Living in Sin (The Escort Series)

by Lucero, Isabel

  “Ugh. No. I can’t deal with your happiness right now.”

  “Too bad. Get up because we have places to be.”

  “How come I never know about our plans until the last minute?”

  “I don’t know. I’m on my way over. It’s already ten, so stop being a lazy bum.”

  The phone clicks and I go use the bathroom, brush my teeth, and pull my hair into a messy bun on top of my head. I put on some shorts, flip flops and a white tank top. By the time I’m dressed, I hear Em banging on the door like she’s the cops.

  “Hey! Why are you trying to break my door down?” I say as I pull the door open.

  She gives me a shrug. “I thought maybe you had gone back to sleep, so I was prepared to wake you up.”

  “Well, I proved you wrong. I’m ready and everything, see?” I say, extending my arms and showing her that I’m dressed.

  She eyes me with a disgusted look on her face. “If that’s what you call ready. It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re going to go get pampered. Nails, hair, waxing.”

  “Waxing?” I say, interrupting her. “I think I’ll pass. Last time you convinced me to get waxed, my hoo-ha was sore for days! No thank you.”

  “Stop being so dramatic,” she laughs. “I’m sorry. Last time the chick was new. This time, it won’t be the same one. I promise. We need to go get prettied up, go out to dinner with these two, hopefully-not-lame bitches, and then hit a club up and find some sexy men to dance with. That’s the plan.”

  She says the last part with finality, flips her hair over her shoulder and walks towards out door.

  “I guess I could use a few drinks,” I say, following her down the hall.

  “Still not over the king?” she asks with a laugh.

  “Oh shush,” I say, playfully pushing her.

  “Hell, from what you told me, I wouldn’t be over him either. I’d be scaling the building trying to get to him.”

  A loud and embarrassing laugh escapes my throat. A few people nearby all turn and look in our direction. Ignoring the stares, I continue to laugh. “Oh my gosh, Em. You’re too much. I picture you climbing the building like Spiderman and shit. Oh God, that’s too funny,” I say, unable to stop my laughter.

  “You think I’m playing. I’d be camped out on that balcony waiting to pounce him.” She lets out a small laugh at herself. “I think you’re crazy for not wanting to be with him again. You said yourself he was amazing in bed…and huge! It’s not like you’re getting any elsewhere.” She gives me a pointed look.

  “Well, thanks for reminding me,” I say and roll my eyes. “I don’t know what you think I’m supposed to do. I don’t have his number, and showing up to his place would be desperate and sad. I won’t do that.”

  Emilie lets out a dramatic sigh. “Whatever. Guess you’ll have to find you another man tonight. He probably won’t be God-like, or be as good in bed, or have a huge…”

  “Okay!” I say, interrupting her sentence. “I get it. Let’s just go.”

  She laughs me off and we head out. Once we get to the salon, we sit down to get our toes done. Em looks over at me and lifts her eyebrows.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothin’, I was just trying to figure out what’s wrong with us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what’s wrong with us? We’re hot, we’re single, and we have jobs. Why don’t we have men?”

  I let out a sigh. “I don’t know. We have standards? We’re too picky? I’m not sure.”

  We let the silence settle between us while the chairs we’re sitting in massage our backs, and the ladies make our toes look nice. After about twenty minutes, we get our manicures and then move on to the hair stylist. I decide I might as well take advantage of getting pampered and have them straighten my hair for me. An hour later, my hair is sleek, shiny, and super straight. They always make it seem so easy at the salon, and it always looks much better than when you do it at home.

  Emilie got her hair lightened and it’s almost completely blonde now, the bottom half is spiral curled. Beach waves is what it’s called I think. Something I definitely couldn’t do with my hair.

  She checks her watch. “You ready? We have just enough time to go get dressed, then meet those chicks at the restaurant.”

  “Yeah. Let’s go.”

  Once we’ve made it back to my place, we quickly change into our dresses. I make sure to choose my own this time. I pick an above the knee, black sequin dress. One long sleeve, the other sleeveless. It’s got a small V cut with sheer material, showing just enough cleavage to be sexy, but not too much to be slutty. Em is wearing a black and hot pink, color block mini dress.

  We lock arms and head out to the restaurant.

  “I really hope these bitches aren’t lame,” I say to Em before we enter the Italian restaurant.

  “Me too. Shelia seems nice enough. I don’t know anything about her friend, though. So we’ll see.”

  When we walk in, Em immediately spots Shelia. She’s hard to miss. She’s waving her hand in the air almost frantically. Her friend is next to her with a wine glass in hand, looking around the restaurant with a bored look on her face.

  We walk to the table and Shelia stands to greet us. “Hi.”

  “Hey She,” Em says. “This is my friend Adrienne. Adrienne, this is Shelia.”

  I extend my hand to shake hers. “Nice to meet you. How are you liking Vegas?”

  “It’s hot,” she says with a laugh.

  “Yeah. It’s definitely that,” I respond.

  There’s a bit of an awkward silence as we wait to be introduced to her friend. The blonde at the table hasn’t stood or made much of an attempt to look at us. I already have a bad feeling about her.

  Shelia looks down at her friend. “This is Vivian.”

  At the sound of her name, she finally looks up. With a forced smile, she finally speaks. “Oh, hi,” she says as if she’s just realized we were there.

  “Hey,” Em and I say simultaneously.

  After glancing at each other briefly, Em and I take a seat across from them.

  “So what’s the plan for tonight?” Shelia asks excitedly.

  “Well, after we eat, we were just planning on hittin’ up a few clubs. There’s plenty to choose from,” Em answers.

  “Have you not been enjoying the nightlife yet?” I ask.

  She shakes her head slightly. “Not a whole lot.”

  “Don’t let her fool you. We’ve had some fun,” Vivian says before finishing her wine.

  Shelia blushes a little and I wonder what Vivian means by that. I look at Shelia and see if she’ll say anything about it, but she smiles and shakes her head like it isn’t a big deal.

  “So, Vivian. Have you been to Vegas before?” Emilie asks.

  “Oh yeah. Quite a few times. I love Sin City.”

  When she doesn’t say anything else, I turn my attention to Shelia. She’s quiet but seems sweet.

  “Shelia, what made you decide to move here?”

  “Well, Vivian has visited here quite a lot and she wanted to live here, so I figured why not? At least I’d know somebody.”

  I glance over a Vivian and she has a tight smile on her face. Clearly she runs things between them two. I wonder why Shelia is even friends with her because I’m getting a total bitch vibe and Shelia is definitely one to easily be trampled on.

  “So do either of you have a boyfriend?” Vivian asks.

  Em and I both laugh. “We were just talking about this actually,” Em responds. “We don’t know why we can’t find any nice guys.”

  “Do you?” I ask Vivian.

  “No, I don’t. I have plenty of male friends, but nothing serious.”

  “What do you mean by male friends?” Em asks. “Like friends with benefits?”

  Vivian has a smug smirk on her face. “Something like that. I make sure to get what I want, when I want.”

  When she says that, I’m instantly reminded of Jace. He said the same thing. I ass
ume Vivian thinks of herself as a queen.

  “Must be nice!” Emilie barks out. “I don’t have many guy friends, and none that I’d be willing to have sex with. Adrienne was able to get lucky not too long ago, but for some reason she’s not wanting to have a repeat performance with the guy.”

  I shoot Em a warning look, telling her to shut up, but she only shrugs her shoulders.

  “Oh? Why wouldn’t you want to be with him again? Was he terrible?” Vivian asks, while flagging down the waiter.

  “No, he wasn’t terrible,” I say before Emilie interrupts me.

  “He was the best, or so she says. He’s fucking hot as hell, too! Super tall, probably rich, beautiful blue eyes, oozes confidence. Yumm.”

  Vivian tilts her head slightly like she’s trying to figure something out. She looks to Shelia who’s looking into her menu, and then back at me.

  “Sounds like a catch. Something must be wrong with him if you’re uninterested.”

  I try to shrug it off and leave it alone. I don’t really want to talk about how Jace is a man-whore, or how I’m actually considering being one of his many fuck buddies. I don’t know these girls, and don’t really want them knowing my business. Emilie seems to be unaware of my demeanor, because she just keeps talking.

  The waiter comes by to take our orders, and refill our drinks. Once he’s gone, Em opens her mouth.

  “Adrienne’s not wanting to be with a ‘playboy.’ She actually used air quotes like it wasn’t a true statement and rolled her eyes.

  Vivian looks shocked. “Playboy? How do you mean?”

  “He’s got lots of chicks on his dick, apparently,” Em answers bluntly.

  Shelia chokes on her drink a little, and I try to kick Emilie under the table, but only get the chair.

  “I’ve just seen him out and about with different women. That’s all,” I say.

  “Hmm. So you were with him sexually, but don’t want to be in a relationship with him because you’ve seen him with other women?” Vivian asks.

  I’m not sure if she’s being rude, or genuinely curious.

  “I’m just saying that a monogamous relationship with him is something I don’t see happening. If I want anything from him, it will be sex.”

  “But you don’t want to have sex with him again?” she asks with a small laugh.

  I let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know. I’m not worried about it. Let’s just hurry up and eat and then get out of here.”

  Luckily for me, the conversation about Jace ends and we’re able to talk about other things. After we all finish our meals, we go catch a cab and make our way to a club that Vivian had insisted on us going to.

  When we arrive, we all slip out of the cab, and Vivian leads us to the front of the line. She speaks with the guy at the door, exchanges a few quiet words, and then with a kiss on the cheek, he lets us all in.

  “Have a good time, ladies,” he says as we pass him.

  We’re ushered in so quickly that I don’t have time to see what the name of the place is. It’s away from The Strip, and looks like a small, hole-in-the-wall type place. From the outside, I definitely don’t see a chick like Vivian frequenting here, but who knows.

  Once I get a look on the inside, my jaw drops. It’s absolutely gorgeous. The room is dimly lit, a few tables around the bar area, which is several steps up from the main floor. There are larger, and more comfortable looking seats scattered along the sides of the walls, and a dance floor in the middle. When I look up I see that there is a balcony overlooking the first level. With it being so dark I can barely make out what’s up there, but I think I see a few doors, so I’m assuming they’re rooms that play different music or something. This is definitely more of a posh type place, and one that is well hidden. I’d never expect it to look so fancy on the inside from what the outside looks like.

  Vivian and Shelia are in front of Emilie and me, leading us to a corner section of the room.

  “What the fuck? How have we never heard of this place?” Em whispers to me.

  “I don’t know. It’s like we’re in a secret club or something.”

  “Vivian’s probably a rich bitch.”

  I laugh and look up to see that we’ve reached our destination. We’re sitting in a corner booth that has a view of the whole place. The seats are a gorgeous burgundy color and when I slide across the seat, I feel the soft velvety material rub across my legs.

  “Wow, this is nice,” I say.

  “Yes it is,” Vivian responds.

  “How do you know about this place? I’ve never been here before.” Em asks.

  “I know the owners and nobody would come here unless they’ve been told about it. It’s not advertised a whole lot.”

  I see Em about to ask another question, but a guy steps up to the table.

  “Ms. Winters, how are you?” he asks with a charming smile.

  “I’m fine, Charles. How are you?” Vivian responds.

  “Perfect. Can I get you ladies anything?”

  I see Emilie looking the guy up and down, and notice she’s biting on her bottom lip. Oh God, here she goes.

  “When you say anything, Charles, do you really mean anything?” she asks and goes back to biting her lip, giving him her best seductive look.

  He glances at the rest of us for a brief second, but then turns his attention on Emilie. He leans down and brings his face closer to hers.

  “By asking me for anything, are you prepared to handle anything I give you?” His voice is a deep, husky whisper, but his message is definitely loud and clear.

  Emilie clears her throat, probably not expecting his response. “Well, that depends on what you have to offer.”

  He stands and smiles at her. “Maybe you’ll find out later.” He turns to Vivian. “Vivian, please be sure to find me before you leave.” With a nod and polite smile at us, he turns and walks away.

  I lean into Emilie and whisper in her ear. “Holy shit. That guy was pretty hot.”

  “I know, right? I’m prepared to do anything he wants. I think my panties are wet,” she whispers as she wiggles in her seat.

  We both start laughing. “Oh God, you’re too much,” I say.

  “I wouldn’t bother looking into that too much,” Vivian says.

  Em and I turn our heads in her directions. “What do you mean?” Em responds sharply.

  “I mean you getting excited about Charles. He’s like that with everyone. He’s paid to be that way.”

  My eyes narrow. “He’s paid to flirt?”

  Vivian laughs and inspects her nails. “No. I mean, he’s an escort.” She cuts her eyes to me, then back at Em.

  I turn towards Em, whose eyes are probably as wide as mine. “Escort? Like gigolo, escort? As in gets paid to sleep with women, escort?”

  We both look back to Vivian. “Well, they aren’t paid to have sex with anybody. They are paid for their time to hang out with women. Go to parties, go out of town for a weekend, and go to dinner, stuff like that. If sex happens, and that’s a big if, then that’s between them.”

  “So I’m sure he’s made a lot of women’s panties wet,” Em says.

  “How do you know about the escort business?” I ask Vivian.

  She shrugs and looks around the club. “I just know.”

  Shelia has her face in her phone, ignoring the whole conversation. I turn back to Emilie.

  “That’s crazy, right? I mean an escort? You don’t just hear about these things in everyday life. Who would have thought we’d have met one.”

  “Yeah, and I’m sure he knows what he’s doing, too. With a job like that, you have to gain lots of experiences and learn new things. Ooh…I’m intrigued,” Em replies, looking around for Charles, I assume.

  “Em! You can’t be considering sleeping with him. He sleeps with everybody. That’s kinda gross.”

  “Adrienne, let’s talk about this a minute. Number one,” she says as she holds up one finger, “I haven’t had sex in a long time. Number two, you yourself sa
id you think Jace is a player and you’ve seen him out with several people. What if he’s slept with all those women? You slept with him! It’s the same thing. Number three, that guy is hot as hell! Number four, at least with an escort it can be no strings attached, and I’m sure they have to be tested. If you sleep with some random guy from the bar, he could easily be a man slut and have had sex with all kinds of people. And probably doesn’t even get tested regularly! Number…”

  “Okay! Stop with the counting. I get it. It’s just weird.”

  “So Adrienne, you’ve never had fun with an escort?” Vivian asks with a smile on her face.

  “Uh no.”

  She tilts her head. “Really? Why don’t you try it out? You might have the time of your life.”

  “No thanks. I’m good.”

  “Oh that’s right, you have someone you can sleep with, right? What was his name again?”

  Shelia finally gets off her phone, and nudges Vivian with her arm. “I gotta go pee. Will you come with me? I don’t know where it is.”

  “Yeah, let’s go,” Vivian responds.

  “What the fuck is up with that chick?” I ask Em.

  “Who? Vivian? I don’t know.”

  “She just rubs me the wrong way. She seems kind of bitchy. Poor Shelia is like her puppy, and what’s up with her knowing escorts and the escort business?”

  “Yeah, she won’t be a close friend of mine anytime soon. She said she came here a lot, so I’m sure when she would visit Vegas, she’d also visit escorts. I don’t know.”

  “You think she’s been with Charles? He did come up to the table to say hi to her.”

  “Ugh, probably.”

  “So, really. Are you okay with sleeping with an escort? He probably charges a shit load!”

  “If I flirt enough, and show him I’m interested, maybe he’ll want to sleep with me for free. He doesn’t know I know he’s an escort. He can’t sleep with me and then be like, ‘oh by the way, I’m an escort and you owe me three thousand dollars.’ I don’t think so!”

  “Yeah, that’s true.”

  “Are you gonna find Jace?”

  I let out a groan. “I don’t know, Em. I told you I don’t know how to get a hold of him besides going to his house. I’m not that much of a creeper.”