Escorting the Billionaire by Leigh James
James
I caughta glimpse of the mother. She was about Audrey’s height, but that was where the resemblance ended. I saw a barrel chest, stringy bleached hair, and a face that had seen too many Tequila Sunrises.
“Hey,” Audrey said, closing the door behind her quickly. “I told you not to come up.”
“I wanted to be here if you needed me,” I said. I pulled her to me protectively as we headed down the stairs.
“Did that go okay?” I asked. I had no idea what “okay” meant in this circumstance, but it was the only thing I could think of to say.
She shrugged. “It was typical. It was fine.”
“What does that mean, Audrey?”
She slid into the car and sighed. “Can I please have some bourbon?”
“Of course.” I poured her a glass and watched her take a shaky sip.
“You know, I thought I’d never drink. After growing up with my mom the way she was.” She shrugged. “But my mother taught me what it actually means to need a drink.”
I poured myself one and clinked her glass. “Cheers to that.” We watched the city lights as we sped from East Boston back through the Financial District. “Audrey. I know you don’t want to tell me what your mother wanted, but I wish you would.”
She stared out the window, the tension obvious in her shoulders. “She just needed money. Her car got… towed. That’s all.”
“Does she always ask you for money?”
“She doesn’t always ask, James.”
“Ah,” I said. “So she’s an alcoholic, and she’s a problem.”
“She’s an alcoholic, and she’s a problem.” She smiled at me bravely. “Just another sob story from your friendly neighborhood escort.”
I put my arm around her and pulled her to me. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. I just held her close and hoped that made it a little better.
I madelove to her again that night, slowly. We didn’t say a word. I understood her body now, what she wanted, and all I wanted was to be inside her. We came at the same time. As I spent myself into her she called my name again. It left me with a deep ache, a yearning. I didn’t know what that was, and I didn’t know what to do with it. So I just wrapped myself around her as if she were mine, holding her from behind while we slept.
But she wasn’t mine. It’s like a timeshare, baby. No one gets to own me. You just get to stay a while. Her words echoed in my head as I drifted off to sleep. I hated those crude words. I hated the truth behind them…
I woke up the next morning pressed against her, hard again. She moved closer in her sleep, but I rolled over, not letting my erection overtake my thoughts. Today was the day of the rehearsal dinner. Tomorrow was the wedding. Then, Eleuthera.
Then, no more Audrey.
I looked at her naked back, rising and falling with her breath. She was too young to have dealt with everything that had been thrown her way. I hadn’t let myself really dwell on the fact that she was a hooker. She was a hooker. I wouldn’t even let myself imagine all the men she’d been with.
Probably not as many women as you’ve been with, asshole,I thought. That was true. And I’d only ever had feelings for one of them.
Now, two.
But when I thought about Danielle, what had happened… I shuddered. I couldn’t let anyone down like that again. I didn’t trust myself with another person’s heart.
Fuck,I thought, and rolled back over. My erection pressed against Audrey, demanding and fierce. But what was I going to do? Move back to Boston so I could date my escort? Relocate her to California so I could put her up in a condo and see her whenever I liked, keeping her from my family and the rest of the world?
My family would never accept her, even as the fake orphan/graduate-school student she was pretending to be. Even buoyed by that lie, she wasn’t good enough. If they found out she was an escort from a destitute family, they would hate her. My mother would make her life a living hell.
Audrey’s background didn’t matter to me—neither did my family’s opinion. But they would never treat her like a Preston. Even if I could accept that, it would be cruel to ask her to.
My head was spinning. I pressed my forehead against her back, trying to block out my swirling thoughts. This is why I didn’t want a relationship, I thought. Too many fucking issues.
She woke up then, turning over to me and smiling. “Hey,” she said, a blush creeping up her neck.
The only escort in the history of escorts who blushed. She was adorable.
Any thoughts I’d just been having about issues vanished when she smiled at me like that. “Hey,” I said and leaned down and kissed her.
She looked at me, sheepish. “I really need to brush my teeth.”
She went to get up, but I grabbed her arm. “Don’t,” I said. “Don’t go.”
Audrey looked at me, confused for a second, and then settled back down on the bed. She moved her body against my hardness. “Ah,” she said. “Do you need some services rendered, sir?” she wrapped her hand around my hard length and squeezed.
I sucked in my breath, hard. Maybe if I buried myself in her again, an answer about what to do would present itself.
Even if it wouldn’t, I had to get back in there.
I kissed her again urgently. “Yes. But I’m going to be the one doing the rendering. Lie back,” I growled.
Audrey’s phonekept beeping while she was in the shower. I went into the steamy bathroom to tell her and also as an excuse to watch her.
“Audrey. Your phone.” I could see her glorious silhouette, her ass and thighs tight and muscular. My cock stirred again. Down boy, I thought. We’d done it twice already this morning. We had to get dressed and eat at some point, even if I never wanted either one of us to leave that bed again.
“I’ll get it in a minute. Thank you,” she called, rinsing her hair.
I dragged myself out of the bathroom, away from her, her phone still in my hand. It was a funny looking old thing, with a keyboard you could pull out. It beeped again.
I wanted to check it to see if it was her mother.
You want to check it to see if it’s a guy,I thought. She hadn’t mentioned any sort of a relationship, but then, why would she? It beeped again. I could still hear her in the shower.
I hit a button and the screen lit up.
It was a message from someone named Reina. Your mother came in this morning and withdrew money, it said. The manager had to ok it. I’m so sorry.
The fact that it wasn’t a guy was where the good news ended. Was this from a manager at Audrey’s bank? Or something else? I put her phone down and paced for a minute. Audrey had given her mother money last night. But maybe it wasn’t enough, or maybe something had happened that wasn’t to her mother’s liking.
I remembered what Audrey’s face looked like yesterday afternoon when she’d been on the phone in front of the museum. Pale, cold, and furious.
Furious. Audrey was gentle, but something had made her beyond angry.
I immediately called Kai. “What’s the name of the place Audrey had you take her the other morning? Where her brother lives?”
“New Horizons, sir. In South Boston.”
“I’ll be down in five minutes. Have the car waiting.”
