Escorting the Billionaire by Leigh James
James
Puttingmy hands on Audrey in the middle of the restaurant might have been the stupidest thing I’d ever done. But telling her to stop saying bad things about herself was much, much more treacherous.
She was just supposed to be a date. Not a girlfriend. Not a relationship. A date. No strings. No ties. No games.
I hadn’t even been planning on fucking her.
And yet here I was, my aching erection pressing up against her thigh, my entire family within spitting distance. And it wasn’t the erection that was the problem, although it was certainly uncomfortable and inconvenient given the present circumstances. The problem was that I felt protective of her. The problem was that when she called herself a timeshare, it cut me. And when I said something that hurt her feelings, I felt like shit. I felt sorry.
So. Fucking. Inconvenient. Feelings were for the weak, or for those who didn’t know any better. And that wasn’t me.
Maybe it’s because I’m around my family and I’m unsettled,I mused. But that didn’t make it any better, or any safer.
Still, I pulled her to me and almost kissed her, right there. I could feel her body through her dress, hot to my touch. But I stopped myself. I didn’t need to give Todd and Evie any ammunition against us.
“Let’s do this,” I said tightly. Audrey exhaled loudly, and I couldn’t help but smile at her. I felt exactly the same way—that is, if she felt both frustrated at not getting closer and relieved that we were finally apart.
I grabbed her hand and headed to my brother, grabbing two glasses of wine from a passing waiter. We were probably going to get piss drunk, but that was okay. Given the curious, icy stare Evie was giving Audrey, we were going to need to.
“There he is,” Todd said. He pulled me in for a quick, strong hug.
“Best man, reporting for duty,” I said.
Todd clapped me on the shoulder and beamed at us. “My big brother. It’s been too long.”
“I know,” I said. I almost felt bad. “I’ve been—”
“Swamped at work,” Todd finished for me. “We’ve all been swamped at work. You could still make some time to come home and see the little people sometimes.”
He turned and smiled at Audrey and Evie. He was younger than me, but taller by about two inches. I was wider than him from years of lifting weights, and he was thinner, with a runner’s build.
“I had to ask your boyfriend here to be the best man,” he said to Audrey. “Because otherwise he might not have shown up.”
“Of course he would have shown up,” Audrey said. “He’s been talking about the wedding for weeks.”
Todd laughed so hard he almost spit out his drink. He looked at me. “She’s a keeper. Loyal and a pretty decent liar.”
He turned back to her and held out his hand. She took it warily, but he smiled at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Todd Preston,” he said, giving her a firm shake. “Younger brother of Mr. Hot Stuff here.”
“Audrey Reynolds,” she said. “Girlfriend of Mr. Hot Stuff.” She dropped his hand but smiled back at him.
“This is my betrothed,” Todd continued, motioning to Evie. “Evie Walton.”
“Always a pleasure, Evie,” I said, not bothering to try and sound enthusiastic. I chugged some wine.
She gave me a mean smile and turned her laser-like eyes to Audrey, who was far more interesting than me. She knew she’d never win me over. Not after the first night that I met her, when she’d tried to get me to take her to bed. She’d just started dating Todd then. We were at a bar, and he’d run into some friends; Evie and I were drinking and waiting for him to come back.
“Todd’s nice, but I’ve been really wanting to meet you,” she’d said to me. To her credit, she was more than a little drunk.
To her discredit, she’d rubbed her flat chest up against me while my brother was a stone’s throw away.
“Really?” I asked. “Why’s that?”
“’Cause you’re his hot, successful, big brother,” she said. She eyed my crotch.
I took a huge step back from her. “Really, Evie?” I’d asked, disgusted. Todd had already told me that he was quite taken with her. “I’d thought that someone who went to Smith would have a little more tact.”
“You should know better,” she said in what she might have thought was a sexy voice. But Evie was bony, and she was dating my earnest little brother. Maybe she’d thought the combination was something that I couldn’t resist, but she’d been dead wrong.
“Thanks but no thanks, Evie,” I’d said. Todd showed up then. She’d turned her horny eyes on him and probably took him home and fucked his brains out to drown her disappointment. But he’d bought her a five-carat diamond ring a few months later, and as far as I knew, she hadn’t looked back.
But now Evie was examining Audrey, the girl who’d gotten the larger prize. Audrey smiled at her, pretending not to notice the scrutiny she was under.
“It’s nice to meet you, Evie,” Audrey said. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Evie said. She fake-smiled at Audrey, and her collarbones moved up and down when she shrugged. “Congratulations to you, too.”
Audrey smiled back at her blankly. “For what?”
“For landing your boyfriend,” Evie said. Her laser-like stare looked as if it was micro-analyzing Audrey’s every pore.
I might have imagined it, but Todd seemed to shift uncomfortably next to me.
“He landed me,” Audrey said, grinning back at her. She grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “The lucky bastard.”
“That’s me,” I said, smiling and shrugging. “The lucky bastard.”
Evie looked at us suspiciously, and Todd swooped in to rescue Audrey. “What is it that you do, Audrey?” He asked. I did refer to him as my stupid asshole brother, but he was actually a nice guy. He was just stupid and an asshole because he was still marrying Evie, even after I’d told him what had happened.
“I’m a graduate student in graphic design,” Audrey said.
“How interesting,” Todd said, still being kind.
“Not really,” Audrey said. “But with a studio-art undergraduate major, what else are you going to do?” With that, she and Todd started chatting about art, teaching, and Audrey’s fake dead family from New Hampshire. Audrey didn’t miss a beat, and she managed to hold onto my hand and engage Todd all at the same time.
“She’s something,” Evie said, watching her with a wrinkled brow.
“Yes, she certainly is,” I said.
“I give you an A-plus,” I said ten minutes later. I’d finally inserted myself into the conversation and swiftly killed it. I needed another drink, and I needed to get away from Evie.
“I see why you don’t like her,” Audrey said when we were finally in a quiet corner of the bar. “But why do you hate her? And your brother…I don’t want to make you mad, but he seemed really nice.”
My jaw clenched. “Todd is really nice,” I said, motioning to a passing waiter. “That’s the problem.”
The waiter brought us over more wine, and I took a long swallow. A look of concern crossed Audrey’s face, but fine actress that she was, she buried it quickly. I didn’t bother to tell her that I could handle my liquor just fine. She’d experience that firsthand over the next two weeks.
“I don’t want Todd to marry Evie. That’s the problem,” I said. “She hit on me the first night I met her. It was right after she started dating Todd. She made it very clear that she was after the richest man who would have her, even if that man was her boyfriend’s brother.”
“Gross,” Audrey said.
“Absolutely,” I said. “So the reason I refer to Todd as my stupid asshole brother is because I told him about it, and he chose not to believe me. And now he’s chosen to marry her.”
“I’m sorry,” Audrey murmured.
“Not as sorry as he’s going to be,” I said and rubbed my face. “It’s just that he could have done better. And now she’s in between us for good. Todd was the one person in my family that I could still stand, and that’s all over now. She’ll never let us be close. And he probably hates me for what I told him.”
“He asked you to be his best man,” she said, “so he apparently doesn’t hate you that much.”
“Todd’s a pleaser,” I said. “He’s trying to make it up to me that he’s still marrying her. He’s always trying to make something up to somebody. He probably proposed to Evie to apologize for not being me.”
I finished my drink and immediately wished I could have another. “We have to meet my father now,” I said, dreading it.
“I’m not ready just yet,” she said. A waiter walked by with crab cake appetizers, and she grabbed one.
“Eat,” she said and fed me a forkful. “You need to keep yourself fortified against all that booze.”
I found crab disgusting, something akin to what I imagined cat food tasted like. But I didn’t say a word. I watched her as I chewed. “You’re taking good care of me,” I said. “I’m actually really glad you’re here, Audrey. It’s nice to have an ally.”
She smiled up at me. “That’s what I’m getting paid for, remember? I was just supposed to be taking care of you in a different way.” I saw that she was starting to blush underneath her makeup. It just figured—the one escort in the world who was capable of blushing was my date.
My traitor cock stirred again.
She fed me another bite, and our eyes locked.
“Waiter, we’re going to need some more wine. Stat,” she called, and I think I might have fallen a little bit in love with her right then, if I’d been capable of doing such a thing.
“Well, aren’t you two just adorable,” a voice boomed out from behind me. A hand clapped me on the back, hard, knocking me back to reality.
“Ow, Cole,” I said, grinning. “You don’t have to hit me that hard.” I turned to greet my best friend.
“Yes, I do,” he said and pulled me in for a quick hug. “It’s been too damn long since I’ve seen you.” Cole Bryson came into view, all six-foot-five of him, a shock of black hair hanging over his brow, a huge grin of his own on his face. We’d been best friends for almost twenty years. We’d met at Wharton, where we consumed an infinite number of beers and planned to take over the world.
“It’s not my fault you’re so busy with your stupid hockey team,” I said. Cole was a venture capitalist. He usually invested in new companies and let them be, but since he’d become part owner of an NHL farm-team, he’d become obsessed with the industry. We hadn’t seen each other in months.
“It’s not a stupid team, and you’re right, it’s not your fault we haven’t seen each other. Maybe it’s hers?” He asked, motioning to Audrey and simultaneously checking her out from head to toe.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” he said, taking her hand and beaming down at her predatorily.
Audrey shot me a quick look, as if to ask a question, and smiled back at him tentatively.
“I’m Audrey Reynolds,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”
“Cole Bryson. And the pleasure’s all mine,” Cole said.
“Down boy,” I said, moving closer. “Audrey’s mine. She’s agreed to be my date through these two horrible weeks.”
“So she’s beautiful and brave,” Cole said, reluctantly dropping her hand.
“Yes. She is.” I took another step protectively toward Audrey and wrapped my arms around her side. Cole was my best friend, but he loved women, and more importantly, women loved him. He’d been my staunchest competitor in grad school for hot dates; I had no intention of losing my current one to him.
I squeezed Audrey a little tighter to me.
She turned to me and laughed. “I’ll give you two a minute to catch up,” she said, pulling away from me. She handed me the plate of half-eaten crab cakes and, continuing to play the game, kissed me gently on the cheek.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and was gone before I could process the fact that my cheek was burning where she’d just kissed it.
We watched her head down the hallway to the ladies’ room.
“I thought I’d never see the day,” Cole said, turning to me with wide eyes. “You’re in love with that girl.”
I came back to earth with a thud and scoffed at Cole. “You just got here,” I said. “Don’t start being an asshole already.”
“I’ve never seen you look at a woman like that before,” Cole said. He motioned to the plate I was holding and stared at it, aghast. “And you ate crab. You hate crab. You must be totally in love with her.”
“Oh, fuck off, Cole,” I said, exasperated with either myself or with my best friend, who knew me better than anyone.
I put the plate down on the bar and turned back to him, irritated. “I’m not in love with her,” I told him in a low voice. “I only ate the crab cake to be polite.”
“You’re never polite,” Cole said. He grabbed a pint of beer meant for someone else from a passing waiter.
I sighed and glared at him. “She’s been very good to me,” I said, wondering how much I should tell him. Cole was the only person I was almost always honest with. Still, he didn’t know everything about me. No one did.
Cole drank some beer, waiting. “Out with it,” he said. “Tell me everything and make it quick. She’ll be right back, just like she said.”
I glowered at him. I didn’t want to tell him the truth, but I also didn’t want to deal with his nagging. Cole could be a relentless pain in the ass when he wanted.
“I hired her to be my date,” I said, keeping my voice low.
He looked at me, his handsome brow furrowed, not comprehending.
“She’s not your girlfriend?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“She sure seemed like it,” Cole said.
“I just met her this afternoon. I picked her up from an escort service,” I said.
Cole almost choked on his beer. “Shut the fuck up,” he said.
“It’s true. I couldn’t face my family alone, and I broke up with Logan a while ago.”
“Logan sucked ass,” Cole said.
I nodded at him, my exasperation deepening into chagrin. “You don’t have to tell me that. I’m the one who broke up with her.”
“So this one’s just for sex?” Cole asked.
“She’s not even for sex,” I said. I felt a headache coming on. “I’m not going to fuck her.”
Cole looked at me as though I had three heads. “She’s a fucking escort, bro.”
“I know,” I said. “But she’s just for show. I don’t want to get involved with her any more than that.”
“You can still fuck her. That’s why you’re paying her. It’s about as clear-cut as it can get,” he said.
“It’s not clear-cut,” I said, running my hands through my hair.
We watched as Audrey emerged from the hallway and smiled at me.
“She’s gorgeous,” Cole said. “It’s a fucking waste, James.”
“I’m making it worth her while,” I snapped. “Now please, finish your beer and come over to see my father with us. I’ve put it off long enough.”
“You’re the boss,” Cole said.
I watched as he watched Audrey come closer, and I bit the inside of my cheek on purpose to remind myself of just what an asshole I was.
