Twisted Hope: Bad Boy Second Chance Romance

by Kayley Cole

  He turns and sees me, but doesn't make any move to come near me or greet me. I step down the stairs and walk over to him. I can tolerate the smoke and any residual feelings I have toward him.

  There's a number written on his jeans. It looks like a woman's handwriting-- the cutesy little cross on the 7 and the loop of the 2. I bet she was beautiful.

  "You can't smoke here," I say. He raises the cigarette back to his lips, inhales, and breathes out the smoke. I watch it dissipate. He doesn't say anything. "You should've known not to come here. You know my mother hates you."

  "She's warming up to me," he smirks.

  "If you think warming up to you is wanting to set you on fire, you may be right."

  He laughs. "Wow, Sage, you actually gained some wit. Maybe college is teaching you some things."

  "It's teaching me a lot," I say, trying to let the insult slide off me.

  "I'm sure," he says, looking me up and down. "But I felt like your mother was a bit on edge before I even got here, so I doubt I'm to blame for her losing her mind. Was she hitting the bottle?"

  I flush. "No. We were just arguing… I mean, discussing my future."

  "Whether you'll get the Escalade or the Jaguar?"

  "Whether I can continue my education." I cross my arms over my chest. "She won't co-sign my student loans, and I can't get any loan money without her doing that."

  "Wow, if I had known it would be so tragic to be rich, I wouldn't have tried so hard to..."

  "Stop," I cut him off. "I get it. You think I'm a spoiled kid. I get it."

  I glance past him. There's a car parked that doesn't belong to my parents. It's an old Mustang, but nearly everything on it looks new.

  "Didn't you have a Charger before?" I ask.

  "Sure. But, ah, there was a racing incident," he says, glancing over his shoulder at the Mustang. "I think this one might fit me more."

  "Your parents didn't help you buy that."

  He laughs. "No. I'm not even sure where my mother is. My father…well, you know what he spends all his money on."

  "You didn't finish high school," I say.

  "You've been very observant, Sage."

  "So, how do you have all this money for these cars?" I ask. "Is my brother giving you money?"

  "Your brother doesn't work," he says.

  "Then where are you getting it?"

  He shrugs. "I own a business."

  "A business?" I nearly snort. "Come on. I don't see you attending meetings and making deadlines."

  "It's not that kind of business. It's not the kind of business normal investors would be interested in."

  "Is it illegal?"

  He frowns. "It could be. I'm not the type of person to crack open a law book."

  "You better not be dragging my brother into drug deals. He has enough to deal with."

  "Sage, you need to tell your mother that you need to go to college to continue your education because no educated person would think I could pad my wallet by being a street pharmacist. I know. I tried. Besides, I know you think I'm some dumb asshole, but I definitely know selling drugs is illegal."

  "Are you robbing stores?"

  "I would also know that's illegal too." He drops his cigarette, crushing it with the toe of his beat-up sneakers. "I hire contractors."

  "For building?" I ask.

  He groans. "No, Sage."

  "For what then? Just say it."

  "For connecting beautiful women with rich men," he says.

  I suck in a breath. "You're a pimp."

  He snorts. "Uh, no. I'm a facilitator. And it's all online through video chat. There are two male contractors too, if that makes you feel better."

  "So…how does that work? It's like… like phone sex except with video?" I ask.

  "I have it advertised like interactive porn, but a lot of men are just lonely and want a pretty woman to keep them company late at night. There are three different levels-- Sweetheart, Minx, and Girlfriend. The Girlfriend is the only level that includes sexual acts."

  "Considering what you can afford here, I'm guessing you take a large part of their payment."

  "Twenty percent," he says, raising an eyebrow. "But they're not complaining. The girlfriend level earns about sixty dollars an hour, so I don't..."

  "Sixty dollars an hour?" I nearly trip forward. "For talking to men online?"

  "Weren't you just outraged at the thought of video sex?"

  "I want in."

  He bursts out laughing. He keels over, resting his hands on his knees to stop himself from falling over. I wait until he stands up, his face red and his hair more wild than before.

  "I know you're serious, Sage, and I know you really, really want this money… there's no other explanation for why you'd volunteer to do something like this, but you wouldn't be able to do it."

  "It's talking to people. I could do that lowest level, the Sweetheart level."

  "Yeah, sure, that level doesn't include anything explicit, but there still has to be a level of sensuality to it. You have to convince these men that you're worth these expensive minutes. You'd have to be damn naive not to think that at the very least, some of them are jacking off below the screen. You're like a fucking kindergarten teacher. And you're Caleb's little sister. No, Sage. Go work in a restaurant. If you shake your hips a little, some of the old men might give you a nice tip."

  "You need to give me a chance, Adam."

  "No." He turns to move back toward the house. I grab his arm.

  "If you don't give me a chance I'll tell Caleb that the reason Anya Boswell ditched him after agreeing to go to NYC with him was because she was sleeping with you."

  His body stiffens, and he narrows his eyes. "How did you even know about that?"

  "I heard her talking about it at the country club."

  "Christ," he mutters. "You can't tell Caleb that. He was obsessed with her. He spent a year after that trying to get her to date him."

  "I know," I say. "Which is why you're going to give me a chance. Make me a contractor."

  He clenches his jaw, shaking his head. "If Caleb found out that I let you become part of this…"

  "He won't find out."

  He takes his phone out of his pocket. "You're a bigger mess than he is. What's your number?"

  "313-555-4075."

  He types it in. "I'm sending you my address. Meet me there tomorrow at 9 a.m."

  "Why would I need to meet you?"

  "Each girl sets up a video, trying to sell themselves to any guy who might want to talk. On the Sweetheart level, you'll be competing against 12 other women, so you'll want to present yourself as…" He pauses, glances at me, then finishes, "…someone who would entertain the idea of running away with a sixty-year-old banker."

  I look away from him, feeling heat rise up into my cheeks. I try to focus on Cordero University. The sacrifice of doing something so degrading would be worth it. It's just an obstacle to prove how badly I want this.

  When I look back up, Adam is looking back at me. His eyes are slate gray, but it's not the color of them that catches my breath. There's a heat in his gaze, and I am certain in that moment that I'd be willing to let it burn me alive.

  CHAT Me Exposed

  SAGE:

  My new romantic relationship with my brother's best friend Adam is being tested in more ways than I thought possible. My webcam job has erupted from the recent Senator Loomis cheating scandal and the media is being relentless. On top of that, my best friend from high school is back in town… and I'm not sure why he's so interested in me again. If I'm exposed, everything could crash and burn.

  ADAM:

  These journalists just don't know when to stop. This Senator's scandal is threatening to ruin my webcam service and Sage thinks she can help save it. I'm not so sure if keeping our relationship a secret in order to protect it will work much longer. My "bad boy" reputation is under scrutiny, and Sage's "good girl" persona may just come to an end.

  Will the scandal, harassment, and distrust r
uin Sage and Adam, or can they survive only by giving up whom they love?

  CHAT Me L.A.

  Merlot is a beacon for trouble-- mostly because of her devil-may-care attitude. It leads her to a careless lifestyle of working for a webcam service, Asset Girls, and leaving Detroit after pissing off some gang members. She makes her way out to Venice Beach, California for the summer to meet the new owner of the webcam service, Ethan Gallagher. Ethan sees her as a threat to his privacy and also as a flaky woman. She couldn't care less... at least for the most part.

  Ethan Gallagher had been hoping that acquiring Asset Girls from his cousin Adam would allow him to quit his other shady activity. Unfortunately, Asset Girls hasn't quite recovered from being hacked and exposing its most famous member, Senator Loomis. As he tries to repair the company, he finds threats coming from all angles-- the cost of keeping Asset Girls running, an argumentative porn mogul, keeping his illegal activities secret, and Merlot, with her ability to rub him the wrong way. And sometimes, the right way.