“Worse.” Lexi rolls her eyes. She loves and hates that about him. “When I told him our travel plans, he said he’s going to send a bodyguard or two our way. Just to keep us safe.”
Melissa opens her mouth and lets out a laugh which causes a few heads from nearby tables to turn. She shakes her head, still chuckling, and runs a hand through her hair.
“That’s Adam for you,” she says. “That just means he loves you. I’ve honestly never seen him act like a lovesick puppy until you two got together.”
That silences Lexi and sends a warm feeling throughout her body. She still doesn’t know what poison she fed Adam to make him fall so in love with her. There are some days she wants to question it – how a romantic gorgeous billionaire can fall in love with boring, normal her – but most days she just lets it be. She’s trying not to let her insecurities get in her way this time.
“The next time we meet,” Lexi starts, looking at Mel with a sly smirk. “I’ll be teasing you on your love life. I can’t wait for that.”
“Ha. You’ll be waiting a long time.”
After Mel and Lexi separate ways, Lexi makes her way to the nearby train station. She passes through a number of shops and cafes and takes the time to relish the cool air. In the coming months, winter will set in, and it’ll be quite a wait before she can take a leisurely stroll again without worrying if her face is about to fall off from the cold.
A head of black catches her eye. She knows that mop of hair and toned back from anywhere. It’s Adam. Lexi is about to walk into the café to send him a quick ‘hi’. That is until Lexi sees Adam wrapping one arm around Yvonne’s neck. Then, Yvonne closes the distance between them by pressing a kiss on Adam’s lips.
Lexi suddenly feels her heart plunge to her stomach as she quickens her pace and almost sprints to the train station. She’s trying to hold it together. There’s no way she’s going to cry in public. She gives herself a small pep talk, just so she won’t break down out in the open. The waterworks will have to wait until she gets home. She decides to take the rest of the day off. There’s nothing left to do in the office aside from packing since she’s starting her new job next week. She sends a quick text to the HR manager and then heads home…until she suddenly realizes that they live together.
She fishes her phone out of her bag and her fingers fly over the screen. In a second, her phone is up against her ear.
“Miss me already?”
“Mel…” Lexi’s voice starts to crack. “I need your help.”
To Be Continue...
Love Paradise
Prologue
‘I’ve never met anyone like you.’
‘You’re the best I’ve ever had.’
’10/10 woman. 5 stars.’
Valerie Summers is trying to fight the smirk making its way onto her lips. She loves receiving this kind of messages – the best form of an ego boost. She tries hard not to chuckle at reading the last one – ‘10/10 woman. 5 stars.’ It makes her sound like a commodity, or a service.
Right, she is one. She tells herself.
It’s very early in the morning, a couple hours past midnight, and Valerie, or Valentina rather, has just gotten home. She’s sleepy and weary and is looking forward to crashing on her bed for a good night’s rest, but she has to take care of a few things. Valerie Summers has all her lesson plans ready for the coming school day, but Valentina Summers has to iron out some things. A middle school teacher by day, everyone knows her as Valerie. Only a select few know her as Valentina – the high-end escort who can make anyone’s intimate fantasies a reality.
When she started escorting, Valerie’s clients were only a handful. Seven years later, she’s now one of the most in-demand escorts in the city, so in-demand that she has her own website.
‘Your Fantasies by Valentina’
She reads the top- and center-most part of the homepage. She has a number of notifications and messages waiting for her, and she can’t help but heave a sigh. More business is always better anyway even if it wears her down. She’s only twenty-eight; she can worry about the physical toll later on. She then browses through the messages and opens the ones with new feedback and comments.
‘Valentina really makes all your dreams come true.’
‘Never knew there were so many different ways to suck a d***. She is lovely. Her mouth is crazy.’
‘She’s everyone’s dream fuck buddy.’
Valerie rolls her eyes and types quick ‘thank you’ replies before she deletes the overtly promiscuous messages. She opts for the earlier, less sexual feedback to put up on her website’s homepage. Those will land her more clients – being a tease. She plays the innocent virgin part quite well. The men are always surprised with the magic in her hands, mouth, and the rest of her body. Valerie scrolls through more of the messages. There are inquiries on her services and schedule. That she can come back to tomorrow.
As a middle school teacher, Valerie has a lot of downtime when her students are answering worksheets and taking tests. She can reply to the inquiries then. With a heavy breath, she shuts down her laptop and walks towards the bed a few meters away from her desk.
“Goodnight, my darling,” she says, bending down to kiss Trent’s forehead before she walks around the bed and lies down on the opposite side of him. She turns off the lamp and winds an arm around his waist. She feels him snuggle closer against her in his sleep.
Valerie closes her eyes, breathes in for a moment, and then breathes out again. She feels Trent’s light blond hair tickling her chin. Suddenly, there’s a heavy weight on her chest. The weight’s always there every time she thinks of Trent and his condition. He’s always been a sickly child, born with a low immune system and prone to illnesses. Next week, he’s scheduled to undergo a kidney transplant. Her young ten-year old boy going through that – Valerie doesn’t know what to feel – wounded, fearful, sad, and even both hopeless and hopeful.
Trent always tells her he’s alright, that there’s no need for her to be scared, but Valerie can’t control her emotions, not when it comes to her son. She can control her feelings when it comes to escorting though; she’s mastered the art of separating business and pleasure in the bedroom. She’s learned to view sex as a mere tool to create money, but with Trent, he has the power to make her feel anything and everything.
That’s why she’s doing this – leading a double life – she’ll do anything for her son, anything to keep him healthy and alive. She loves being a teacher, but that isn’t going to pay for Trent’s transplant and his medicines.
Chapter 1
“I’ll see you later, alright?” Valerie says, leaning forward to give Trent a kiss on the forehead. “Be good.”
Trent smiles at the gesture and wraps his arms around her waist. “I’m always good.”
The public school isn’t so far away from their home, and it’s been routine for Valerie to drop her son off before she heads to work. The private school she works at is a couple of train stops away, but she takes a quick detour and heads for Café X, a coffee shop known for their innovative drink menu.
“I already ordered your usual,” Angel says, the moment Valerie enters the café and walks over to her.
Angel is a co-teacher, and one of Valerie’s closest friends. They have lunch in school together every day, and sometimes hang out with Trent during weekends. She’s always considered Angel to be a blessing in her life since her friend’s always there to help during emergencies, such as that time Angel watched over Trent in the hospital when Valerie couldn’t. The two are really close; however, no one really is close enough to Valerie to know of her double life. She’s Valerie during the day and Valentina when the sun sets. Only her co-escorts know of her other identity.
So when Angel asks her, “How was your night?” she purposely bites her tongue and lies through her teeth.
“Boring as usual,” she says, then reaching over the wooden counter to grab her coffee. They leave Café X and head for work. “Just pored over celebrity go
ssip. How about you?”
There’s no way Angel, and everyone else in her life, can know of her escorting. She doesn’t want the word to reach Trent and so prefers to keep everything to herself. What will her son think when he finds out his mother sleeps with random men for money? It doesn’t matter if she’s doing it to pay his hospital bills. Valerie knows Trent won’t take it well.
“Oh, I just had dinner with Blake,” Angel then responds, referring to the man she’s currently dating. “He took me to this taqueria that just opened up. I’ll take you there next time.”
Valerie lets Angel ramble on and on about her date. She doesn’t mind really since it takes the spotlight off her. Angel talks about how Blake picked her up in her apartment and even brought her home. She gushes about how much of a gentleman he was last night for opening doors for her, pulling her chair out, getting the bill, and taking her home. It was so very different from Valerie’s night.
Valerie can’t tell Angel how she blindfolded her client and hand cuffed him to his bed posts. She can’t talk about how she rode his cock and worked wonders on him with her nimble fingers and full, swollen lips. She can’t let her know how he screamed ‘Valentina’ the whole night when Angel knows her as Valerie. She keeps last night’s events to herself, involuntarily tipping the corners of her lips up into a small, secretive grin at the memory.
“So let’s grab lunch later?” Angel asks when they enter the school and head for the Teacher’s Office. “Did you pack?”
“Yes and yes,” Valerie then says, dropping her bag on her desk and opening her laptop. “I cooked some extra chicken and potatoes for you.”
The smile on Angel’s lips say enough. She squeals like a little girl, claps her hands together, and then says, “This is why I love you. Dessert’s on me.”
Valerie goes through her lesson plan for the day a couple times and revises a few parts here and there. She readies the take-home exercises she’ll give to them, and when everything’s prepared, Valerie sits up from her desk and walks over to her first class for the day.
Valerie considers Math an easy subject to teach. There’s always one correct answer for every problem, as compared to Reading Comprehension where answers can differ depending on one’s analysis. It’s a slow day for her morning class being that her students are still groggy and in no mood to talk about numbers. When the bell rings, her students stand up to leave the room, and Valerie waits for the next batch to come to class.
The rest of day goes by smoothly and uneventfully. She may have the occasional student answering back and challenging her lessons and teaching methods, but it isn’t something she can’t handle. It’s part of her life as a teacher, and she understands children go through phases where they want to act and look cool to their peers. She can handle middle school kids. High school students are a different story. She’s never going to venture into teaching high school kids.
When lunch strikes, Angel and Valerie eat with a couple of their co-teachers. The pantry room is well-stocked with coffee, tea, and light snacks and equipped with sufficient tables and chairs. They sit in a table for four and talk about the similarities and differences of their students and classes in general. Valerie gives Angel a part of her chicken and mashed potatoes, while Bethany, an avid cook, shares a whole tray of lasagna for everyone. Valerie gets a square of the pasta and then goes in for a second serving.
“I swear...” Bethany then says, looking at Valerie with wide eyes and an open mouth. “Where does all the food go?”
Valerie only laughs and shakes her head. She gets this almost on a daily basis – her friends asking her how she manages to stay in shape with her appetite. When she answers, “Isn’t sex the best exercise?” her friends around the table laugh and take her answer as a joke, nothing to take seriously.
They have no idea.
When the lunch break ends, they all head their separate ways. Valerie makes a pit stop to the Teacher’s Office to print a new lesson plan. The class she has next is more advanced than the others, and so, she’ll just be giving them an introduction to the next lesson for tomorrow and then give them the rest of the period off.
Valerie takes the opportunity to sneak in a little bit of extra work during the downtime. She pulls out her tablet from her bag and types her website into the search bar.
‘Your Fantasies by Valentina’
Now she has the time to answer the inquiries and messages she left hanging last night. As she responds to message after message, she realizes how her schedule is getting booked quickly. With Trent’s kidney transplant set for next week, she can’t help but breathe out a sigh of relief at the blessing. She’ll need all the money she can get, and the busy work schedule will result in extra cash. Valerie’s eyes then move over to the last unread message on her inbox. The email surprises her and catches her off guard, but in a good way.
Dear Valentina,
I’ve heard of your sexual prowess. You’re a legend according to my friends. You have piqued my interest, and I would like to spend a night with you. My friends have also told me of your bedroom rules. They excite me. You excite me. I’m currently imagining me fucking you senseless while blindfolded.
I’d like to propose a deal. Can you be blindfolded as well? I’d like to know if you play up to the stories told about you. If you’re as good as the others say you are then take my proposition as a challenge. What do you say?
Love,
Lucas Hill
Chapter 2
“You should know I come at a price, and what you’re asking for is more than what I usually give, Mr. Hill,” Valerie says, a teasing lilt in her voice. If only the man on the other end of the line can see the grin on her face…
Valerie is intrigued at his deep, masculine voice. His tone alone gives a feeling of protection and security. It excites her to know what he looks like in person. The thing with her clients – rich private businessmen, the lot of them – is that they give utmost importance to the privacy of their secret lives. They contact her using fake names and pay her through means she cannot track. The name Lucas Hill itself is so common she’ll spend a whole night trying to match a face to the voice.
“If money were an object, then I wouldn’t be talking to you, would I?” His voice is playful, both deep and light, and Valerie’s interest is piqued even more. “I thought you held yourself in higher regard, Valentina.”
The name rolls off his tongue like a poetic love song.
“Valentina?”
The sound of her alias being spoken breaks Valerie’s train of thought. She just remembered her phone conversation with Lucas, or whatever his real name is, yesterday. It took them a lot more flirting and much less negotiating.
Now, she’s in his apartment, and he has a blindfold around his eyes. He’s sitting down on his bed with his back against the headboard. The strands of his jet-black hair stick up in random directions, and Valerie, or Valentina rather, is excited to run her fingers through his hair. She imagines it being soft and silky, a stark contrast to the angular lines of his facial features and the toned and hard ripples of his body.
“I’m coming,” she says, propping her hands on the edge of his bed, ready to crawl closer to him. Her breath is soft and raspy, words coming out in heavy whispers.
“Our agreement…don’t forget.” There’s a lazy smirk playing on his lips. It adds to the cool and sexy aura he effortlessly exudes. “I’m not supposed to be the only one with a blindfold tonight.”
Gotcha.
“I didn’t forget,” she says, swiping the blindfold off her lace underwear and wrapping it around her head.
Valerie lets out a heavy breath. She’s never done this before – blindfold herself. It makes her feel helpless, and she likes to be in control when she’s working. She likes knowing what to expect. The moment she heard his voice though, she knew she’d be a goner. There’s no way she can say ‘no’ to him. His deep and husky voice, coupled with his articulateness and eloquence, is a disaster waiting to happen for any
woman…or man. That voice and that smirk can disarm anyone.
“Then what are you waiting for?”
Slowly, Valerie crawls forward on the bed. Her left hand falls on his leg, and she loses her balance for a bit. Instantly, his arms fly up to hers and his fingers close around her wrist. A shiver runs down her spine at the touch. So very innocent, and so very light, yet she feels alive, as if something has just jerked her awake.
Valerie moves one hand forward and then the next. She’s still trying to get a feel of the whole situation – being unable to see. She feels like the professional in her just upped and vanished, what with her hesitance and awkward movements. She stumbles a bit trying to find the correct placement of her arms and legs against the man’s body. She’s never had to think so much about foreplay and sex until now.
She feels Lucas’ hands rub up and down her arms, warming her up. She feels she’s about to melt with the feel of his large hands leaving a trail of heat all over her body. Large hands – it’s a feature that’s always been attractive to her. They make her feel protected and secured. She always loved it when her ex-boyfriends would envelop her into a hug. There are times she prefers embraces over kisses. Valerie shakes her head, once and then twice.
Trust Me: A Bad Boy MC Romance Page 46
