Escorting the Billionaire (The Escort Collection #1)

by Leigh James

  “There he is,” Todd said. He pulled me in for a quick, strong hug.

  “Best man, reporting for duty,” I said.

  Todd clapped me on the shoulder and beamed at us. “My big brother. It’s been too long.”

  “I know,” I said. I almost felt bad. “I’ve been—”

  “Swamped at work,” Todd finished for me. “We’ve all been swamped at work. You could still make some time to come home and see the little people sometimes.”

  He turned and smiled at Audrey and Evie. He was younger than me, but taller by about two inches. I was wider than him from years of lifting weights, and he was thinner, with a runner’s build.

  “I had to ask your boyfriend here to be the best man,” he said to Audrey. “Because otherwise he might not have shown up.”

  “Of course he would have shown up,” Audrey said. “He’s been talking about the wedding for weeks.”

  Todd laughed so hard he almost spit out his drink. He looked at me. “She’s a keeper. Loyal and a pretty decent liar.”

  He turned back to her and held out his hand. She took it warily, but he smiled at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Todd Preston,” he said, giving her a firm shake. “Younger brother of Mr. Hot Stuff here.”

  “Audrey Reynolds,” she said. “Girlfriend of Mr. Hot Stuff.” She dropped his hand but smiled back at him.

  “This is my betrothed,” Todd continued, motioning to Evie. “Evie Walton.”

  “Always a pleasure, Evie,” I said, not bothering to try and sound enthusiastic. I chugged some wine.

  She gave me a mean smile and turned her laser-like eyes to Audrey, who was far more interesting than me. She knew she’d never win me over. Not after the first night that I met her, when she’d tried to get me to take her to bed. She’d just started dating Todd then. We were at a bar, and he’d run into some friends; Evie and I were drinking and waiting for him to come back.

  “Todd’s nice, but I’ve been really wanting to meet you,” she’d said to me. To her credit, she was more than a little drunk.

  To her discredit, she’d rubbed her flat chest up against me while my brother was a stone’s throw away.

  “Really?” I asked. “Why’s that?”

  “’Cause you’re his hot, successful, big brother,” she said. She eyed my crotch.

  I took a huge step back from her. “Really, Evie?” I’d asked, disgusted. Todd had already told me that he was quite taken with her. “I’d thought that someone who went to Smith would have a little more tact.”

  “You should know better,” she said in what she might have thought was a sexy voice. But Evie was bony, and she was dating my earnest little brother. Maybe she’d thought the combination was something that I couldn’t resist, but she’d been dead wrong.

  “Thanks but no thanks, Evie,” I’d said. Todd showed up then. She’d turned her horny eyes on him and probably took him home and fucked his brains out to drown her disappointment. But he’d bought her a five-carat diamond ring a few months later, and as far as I knew, she hadn’t looked back.

  But now Evie was examining Audrey, the girl who’d gotten the larger prize. Audrey smiled at her, pretending not to notice the scrutiny she was under.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Evie,” Audrey said. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you,” Evie said. She fake-smiled at Audrey, and her collarbones moved up and down when she shrugged. “Congratulations to you, too.”

  Audrey smiled back at her blankly. “For what?”

  “For landing your boyfriend,” Evie said. Her laser-like stare looked as if it was micro-analyzing Audrey’s every pore.

  I might have imagined it, but Todd seemed to shift uncomfortably next to me.

  “He landed me,” Audrey said, grinning back at her. She grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “The lucky bastard.”

  “That’s me,” I said, smiling and shrugging. “The lucky bastard.”

  Evie looked at us suspiciously, and Todd swooped in to rescue Audrey. “What is it that you do, Audrey?” He asked. I did refer to him as my stupid asshole brother, but he was actually a nice guy. He was just stupid and an asshole because he was still marrying Evie, even after I’d told him what had happened.

  “I’m a graduate student in graphic design,” Audrey said.

  “How interesting,” Todd said, still being kind.

  “Not really,” Audrey said. “But with a studio-art undergraduate major, what else are you going to do?” With that, she and Todd started chatting about art, teaching, and Audrey’s fake dead family from New Hampshire. Audrey didn’t miss a beat, and she managed to hold onto my hand and engage Todd all at the same time.

  “She’s something,” Evie said, watching her with a wrinkled brow.

  “Yes, she certainly is,” I said.

  * * *

  “I give you an A-plus,” I said ten minutes later. I’d finally inserted myself into the conversation and swiftly killed it. I needed another drink, and I needed to get away from Evie.

  “I see why you don’t like her,” Audrey said when we were finally in a quiet corner of the bar. “But why do you hate her? And your brother…I don’t want to make you mad, but he seemed really nice.”

  My jaw clenched. “Todd is really nice,” I said, motioning to a passing waiter. “That’s the problem.”

  The waiter brought us over more wine, and I took a long swallow. A look of concern crossed Audrey’s face, but fine actress that she was, she buried it quickly. I didn’t bother to tell her that I could handle my liquor just fine. She’d experience that firsthand over the next two weeks.

  “I don’t want Todd to marry Evie. That’s the problem,” I said. “She hit on me the first night I met her. It was right after she started dating Todd. She made it very clear that she was after the richest man who would have her, even if that man was her boyfriend’s brother.”

  “Gross,” Audrey said.

  “Absolutely,” I said. “So the reason I refer to Todd as my stupid asshole brother is because I told him about it, and he chose not to believe me. And now he’s chosen to marry her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Audrey murmured.

  “Not as sorry as he’s going to be,” I said and rubbed my face. “It’s just that he could have done better. And now she’s in between us for good. Todd was the one person in my family that I could still stand, and that’s all over now. She’ll never let us be close. And he probably hates me for what I told him.”

  “He asked you to be his best man,” she said, “so he apparently doesn’t hate you that much.”

  “Todd’s a pleaser,” I said. “He’s trying to make it up to me that he’s still marrying her. He’s always trying to make something up to somebody. He probably proposed to Evie to apologize for not being me.”

  I finished my drink and immediately wished I could have another. “We have to meet my father now,” I said, dreading it.

  “I’m not ready just yet,” she said. A waiter walked by with crab cake appetizers, and she grabbed one.

  “Eat,” she said and fed me a forkful. “You need to keep yourself fortified against all that booze.”

  I found crab disgusting, something akin to what I imagined cat food tasted like. But I didn’t say a word. I watched her as I chewed. “You’re taking good care of me,” I said. “I’m actually really glad you’re here, Audrey. It’s nice to have an ally.”

  She smiled up at me. “That’s what I’m getting paid for, remember? I was just supposed to be taking care of you in a different way.” I saw that she was starting to blush underneath her makeup. It just figured—the one escort in the world who was capable of blushing was my date.

  My traitor cock stirred again.

  She fed me another bite, and our eyes locked.

  “Waiter, we’re going to need some more wine. Stat,” she called, and I think I might have fallen a little bit in love with her right then, if I’d been capable of doing such a thing.

  “Well, aren’t you two just adorab
le,” a voice boomed out from behind me. A hand clapped me on the back, hard, knocking me back to reality.

  “Ow, Cole,” I said, grinning. “You don’t have to hit me that hard.” I turned to greet my best friend.

  “Yes, I do,” he said and pulled me in for a quick hug. “It’s been too damn long since I’ve seen you.” Cole Bryson came into view, all six-foot-five of him, a shock of black hair hanging over his brow, a huge grin of his own on his face. We’d been best friends for almost twenty years. We’d met at Wharton, where we consumed an infinite number of beers and planned to take over the world.

  “It’s not my fault you’re so busy with your stupid hockey team,” I said. Cole was a venture capitalist. He usually invested in new companies and let them be, but since he’d become part owner of an NHL farm-team, he’d become obsessed with the industry. We hadn’t seen each other in months.

  “It’s not a stupid team, and you’re right, it’s not your fault we haven’t seen each other. Maybe it’s hers?” He asked, motioning to Audrey and simultaneously checking her out from head to toe.

  “It’s lovely to meet you,” he said, taking her hand and beaming down at her predatorily.

  Audrey shot me a quick look, as if to ask a question, and smiled back at him tentatively.

  “I’m Audrey Reynolds,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

  “Cole Bryson. And the pleasure’s all mine,” Cole said.

  “Down boy,” I said, moving closer. “Audrey’s mine. She’s agreed to be my date through these two horrible weeks.”

  “So she’s beautiful and brave,” Cole said, reluctantly dropping her hand.

  “Yes. She is.” I took another step protectively toward Audrey and wrapped my arms around her side. Cole was my best friend, but he loved women, and more importantly, women loved him. He’d been my staunchest competitor in grad school for hot dates; I had no intention of losing my current one to him.

  I squeezed Audrey a little tighter to me.

  She turned to me and laughed. “I’ll give you two a minute to catch up,” she said, pulling away from me. She handed me the plate of half-eaten crab cakes and, continuing to play the game, kissed me gently on the cheek.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said and was gone before I could process the fact that my cheek was burning where she’d just kissed it.

  We watched her head down the hallway to the ladies’ room.

  “I thought I’d never see the day,” Cole said, turning to me with wide eyes. “You’re in love with that girl.”

  I came back to earth with a thud and scoffed at Cole. “You just got here,” I said. “Don’t start being an asshole already.”

  “I’ve never seen you look at a woman like that before,” Cole said. He motioned to the plate I was holding and stared at it, aghast. “And you ate crab. You hate crab. You must be totally in love with her.”

  “Oh, fuck off, Cole,” I said, exasperated with either myself or with my best friend, who knew me better than anyone.

  I put the plate down on the bar and turned back to him, irritated. “I’m not in love with her,” I told him in a low voice. “I only ate the crab cake to be polite.”

  “You’re never polite,” Cole said. He grabbed a pint of beer meant for someone else from a passing waiter.

  I sighed and glared at him. “She’s been very good to me,” I said, wondering how much I should tell him. Cole was the only person I was almost always honest with. Still, he didn’t know everything about me. No one did.

  Cole drank some beer, waiting. “Out with it,” he said. “Tell me everything and make it quick. She’ll be right back, just like she said.”

  I glowered at him. I didn’t want to tell him the truth, but I also didn’t want to deal with his nagging. Cole could be a relentless pain in the ass when he wanted.

  “I hired her to be my date,” I said, keeping my voice low.

  He looked at me, his handsome brow furrowed, not comprehending.

  “She’s not your girlfriend?” he asked.

  “No,” I said.

  “She sure seemed like it,” Cole said.

  “I just met her this afternoon. I picked her up from an escort service,” I said.

  Cole almost choked on his beer. “Shut the fuck up,” he said.

  “It’s true. I couldn’t face my family alone, and I broke up with Logan a while ago.”

  “Logan sucked ass,” Cole said.

  I nodded at him, my exasperation deepening into chagrin. “You don’t have to tell me that. I’m the one who broke up with her.”

  “So this one’s just for sex?” Cole asked.

  “She’s not even for sex,” I said. I felt a headache coming on. “I’m not going to fuck her.”

  Cole looked at me as though I had three heads. “She’s a fucking escort, bro.”

  “I know,” I said. “But she’s just for show. I don’t want to get involved with her any more than that.”

  “You can still fuck her. That’s why you’re paying her. It’s about as clear-cut as it can get,” he said.

  “It’s not clear-cut,” I said, running my hands through my hair.

  We watched as Audrey emerged from the hallway and smiled at me.

  “She’s gorgeous,” Cole said. “It’s a fucking waste, James.”

  “I’m making it worth her while,” I snapped. “Now please, finish your beer and come over to see my father with us. I’ve put it off long enough.”

  “You’re the boss,” Cole said.

  I watched as he watched Audrey come closer, and I bit the inside of my cheek on purpose to remind myself of just what an asshole I was.

  Audrey

  I finally made it to the bathroom. Relieved to be alone for a moment, I splashed cold water on my wrists. I would have shoved my whole face under the faucet, but my makeup would run. I needed to keep my game face on—for James, for his family, for his buddy Cole, for myself. Easy girl, I thought, willing my racing heart to slow down. It’s just another date, I reminded myself. He’s just another John.

  Except he wasn’t.

  I looked up in the mirror and fixed my hair. I put some lip gloss on. I sprayed breath freshener into my mouth five times and straightened my shoulders. Think about Tommy, I reminded myself, and that calmed me down. My brother needed me, and no matter what I felt about James, no matter how hard and how fast I wanted to run away from him—or toward him, I still wasn’t sure which—I was going to stay put.

  For Tommy, I told myself. I didn’t let myself think anything other than that.

  * * *

  The rest of the dinner passed in a blur of cocktails, delicious food, and curious stares from Evie, Cole, and Mr. and Mrs. Preston.

  I smiled and ignored the stares. I held hands with James and ignored the battling feelings of desire and impending doom that raged on inside me. He talked to me like I was his girlfriend, and I answered him like he was my boyfriend. I ate the delicious food and pretended to care about the details of the wedding, which were discussed in minute detail by Evie and her cousins, who were her bridesmaids.

  Finally, it was over. The party was breaking up, and James pulled me away. “We don’t have to say goodbye,” he said. “Let’s just head out. We’ll be seeing them all in twelve hours anyway.”

  “Great,” I said and laughed weakly. His highfalutin family was exhausting. His mother had watched us all through dinner, and had clearly taken notice of the hand-holding.

  “I know—I told you they were assholes, right? Let me just go outside and call Kai. He’ll be here in two minutes, and then we can go.” James squeezed my shoulder, and I stood inside the door, watching him stride outside in his gorgeous suit and tap on his fancy phone.

  He was only gone for a second when I felt someone nearby. I turned and jumped a little: Cole Bryson had snuck up on me.

  “Hey, Cole,” I said. My tone was friendly even though I only felt reluctant at his proximity. He was looking at me the way most men looked at me. But most men w
eren’t my date’s best friend.

  “Hello, Audrey,” he said. He gave me a wide smile. Cole was rich, tall, and muscular. His black, perfectly gelled wavy hair glinted above his forehead and his green eyes. He had a large, square jaw. He was a physically stupendous specimen.

  He was smiling at me as though I was his next meal—a juicy piece of meat roasting on the grill—and he just couldn’t wait to put a spear in me and make me a Cole-Bryson-dick-shish kebab.

  I wished Jenny was here so I could throw her at him. Then she could have her own billionaire, and Cole could just leave me alone with mine.

  “James is calling for the car,” I said nervously. He was so close but just out of reach, right outside the door.

  “I know,” Cole said. He lazily leaned up against the wall next to me. “He told me about you, you know.”

  My heart stopped. But I didn’t let my face betray me.

  “Really? What did he say?”

  “I know why you’re here,” Cole said. “I know he hired you. He never could stand to be alone with his family. But he also told me things aren’t physical between you two. That’s why you should come home with me tonight. And I’m not saying this to be an asshole—I’m saying it to help.”

  I felt sick, but I looked up at him with as much indignation as I could manage. “You’re not saying it to be an asshole, Cole? Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” he said, smiling at me. “It’s a business proposition. You fill my need, I’ll fill yours. You come home with me tonight, and I’ll pay you your regular fee. And James will still be paying you. You’ll make a tidy profit. It’s like a twofer.”

  He leaned over me, looking triumphant—as if he had just solved all our problems. He was ready for his shish kebab. Cole Bryson was a successful, gorgeous man, and he was used to getting what he wanted. I had the feeling “no” wasn’t a word he often heard. He smiled down at me, and I winced. The problem was, I didn’t know if James wanted me to say no to him.

  “Don’t say no to a tidy profit,” he said. “You’ll break my venture-capitalist heart.”