up to me and jumped up and down.
I picked her up. “Oh, you’re getting heavy.”
“I love you.” She kissed me on the cheek.
“I love you too, sweetie.” I pinched her nose, and she giggled. I couldn’t help but adore her. She had the sweetest smile and the most innocent, round blue eyes. What really got me was her short blonde hair. It naturally curled in at the chin.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of her.” I put Haylie back in her booster seat, and she whimpered.
“You can have her,” Andrew said. “I’ll even throw in a year’s worth of diapers, just to say thank you.”
“You’re terrible.” I laughed.
“I try.” Andrew was my polar opposite. He was a cold, intellectual type with an artistic flair and a complete lack of style. He was wearing a red and black plaid shirt with a pair of geek glasses and a mangy brown beard that caught a drop of moisture when he took a drink of his water.
“How’s wifey?” I asked.
“She’s working hard. She took on this ridiculously intricate lawsuit, and it’s keeping her up day and night.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Some accountant decided to run off with the life savings of 600 clients. Most of them want in on the lawsuit, and she’s having to skip trace the rest.”
“I couldn’t do it. Every time I visit my legal department they look like they’re all about to fall asleep.”
“It’s no wonder. Have you seen those ridiculous documents they have to write? They’re intentionally difficult to understand.”
“Daddy! Daddy!” Haylie pounded on the table and pointed at a young woman wearing a uniform walking up to us.
“Yes, I see her.” Andrew glanced at me to gauge my reaction.
I smiled at the waitress briefly, then picked up my menu. I already knew what I was ordering, but I wasn’t going to let my brother get the satisfaction of catching me looking at a woman.
“Hi, I’m Kelsie. I’ll be your waitress this evening.” She waved at Haylie, who was beaming. “Can I get you guys anything to start?”
“I think we’re ready to order.” I looked up from my menu to address the waitress. Andrew shifted around uncomfortably.
“Great.” The waitress ducked down to Haylie’s level. “What will you be having?”
“Chocolate.” She stamped her fist down.
“Chocolate?” Kelsie lifted one eyebrow and turned to Andrew.
“A chicken tender platter with no ketchup, and a water. We’ll talk about the chocolate later.”
“Alright.” She took the rest of our order and walked away.
I handed Haylie a crayon and a placemat just to piss Andrew off for his passive-aggressive display. He tried to take the crayon away from her, but she started shrieking. He knew better than to say anything.
“How’s work going?” I asked once Haylie had quieted down.
“It’s wonderful. I’ve got two clients that want me to work on their marketing campaigns full-time. I’m doing logos, web designs—everything, and I’m raking in the cash.”
“You don’t mind having to stay home?”
“No,” he said definitively, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He wrapped his arm around Haylie and gave her a hug. “A lot of people don’t get a chance to experience their kid’s younger years. You have no idea how enriching it is.” He was rubbing it in.
“I’ll bet it is.” I stared down at my placemat.
“You could have that.”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to block him out.
“I mean, when was the last time you were even in a relationship?” He leaned closer to whisper. “How are people ever going to respect you if you can’t stop chasing tail?”
“I’m not chasing tail. I’m career-oriented.”
“Bull,” he scoffed. “You’ve got those roaming eyes. I can see it. What’s the problem?”
“Look, I just don’t like telling people my business. You got that?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. It’s just people are starting to wonder about you.”
“About me? You think I’m gay or something?”
“Please, you are the furthest thing from gay I’ve ever seen. They just think it’s a little weird that they’ve never seen you with a woman.”
“It’s not their business.” The waitress brought us our food, so I took my time squirting ketchup on my fries and spreading mayonnaise on the bun. Haylie reached out and snagged one my fries.
“Mine!”
“What are you doing, huh?” Andrew gave her an overdramatic look of disapproval, then turned to me. “You’re missing out.”
I dropped the knife I was using to cut my burger. “You think I don’t know that?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push you.”
“I just don’t like to talk about it.” We ate in silence for the most part until the waitress came back to check on us.
Haylie gave her a stern look and said, “Chocolate.”
“Chocolate?”
“We’ll get a really tiny chocolate shake,” Andrew conceded.
“You sure you don’t want a really big one?” the waitress asked.
“Don’t push it,” Andrew said.
She swung her hips defiantly when she walked away. Andrew caught me looking and glared at me. I went back to my food.
“I’m having a barbecue Saturday,” he said. “You should come.”
“I’ll think about it.”
I spent every second I could talking to Haylie and teasing her. When it was time to say goodbye, I felt like I was leaving something behind. I wanted children, and I wanted a woman in my life, but I had to be pragmatic. I wasn’t that kind of guy. It hurt that Andrew felt like he had to rub it in. He knew that he was getting to me, but that’s the way he worked. When he wanted something, he pushed people until they cracked.
The scrutiny was unacceptable. I didn’t say a word about what my family did in the bedroom. I didn’t even want to think about it, and I definitely wasn’t about to go around gossiping about my love life. It was time to shut them up.
I called Tony on my way home. “What up?” he sounded drowsy, but I knew it was because he’d been smoking.
“Hey.”
“Back for more? I’ll bet you hit that shit good, huh?”
I didn’t want to confirm or deny anything about my sex life to him. I never did. So I kept quiet.
“I got this tight ass brunette. Just came in yesterday. Perfect Ds, and she’s got her tongue pierced too.”
“Nice. I was hoping you could send out Maria tomorrow.”
“Yeah, you know you liked it.” I couldn’t think of a single redeeming factor he had.
“You think you could send her by early, like 10 o’clock?” I asked.
“Yeah, man. That’s cool. Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Have I ever said yes to that question?”
“A’ight, man. I got you. Ten o’clock.”
“Thanks.” I hung up.
Chapter Ten
Mercedes
When Tony called me, I wanted to throw my phone out the window. It was my day off, so I set his ringtone on silent, but he was persistent. I got six messages and four calls, all of which I ignored. I knew I had to get back to him, but I didn’t want to hear the sound of his voice, and I knew he was going to make a pass at me.
Finally, I sat down on the couch and took out my phone to call him. “Hey, baby. I’ve been trying to call you. What happened?”
“Sorry, I was in the shower.” I shouldn’t have said that. I just admitted to being naked.
“Nice,” he drew the word out. “You ready for another session? Heard you got it good the last
time.”
“Yeah?” If he said a word to that freak, I was going to kill him.
“Yup. He wants you there tomorrow early.”
“Great, I’ll be there.” I hung up and started to turn my phone off.
“Nope,” I said to myself. “She is not getting away with this.”
I called Loren. She hit the ignore button on the third ring. I called again, and she ignored me again. It took six calls to get through to her.
“What do you want?” she answered.
“I’m going to kill you. Expect me.” I hung up and held my phone out. She called back almost immediately. I let it go for a second just to tease her a little before I ignored the call. On the second call, I ignored it right away to make it look like I’d blocked her number, and I ignored each subsequent call after that until she started texting. I didn’t read any of her messages. I just waited until they kept coming, one after the other, faster and faster, like popcorn in a microwave. Then, I called her back.
“I’m sorry I—”
“No,” I said, interrupting her. “You don’t get to say a damn thing. You led me to believe that it was package delivery service and nothing more. What is wrong with you? How long have you been a hooker?”
“I am not a hooker,” she said.
“You tried to get me to sell myself, you sick fuck. What were you thinking? You didn’t even warn me. You just sent me straight down to the ghetto so that little prick could eye rape me. Do you have any idea how disgusted I am? He tries to get me to fuck him every time I see him. Ooh, I am so pissed. So fucking pissed! You’re lucky I don’t come down there and beat your ass!”
“You don’t have t—”
“Not one more word. Bring your closet to my house immediately. I have to go sell myself tomorrow.”
When Loren pulled up, I pulled back the blinds to look out the front window. She was carrying a takeout bag from Curry Palace and a bottle of my favorite wine. I let her knock and watched her shadow as she paced around. “I’m sorry, Mercedes. Please, I brought a bunch of outfits, and they’re not slutty. They look good, and I brought you curry. It’s your favorite.”
