The Escort

by Lynn, Sandi

  “What did he want?” she asked.

  “He wants me to come over tonight. He said he needs to talk to me.”

  “Do you think it’s bad or good?”

  “I have no clue.”

  My belly twisted in a knot.

  “I’m sure it’s good, Bri. I mean, just a couple days ago, he took you and Stella to dinner. He wouldn’t just flake out now. Would he?” She bit down on her bottom lip.

  “You never know with him. You should see him with Stella.” I smiled. “It just melts my heart. And she likes him so much.”

  “But this is the man that hates kids,” she said.

  “If you want to know my opinion, I don’t think he really does. What if he changed his mind and decided that he doesn’t want anything to do with us?”

  “I don’t think that’s the case. If that was true, you’d just never hear from him again.” She reached across the table and placed her hand on mine. “Relax, sister. Everything’s going to be all right. I have a good feeling about this.”

  “I love him, Sasha, and I don’t know what I’d do if he decides me and Stella aren’t right for him.”

  “You’re worrying for nothing. But if that’s the case, then you’re going to move on. You have a company to get up and running.” She smiled. “In all honesty, that should be your priority right now.”

  “I know.” I sighed.

  We said our goodbyes and I left the coffee shop. Pulling my phone from my purse, I called my mom.

  “Hey, sweetheart.”

  “Hi, Mom. Is it okay if Stella stays the night at your place tonight after the movies? Caden called and he wants me to come over to talk.”

  “Talk about what?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m really nervous.”

  “Judging by the things you’ve told me recently, I think it’ll be a good talk. I really want to meet him, Brielle.”

  “If all goes well tonight, you will soon.”

  “Stella does nothing but talk about him, and when she does, there’s a light in her eyes. The same light you get when you talk about him. Of course I’ll keep her all night.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I headed over to Stella’s friend’s house to pick her up.

  “Oh, hey, Brielle,” Bonnie, Miranda’s mother, spoke as she opened the door.

  “Hey, Miranda. I’m here to pick up Stella.”

  “I’ll go get her. Come on in.”

  Stella came running over to me and hugged my legs.

  “Hey, sunshine. Are you ready to go home?” I patted her head.

  “Yeah.” She smiled.

  “Go say goodbye to Miranda.”

  “So,” Bonnie spoke, “Stella has been talking a lot about a man named Caden. She told me that you’re seeing him.”

  “Not really. We went out a couple of times,” I lied. “It’s too early to tell if anything is going to come of it.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t have introduced him to Stella so early,” she spoke. “If things don’t work out that could be damaging to her.”

  I was ready to tell her to fuck off and mind her own snooty business, but she didn’t know me or the whole story.”

  “I know. My bad.” I smirked. “Come on, Stella. Let’s go! It was nice to see you again, Bonnie. By the way, how’s your husband doing?”

  “He’s fine. Always working to provide us with the best of everything.”

  “That’s great. Have a good day.” I smiled.

  “You too.”

  Little did she know that her husband wasn’t “working” all the time. In fact, he’d spent a few afternoons in my hotel room complaining about how his wife didn’t meet his needs and forced him to seek fulfillment elsewhere.

  As Stella and I walked home, which was only a few blocks away from Miranda’s house, I told her that she’d be spending the night at her grandma’s house.

  “Why do I have to?” she whined.

  “Because I’m going over to Caden’s house tonight and I don’t know what time I’ll be home.”

  “Can’t he just come over to our house instead?”

  “No. He wants to have a grown-up talk. No kids allowed.”

  “That’s boring. I’m good at grown-up talk.” She grinned.

  “You are, but tonight is just for me and Caden. You understand, right?”

  “I guess.” She pouted. “When can I see him again?”

  “I’ll ask him tonight.”

  32

  Brielle

  I stepped inside the elevator, my heart rapidly beating and my palms a sweaty mess. I honestly didn’t know what to expect tonight, which made me more of nervous wreck. As soon as the doors opened, I stepped out and saw Caden walking towards me.

  “Thanks for coming. Can I make you a drink?”

  “Yes. Please. A martini if it’s not too much trouble.”

  “No trouble at all. In fact, I’ll make one for myself as well.”

  I followed him into the living room and noticed all the furniture was different.

  “You got new furniture?”

  “I did. Do you like it?”

  “I do.” I grinned. “It’s very chic.”

  “I felt the need for a change.” He handed me my martini. “Have a seat.” He gestured.

  I took in a deep breath before taking a sip of my martini and sitting down. My heart was still racing as I tried to convince my body to settle itself down. He sat down next me and set his drink on the coffee table. When he turned to me, our eyes locked and he took the drink from my hand and set it down next to his. Bringing his hand up to my cheek, he softly stroked it.

  “I asked you to come here tonight because there are some things I want to talk to you about. One being about us.”

  I took in a breath and went to speak, but he stopped me before the words came out.

  “Let me finish.” He smiled. “From the moment I laid eyes on you back in Texas, I felt like I’d been hit by a bus. And even worse when I saw you out of disguise. I knew right then and there, I wanted you, which you know to be true, since I agreed to pay you seventy-five thousand dollars a month. Which you gracefully negotiated your way to eighty thousand.” He grinned. “What you didn’t know at the time was that I was willing to pay that just so I could see you as much as I wanted to. I had or tried to convince myself it was only for sex, but it wasn’t. It was for much more, but I just couldn’t and didn’t want to admit it. The more time we spent together, the harder I fell for you. The more I got to know you, the more I fell for you. When I was with you, for the first time in years, I was a happy man and I didn’t deserve to be. That’s why I got so angry when you’d ask me about my past or if anything was wrong. Everything was wrong. Not with you, but with me.” I swallowed hard. “There’s something I need to tell you about my past.”

  “Caden, I already know,” I softly spoke.

  “What? How?”

  “About a month after you found out about Stella and told me you never wanted to see me again, I went to Kyle’s restaurant and begged him to tell me what was going on with you. I needed to know because I knew you weren’t okay and it bothered me. I guess I just needed to know for closure. I needed to know that it wasn’t me you were actually running from. You could say it somewhat soothed the sting of rejection.”

  “And yet you’re here, and you invited me into your home and let me take you and your daughter to dinner. I was so terrified because the feelings I have for you were so strong that I was afraid I would let you down somehow. That I would ruin your life like I did Cassandra’s. When I found out about Stella, I was relieved because it was my way out, and not like you think. It was my reason to let you go so I didn’t hurt you. But I couldn’t let you go. I tried. I really did. Hence the reason for the new furniture.”

  “What?” I softly laughed.

  “You spent a lot of time here and we had sex on various furniture in this room. It reminded me too much of our time together, so I
thought if I could bring in some new things, it would ease the pain somehow and make me forget about you.”

  “Caden.” I brought my hand up to his cheek. “What about the bedroom?” I smiled.

  “That’s all new too. I couldn’t sleep in that bed. The scent of you still lingered every single night.”

  “Seriously? You bought a new bedroom set?”

  “I did.” The corners of his mouth curved upwards.

  He took hold of both my hands and gently squeezed them.

  “I’m in love with you, Brielle, and I am extremely fond of Stella. I asked you here tonight because I would like to start over. What I’m trying to say is that I want to be with you and I’m hoping you can forgive me for all the mistakes I made, and you’ll say you want to be with me too.”

  Finally, my heart returned to its normal rhythm and the knot in my belly dissipated.

  “Of course I want to be with you,” I spoke as tears filled my eyes. “I always have. I love you, Caden Chamberlain.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a sigh of relief. Then he let go of my hands, brought his up to my face, and wiped away the tears that were beginning to fall.

  “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say those words, and I promise, I’m going to be everything to you. I’m going to give you my best, and if I ever let you down, I want you to tell me.”

  “You’re never going to let me down. You are a beautiful man, inside and out, and I’m the luckiest woman in the world that you chose me.”

  He pulled me into him and held my head tightly against his shoulder. Feeling his arms around me again made me whole and complete. He broke our embrace and brushed his lips against mine.

  “How long until you have to be home?” he asked.

  “Tomorrow morning.” I smiled.

  “Perfect.” His lips pressed against mine with a smile.

  33

  Three Months Later

  Caden

  The past three months had been nothing short of incredible. I had never been in love with anyone like I was with Brielle. She was my very existence. The bond between Stella and me grew stronger every day. I loved that tiny human as if she were my own. She taught me things through the eyes of a child. Things I never really saw before. She was an incredible little girl with the dream of becoming a classical pianist/composer when she grew up. But, to me and a lot of others, she already was. She loved to play, and she practiced for three hours every day. She belonged at Juilliard. I had a contact there and invited her over to my penthouse to hear Stella play, with Brielle’s permission, of course. Needless to say, she was blown away and offered Stella an audition. Shortly after that audition, she was accepted to study in their pre-college division where the youngest child currently there was the age of eight.

  Brielle was out to dinner with Sasha and I stayed with Stella at her apartment. I was growing tired of the back and forth between homes and I wanted both of them to move into the penthouse with me. But there was something I needed to do first. As I sat next to Stella and listened while she played Bach, I pulled a small box from my pocket.

  “Stella, can you stop for a moment. I need to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure.” She smiled as she removed her fingers from the keys.

  “I bought this for your mom. What do you think?”

  “Is that a wedding ring?! It’s so beautiful, Caden.”

  “It’s an engagement ring and I’m going to ask her to marry me. Do you think she’ll say yes?” I tickled her.

  “She’ll say yes.” She giggled. “If you get married, that means we can be a family.”

  “It sure does. But this has to be our secret. I have a plan and I need your help.”

  “Okay. I would love to help.” She grinned.

  I told her my plan and she loved the idea. I told her to get ready for bed and I pulled out my phone and called Kyle to set the plan in motion.

  “Can we play something together before I go to bed?” Stella asked as she came running over to me in her pajamas.

  “Of course we can.”

  As soon as Brielle got home from dinner, I took her into the bedroom and made love to her. As her head lay on my chest, I softly stroked her hair.

  “I was thinking we could go out tomorrow night. Maybe have dinner at Kyle’s restaurant.”

  “I’ll have to get someone to babysit Stella,” she spoke.

  “It’s already taken care of.”

  “What?” She lifted her head.

  “Ben’s going to watch her. I asked him and he’s very excited about it.”

  “Wow. Look at you.” She smiled as she kissed my lips. “I’m looking forward to our date night.”

  “Me too, darling. Me too.”

  The next day, I could barely work. I was way too nervous about tonight. I knew I didn’t have anything to be nervous about, but we hadn’t talked about marriage or even moving in together. As I was sitting at my desk, trying to concentrate, my phone rang. It was Brielle.

  “Hello, gorgeous.” I smiled as I answered it.

  “Caden, I just got a delivery at the door, and when I opened the box, there was a stunning dress inside it.”

  “Oh good, it came already. That’s for you to wear tonight.”

  “It’s kind of fancy. Don’t you think?”

  “Nah. I think it’s perfect. Do you like it?”

  “Are you kidding, I love it. It’s beautiful.”

  “Good. I’m looking forward to seeing you in and out of it tonight.”

  “You’re bad. What time are you picking me up?”

  “Seven. Be ready.”

  “I will be. Thank you for the dress. I love you.”

  “I love you too. I’ll see you later.”

  After changing into my tux, I picked Brielle up precisely at seven. As promised, she was ready and waiting.

  “Damn, woman. You look gorgeous.” I kissed her lips.

  “So do you. Are we going to some black tie affair you didn’t tell me about?”

  “No.” I chuckled. “I just thought it would be fun to get all dressed up for the hell of it.”

  When we arrived at the restaurant, Brielle looked around and noticed we were the only customers in the whole place.

  “Why are we the only people here?” she asked.

  “Kyle was kind enough to let me rent out the place so it could just be the two of us.”

  “That’s sweet, but why?”

  “Why not? I thought it would be nice to have a romantic quiet dinner for two.”

  “Good evening.” Kyle smiled as he stepped over to our table. “I brought a bottle of my finest and most expensive champagne for you both,” he spoke as he poured some into our glasses.

  “Thank you, Kyle,” I said.

  “I can’t believe you let him rent out your restaurant.” Brielle smirked.

  “Everyone has a price.” He gave her a wink. “Your dinner will be out shortly.”

  I held her hand from across the table as we talked about her day. Her marketing business was getting off the ground. Of course I had a helping hand in it. But the only thing I did was send one company her way to get her started and things took off from there. I had never been prouder of her.

  Kyle walked over and set our plates with the stainless steel dome lids in front of us.

  “Since when do you serve your dinners like this?” Brielle asked.

  “I do on occasion for our special VIP guests.” He smiled. “Enjoy.”

  I gave him the signal to go get Stella set up at the piano. Brielle went to remove the lid from her plate and I stopped her.

  “Wait!”

  “What?” She laughed.

  “I want to make a toast to us first.” I picked up my champagne glass. “Here’s to your rising business and the amazing relationship we have together.”

  “Cheers.” She grinned as she tipped her glass to mine.

  “Let’s eat,” I spoke.

  I carefully watched as Brielle removed th
e lid and stared down at the diamond ring that was sitting by itself on the china plate.

  “Oh my God!” she spoke.

  Just then, the music started to play, and Brielle looked around, taking notice of Stella at the piano.

  “Caden.” Tears started to fill her eyes.

  I reached over, took the ring from the plate, got up from my chair, and knelt down next to her.

  “Brielle. I love you so damn much and I love that little girl over there. The two of you have brought so much light and happiness into my world that I never thought I would ever experience. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to love you, take care of you, and help you raise Stella. You are every breath I take and every beat of my heart beats for you. Will you marry me and do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Caden Chamberlain?”

  “Yes! Of course I will marry you.”

  I slipped the ring on her finger and helped her out of her chair, kissing her and hugging her tight.

  “You have made me so happy,” I spoke.

  There was clapping, and when we looked over, Kyle was standing there with a wide grin across his face. The music stopped and Stella came running over.

  “Did she say yes?!”

  “She said yes!” I smiled as I picked her up and swung her around.

  “Wait a minute. You knew about this, Stella?”

  “Yes, Mommy, and I told him you’d say yes. Yay! We’re going to be a family.”

  34

  One Month Later

  Brielle

  Stella and I were finally settled at Caden’s penthouse. He let her pick out the colors for her room and a new set of bedroom furniture. While his piano sat in his study, hers was placed in the living room over by the window that overlooked the city. She was happy to be here and so was I. I had never been happier in my life.

  We were in the bubbly filled tub, my back was pressed against his body as his arms wrapped around me.

  “There’s something I want to talk to you about,” he spoke.