Escorting the Billionaire #3 (The Escort Collection) (3 page)

“
T
hey would be
lucky to have you, Audrey. And so would I.”

Once I had put all my cards on the table, I held my breath. I loved her, and I wanted her to know it wasn’t just for now.

I wanted a hell of a lot more than that.

“Is it okay if I cry again? For just a second?” she asked, clinging to me.

“One second,” I said. “We are on vacation, after all.”

She nodded against my chest. “I just didn’t think,” she said, sniffling. “I didn’t know. I never even let myself hope—”

“It’s okay,” I said, stroking her hair. “We’re together now, and everything’s going to be okay.”

After a second, as promised, she calmed down and pulled back from me, wiping her eyes. “I’m a mess,” she said and laughed.

“You’re a hot mess,” I corrected her, my hands skimming down her skin again. Actually, she was freezing; our bathing suits were still wet, and she was covered in goose flesh. “I think there’s a hot tub out back. Do you want to go in it?”

“That sounds good,” she said. I grabbed her hand and led her through the house to the small, private, fenced-in backyard. There was a large hot tub back here and an outdoor shower. We both got in, and I hit the jets; the hot water felt amazing. I pulled her to me, resting my hands on top of her bikini bottom.

“No one can see us back here, right?” she asked, looking at the high fence. Before I even had the chance to nod, she’d undone the top of her bikini, throwing it casually to the side. Her breasts were round and luscious, her nipples hard from the chill. She had the faintest beginnings of a tan imprinted on her skin. She stepped out of her bottoms and threw those to the side as well, coming to me.

It had been too long. She must have felt it, too. The need.

Without a word, she leaned up and pulled my face toward hers, drawing me in for a deep, luxuriant kiss. Our tongues connected, and I got rock hard again. She quickly undid my swim trunks and pushed them down, grabbing my thick cock within her hands expertly, stroking me up and down in the hot, bubbly water. She took her other hand and cupped my balls lovingly, all the while twining her tongue around mine, making me wild for her.

I was so hard it almost hurt. “Poor baby,” Audrey said, still stroking me. “All that crying I did, and you just needed some attention.”

“I’m fine,” I said hoarsely. “It was worth the wait.”

She was working me with her hands, and I started to thrust against her blindly, not even really aware of what I was doing.

“I want to you feel you inside me—deep,” she said. She let go of my cock and came next to me. She leaned over the side of the jacuzzi, so her ass was facing me, and her face was against the warm tile of the patio. “Take me from behind,” she ordered.

I moaned before I even put myself against her. “I’m not gonna last that long like this, babe,” I said, stroking her glorious ass. She spread her legs a little, ready for me. The bubbles in the hot tub rubbed up against my balls and my huge erection, and I positioned my tip against her slit, feeling the wetness that was all her. I slid my hardness against her, getting lubricated and so hard I was about to burst.

She reached down and positioned my cock. She slid me into her, at first easing just my tip in. And then she moaned, and with a few motions of her hips, made sure I entered her all the way to the base of my shaft.

It felt so good to be back in her, I almost came right then.

“Holy fuck,” I said. She leaned back over the side so I was positioned right behind her, in balls deep. I grabbed her hips and her ass and began to thrust. Each stroke made me moan, her tight body clenching around me, my balls slapping against her and splashing in the water. Each thrust brought me closer to the edge of oblivion. She pushed back against me, and I put one hand on her back, holding her down, continuing to thrust into her deeply, almost savagely. I wanted to fuck her forever, and I wanted to come right then. I wanted her to turn around to face me so I could kiss her, and I never wanted her to get out of this position ever again.

“James,” she moaned. “Oh my God. I want to feel you explode in me.”

I thrust into her harder, deeper, our bodies crashing against the water and the stone. Her body was so tight, squeezing everything out of mine. I was relentless, driving into her deeper each time. Her tight body stretched to accommodate me, and she moved back against me. I grabbed her ass and squeezed. “Oh my God,” I said, starting to spasm.

“James,” she cried out, her body clenching and shaking around mine.

“I fucking love you,” I said, and came in a torrent.

T
he next afternoon
, I rolled off of Audrey, breathing hard. “That was brilliant,” I said. Now that we’d started having sex again, we couldn’t stop. We’d been sneaking back to our villa whenever we could.

“What?”

“Us. Together. I think we’re even better now that we’re official.” I trailed my fingers lazily down her naked shoulders, thrilled just to play with her long hair and touch her beautiful, smooth skin.

“You think?” she asked.

“I know,” I said.

“Do we have to go to dinner tonight? Isn’t everyone going to be too drunk by then?” she asked. “I wish we could just stay here.”

I sighed and flopped on my back. Our entire party had been drinking all day, again. “Unfortunately, the Prestons do not get too drunk to do anything—we’re high-functioning alcohol abusers. We should join them. Todd wants me to make an effort while I’m here.”

“Okay. But I’m worried about the way your mother’s been looking at me since we’ve been here,” Audrey said, nervously. “I’m all over her bad radar. I can tell.”

“I’ll protect you from her,” I said. “But Audrey, you should get used to it. She’s not ever going to change.”

“No,” said Audrey, looking up at the ceiling. “She’s not. And neither is my mother.”

“You’re probably right,” I said, lacing my fingers through hers. “So let’s just stay the hell away from both of them.”

She smiled, and I traced the outline of her jaw with my finger. “I meant what I said, you know. About California. You’ll love it out there. And Tommy will, too. The weather is perfect—except for the smog. And then there’s the traffic. But we have all the best restaurants.”

She didn’t say anything for a beat, and my heart was pounding in my ears.

“Tommy is really happy at New Horizons,” she said, tentatively. “I don’t know what that would be like for him to move.”

“We don’t have to do it right away. You can come out for a few days, and we can look at facilities for him—we can find the perfect place. One that’s close to my house.”

Audrey was still staring at the ceiling. “But what would I do? Where would I live? And I’m guessing you don’t want me to open the West Coast office of AccommoDating, right?” She laughed, but I could tell the discussion was making her uncomfortable.

“Audrey, you can live with me. And Elena can keep AccommoDating. But she can’t keep you.” I squeezed her hand hard.

“But I can’t just live off you,” she said, still not looking at me. “That’s not a smart five-year plan.”

“A small country could live off me,” I said. “It’s not really a big deal.”

She looked at me then. “It’s a big deal to me.”

“Is this that cowboy thing again?” I asked, feeling the inklings of a headache coming on.

“Sort of,” she said. She sat up. “It’s just that… depending on someone else for everything isn’t smart. You could get tired of me. You could get hit by a car. I have to take care of Tommy no matter what happens. You can’t be my
job
, James.”

I looked at her, letting the irony of that statement just hang in the air between us.

She swatted me and rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I’ll make sure that Tommy is taken care of for the rest of his life. I know how important that is to you,” I said. If I could give her nothing else, at least I could give her that peace of mind. “And I can get you your own place out there, if that’s what you want.”

“No—that’s not what I want,” she said quickly. “But I haven’t said yes yet. I’m not prepared to ruin your life.”

“I’m going to keep working on you. With sex and booze as a large part of my strategy this week, I plan on being victorious.” I squeezed her hand again. “Listen, back to California—I know you like things to be even and fair. But I’m kind of out of your price bracket, Audrey. We can’t go ‘halfsies.’ No one can afford to go halfsies with me. You just have to accept me for who I am and deal with the fact that I have money.”

“I accept you for who you are,” Audrey said, “but I can’t pretend that’s my reality, too, James. I have to take care of myself. You’ve been generous and good to me. But we’ve only been together for a week. You shouldn’t be making promises about the future. You need to think it through.”

“Do you doubt your feelings for me, even though it’s only been a short time?” I asked.

“No,” she said, “but that’s a no-brainer. You’re kind of the total package, James. And I’m—”

“Exactly what I’ve been looking for my whole life,” I said. She looked at me, stunned and a little wary. “Listen to me, Audrey. My brother said something to me last week that made me think. He said that when you finally figure out what you want, you’re pretty ready… to be… serious.”

Actually, he’d said that once you figure out what you want, you were pretty ready for forever. But I didn’t want to scare the pants off of her, as skittish as she’d been. “I’ve figured out what I want. I’m ready to be serious. So don’t worry about me—you need to figure out what
you’re
ready for.”

She took a deep, shaky breath. “I want to be with you, James,” she said. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything. But I’ve never had anybody I could trust in my life except Tommy. I’ve always taken care of myself. And I’ve kept my expectations about other people really low—that way it hurts less when they disappoint you. I want to trust you and be with you. But does it make sense to you that I have no idea how to do that?”

“Of course,” I said. “I don’t either. I guess you just do it by doing it.”

“Huh,” Audrey said.

“Is that a yes?”

I
bitch-slapped
my common sense into submission, and I nodded at him. “Yes,” I said. “That’s a yes.”

James pulled me into his arms, where I felt safe and loved, and I was almost shocked by the depth of his feelings for me.

I knew who he was now. I knew what happened next.

Even though it was scary to let myself be vulnerable, my love for him outweighed my fear. My feelings were like a riptide, a force of nature carrying me along. If I struggled against them any harder, I would go under and be lost. I knew that now. I’d tried to run from him, and it was no use. Turning away would only hurt us both.

I had to be strong, only in a different way than I was used to.

E
veryone was drunk at dinner
, and there were no signs of stopping. Cole grabbed a bottle of Patron and started pouring tequila shots, passing them down the long table. “Hair of the dog,” he called. “This might be a boot-and-rally sort of vacation.” I watched as everyone took a shot, including Mrs. Preston. She gave me a quick, sharp look afterward, and I was on my guard.

“I’d like to make a toast,” Todd said and stood. “First of all, to Evie for agreeing to marry me. I would have been in sad shape if she’d said no.” He leaned down and kissed her, and everybody whooped and clapped.

“Second, I’d like to thank my parents and Evie’s parents for hosting such a beautiful wedding celebration. It was perfect in every way. Thank you for organizing and for, well, paying.” Everyone laughed.

“Third, I’d like to thank my brother James for being my best man, and for taking time out of his busy schedule to actually go on vacation for once. I have a feeling I should really be thanking his girlfriend, Audrey, since James has never been this relaxed in his life. So cheers to James and Audrey. And cheers to all of you for joining us on this happy occasion. To the hair of the dog!” Todd said and knocked back his shot.

“The hair of the dog.” Everyone clinked glasses and drank their tequila except for me. The way Celia was looking at me made me think staying sober was the right course of action.

Jenny leaned over to me after the toast. “Can we take a break?” she asked.

“Sure.”

She grabbed my hand, and we walked from the oceanside restaurant to the main part of the resort. “I just need a little space,” she said, looking back at the table. Cole was talking to Todd and James.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. No it is not.”

I waited until we found a private bathroom; we went in and locked the door. Jenny was looking as lovely as ever in a black maxi dress, her skin bronzed and glowing from this afternoon. Her hair hung in loose curls over her shoulders. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s Cole,” she said. “He told me he doesn’t want me to go back to work after this.” I just waited a beat, letting her talk on her terms. “He said he wants me to be exclusive.” Her berry-stained lips turned down in a pout, and she blinked back tears.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked. “You don’t want to be exclusive?”

Jenny looked grim. “It’s not that,” she said. She gritted her teeth and then examined them for lipstick in the mirror. “It’s that he said he’d buy me an apartment, buy me whatever kind of car I wanted, blah blah blah.”

“Oh. Huh.” I paused for a beat, trying to understand why she was upset. Jenny lived in a crappy studio apartment in Dorchester. She’d always wanted a rich John to buy her and set her up as a mistress. “And that’s bad?”

“Yeah, it’s bad, Dre,” she said. “’Cause that’s not what I want.”

“What
do
you want?” I asked, confused.

“More.” Jenny rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror. “Jesus, you’d think I was some kind of amateur. I shoulda never come on this trip.”

I rubbed her arm. “It’s okay, Jenny. But did you tell him how you felt?”

She snorted. “No fucking way. He told me he didn’t want me to go back to hooking after this trip. So I told him to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse, ya know? And he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was just the wrong one.”

“I think you should talk to him,” I said. “Just like you told me to talk to James. Remember? When you told me to be brave?”

“I’m not you, Dre. It’s not possible to clean this up,” she said, motioning to herself, “put it into a Volvo, and pretend it knows how to play tennis. Do you understand?”

I nodded while I watched my friend carefully blot her eyes. “I don’t know if Cole cares about Volvos and tennis, Jenny. But I’m pretty sure he cares about you.”

“Do not try to turn my airplane pep talk around on me,” Jenny said, her voice jagged. “This is totally different.”

“If you say so,” I said, unconvinced. “But you had some pretty good advice. I’m just saying.”

Jenny blew out a deep breath. “What about you and James?” she asked, changing the subject. “You looked a lot happier in the pool earlier. Are you all better?”

I nodded at her. “He asked me to move to California with him.”

“I knew it,” she cried. “I knew it! I could tell just by looking at him. You’re gonna live happily ever after.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said.

“I do.” She looked at me levelly. “I know it’s gonna happen.”

“Jenny, I see the way Cole is with you.
I
think he’s in love with you.” I hesitated to say it because I didn’t want to be wrong and make it worse. Still, I’d seen the way he looked at her. I believed there were real feelings there.

“I thought he was, too,” she said, returning to her reflection and fluffing her hair. “But it must have just been that thing with his balls. I do it exactly the way he likes.”

She smiled at me. “I’m not even mad at him, though. He’s great. I’m mad at
me
. I think I got too inspired by my own pep talk. I’m the one who started hoping—and that was a dumb fucking move. If I hadn’t hoped, I’d be psyched that I was getting a South End condo and a Range Rover. Now all I’m doing is crying.” She blew her nose loudly.

“You should give him a chance,” I said. “See what he has to say for himself.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said and gave her hair one final fluff. “In the meantime, I need some liquid courage to keep up with these people. Rich people sure drink a lot, huh?”

M
uch to my chagrin
, we passed Celia Preston on our way back to the restaurant. “May I have a word with you, Audrey?” she asked. She looked at Jenny. “Alone?”

“Of course, Mrs. Preston,” I mumbled. Jenny shot me a worried look but obediently headed back to the table; Celia was not someone you said no to. “What can I do for you?”

“You could start by doing what I asked,” Celia said tightly. “And stop digging your acrylic claws further into my son.”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“You heard me. We agreed that you would break up with James after this trip. I want to make sure you keep your part of the bargain.”

“Excuse me,” I said again. “I never agreed to break up with James after this. You asked me to. I said I would think about it. You offered to bribe me. I said I would think about it. I promised nothing.”

“You’re going to promise me now,” she said, her voice dangerous.

“No. I’m not.” I shook my head. “I’m not going to do that, Mrs. Preston, even though that’s not what you want to hear.”

She grabbed my wrist painfully. “You listen to me. I told you before—I know you have feelings for my son. You need to do what’s right for
him
. Don’t be selfish, Audrey. Don’t ruin his life by dragging him down with you.”

“Just because I’m not wealthy like you doesn’t make me a bad person,” I said. “I think you’re being a little dramatic.”

“Being poor doesn’t make you a bad person,” Mrs. Preston said. “Being a hooker does.”

I felt as if she’d punched me in the gut. Inside, I was reeling. Outside, I tried to appear unruffled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied. “Are you feeling well?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Celia let go of my wrist and I rubbed it; she had a surprisingly strong grip. She studied my face. “I know all about you and your little friend in there,” she said, motioning toward Jenny. “Don’t look so surprised, Audrey—you’re not the first whore I’ve had to keep away from my sons.”

“What?” I asked, my voice coming out small.

“Once I realized that my son was going to fight to keep you, I did some investigating. Rather, I hired someone to do some investigating. When you have money, position, and means, you can do things like that, dear. I’m sure you wouldn’t know. And I found out all about you. The fact that you’re not an orphan, and you’re not a student. I also found out about your mother and your brother. I saw the low-class neighborhood where you really live. I know all the little secrets you’ve been keeping,” she said.

“My secrets are none of your business,” I said. My voice sounded faraway to my own ears and I felt sick, remembering the limousine that had slowly driven down my street the morning after the wedding.

Celia sniffed in disapproval. “I disagree. You have to understand something.” She looked at me levelly, her unnaturally smooth face a mask of superiority and disdain. “You could ruin my son’s life. Just by being with him. Have you considered that he might hate me enough to do this to me? That he might pick you just to spite me—do you understand that, dear? Do you understand that isn’t the same thing as love?”

“This isn’t about you. That’s not why he’s with me,” I said quickly. “James isn’t spiteful. He’s a good person.”

“See?” Mrs. Preston said triumphantly. “You
do
love him—I knew it. That’s a good motivator, Audrey. If you love someone, you should do the right thing for them.
You
are not the right thing for my son. He can’t have anything to do with you going forward. Do you understand?”

“What if he doesn’t care?” I asked. I sounded defiant but inside, I was crumbling. “What if he says what I am doesn’t matter to him?”

Celia Preston paused just long enough to look at me with disdain. “Do you realize that if you have children, they will be like royalty in this country? Everyone will know about them—where they go to school, what kind of activities they enjoy. That their mother was a prostitute. Do you think that’s what they deserve? Their lives ruined because you were too selfish to walk away? Do you think I want my son living like that? Married to a whore?”

I fought back my tears. I wouldn’t let her know she was wounding me. That she was winning.

“I know underneath it all, you’re a decent girl,” she said, watching me. “You’re ashamed of yourself. And you should
be, Audrey. You’re infected with poverty and filth. So don’t ruin the man you love. Part of loving is knowing when to let go.”

“Who did you ever love?” I asked hoarsely, my voice barely coming out.

Celia snorted. “I love my sons, Audrey. I love James and Todd both. And I want what’s best for them. And that’s not you, dear. I think you know that,” she said and patted my hand. “Don’t worry. I’ve made arrangements for you to fly back first thing in the morning. And I’m still going to give you some money, like I promised.”

“What if I say no?” I asked.

“Oh dear,” she said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Too many things could go wrong.”

“What does that mean?”

“Use your imagination,” Celia said wickedly. “I know I will.”

“
W
hat the hell
happened back there?” James asked, looking at me in alarm. I must have been as white as a ghost.

“Jenny was upset,” I said.

“And my mother?”

I could feel her eyes on me from across the table. “She just wanted to check in.”

Dinner was already on the table, and I picked at my food listlessly. Holy Christ, Celia Preston had just scared me. Her thinly veiled threat had left my heart hammering in my chest, wondering what lengths she would go to keep me from her son.

I thought about that for a second. And then I dropped my fork on the table.

Celia Preston has been scary since I first met her,
I thought,
but I’ve never been afraid of her. Until just now.

“What’s the matter?” James asked, his brow furrowed. “Do you feel okay?”

“No,” I said. “No, I don’t.”

“Then let’s go back to our room. I can have room service bring me something.” He stood and clapped Todd on the back. “Audrey’s not feeling well—we’re going to turn in.”

“Hope you feel better soon, Audrey,” Todd called.

I hoped so, too. But I doubted it.

“
W
hat is it
?” he asked once we were safely inside.

“I don’t know how much I should tell you,” I said, pacing.

He stepped in front of me, and I stopped. “Tell me everything.”

“Well, first of all, before I forget—Jenny’s in love with Cole. He offered to set her up when we get back to Boston. He offered to buy her a townhouse, a car, the whole deal.”

“Okay,” James said, clearly confused.

“She’s upset about it. She wants more. And she’s mad at herself for having feelings.”

“Okay,” James said again. He still sounded lost. “I know Cole cares about her. I can see it on his face. I’ll talk to him.”

“Promise?” I asked.

“I promise.”

“Okay. Moving on, your mother knows that Jenny and I are prostitutes.”

“Huh?” James asked, completely taken aback. “What the fuck?”

I started pacing again, and this time, James got out of my way. “She said she thought you had… feelings for me… and so she decided to have me checked out. She hired someone to investigate me, and she found out that I work for Elena. She knows about my mother and my brother. She found out about Jenny, too. She knows where I live.” I shivered.

“And?” James asked.

“And she’s sending me home on a flight tomorrow morning. And paying me to never come back.”