After I'd dropped Ashleigh off at Excalibur, I called my boss to tell him I was back in town but needed a few days because shit had gone down. He was used to the drama happening with his guys, except—unlike my friends—mine wasn't causing me to get out of the game.
I started to text him back but hesitated. My mind went to Ashleigh again, and I closed my eyes. This was why I didn't date outside of Saddles & Racks. This was why I had never gotten attached to a woman before.
This was why I didn't do love.
But I was in love with her. I could lie to her, my friends, and even myself, but my heart knew the truth. I thought about that saying, to get over someone you had to get under another—or whatever it was—and then I texted Mark back.
Me: Yes, of course.
He texted back a few seconds later: Great. You have a date tonight. Check your back office.
My date was with a new client. She wanted to go for drinks followed by dancing and then—you know. It, of course, didn't say that she wanted to end the night in her hotel room, but I knew. A woman wasn't going to pay to have drinks and a few hours out on the dance floor when she could go to any bar or club in Vegas and get that for free with a random guy. She wanted what Saddles & Racks offered: a fun, no strings attached, safe date that ended with an orgasm—or two or three or more.
No strings attached unless you fucking fell in love with your client.
After I got ready for my date, I drove to The Cromwell on The Strip. I left my car with the valet and then headed inside to meet my client at the cocktail lounge behind the check-in desk. I didn't know what she looked like other than she had blonde hair, blue eyes, and would be dressed in a black mini skirt and a red top.
It didn't take me long to spot Angie sitting at the gold and black circular bar. When she saw me approaching, she almost choked on her drink.
"You okay?" I asked as she stood to greet me.
"Yes. Sorry. You're …"
"Yes?" I prompted with a smile.
She turned as red as her blouse. "You're hotter in person."
My grin widened. "Thank you. You're stunning yourself." I gave her a hug. I always opened with a compliment about their looks to put them at ease. It would roll off my tongue even if it wasn't true. I was good at lying.
There wasn't a seat open for me to take, but I didn't mind. I leaned against the bar top casually and faced Angie. "Do you come to Vegas often?"
"Not anymore. When I was in my twenties, I would come at least once a year."
"What brings you to town now?"
"I recently got divorced and wanted to"—she shrugged—"let loose."
The bartender approached. "What can I get ya?"
"Salty dog with Tito's and"—I pointed at Angie's drink—"What are you having?"
"Just a vodka cranberry."
I hesitated for a split second, remembering that was what Ashleigh liked to drink, and then ordered for Angie. "And another vodka cranberry."
The bartender started to make our drinks, and Angie asked, "What's a salty dog?"
"Vodka—or gin—and grapefruit with salt on the rim."
"Oh, man. I thought a vodka and cranberry was sour. I can't imagine grapefruit juice."
"I think it's sweeter, actually."
"Really?"
I nodded as the bartender slid my drink in front of me. I picked it up and held the straw out to Angie. "Here, try it."
She took the straw between her lips, and usually, I would watch, pretending I was getting turned on in some way, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tall brunette. I turned my head, and for a moment, I thought it was Ashleigh. I shook my head slightly and turned my attention back to Angie.
"Oh, that is good."
"Want it?"
"Really?"
I shrugged. "Yeah, I'll just order another one."
"Okay." She beamed.
I was dodging a bullet by switching her drink because it seemed, even out with another date, I was thinking about Ashleigh. No way could I watch my date drink the same drink and ultimately taste like the same drink.
"So, you got divorced, and now you want to be wild and free?" I asked while waiting for my new drink.
"Yeah, that's the plan."
"How long were you married?"
"Twenty-three years."
I blinked. "How? You can't be older than twenty-nine."
Angie chuckled. "I'm actually forty-two."
I did the math. "So, you got married at nineteen?"
"I did."
The bartender placed my drink in front of me, and I took a big sip. "Let me guess, you got divorced because he couldn't rock your world in the bedroom?" I was joking, but why else would she hire an escort after a divorce?
She looked around slightly before answering. "We were each other's first everything and learned it all together."
"That didn't answer my question."
Angie took a sip of her drink. "No. He never rocked my world, but that's not why we got divorced."
"But one of the reasons?" I wanted to move the conversation to sex because that was ultimately why I was hired.
"Yes."
I leaned in and lowered my voice. "So, you hired me to fuck you until you can't walk?"
She swallowed and then whispered back, "Yes."
The problem was that I wasn't sure I could take her back to her hotel room and fulfill her wants because she wasn't who I wanted to be fucking. Then a thought occurred to me on how to get out of the situation.
"Have you ever been with a woman before?" I played with the neckline of her red blouse just below her collarbone.
She blinked. "No?"
"Have you ever wanted to?" Please say yes.
"I've thought about it before," she replied.
"What if I can make that fantasy come true?"
"Really?"
I nodded. "I can make a call."
She thought for a moment and then said, "Would I have to pay for her too?"
"Nope." I would give up my pay just so I could get out of the date. I should have told Mark I wasn't ready. I could have told him I had PTSD or something from the kidnapping. What’s one more lie?
"Then I would be up for it."
"Let me see what I can do."
I finished my drink and then stepped away from the bar, walking out and into the lobby. I pulled out my phone and froze. I had no one's number anymore except Mark. If I called him and asked him for Morgan's phone number, he'd know something was up, and I didn't think any of my friends had her number anymore since they were out of the game. Plus, the only number I knew by heart was Paul's. He already knew I had fallen in love with Ashleigh, and if I called or texted him, it would definitely confirm it, but I had to try.
Me: I need a favor.
It didn't take him long to respond.
Paul: Are you kidnapped again?
Me: Low blow, man.
Paul: Sorry. What's up?
Me: Do you have Morgan's number?
Paul: S&R Morgan?
Me: Yeah.
Paul: Yeah, I think I do. Why?
I blew out a breath.
Me: Because I need it.
Instead of texting me back, he called me.
"Are you going to give it to me or not?" I said instead of a greeting.
"I want to know why, first."
"Why does it matter?" I rolled my eyes.
"Because you said you needed a favor, and I'm not sure why me giving you her number would be a favor."
"Wait—what?"
"Your first text."
Fuck. "I thought that you might need to use your FBI resources or something if you didn't have her number," I lied.
"Bullshit." He chuckled. "What is this really about?"
I knew Paul, and he wouldn't let this go. So, I walked farther away from the bar, blew out a long breath, and replied in a low voice, "All right, fine. I'm out on a date, and I don't want to fuck her. Happy now?"
"Because of Ashleigh?"
I sighed
again and stopped walking. "Yes."
"You know what this means, right?"
"That I will kick your ass if you don't give me Morgan's number?" I leaned against a wall.
He laughed. "You could try."
"Whatever. Are you going to give me her number or what?"
"On one condition."
"And what's that?"
"You get your head out of your ass, and you tell Ashleigh how you feel."
"I can't."
"And why not?"
"What if she doesn't feel the same way?"
"Then you'll be right where you're at now."
That wasn't true. I would be fucking heartbroken. "You don't understand."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because Joss didn't break your heart."
"That's where you're wrong." He was silent for a moment. "Don’t you remember she left me after the shit went down with her brother? I didn't leave the fucking house for a week."
Oh, right. "Well, I don't want to be like that."
"What if she feels the same way?"
I really needed to speed the conversation up before Angie thought I'd left. "I don't know."
"Fine. I'll text you Morgan's number, but I want you to seriously think about your time with Ashleigh, and if you think there’s a chance she doesn't feel the same way, then I'll drop it."
I took a deep breath. "Okay."
We hung up, and a moment later I had a text with Morgan's number. I immediately sent her a text:
Me: Free tonight?
As I walked back toward the lobby bar, Morgan text me back: Yes, what's up?
Me: I need you to close out my date.
Morgan: Me? Close out YOUR date?
Me: Yes. She wants some girl on girl action. You can have your cut.
Morgan: Okay. Where are you?
Me: The Cromwell. I'll text you the room number.
I lied to my family about Nick because I wasn't ready to tell them we'd broken up. Plus, it was too soon since we'd just gotten back from Fiji. It needed to be believable, so I told them that he had work stuff to do, and he was giving me time to spend with my family while they were in town, which was true in a sense. The entire time I spent with them, I tried to act as though nothing was wrong, that Nick and I were fine, and I wasn't broken-hearted, but I was. My bed, my heart, my life without Nick all felt empty, and it fucking sucked.
My family spent another night at Excalibur before they all went home. My parents went back to Alabama, and Everleigh went back to New York. She still hadn't heard anything about Douglas. Nick had texted me that Paul and Joss were trying to get in touch with the authorities in Fiji, but that was all I knew. I wasn't sure why it was taking so long, but since things had been damaged by the tsunami, maybe it was taking longer to find information to identify the bodies. Or maybe it wasn't the Alexanders at all.
We thought for sure it was Douglas and his parents. There was no other explanation as to why Everleigh couldn't get in touch with him, even if he had left her to die. We didn't know what that would mean for her allowance that was in the agreement, and I didn't know the extent of Dad's medical bills, but if Douglas was paying for them, we definitely needed the money.
With my family gone, I could finally tell Adriane about Nick, the kidnapping, and how I stupidly fell in love with a male escort.
Me: Drinks?
A few seconds later, my phone chimed.
Adriane: Yes! Where?
Me: My place?
Seeing as it was almost five on a Saturday, her next text didn't surprise me.
Adriane: On my way!
My doorbell rang twenty or so minutes later. When I opened the door, Adriane was standing there with a bottle of wine in one hand and a bottle of Tito's in the other.
"What kind of night is it?"
"Vodka. Definitely vodka." I giggled.
"Your family stressed you out that much?" She walked inside, and I closed the door. "I thought them being in town was a good sign."
I sighed. "There's so much I need to tell you."
"Okay, well, let's make some drinks. I brought my jammies too, just in case."
"Good, because this might take a lot of drinks."
Adriane followed me to the kitchen, and I grabbed glasses and ice to start making vodka cranberries for us. "Is it about your parents or the tsunami?"
"All of it."
"Even the hot guy you brought with you? That wasn't good either?"
I started pouring us our drinks as we continued talking. "A," I sighed, "He was soooooo good."
Her blue eyes lit up. "Well, tell me. I want all the details."
I handed her a drink, and we walked to my couch. "I don't even know where to start."
"Start with when you got to Fiji, and he had to pretend to be your boyfriend. How'd he do?"
I took a sip of my cocktail and then told my best friend everything up until the night of the wedding, including the fight Nick overheard Douglas and Everleigh having, and how every night Nick and I had amazing sex.
"So, the marriage wasn't real?" she asked.
I finished my drink and went back to the kitchen to make another. She followed. "We didn't know for sure until after the tsunami."
"I can't believe there was a tsunami."
"That's not even the worst of it."
Her brow furrowed. "Really?"
I poured us more alcohol. "When we were in the shuttle bus being taken to higher ground ..." I paused and drank a big gulp of my fresh drink. "The driver left us on the side of the road, and Nick and I were kidnapped."
I'd rarely seen my best friend speechless, but she was.
I leaned a hip against the granite countertop, my drink in my hand. "Nick thinks the hotel employee was in on it, but they thought I was Everleigh, so I don't know what to believe."
"Wait," she finally spoke. "You were really kidnapped?"
I nodded and pushed off the counter to go back to the couch. She followed. "Yep."
"How did you escape?"
We sat on my couch again. "What's your boss's husband's first name?"
Adriane tilted her head. "Why?"
"Is it Seth?"
"Yeah? How do you know that?"
"You said that her husband is friends with guys from Saddles & Racks, right?"
Her blue eyes widened. "Yes. Is Nick friends with him?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
We each took a sip of our cocktails. "Okay. I didn't think the one guy you would pick from the website would be his friend. That's crazy." I bobbed my head in agreement. "But how does he relate to your kidnapping?"
"Well." I blew out a breath. "When the kidnappers realized I wasn't Everleigh, they wanted to kill me. Nick acted fast and negotiated with them—said that he could get them money. Long story short, they didn't know his call would be to an FBI agent."
"Seth is Vegas VICE, though."
"But their friends, Paul and Joss, are FBI, and Nick called Paul," I corrected.
"Oh. My. God. And then what happened?"
I told her how we weren't sure if his plan would work because of how the kidnapper put a time limit on the ransom, and how we weren't sure if Paul would even know where we were being held.
"So, how does Seth come in?"
"He was one of the people who rescued us."
Her eyes widened again, and I was certain they were going to be sore in the morning from bugging out so much. "Really?"
"Yep. He was with the people that rescued us."
"That's … That's crazy."
"I know." I took another sip of my drink. "I mean, I guess I'm lucky I picked Nick to hire because if it had been someone else, and we’d been kidnapped, I doubt that guy would have an entire team on the ready to come rescue us."
"It's fate."
I chuckled. "Yeah, something like that."
"How'd you meet up with your family after that?"
I told her how I was able to call my mom, pick them up, and then fly home on the private jet. I even
told her how Douglas was missing, and how we suspected he might be one of the four bodies found at the airport since he’d left his fake bride behind. I didn't like that he did that so blatantly, and if I ever saw him again, I was going to kick him in the balls. But maybe it was fate making things right.
"This is some true crime TV shit."
We both started laughing, not because it was funny, but because she was right. The last week had been like a true crime episode I had lived out in real time.
"So, what happens now?" Adriane asked.
I shrugged. "I'm not sure, other than Everleigh needs to find Douglas."
"Can you imagine if he did die?"
I sighed. "Honestly, I hope it is him."
"Me too."
"But he probably flew out before the tsunami hit and is on some other island enjoying his honeymoon with his parents."
She stared at me for a beat, and then we both laughed again. "That fucker probably is enjoying his honeymoon with his parents."
"Yep." I took the last sip of my cocktail. "Let's order food. There's more."
Her eyes bugged out again. "More?"
I set my glass on my coffee table and buried my face in my hands. "Yes."
"Well, don't leave me hanging."
"We should order food first." I stood to get my phone.
"Oh, no." Adriane shook her head. "Tell me."
Closing my eyes, I blew out a breath as I stood in front of the couch. "I'm in love with Nick."
She gasped, and I heard her jump off the couch. "I knew it. I knew it. I knew it."
I opened my eyes and stared at her. "What do you mean you knew it?"
"Well, I didn't know for sure, but I'd hoped that a week in paradise would have you two falling in love."
"But I hired him to go," I reminded her.
She shrugged. "So? Fate is tricky like that."
"Well, it doesn't matter because he's a professional escort, and him falling in love with a client is impossible."
"It's only impossible if it isn't the right woman."
"Well, I'm not the right woman."
"From what you said earlier, you two had amazing chemistry."
We sat back down on the couch, the thought of ordering food forgotten. "He was just doing his job."
"Tell me about your goodbye when you got back to Vegas."
"Well"—I bit my lip—"I stayed at his place the first night since I didn't have a key."
Paradise & Vodka (Saddles & Racks Book 6) Page 14
