Текст книги "Tequila & Lace"

Автор книги: Kimberly Knight

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Chapter Sixteen

Paul

When I checked my back office for the week, I nearly had a stroke. A regular from Malibu had booked for Thursday night because she was going to be in town for a bachelorette party and wanted me to meet up with her.

Regular meant sex.

Any other time this would be okay, but now that I was dating Andi, this was horrible. But I couldn’t cancel because I had a long term relationship with this chick, and I at least owed it to her to show up and bring a guy with me for her to fuck. It would be a win-win for her. She would see me and she would still get laid, but she’d only pay for one of us.

I called up my buddy Nick and told him the game plan for Thursday.

“I’ll try to be home early.” I kissed Andi’s lips, savoring the feel. I didn’t want to leave her at home. I wanted to stay with her and watch movies—make her feel safe, comfortable. Ever since she’d told me about how her mom she sold her virginity, it was always in the back of my mind. I only wanted to protect her even if it was seventeen years ago. I just had that instinct now.

“You have a job to do, love bug, and I have a date on Saturday. Nothing changes.”

“We don’t need to do this job anymore, baby. I have my job with Gabe and Autumn. You can work with us, too.”

She laughed. “What do you think I can do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Book new clients for us?”

She pushed on my chest. “Go have fun.”

I stopped walking, remembering I hadn’t told her who my date was with. I never needed to tell her before, but this one felt as though I should. I turned back to her. “Gorgeous …”

She looked at me from the TV, “Yeah?”

“I think I should tell you who my date’s with.”

Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Okay?” I walked over to her, sat on the coffee table in front of her and grabbed her hands. “You’re scaring me,” she whispered, looking into my eyes.

Reaching up, I brushed a piece of her brown hair behind her ear. “It’s not like that. She’s a client from Malibu.”

She stared at me, realization dawning across her face. “Oh,” she whispered.

“I’m not like that anymore.”

“I know.”

“I called Nick. He’s going with me and he’s gonna … take care of business.”

Her gaze darted to mine. “You called Nick?”

“I’m not going to sleep with her if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“But—”

“Just because we’re not having sex doesn’t mean I need to fuck clients. I lo … I love being with you and I want to see where this goes. I’m not going to fuck it up only to have sex. My hand is doing a good job.” I smiled at her hoping she’d laugh.

She looked up from ringing her hands that were in her lap. “It’s not that I don’t want to have sex … I’m scared.”

I tilted her face, grabbing her chin lightly so she had to look me in the eyes. “I know, and we’ll take this slow. We have forever.”

“Right … Forever.” She sighed.

“Forever, gorgeous.” I kissed her one last time and then I left to meet Nick at the Bellagio where we were meeting Brina, my client at The Bank where she wanted to be picked-up at a nightclub as though she didn’t know who I was. Part of it were true; she didn’t know Nick.

We waited in line to enter the club. It sucked being a guy in Vegas. The women got special treatment while men got the short end of the stick, especially if we weren’t with a group of females.

“Don’t you have connections here?” I asked Nick.

“Yeah, but I don’t see him.”

I groaned. This wasn’t how I wanted to start off the night. I wanted to get in and get out. Nick this is Brina. You two fuck, have a nice night, peace out.

“Let me text him,” he remarked, pulling out his phone.

I checked mine. I didn’t have a set time to be inside the club. Brina knew I’d show. The plan was to surprise her, dance with her, seduce her, fuck her in the bathroom or something and then leave. I was going to do the surprise and dancing parts while Nick did the dancing, seducing and fucking parts. The plan was fool proof.

“All right, he’s coming out.”

A guy came out the doors a few minutes later and waved us over. We went to the front of the line as people groaned. The bouncer unhooked the red velvet rope and after Nick had introduced me to his buddy, we entered a hallway and into an elevator. The bass of the music thumped as the elevator rose to the nightclub.

“What does she look like again?” Nick asked as the elevator lifted floor by floor.

I shrugged. “You know, a blonde babe from Cali with big boobs.”

“My type.” He laughed.

“The trick is to find her.” I chuckled because really finding anyone in a dark nightclub in Vegas was like finding a needle in a haystack.

“Let’s get a drink first.”

The doors opened. “Fuck yeah.”

The space was packed as we entered the two-story club. People stood around the upper deck, mingling, dancing and waiting to order at the upstairs bar. We made our way as I scanned each face looking for Brina, but I didn’t see her. I hoped I didn’t see her because if I did then the situation would be awkward and would throw off the plan.

After waiting ten excruciating minutes and scanning the dark club for Brina, we finally squeezed in between two chicks to order our drinks.

“Hi,” one purred.

“Sugar.” I nodded.

“Whatcha drinkin’?” She eyed my tequila and coke.

“A charro negro.” She looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “I’ve never heard of that. Can I try it?”

Did she just ask to try my drink? “You’re asking for trouble, sugar.”

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”

I caught the eye of Nick over this chick’s shoulder and took a deep breath. “Not with me.” I nudged my head for Nick to follow and we walked toward the railing where the upstairs looked down onto the dance floor. I was off my game and all thoughts were on Andi. I didn’t want to do the escort shit anymore, even if Andi and I didn’t work out. This wasn’t my scene anymore. As I scanned the bodies gyrating to the music, the lights changing colors and the disco ball reflecting from above, I spotted Brina and a few girls sitting in a booth next to the dance floor.

“See the blonde in the black dress with her hair pulled in a high ponytail?” I shouted over the music, pointing toward where Brina was sitting in the booth. “She just took a shot of whatever that is on the table.”

“Yeah, man. You sure you want to give her up to me? I mean. I’m all for hittin’ that.” He took a sip of his drink.

“I’m going to get out of the game.”

“Aw fuck. You too?” He shook his head in disapproval. “First Gabe and now you?”

I laughed. “Chicks, man.”

He chuckled. “I’m never falling in love.”

“Never say never. I didn’t think I would be in love again.”

“Enough of this love talk. Let’s do this shit so I can get laid.”

“All right. Pound your drink. We’re gonna get dirty on the dance floor.”

“Never say that to me again.” He chugged his drink.

We walked down the stairs then weaved in and out of bodies on the dance floor as we made our way to the table where Brina was. The club was packed. People were all around dancing, kissing—some maybe more. My plan was to tell Brina that I’d noticed her from across the room and ask her to dance, but as I got closer, she stood and joined her friends on the dance floor. I came up behind her and whispered in her ear, “Sugar,” Nick came around to the front of us, caging her in, “this is my friend, Nick.”

Our bodies began to sway to the beat of the music, her head rested on my shoulder, her gaze locked with Nick’s. Normally my hands would be roaming her body, getting her worked up, but I needed Nick to take this one. I wasn’t into it. I caught his eye and motioned for him to do just that. His hands worked up and down her sides, our bodies still gyrating to the music and then my body went rigid.

What the fucking fuck?

It took me a second to register what, better yet who I was looking at. There she was dressed in white—a color I’d always thought I’d see her walk down the aisle in on the day we said “I do.” A sash was across her body that read “Bride to Be”. My gaze darted to hers and everything clicked into place as she stood next to the table that Brina had just left. They were here for her bachelorette party before Vanessa got married—married to someone else.

Vanessa gave me a tight smile and waved. I stood still as Brina rubbed her ass on my crotch. I didn’t know if I could smile or wave back at Vanessa. “Hey!” Nick slapped me on the back of the head. “Are you going to dance or what?”

“I gotta go.”

I started to walk away and Vanessa grabbed my wrist. “PJ, wait!”

I stared down into her dark eyes. “I gotta go.”

“You’re still mad after all this time?”

I reached up and ran my fingers along the hem of the sash. “I don’t know what I am, Ness.”

“Can we talk, please?”

I stared at her, not saying anything. When she left my house our senior year, we’d never spoken again. We’d never had closure. Now she was staring me in the eyes, wanting to talk, and for what? I’d thought about this moment so many times, wondered what I’d say, what I’d do. But now that the moment had arrived, I realized I had nothing to say. None of it mattered anymore. I just wanted to go home and be with Andi.

“PJ…”

“Nothing to talk about, Ness.” I knew what I wanted. What I needed—who I needed. And she wasn’t anywhere in this nightclub. “I gotta go. My girl’s waiting for me.” I smiled a genuine smile. “I really am happy for you, Vanessa. Congratulations.”

I turned toward Nick to give him a head nod, letting him know I was out. I was going home. Fuck the closure. She’d killed us and whatever future we may have had when she’d had the abortion. End of story. We didn’t need to talk. I’d moved on—finally. I didn’t need women, tequila or a pocket full of cash anymore.

I only needed Andi.

I was on autopilot as I pulled into the garage and killed the engine. I didn’t have a plan. My heart was pounding. My throat was tightening. My eyes were stinging, and if Andi walked out because she got the wrong idea, I was going to lose my fucking mind.

I took a deep breath, got out of the Jeep and walked into the house. Andi was laying on the couch watching TV. “Hey. You are home early.”

I didn’t say anything. I still wasn’t sure what I was going to say. I felt as though I was hiding the situation from her, but I just couldn’t come out and tell her. I reached my hand out to her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Come with me.”

She looked down at my hand and then took it. “Are you okay?”

“Just … I need you.”

“Okay.”

She took my hand and I led her to my room and then the en-suite bathroom. I smelled of smoke, sweat, and I wanted her naked.

“Paul …” she uttered.

“Please,” I begged, turning her so her back was against the wood bathroom door. She looked up at me, her beautiful amber colored eyes staring back, questioning me. “We can go slow. No sex. I just want to feel your body against mine.”

She finally nodded and I stripped her of her shirt, followed by mine, then took her mouth. She whimpered, her back pressed against the door, my body aching to be inside her. When I lifted my head, I realized she was wearing a bra.

“Rhinestones?” I smiled.

She bit her lower lip. “Do you like it?”

“You wore this for me?”

“I thought about what you said. About how you used to sleep with clients and since this one was a regular and you—” I silenced her with my mouth. “I’m not sure about sex, though,” she mumbled against my lips.

“That’s okay, gorgeous. We’re gonna go as far as we can.” She nodded and I grabbed the elastic of shorts, looking her in her eyes. “Ready?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

I pulled her shorts down, revealing black lace panties that matched her black lace bra, minus the rhinestones. It was a sight that I would forever have burned in my memory. “Fuck, baby. You’re beautiful.”

She blushed and I kissed her again, this time softer, emphasizing how much I loved her and not just how much I wanted her body. I pulled back, looking into her eyes again. This was the time. This was the time for me to tell her. I had to tell her before sex—or whatever this led to.

“Andi,” I beamed, my hands on her cheeks.

“Yeah?”

“From the moment your smart mouth barged into my house, I fell in love with you. I had no idea that my new roommate would be the woman I wanted to spend every second of every day with, but she was. We both have a shitty past, but I don’t care. I want you in my future. I love you. I love you so fucking much.”

A tear trickled down her cheek and I reached up, wiping it away. “I love you, too—”

I didn’t let her finish her speech. I didn’t need it. I just needed the three words. My hands wrapped behind her back, unclasping her bra, then I pulled her into the shower, turning it on as our mouths stayed locked. Freezing water shot out of the shower head, but I barely noticed as my tongue danced with hers. My body was on fire. My hands kneaded her breasts, my fingers pinched her nipples and she moaned, her head tilting back as she broke our kiss.

I adjusted the water and once I got it perfect I realized I still had my jeans and shoes on plus Andi had her panties on. Making quick work, I removed our soaked clothes, tossing them onto the bathroom floor. My dick stood at attention ready to play, my balls ached and my mouth watered—I wanted to devour her in every way possible.

My gaze flicked up to meet hers, but she was looking down at my cock. “Give me your hand.” Her head snapped to look at me. “It’s okay.”

Timidly she reached out and I took it, bringing it to my mouth and placed a kiss on her palm then ran it down my chest, the water from the shower letting it slide easily over each ripple of my abs. Her gaze never left her palm as she watched her hand go lower and lower. Just before we reached my shaft, I looked up to find Andi’s eyes already looking into mine. I could see the apprehension and nervousness she was feeling. After a brief nonverbal exchange, she lowered her gaze back down. I watched her reaction as her hand finally wrapped around the head of my dick. She sucked in a breath, bit her lip and then …

She licked her lips.

I smiled as I worked our hands back and forth over my cock. Once we started moving in one fluid motion, I removed my hand. Without my guidance, her soft hand glided effortlessly with the water and I groaned, my balls growing tight. I wasn’t sure how long I would last with my girl working me.

“Fuck, gorgeous, that feels so good, don’t stop.”

I braced myself with my arm against the tiled wall, enjoying her strokes as she worked the tension from my body. I wanted to give her pleasure in return, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her, so I focused on what she was okay with and that was loving her with my mouth. I kissed her, using my tongue until I couldn’t hold out anymore and I came, jerking until I was spent and could barely stand.

Chapter Seventeen

Andi

I woke to a hand rubbing the inside of my thigh.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

After our shower the night before, we’d gone to sleep. I still didn’t know what happened on his date to cause Paul to come home the way he did and I wasn’t going to ask. When he was ready to tell him, he would—I’d hoped.

Being able to be the one he came home to—to be the one he wanted—to be the one he needed—felt empowering. He told me he loved me, I loved him and wanted to tell him everything.

Everything.

And I almost did, but he silenced me with his mouth and then we did naughty things and before I knew it, he was drained and we were sleeping.

We still hadn’t had sex. However, I was ready. So ready. Especially after seeing his body last night in the shower and the way he gently took control but allowed me to also have control. It was nothing like twelve years ago.

I trusted him.

I trusted him completely.

“Andi,” he whispered into my ear.

“Hmm?” I asked, trying to form a coherent thought.

“I need to tell you more about last night.”

My back stiffened. He rolled onto his back, his hand leaving my thigh and I almost groaned out of protest.

Had he slept with his client then came home and told me he loved me?

“The part about my client went as planned.” He paused for a long time and I wasn’t sure if he was going to continue. I looked over at him and he was staring up at the ceiling, maybe lost in thought.

“My client was in town for a bachelorette party,” he paused, sighed and then dropped the bomb, “for Vanessa.”

I raised up on one elbow and faced him. “You saw Vanessa?”

He turned his head toward me. “Yeah. She wanted to talk, too.”

“About what?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t talk to her other than telling her I didn’t want to talk to her.”

“You didn’t?”

“Why would I?” He raised up on his elbow so we were face-to-face. “What is there to say? It’s been almost fifteen years and I’m in love with you.”

“What if she didn’t get the abortion?”

He stared at me for a beat then laughed. “Oh, she did. She shoved her discharge papers in my face without a word after it happened when she returned to school.”

“You’re not curious what she wanted to talk to you about?”

“She didn’t even know I was going to be there. It couldn’t have been that important.”

“True. But it fucked you up.”

“I just wasn’t expecting it.” I nodded. “Let’s never speak of her again.”

I bit my lower lip and looked down at his bare chest. I was still turned on from his hand that was rubbing between my legs when I woke up and seeing his bare, rippled chest was an added bonus. Hooking my leg over his hip, I started to crawl over his body, causing him to lie back on his back.

“Andi.” He grinned.

“Shh, I’m ready.”

“You’re ready, ready?”

I nodded then raised up, pulling my tank top over my head and tossing it to the floor. His hands rubbed along my bare back as my breasts slid across his chest, our mouths returning to savor each other. I wanted to stay locked together like glue, be with him in this position with me on top forever, his hands in my hair, mine in his, the sound of our lips smacking when we needed air.

My hips started to move, grinding on his cock. He groaned and deepened the kiss, his fingers dipped into the sides of my panties and he began to tug. I didn’t hesitate as I moved back and forth. I was ready. This was it. This was the moment. I was tired of living in the past just as he was done living in his.

With our lips never losing contact, he rolled me over onto my back, his hips between my legs. He supported himself on one elbow as the other played with the elastic on my panties.

“Are you sure?”

Hoping it would get the message across, I grinned and lifted my hips, giving him permission to finish undressing me. He returned his mouth to mine and I felt a tug and the tickle of the lace from my underwear on the backside of my legs as he removed them, causing goosebumps to spread. Paul dropped them on the side of the bed then started at my ankles, running his fingertips along the outside of my leg until he reached my hip. A small moan escaped my lips, causing me to break the war our tongues were having.

He kept his forehead resting against mine. “Still the best fucking noise I’ve ever heard. I wanna hear more.”

He brought a hand up and cupped one of my breasts, lowering his lips to the other. He started grinding his hips against my core at the same time he twisted the bud of my nipple.

I threw my head back and gasped. “Oh God.”

“Shh. It’s okay, baby. Just feel.” Taking one of his hands, he started at my collarbone and traced random patterns down the front of me, circling around each nipple while he blew on them and caused them to pucker. “You’re so fucking sexy,” he mumbled as he started making his way back down to my chest with his mouth. His fingers started a path down to my stomach and the second his fingers came into contact with the swollen lips of my pussy, I jerked.

“Get out of your pretty little head, gorgeous, and just feel. I got you.”

I nodded, my eyes closing as he slid down my body. He cupped my mound with his hand, letting me get a feel of him. Without saying a word, he ran two fingers back over my center, applying the smallest amount of pressure to the sweet spot my body was craving.

“That’s it, baby,” he cooed. “Just feel.” He lowered his fingers again and after a second of teasing, he inserted a single digit. “So fucking wet. Christ, gorgeous…” Slowly pumping his finger in and out of me, he started peppering kisses along the inside of my thigh, slowly making his way toward my core. Once he got to where he wanted to be, he removed his finger and took one long swipe of his tongue.

“Paul …” I moaned.

He brought his hands up and used his thumb to spread me open for him. He started flicking my clit with his tongue before latching onto it with his mouth and alternating between flicking and sucking. His fingers probed my throbbing pussy again, starting with one and quickly adding another. The second he twisted his fingers into the perfect position—hitting just the right spot—my back arched off the bed and I screamed.

I grabbed his face, pulled him to me, and kissed him as if it were my last breath. Tasting myself on him only drove my need and hunger to have him inside of me. With our lips locked, he removed his boxers, and the feel of his hard cock grinding against where my body needed him most almost sent me directly into another frenzy. I wanted him bad. So fucking bad.

Paul pulled a condom out of his nightstand, ripping it open and rolling it on. Once he returned his lips to mine, he rolled us over again so I was on top. I knew why he did this, and damn if it didn’t make me fall in love with him that much more.

He grabbed my face with both hands, staring me directly in the eyes, “I love you, Andi.”

I wanted to tell him at that moment that my name was really Joselyn. Hear him say the words that I’d never heard before: “I love you, Joselyn.” Instead, I asked a question I wasn’t sure how to ask so I just did.

“Will you help me?”

A smile—the kind of smile I’d never seen on somebody’s face before—smile of deep, consuming and devoted love, happiness and acceptance crossed his face. “I’m right here, baby.”

I lifted just enough for him to reach around to ready himself, and then slowly I lowered myself onto him. I stared directly into his eyes as I lowered myself inch by inch, steadying myself with my hands on his chest. It burned as his dick stretched me, the size of him overtaking my pussy.

“That’s it. Just go slow.”

It was nothing like my first time. The pain might be comparable on some sort of level, but Paul was allowing me to get used to his size. It wasn’t forced and out of my control. This was all me. I was staring into the eyes of the man I loved. The man I wanted to be with for the rest of my life.

The lower I got, the less the burn ached. Once I was filled to the hilt, emotions came flooding through me. Tears poured down my face and I tried with everything in me to keep them at bay, but it was no use. I was happy, relieved.

Paul sat up and wrapped me in his arms. He simply held me while I cried, rubbing circles on my back while my tears ran down his. We stayed like that for a few minutes, Paul inside of me until I was done crying. He looked me in the eyes and I nodded.

He began thrusting his hips, never once losing eye contact with me until I threw my head back when my orgasm tore through me. Paul followed moments later as he grabbed my hips, pumped hard a few times, and stilled.

I collapsed on top of him.

I was emotionally and physically exhausted, but so utterly and deeply in love.

Paul and I woke up the next morning in a tangled mess. If someone saw us, they wouldn’t have been able to tell where I ended and Paul began. Throw the sheets in the mix and I wasn’t sure if we’d ever be able to untangle. That was okay with me; I was right where I wanted to be.

Paul was laying on his back with half of my body thrown over his and my head on his chest. This was what it felt like to be in love. This man had my heart—my whole heart—and it scared the shit out of me. As fast and hard as I fell for him, I realized there was a chance that when he discovered everything—because eventually he would—I might lose him. The thought alone made my heart feel as if it was being ripped from my chest. Paul shifted slightly underneath me and abruptly brought me out of my thoughts.

When he moved, I felt the evidence of a hard-on rubbing against the leg I had thrown over his hips and I smiled at the memory of what had happened the night before. Every time I moved in the slightest, I felt the soreness between my legs. It wasn’t like the first time. It hurt, but this time it was because of pleasure, not pain.

I lifted my hand from his chest and started tracing the lines of his abs. Wanting to see his face, I slowly lifted my head off his chest. I found him smiling and already looking down on me.

“Good morning, gorgeous.”

“Good morning, sexy.” I blushed.

“It’s sexy now, is it?” He lifted me the rest of the way so I was completely on top of him, forcing my knees to fall on either side of his hips.

I shrugged. “I’m still trying to find what works, besides,” I smiled and teased him by grinding my hips, “you are incredibly sexy, so it fits.”

He wrapped his arms around me and flipped us so I was on my back underneath him. I started in a fit of laughter, loving our little power struggle, but when I looked up at him, he wasn’t laughing. He gave me another one of those looks that caused butterflies the size of Texas to flutter around in my stomach and caused my heart to squeeze. He brought his hands up while keeping his elbows on the bed to support himself, and cleared the hair from my face.

“You’re incredible, you know that?”

I leaned up and planted a hard kiss on his lips. When he started moving his hips, I threw my head back and let out something between a small moan and a gasp.

Paul brought his lips down to my ear and roughly whispered, “Are you still sore? Because I had all intentions of letting you rest this morning to give your pussy a break, but seeing you on top of me naked made me want to bury my dick so deep inside you and ride you so fucking hard you don’t know your own fucking name.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and lifted my hips to rub against his now rock hard cock.

It was all the invitation he needed.

Looking in the mirror with my towel wrapped around me, I was doing the finishing touches to my makeup for my first date with one of Martinez’s guys. Jasmine had given me some good tips on how the women in his crew should look. I had perfected the smoky look for my eye shadow, applying a thin line of eyeliner and mascara with just enough blush and a deep red color to my lips. By the time I was done, I barely recognized myself.

I walked out of bathroom and to my closet. Jasmine had taken me out a few nights ago and walked me through a bunch of stores, trying to help me find the right look.

“This one!” She held up a small, skin-tight yellow dress with a halter top. “With your skin complexion, your makeup done right, and the right shoes, this would look amazing on you. I’ll meet you at the register.”

“Wait, I’m not going to be able to bend over in that thing without my goods hanging out.”

She gave me a creepy smile. “That’s the whole point, honey.”

I took a deep breath as I pulled the dress out of the closet and hung it on one of the knobs of my dresser. After putting it on and clasping the halter behind my neck, I put my heels on and stood to look in the mirror. Damn! I looked down to fix a part of the dress that I noticed was twisted and when I lifted my gaze back up to the mirror, Paul was walking by and he stopped short when he got to the entrance to my room wearing nothing but grey sweats riding low on his hips. I took in the sight of his chiseled abs as he stepped into the doorway and eyed me from head to toe.

“Damn, baby …”

Not wanting Paul to pick up on my worry, I sashayed my way over to him adding a little more sway into my hips than normal, and gave him a peck on the lips, “It’s only a date, sexy. I promise I’ll be home as soon as I can. And don’t worry, I’ll be thinking of you the entire time.” I gave him a wink. “Love you,” I sang before I turned to walk away.

He grabbed my wrist, twirled me back around and grabbed my face with both hands, kissing the ever loving daylight out of me. In typical Paul fashion, he kept our foreheads connected when he pulled back from the kiss. “I love you too, gorgeous. Please be careful.”

“I will.” I smiled at him and quickly turned to leave.

The moment I got in my car, I let out a deep, long sigh. I was scared shitless.

I pulled up to the Wynn hotel. I couldn’t believe I was doing this again. This wasn’t like my typical date with S&R. This was going into a hotel room knowing I would have to turn this client down for sex. I had to do this, though. My job depended on it. I’d decided to leave my gun at home. Even though this was a date with someone that was on Martinez payroll, I didn’t want to be patted down and have them find my weapon and all hell break loose and them question me why I needed to have a gun for a date. Of course I could say it was for protection—because it was—but this was my first date for them and I needed to build Jasmine’s and Martinez’s trust. I needed to get in good and find out what was going on, build my case and call in my team.

After my internal pep talk, I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and waited for the valet to open the car door. Due to the detailed instructions I’d received in the fake email address I’d used for Jasmine, I knew exactly where I had to go to meet my john.

Go to the desk and give your name. There will be a key waiting for you. Pour yourself a drink when you get to the room. Don’t be late.

I did as the email instructed and received a key for room 2316. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button for the elevator and waited. My palms were clammy as I held my clutch purse and my feet were already aching in my sky-high heels. My seventeenth birthday flashed in my head, but I shook the memories off. I was older now—more experienced. This was different. This was by choice …

It was my job.

I walked in and pressed the button to the twenty-third floor. Giving myself one last once over, I made sure my yellow halter top dress was adjusted just right, my dark brown hair had enough volume and added one last coat of red lipstick.