“Good book?”
“Not as good as I’d hoped.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s Great Expectations.”
She grinned, some of the wariness leaving her eyes.
“Could you stand an interruption?”
She shrugged and marked her place with a playing card. He courteously waited until she was done, then plucked the book from her hands. Suspicious, she watched him place it on the grill and then squeaked adorably when he reached down, picked her up around the waist, and tossed her over his shoulder.
“Jack, what the—”
“Hush, woman.” He flung open the storm door and strode through, bee-lining for the staircase.
“What on earth—”
“Shh.”
She sputtered and thunked her knee into his chest hard enough that he grunted.
“Hey! You know, if you hit someone hard enough in just the right place, you can actually stop their heart.”
“What are you doing?”
“I decided to leave today instead of tomorrow, so I am currently preparing to take off all of your clothes with my mouth.”
Her body tensed, and he bettered his grasp on her thighs so she couldn’t knee him again. She didn’t protest further as he started up the spiral, though, so he figured he must have said something right. Too bad he’d now committed himself to leaving early, but it was probably a good move strategically. He couldn’t appear to want her too much outside the sack.
“I should warn you that I know Tae Bo, buddy.”
He smirked and dropped her onto the bed. She landed in a sprawl, her hair in her face as she glared up at him, her eyes gleaming.
“Tae Bo, huh?”
Her glare turned sheepish. “Well, tae bo aerobics.”
God, she was cute. Grinning like a fool, he bent down and braced a hand on either side of her. Her eyes were the perfect shade of brown—dark and deep, but still warm and vibrant. Just like her.
“What are you doing, Jack?”
Before he could stop himself, he blurted the truth. “Making love to you.”
And before she could think that through, he closed the distance between them and kissed her until he hoped she couldn’t think of anything but his mouth and his body.
Safer that way.
“I had a visitor this weekend, Sis. You’ll never guess who.”
Mike had a pretty good idea, but she hadn’t been married for ten years without learning how to play dumb. “You’re right. Who?”
“Your birthday present.”
She paused, switching the phone from one ear to the other and clamping it between her cheek and shoulder to free one hand. Ivy hated having her hair brushed, and she needed all the leverage she could get.
“My birthday present? Kiddo, I hate to tell you this, but my birthday isn’t until December. How dare you forget?”
“No, my birthday present from you.”
“The gigolo?” She hoped she sounded incredulous enough. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“Mommy, what’s a gigolo?” Lily kicked her feet, sitting on the closed toilet lid and attempting to brush her own hair.
“Ugh, hang on, Gabe.” She turned Ivy back to face the mirror and frowned down at Lily. “A gigolo is…the state bird of Finland.”
Gabe laughed, but Lily nodded solemnly.
“You are so getting her in trouble with that. You know that, right?”
“Shut up, kiddo. Or better yet, tell me more about this…guy.” She eyed Lily, who had gone back to tying her hair into knots around the brush. “What on earth did he want? Did you guys…you know?”
A snort. “You’re so subtle. You ought to get an award for it. And I’m not ashamed to admit that yes, we did…you know. He came down just for it, in fact.”
She finished bringing some semblance of order to Ivy’s impossible curls and guided her toward the door. “Go get Daddy, Ivy. Tell him it’s time to start dinner. Lily, front and center. And you agreed to it?”
“Are you talking to me?”
Grunting, she stood Lily on the kiddie step in front of the sink and began the arduous task of untangling hair the texture of cotton candy from a brush with entirely too many bristles.
“Yes, I’m talking to you, smart a—” She cut herself off, changing directions. “So, why did you agree to something like that? I thought you, you know, swore off men.”
“Hey, I thought you’d be all for this. I mean, I know you’d rather I have an actual relationship, but I keep trying to tell you it’s just not for me. Besides, you bought the guy in the first place. If you had a problem with it, why’d you bother?”
Lily stood admirably still, though her little face scrunched up after particularly sharp tugs.
“It’s not that I have a problem with it, per se, but it’s just…odd. Don’t you think? I mean, he’s…you know…and he what, wants to do it for free now? Oh, sorry, Lil. Mommy didn’t mean to pull so hard.”
“It’s okay, Mommy.”
“Are you torturing your children again? Is it the hot poker or the rack this time?”
“I’m having them drawn and quartered. So you’re telling me that he just came down for the…you know?”
“Yup.” Crunching noises ensued, and when Gabe spoke again, her words were muffled. “If you ask me, it’s the perfect set-up.”
“Stop eating on the phone. It’s gross. And it’s appalling that you think this set-up is perfect.”
The last tangle finally pulled free, and both Mommy and Lily heaved a sigh of relief. Giving her little girl a kiss for being such a trooper, she patted her on the back and nudged her toward the door.
“Be a love, Lil, and make sure Ivy found Daddy, okay? Mommy’s talking to Aunt Gabidell, so I’ll be just a minute.”
“Quit calling me that.”
“You love it and you know it.” She leaned back against the sink, frowning at a bleach-spotted bath towel that Ivy wouldn’t let her throw away. “Now, why is this such a perfect set-up? The kids are out of earshot, so make it good.”
“I thought you’d love this situation. I had a man in my bed. I even spent time outside the sack with him. No, it’s not a relationship, but neither of us wants that. I’m not even sure he’s allowed a relationship, what with his…job. It works for both of us. How is that not perfect?”
She closed her eyes. She wanted to tell. Why had she promised Jack she wouldn’t tell?
“Are you sure some free sex is all he wants?”
“Of course. What else would he want? I mean, I’m out of his usual circle of acquaintances and a good two hours away from anyone who’d recognize him by his profession. Joplin has to be like a safe haven to him.”
“And you’re okay with him…being a gigolo? Being with him while he’s a gigolo?”
“We use protection, and you said yourself that he picks his clients carefully. If I were dating him or something, yeah, it’d bother me. But this? I’m okay with it. He’s not mine, so it doesn’t matter.”
She should tell, but she wouldn’t. Any chance of him getting through to her stubborn little sister rested on Gabe being comfortable enough with him to let down her guard. She’d never do so if she knew he was free to pursue a relationship with her. Sadly, Mike wanted that chance just enough to trust him to lie.
“I guess that makes sense. But, kiddo…”
“Yeah?”
She frowned, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. “Be careful, okay? Just…be careful.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m still on the Pill and he brought a box of condoms.” Gabe chuckled low in her throat. “The big ones.”
“TMI. Definitely TMI.”
“So are you okay with this?”
No. “What does it matter to me? It’s not a relationship, right? Not like I’ll be welcoming a male prostitute into the family any time soon.”
“Bite your tongue.”
“Consider it bitten. Is he coming back this weekend?”
“I dunno. We didn’t talk abo
ut it. Probably not, though.”
“All right, then. Be sweet, Gabe.”
She hung up and stared down at her cell, wondering if any of this could possibly be okay. Frowning, she left the bathroom and joined her family in the kitchen. Right or wrong, it was too late to stop now.
Not calling her was a special kind of torture. He knew good and well that any contact with Gabe so soon would be a death knell on his intentions. Boyfriends called after sex. Escorts didn’t.
So he ran every day, and he dug up every hazy memory of résumé-creating he’d ever heard. He needed another job. Sure, he had savings galore, but burning through his nest egg would be stupid and he still had rent to pay.
He hadn’t so much as glanced at the classified ads since his first year of college, and that glance had put him in touch with Briggs’. The memory left him reluctant to trust them again, but he had little choice. He didn’t know a lot of people outside the business, so he had no word of mouth to go from, no friends who could get him even an entry level position at their company. Not the best place to be.
To make it worse, he’d been out of the regular work force for a good four years. He doubted that Briggs’ Escort Service, his last on-the-books job, would be a stellar reference for anything in his chosen field.
But his résumé wasn’t completely empty. He had an undergraduate degree in computer graphics. He had a year of graduate study in interactive multimedia and computer animation. Surely he could find something with those credentials alone.
His ten-speed put in more miles in one week than it had in the year he’d owned it. He bought a decent suit and pedaled frantically around the business district, dropping off his pitifully thin résumé and picking up applications for everything from tech support to data entry. Anything to get his foot in the door and get some legitimate work experience.
And why? For a girl. A girl who didn’t want a relationship. A girl who still thought of him as a male prostitute. A girl he wanted to get to know badly enough to make all of this worth the effort.
So he sucked it up and pimped himself out in a whole new way, and at the end of two weeks, he’d made absolutely no progress, either with her or with a new job. It had been a long time since he’d felt like a failure, and he didn’t care for the feeling.
Thus, when he saw Regina in the produce aisle of the corner grocery store, he didn’t feel comfortable hailing her. He didn’t quite hide in the bakery section, but he certainly didn’t draw attention to himself, though it was nice to finally see a familiar face. Unfortunately, he didn’t duck behind the bread rack quickly enough.
“Blade? It is you!”
He peered out from the mind-numbing array of breads and smiled weakly. “Hey, Regina. Is it just me, or is there entirely too much bread here?”
Her smile slipped. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. How are you?”
“You don’t look fine, although I like the suit. You look a little…” She gestured vaguely with her free hand. “Flustered.”
Giving up on any pretense of pride, he slumped. After all, this was Regina, who had looked so upset at the thought of him moving away. Maybe he could talk to her. Maybe she could even help.
“To tell the truth, I am a little flustered.”
She stepped closer. “Anything I can do? Is moving not working out for you?”
“I’ve put that off a little while. I’m actually trying to find a job.”
“You’re always welcome back at Briggs’, you know.”
“Not that kind of job.” He winced. “No offense, of course, but I’d really like to get something more…”
“Legitimate?” She smiled when he winced again. “I understand. It’s different for me than for you. You called her, didn’t you?”
Groaning, he grabbed a loaf of plain white bread and avoided her eyes. “God, is it written all over my face? How pathetic am I?”
“Not pathetic at all, Blade.”
“Jack.”
She blinked. “Huh?”
“I don’t go by Blade anymore. I’m plain old Jack Savage. At least my one friend in town ought to know my real name.”
Her face lit up. “I doubt I’m your only friend here, Jack, but it’s good to know I’m that high on your list.”
He shook his head. “I am such an idiot.”
Nudging him with her elbow, she smiled. “No, you were just having too good a time to bother with anyone else. But you still haven’t told me how I can help.”
He ran a hand through his already-wrecked hair and sighed heavily. “I don’t know that you can, although the offer is more appreciated than you know. I’ve kinda screwed myself into a hole, pun intended, and I’m not sure I can claw my way back out.”
“What kind of job are you looking for?”
“I dunno. Something in computers. Multimedia, if possible, but that may be overreaching.” He shrugged. “I’d like to get some hands-on experience while I finish my degree.”
“Your degree?”
“Yeah, I already registered for the fall semester. I want to finish my master’s while I’ve completely lost my mind.”
She raised an eyebrow. “All to impress a girl? My, you have tumbled.”
“Not all to impress her. To be honest, she doesn’t know I’ve quit escorting. I’m not sure I’ll even tell her about all of this.”
“Run that by me again.”
Her confused frown amused him, and he found a real smile. “It’s a long story. I’m sure you don’t really want to hear all of this.”
But she grabbed him by the arm and led him to a plastic bench by the cookie display. “I am all ears. And I might be able to help after all. I used to date an editor for Channel 14 News.”
His smile widened, and he sat down without being asked twice.
Chapter Six
Make Your Gigolo Feel at Home
May
“How are the depositions coming?”
“Great, Mr. Donnigan. I have all but two abstracted.” Gabe handed her boss a spreadsheet she’d created to track her progress. “And they’re just nurses. Twenty pages each, max.”
The lawyer gave her spreadsheet a cursory look and nodded. “Excellent. Do you have the exhibits Vince suggested done yet?”
“We’re still tweaking them, which is why the nurses aren’t done yet. But I can show you the latest drafts.”
Her cell phone burst into Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting, and she blushed and swallowed hard. Why did she always forget about her cell phone?
Luckily, her boss only smiled and returned the spreadsheet. “Go ahead. I can look at them after lunch.”
Groaning, she dug in her drawer for her stupid phone as her boss politely closed the door behind him. She stared down at the number in surprise, though a slow smile curved her lips. Jack, again.
“Hello?”
“I hope I’m not interrupting your lunch.”
She flicked a glance at the clock. She should be at lunch. Oops. “Actually, you interrupted a conversation with my boss.”
“Oh, damn. I’m sorry, Gabe.”
Grinning, she leaned back in her chair. “You didn’t know. I should be at lunch, though, so thanks for the reminder. It’s trial time around here, which means time off is pretty much at a premium.”
“Should I call later?”
“No, now is fine, so long as you don’t mind me cramming down a salad while you talk. What’s on your mind?”
“Well, I’d planned to ask if I could invade your house again this weekend, but ‘trial time’ sounds pretty intimidating.”
He sounded disappointed, and she couldn’t help but grin. He really did want to spend more time with her. If he were anyone else, she’d be disturbed with the attention. Maybe even annoyed enough to gently cut off contact. Luckily, this was Jack, and it had been well over a week since she’d heard from him last. It wasn’t like he was breaking down her door.
“I don’t mind if you come down. I’ll be working part of Saturday, but you’r
e welcome to lounge around the house and make a mess, so long as you make it up to me when I get home.”
He chuckled low in his throat, sending a tingle up her spine. “I’ll even make you dinner. I make a mean tuna casserole.”
She started to snark a reply, but her door opened and Cheryl strolled though.
“Gabe, I brought—oh!”
She covered the lower half of her cell. “Gimme a minute?”
“Sorry! I’ll just be out in the hall.”
“Gabe? Still there?”
“Yeah, Jack. I might just hold you to that tuna casserole, so long as you don’t mind me mowing my yard Sunday morning, either.”
“You’re a busy woman. Planning on getting any weekend relaxation during the, you know, weekend?”
She grinned and twisted back and forth in her office chair, twisting a curl of hair around her fingers. “Not if you’re around.”
His voice warmed. “I can oblige. Are you working late Friday?”
“Probably. I’ll leave a key under the rug on the back stoop, though. Make yourself at home, okay?”
“Trusting me with the sacred house key.” Though she knew he was joking, he sounded genuinely pleased. “I’ll have to lay down my very best skeelz for that kind of honor.”
Blushing, she plucked at the hem of her blouse. “I’ll hold you to that, too.”
“See you soon?”
“Yeah.”
“Bye, Gabe.”
She hung up and stared down at the phone, strangely conflicted. Part of her realized she made allowances for Jack that she wouldn’t for any other guy. She didn’t even know him, but she hadn’t hesitated to open her house—and herself—up to him. He was a male prostitute who was just using her for something of a getaway from his real life, but she got more than just great sex out of the arrangement. He was fun to talk to and be around.
But the other part of her wondered if she weren’t being incautious. If she didn’t watch herself, she’d end up head over heels for someone she had no chance of landing. Not that she wanted to land him, of course. She didn’t want to land anybody, and a heavenly body in her bed didn’t change that.
Frowning, she finally put her cell away and went to the door. “Cher?”
My Gigolo: The Care and Feeding of a Male Prostitute Page 8
