by Fawn Lowery
“I think we should get to know each other, Lorna, since you might be carrying my child.”
His words seemed to go straight to her heart, making her uncomfortable in a way she had never felt before. “You don't know anything about me except for the short time we were together when I was Ramon.”
Lorna giggled suddenly. “It appears you've tossed Ramon aside.”
“Yes,” he said, smiling and nodding his head. “I'm no longer Ramon.”
“What about your website?” she asked as one eyebrow rose in speculation of his answer.
“The website is off-line.”
“But what about your repeat clients?”
He propped one elbow on the table and leaned his chin on his hand. He smiled at her. “What do you know of repeat clients?”
“Nothing. But I'm certain you have some.”
His eyebrows shot up on his forehead. “I'm certain I'd remember if you were a repeat—”
“No. No. Not me. But I'll bet there are plenty of others.”
He winked at her. “I'll make you a wager,” he said.
“I don't bet for fear of losing,” she informed him.
“Betting is not much different than taking a risk. I know you take risks.”
A surge of regret swept through Lorna's insides. Yes. She did take risks. Mary's death and her present state of uncertainty were proof.
Without warning, Lance reached out and took her hand. “I apologize if I said anything to hurt you.”
Lorna pulled her hand from his, but a part of her didn't want the action to take place. Had he really identified the look on her face and knew she was thinking about the car wreck that took Mary's life, or merely guessed she was hating the idea of possibly being pregnant and jumped on the opportunity to get on her good side?
“If you don't want me here, I'll go, Lorna. But I think we should get to know each other—just in case.”
Lorna covered her face with both hands. God forbid she should have a child with this man. She would forever be wondering if he was sneaking out with other women.
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* * *
Chapter 12
Lorna made coffee and they talked. She watched him across the table, the sensual way his lips moved when he spoke, the angle of his head when he looked at her, the way he calmly laid his hands on the tabletop, how he held his coffee cup when he took a drink.
She could get to know this man. But could she forget that he had been Ramon? Could she overlook the fact that he had sex for money?
He was a male prostitute.
“I was a freshman in college on an athletic scholarship when I met Fran Whitehall, a lonely woman with a penchant for younger men.”
“You serviced her.” Lorna's tone was blunt. Her stomach churned.
“Yes. And she paid my college tuition for the next year.”
“How wonderful—sex in exchange for college tuition. So, what happened to Lady Whitehall? Or did you merely grow tired of her?”
“She died.”
Lorna almost choked on the swallow of coffee in her mouth. She coughed and sputtered, then had to blow her nose and wipe her eyes.
“Sorry.”
He shrugged both shoulders. “She wasn't a well woman when we met.” He grinned at her. “But she enjoyed the last year of her life.”
“Bastard.”
“No,” he defended. “It wasn't all sex and games. I spent the last four months of her life by her bedside reading to her and playing her favorite music. Her death was peaceful.”
He seemed almost offended that Lorna didn't offer her praises for his seemingly generous giving of himself. He drew in a long breath and took on a studious look, as though about to reveal more about his past.
“Stop. Please. No more. I've heard enough.” Lorna drew in a quick breath. “I don't care to hear any more of your sordid history.”
“But you misunderstand,” Lance insisted.
“I don't want to understand,” Lorna informed him. “I've made a decision. If I am pregnant—” She pulled in a steadying breath. “I've decided to have an abortion.”
“Abortion!” Lance leapt to his feet with such haste that Lorna jumped in fright. “You'll do no such thing!” he bellowed.
He started to come at her, then, as though changing his mind, began pacing back and forth across the kitchen. Lorna sat very still and watched him. His anger was so pronounced that she didn't know whether to say anything further on the subject, or not. Finally, telling herself she was the one in charge of her life, she gathered her courage.
“I'm not ready to have a baby. I have a business to run. I'm only twenty-eight.”
“And the moon isn't really made of green cheese!” he spat out, whirling around to glare at her. His dark eyes were piercing. His jaw was clenched in a steely grip. His tall trim body was rigid. “How many more inane excuses do you have, Lorna?”
Her temper suddenly flared. “I'm not making excuses. I'm merely telling you what I've decided to do. It's in both our best interests.”
“What do you know about my best interests?” he challenged, jabbing a thumb at his chest.
Lorna gave a slight shrug. “You were just telling me about all the women you've laid. You don't exactly sound like father material.”
A look akin to hurt passed across his handsome features. He turned his back on her, striding to the glass doors to look outside.
“I suppose you're right...about my lifestyle. But you forget that's no longer the case.” He spun around to look at her. “And you're forgetting about the agreement we have. What about our agreement?”
“There are extenuating circumstances.”
“Like hell, Lorna! Motherhood simply doesn't fit into your lifestyle and so you'd rather end a life than have to be responsible for one.”
His words were biting, callus, spoken with little emotion aside from pure anger.
Lorna pushed out of her chair. It was time for Lance Bishop to take his black bag and leave—forever.
“Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!” she yelled, her face flushing with anger. “And don't forget your damn little bag of sex toys!”
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* * *
Chapter 13
“I'm filing papers for full custody of our child!”
Surprise at his words made Lorna's mouth gape. “I told you I'm having an abortion if I'm pregnant!” she yelled.
“I'll haul your beautiful ass into court so fast your head will spin!”
“Stop threatening me! No judge is going to side with a gigolo!”
“But a judge will hear a case from a member of the bar!”
“A member of the bar? Are you telling me you're a lawyer now?”
“Corporate.”
She stared at him. Suddenly the idea of him being a lawyer almost made her regret divulging her plan should she be pregnant. She gave him her best scrutinizing look, searching his chiseled features for signs of deceit.
“Prove it,” she demanded. “Prove to me that you're anything other than a man who screws women for money!”
He gave a short laugh and pulled his wallet from his hip pocket. “Here's my card,” he muttered tossing a white embossed business card onto the tabletop.
Lorna's gaze landed on the business card he tossed carelessly onto the table. Was there more to this guy than met the eye? As she gazed at the card, her anger began to wane. Still, she had no desire to be a mother, despite the impressive signs that Lance Bishop might be something more than the male stud she first encountered. She felt her temples begin to pound, a sure sign of an impending headache.
“It's time for you to leave,” she announced for the second time.
“I don't think so,” Lance informed her, a look of determination on his face. “In fact, I think I'll hang around until you either get your precious period——or find out you're pregnant.”
“What?”
He crossed the room and grasped her
shoulders. Giving her a little shake, he held her viselike. “I don't trust you to tell me the truth, Lorna.”
She twisted in his hands. “You can't stay here!”
“I think I can,” he assured her. “It'll be like camping out. Did I tell you I was once a Boy Scout?”
“Please!” she replied in a condescending tone. “Don't defame the Boy Scouts.”
He laughed jeeringly. “Another week should be enough time to learn of your condition. Don't you think?”
Lorna placed one palm against his chest in an effort to free herself but the feel of firm muscles lying beneath the covering of his dress shirt seemed to halt any further desire to be free of him. His warmth penetrated her hand and surged up her arm, reminding her of how he looked naked. For a moment, she forgot all except the sight of him as he stood beside her bed and rolled on the condom.
He remembered it then—why hadn't he remembered it an hour later?
Realizing her sudden predicament, she forcefully pushed out of his grasp. Rubbing her upper arms where his fingers had clasped so tightly, she turned a determined face to him.
“I have no desire to have you as a roommate, so please leave.”
He raked one hand through his short-cropped hair, and then massaged the back of his neck as though he, too, was about to come down with a headache.
“Lorna,” he began, reaching for her.
“Don't touch me!” she spat.
“Come here,” he ordered, grabbing her by the upper arms. He pulled her against his chest, and wrapped his arms around her body.
Lorna met Lance's solid chest with the roundness of her breasts and for a moment, she felt as though she couldn't breathe. His scent, a fragrance of spicy aftershave and male warmth, immediately infiltrated her nose, alerting her senses to the fact that she was in the arms of a very virile man. Her first impulse was to object to him touching her, but she was already aware that her protests had little effect on his actions. She stood very still, wondering what she should do next.
The edge of Lance's chin grazed Lorna's temple as he held her close. He spread his fingers and pressed his palms against her back. When he pulled her hips into the sexy niche created by his hips and abdomen, she thought she would lose her mind.
Her anger dissolved quickly—perhaps too quickly. The feel of his body pressed so seductively against hers caused her to close her eyes and wonder where in the world her life was headed.
“Lorna,” he said his voice a soft whisper.
She opened her eyes and breathed in his scent. She had to extricate herself, somehow, from his arms. It just felt too good, being pressed against him. What if she promised to reconsider her decision to get an abortion? Would he release her and go away then?
“Lance,” she began, trying to pull away from him.
He slid one hand from her back to capture her chin between his thumb and forefinger. His dark eyes lowered to meet her blue gaze.
“I'm not going to change my mind about this,” he said. “I'm going to camp out right here in your house until I know for sure you're either pregnant...or not.”
She shook her head at him. Raising her hand, she clasped his fingers holding her chin. “Let's be adults.”
“I'm trying to. You're the one acting like a child. I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions. You're looking for a way out.”
She released a long sigh. “Listen. I'll admit that it was...good...having sex with you that night...but it was your fault that we had unprotected sex...and therefore—” She paused, searching for the right words. “I don't believe that you were so aroused that you forgot—” Her words broke off. She raised her eyes and looked up into his face as she realized the unmistakable firmness of his erection was pressing against her belly.
“Have you ever been in love?” he asked, his fingers leaving her chin and skimming along the satiny smoothness of her cheek.
She caught his moving fingers. “No. I've never been in love. And I don't want to fall—”
His mouth suddenly claimed her lips, pressing so firmly that Lorna almost lost her breath. She felt the tip of his tongue force its way into her mouth and there was little she could do except part her lips and give him access. In the next second, her own tongue tangled seductively with his and she felt weak in the knees.
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* * *
Chapter 14
Lorna didn't remember the trip into the bedroom. Only when Lance began removing her clothes did she surface from the fathomless pool of splendor his attention to her mouth had caused her to slip into. She opened her eyes and found his face hovering above hers. The evening shadows cast his features in a subdued light making his expression almost unreadable.
She tensed momentarily, feeling the softness of her mattress beneath her back and her pajama bottoms sliding down her legs. Time was rapidly escaping to call a halt to the seduction. Did she want to? A tiny inner voice cautioned against further foreplay.
The final piece of clothing disappeared from her body and she felt the cool breeze from the open window caress her skin. In mere seconds they would be united, having sex and unable to undo the consequences.
Lance was still fully clothed, though she suspected he could shed his garments quicker than the average guy. The thought jarred through her insides. If she had any doubt in her mind about what was about to be—
“Lorna,” he whispered as he gathered her into his arms.
He slid one hand beneath her shoulders and the other beneath her buttocks and in a move that was so agile Lorna barely had time to realize what he was doing, pulled her naked body atop his.
“If you want this to go any further, undress me,” he said, his hands sliding along the curve of her bare back.
The decision was hers, she realized, peering down into his face. If she wanted to back out, he was giving her the opportunity.
His body was all hard muscle, from his chest to the long length of his legs. And that erection—God. It seemed to get bigger by the second!
“We shouldn't,” she murmured, her eyes studying his face. He was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. It was easy to see why women were attracted to him. There was a virility about him that seemed to ooze from every gorgeous pore.
His hands traveled up the naked expanse of her back, inched along her ribcage until he pressed against the sides of her breasts. Her nipples had long been peaked and felt deliciously sensitive. She found it surprisingly easy to recall the thick mat of chest hair concealed beneath his shirt. It was dark and springy, and it was all she could do to keep from imagining her fingers curling amid it.
“But do you want to?” he countered, his eyes holding her gaze.
Oh, God! She wanted to!
How to say no suddenly became an issue in her mind. They had argued since she let him in the door...now she was lying stretched out atop him naked, and her body was slowly sizzling for him to make love to her.
Lance suddenly levered one hand to the nape of Lorna's neck and proceeded to pull her head down, forcing her to kiss him. His mouth was hot and needing. He nipped at her lips sucking her tongue inside his mouth in a kiss that was so heated that Lorna let a wanton moan slip from her throat.
Her arms found their way around his neck and she felt the unmistakable urgency in his hands as they traveled down to grasp her buttocks. With a guttural moan, he pressed her soft flesh into the hardness at his crotch, promising to fulfill the burning desire raging inside her.
She slid her hands from his neck to his shirtfront and loosened his tie. With quick fingers, she pulled the silk from its position at his neck and tossed it on the floor. Next, she unbuttoned his shirt. Separating her mouth from his, she straddled his abdomen and worked hurriedly on the shirt, yanking the tailored tails loose from his waistband.
His naked chest was soon visible to her eyes and, God help her, she fell on it with her mouth. Laving his smooth ropy stomach with her tongue, she worked her way up to his male nipples. She heard him
pull in a sharp breath as she circled one nipple with her tongue, and sucked it gently between her lips.
He played with her breasts, palming her until she almost screamed aloud at the rash of sensations he was causing her to feel.
She worked with nimble fingers on the buckle of his belt, and released the button on his dress slacks. The noise of the zipper sounded raspy in the quiet room as she slid it down, opening his fly. The bulge of his erection was now visible to her eyes. Dark-colored silk briefs lay between her inquiring fingers and his hardness. Without fanfare, she slipped her fingers beneath the band and pulled the briefs down along with his slacks.
His hardness sprang forth, making her catch her breath and sending her senses spinning. She clasped the tall staff in her right hand, closing her fingers around the hot length at the hairy base. She ran her left palm across his abdomen, delving her fingers into the thick dark bush at the base of his cock, and then traced her fingertips around each of his hairy balls.
The urge to dip her head and circle the massive staff with her tongue was too powerful to ignore. She lowered her head, spilling her long hair across his abdomen as she gave in to her arousing emotions. She stuck out her tongue and met the rounded head with its tip, making Lance grasp at her hands in surprise.
She pulled his erection into her mouth, parting her lips as wide as she could. It was big, hot on her tongue, and slid quickly to the back of her mouth, poking against her throat. Lance's hands were on hers, gently covering her fingers and squeezing her hand tighter around his staff, demonstrating his heightened pleasure at what she was doing to him.
“Lorna...oh God, honey. That feels so good!”
Perhaps it was the fact that he spoke that made her pause and take notice of what she was doing, or it was the fact that her insides were on fire to have sex with him—
She pulled her mouth off him suddenly, surprising herself more than him. She swept her hair over her shoulder, her face flushed with the heat of passion. Not too long ago she was demanding he leave her house—now she only wanted him to take her to bed and screw her like there would be no tomorrow.
