The shower called my name, and when I undressed and stood under the hot spray, tension I hadn’t realized was there washed away. I was left feeling calm, happy, and positive about my job choice.
Ella and Pip threw me into the deep end right away and I loved them for it. We were working on planning a ‘desperate and dateless’ ball hosted by the number one radio station in the city. And while I stayed back and watched how Ella and Pip worked together, whenever I felt I had something to add, they listened and took my advice on board. I was part of a team. And that felt good.
Throwing on a pair of panties and my tattered nightshirt, I slipped into bed and turned on the TV. I absentmindedly watched a reality show about rich housewives, but kept looking at my cell sitting on the bedside table. A few minutes of doing this and rolling my eyes, I snatched up my phone, pressed a few buttons, and held it to my ear.
“Maya?” I forgot about my racing heart the second I heard his surprised voice.
“Hi,” I uttered, then added quickly, “shoot, you’re probably busy. I’m sorry! I’ll just—”
But I was cut off with an amused, “Trying to get rid of me already?” He sighed dramatically. “Just my luck.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the dejected tone of his voice. “No, I just…I should’ve sent you a text first to check that you were free.”
“So now that I’m on the line, why don’t you ask me if I’m free?”
I smiled but rolled my eyes, asking a deadpan, “Are you free, Quinn?”
He chuckled and stated, “You know what I like about you? You’ve got fire hidden under your sweet side. And yes, I’m free for another couple of hours. How was your day, Maya?”
Mia!
I wanted to yell.
My name is Mia!
Playing with the stitching on my comforter, I admitted, “It was great. I started a new job today.”
I heard rustling on the other line, as if Quinn got comfortable to listen to me. “Really? That’s cool. Tell me about it.”
And, smiling, I did. For the next hour, I had a real conversation with Matt Quinn. It was everything I hoped it would be…and that scared the crap out of me.
Quinn
When Maya called, I was stunned. Well, more like pleasantly surprised. I had been avoiding her since my night with Belinda, which was not her fault. It was mine. Using Maya’s name when with a client hadn’t been planned, but while it was happening, I enjoyed it. After it was over, I felt dirty.
If only she knew. She wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole.
Her soft voice held a high amount of amusement in it when she explained her day’s adventures. “…and then this gorgeous blonde comes barging into the office so hard I thought the door would fly off the hinges, and she lays into him…right in front of me!”
Eyes wide, I muttered, “No way.”
I could almost see the expression on her non-existent face. “Yes! But wait, it gets more awkward.”
I groaned and rubbed my hand down my face. “This can’t be real. You’re making this up.”
She burst into laughter and yelled through it, “I swear it’s true! I swear on your giant mangina!”
Scowling, I grabbed my cock through my jeans, mentally telling it to block its ears. “Hey, now! We talked about this. I do not want that word associated with my penis. He’s sensitive.”
When her laughter gentled to a mild chuckle, she sighed. “I’m sorry, Quinn. But I really do love that word.
Anyways
, so she leaves and my boss explains that was his ex-wife, and the reason he had to take the bus was because she got his cars as part of the divorce settlement. So then I asked why she hates him so much and…”
I choked on a laugh. “Why would you even
ask
that?”
Maya smothered down a giggle. “God, I don’t even know. I’m socially awkward. You should know this, so I’ll tell you…I don’t really have a filter. But that’s beside the point! He
answered
me.”
This girl was killing me. “Oh, man, you’re a socially awkward woman who asks inappropriate questions, and your bus-taking boss is an over-sharer. Geez. You’re a match made in heaven.”
“I know, right?” She gentled her voice to a whisper, as if she was telling me a secret. “He told me he cheated on her!”
“What. The. Fuck?” That was all I could manage. Where the hell was Maya working to have this much drama on day
one
?
Sounding excited and pleased with her story-telling abilities, she stated a happy, “
I know!
” Then she sighed contently. “I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.”
I smiled with affection, even though she couldn’t see it. “You’re adorable.”
She paused a moment, and I thought she would end the call, but instead she replied with, “You don’t know that. I could be a total troll.”
I nodded. “You could, but I don’t think you are. Are you?” Yes, I was digging for more information on this unknown woman who had occupied my mind for the last week. I
needed
to know more.
Her smile came through in her teasing voice. “I guess you’ll find out on Sunday. Please excuse the big, hairy wart on my nose. I’m seeing a specialist about it.”
I grinned. “That’s okay. I can shave it for you. You know? If that’s your thing.”
She chuckled then added in a husky voice, “Ooh, stop it. You’re turning me on.”
My brow creased. I was curious, and that was never a good thing. I told myself the question I was about to ask was purely for professional reasons. That Maya would be my client, and in order to do my job, I needed the facts.
I was lying to myself.
“What turns you on, Maya?” I heard her squeak, and mentally scolded myself for being so blunt. Before she could say goodbye and hang up, I went on, “Listen, this is just us talking, remember? We’re friends, aren’t we? If it helps, I can tell you what turns me on?”
I was hoping that would work.
I was right. It did.
In a small, anxious voice, she uttered slowly, “O-okay. A question for a question, right? You tell me and I’ll tell you.”
Yeah, that’s right. Come to Papa.
Sitting up against the headboard of my bed, I cleared my throat and started, “Okay, good.” Then I thought hard. “Let’s see. Well, I really love watching a woman eat. Especially if it’s something sweet.”
Sounding breathless, she waited for me to continue, but I simply smirked. She asked a hushed, “What else?”
Gotcha.
I shook my head and
tsk
ed. “No. That’s not how this works. What if I tell you all I’ve got then you decide you don’t want to tell me anything? For insurance sake, I ask that we reveal one thing at a time.” She made a growling noise and I tried to hide my laughter, but was doing a pretty crappy job of it. “C’mon, Maya. Let me in. Give me a damn inch, woman!”
She sighed and I could her the frustration in her voice. My heart panged at how real that frustration sounded. “You’re just going to make fun of me.”
I sobered in an instant. “Really? You think I’d do that?”
Then she just sounded sad. “No. But you’ll be thinking about it.”
Something about this girl had me wanting to protect her, and it sparked something inside of me I’d never experienced before. “I don’t know who made you feel like this or why, but I swear to God, if you told me who they were, I’d track down every single one of those assholes and feed them my fist.”
O-kay…‘cause that wasn’t creepy or anything.
Her silence told me she thought my passionate statement was as weird as I thought it was. But then she spoke. “Wow. That was probably the nicest empty threat anyone has ever made for me.”
I wanted to tell her the threat wasn’t empty, but instead rubbed the back of my heating neck as I muttered a partially embarrassed, “Yeah, well, I’m a little protective of my friends.”
She coughed then blurted out, “I really like watching a man’s throat work when he drinks. Especially if he’s really thirsty.”
My brows rose. Who knew something so simple could be a turn on for a woman? In order to keep our conversation moving along, I told her, “I love the dimples on a woman’s lower back. You know? Just above the butt? Love ‘em.”
She admitted, “I love a man’s smile. Not the fake ones to be pleasant with company, but the real ones that come after they’ve laughed hard.”
I smiled then. A real one. “I love when a woman wears white underwear.”
As if she’d said it without thinking, she muttered a husky, “I’m wearing white underwear.” Then she added a mortified, groaned, “Oh, tell me I didn’t just say that, Quinn.” I took that as permission to laugh. She uttered, “See? Can’t take me anywhere.”
I shushed her then ordered, “Don’t think you’ll distract me with your feminine wiles. Save your sex sorcery for our meeting, wench. C’mon, give me another one.”
She puffed out a breath. “Yeah, yeah.” Then she paused a moment, taking a second before responding quietly, “You know that thing you have? That trail of hair from your belly button to your…um…yeah.” She whispered, “I really like that.”
That pleased me a whole fucking lot. I looked down at the evident bulge in my jeans. I needed to calm the fuck down. I barely choked out, “Good. That’s good. I think we’ve made progress today, Maya. You did good.”
Her voice quiet, she reminded me, “You’ve got to go.” I grunted in confusion. She added an amused, “Your appointment. You’ve got to go, right?”
That brought me back down-to-earth with a jarring jolt. I had a client in less than an hour. If I didn’t hurry, I’d be running late. I jumped off the bed and rushed out, “
Shit
, yeah, I do. Thanks for reminding me.”
“You’re welcome, Quinn. Talk soon?”
The soft lilt of her voice made me want to yell ‘fuck it’ and stay talking to her all damn night, but I couldn’t. I had a job. Responsibilities. Trying not to sound like an over-excited puppy, I stated, “Tomorrow. If you’re free again, call me tomorrow.”
I heard that smile of hers as she said, “Tomorrow’s good.”
“Have a good night, Maya.”
“You too, Quinn.”
I thought twice before adding, “Sweet dreams, babe,” but said it anyway. Before she could say anything in return, I disconnected the call then got ready for my client. But I thought about Maya.
I thought about her the whole damn night.
Mia
My day passed relatively quickly. I couldn’t believe Ella, Pip, and I managed to organize a charity event from top to bottom in only two days, but that was why we worked for Addison Ltd. We were good.
After my meeting with Nicholas the morning prior, I was called into the office of Addison Dietrich. It surprised me an awful lot that she still carried her ex-husbands last name. But then, that wasn’t my business.
The stunning blonde had been facing out of the window when I knocked. Then she turned and my heart started to race. She didn’t look happy.
“Mia. Sit, please.” She added the
please,
but I don’t think she meant it.
I didn’t dare speak. This woman was fierce. A mental image of Addison Dietrich in female Viking armor, holding a sword and shouting as she felled a man with a single swipe of her blade crossed my mind, her blonde hair braided at the sides, her current scowl present. The man felled was Nicholas.
I gulped. “Have I done something wrong?”
Oh, God, I sounded weak. And like a bear, she smelled fear on me. I know this, because she grinned, catlike. “I don’t know. Have you?”
My head tilted in thought as the previous day ran through my mind in fast-forward. “No.”
She ran a delicate hand over the front of her little black dress, smoothing it over. “Firstly, I wanted to welcome you to the team.”
It seemed the right time to say “Thank you,” so I did. But I added, “I’m happy to be here.”
Her grin fell from her face and she looked me up and down as if to say, ‘You should be.’ Rather than saying that, she uttered a cool, “I saw you had the misfortune of meeting Mr. Dietrich. I’ll not apologize for his behavior, because I’m not his mother, but you’ll be glad to know he doesn’t normally work from the office so he won’t be seen.”
I was confused and made the mistake of stating, “Mr. Dietrich was a complete gentleman. He seemed very nice.”
Her eyes flashed and her voice turned an eerie quiet. “A gentleman was he?”
I realized I had fucked up, and tried to fix my relationship with my in-office boss. By fix, I mean fuck it up further in a huge way. “What I meant was that Nicholas helped prepare me by giving me a few tips.”
Oh, shit. Had I just called my outer-office boss by his first name?
The air around Addison turned ice-cold to match the frost forming in her eyes.
But I didn’t stop there. Almost wheezing in distress, I added, “Mr. Dietrich was completely professional. At all times. Even when I accused him of following me. Not that he was. He was just a guy on my bus. I didn’t know he was my boss when he smiled at me.”
Well…shit.
Addison’s cheeks had flushed Barbie-pink. “I see,” she stated, and I wanted to yell, ‘No, you don’t!’ but I feared anything I said further would be held against me in the court of Addison. Clearing her throat, she ran a finger down the cool wood of her desk. “I need you to understand something, Mia, because you’re a pretty girl.” Her icy gaze met mine. “If you fuck my husband, I will end you.”
My mouth rounded in shock.
Before I could speak, she went on, “I don’t make threats. I make promises. I’ve been in this industry a
long
time, and if I find that you and…” she gritted her teeth and hissed out, “
Nicholas
have been disregarding our office fraternization policy, you will never work in events ever again. Not in this city, anyway.”
My blood ran cold. My face pale, and I sputtered feebly, “I-I-I-I don’t even know him.”
Addison Dietrich smiled. “Good. Then you don’t have anything to worry about.” She extended her arm to the door. “That will be all for now.”
As I numbly stood and walked out of the office, Addison called out, “Oh, and Mia?”
I turned and waited. She searched my face a moment before adding sincerely, “Nice work on the Johnson’s charity dinner.”
Walking back to my desk, I sat and wondered how I could go so quickly from yesterday’s highest high to today’s lowest low.
The sad truth of it was that some things could only be cured with a doughnut. Or three.
My brother had been pestering me for some time now about coming to my new apartment, so when he called offering to pick me up and take me to dinner, I accepted immediately.
The truth was Harry was my biggest fan, and I was his. Oh, sure, I tried to act the grownup, but sometimes, all I wanted to do was vent then cry on his shoulder like I had done so many times during high school. He was my hero, my champion, the only man in my life I would ever truly trust and feel safe enough to rely on. My brother was a good man with a gentle heart. I loved him a lot.
He pulled up out front of my work and wound down the window as I walked to the car. “Excuse me. Have you seen a short, annoying girl with gigantic ears and a gimpy leg? Chews gum like a horse and answers to Minnie?”
Shaking my head, I stepped into his silver sedan, buckled up, and then punched him in the arm. Hard. “Good afternoon to you too, butthead.”
He chuckled. “Why am I suddenly allowed to see your apartment? Are you out of food already, or did you just give in knowing I’d wear you down?”
My smile was weak. “I know you’re busy. You don’t need to babysit me.” A jolt of pain in my arm stunned me as my brother punched me. Rubbing my arm fiercely, I shouted, “What the hell was that for?”
Harry looked irritated as he drove on. “You think the only reason I wanted to come see your place was out of obligation?”
I stared at him with a face that read, ‘You’re trying to tell me it’s not?’
He glanced over, read my face, and shook his head. “I’ll admit I’ll always feel responsible for you, Mia, and I won’t apologize for that. But did you really think I only wanted to see your place because I’m checking up on you? Maybe it’s because in the past five years I’ve only seen you at holidays. Or maybe it’s because you make me laugh and I have fun with you.” His voice turned quiet. “Maybe I just missed my damn sister, Mia.”
I felt the beginnings of an emotional outburst starting at the way the bridge of my nose started to tingle. Blinking away tears, I confessed quietly, “I missed you too, Har.” Coughing away my haywire feelings, I asked, “But you’ve got Quinn, right?”
Harry snorted then teased, “He’s my friend, Mia, not my boyfriend. We hang out a few times a week. Most nights, he’s busy, which suits me just fine considering I work nights.”
I couldn’t help myself. “What does he do at night?”
Harry stilled, thinking of his answer. “He dates a lot.”
I smiled to myself at my brother’s blatant lie. He was a good friend. I thought back two years ago. It was Christmas, and Harry had a little too much to drink. He had caught a cab straight from work at the bar to Christmas dinner at Mom’s, and by the time he arrived, he was already three sheets to the wind. It made for an interesting dinner, with Mom yelling an appalled, “Oh, my God, Harry. Are you
drunk
?”
Harry just hugged her, picking her up and spinning her in circles, laughing. “Yeah, Mom. I’m drunk. But guess what? I’m over twenty-one and spreading the Christmas cheer!”
He spotted me then and his smile waned. “Mia?”
I had lost a considerable amount of weight before coming home for Christmas. I smiled. “No. My name is Juanita. I’m here for the food.”
Harry grinned and came at me, hugging me tightly. “Get over here, smartass.
Jesus!
You look great, Minnie!”
Mom huffed. “She’s losing too much weight. It’s not healthy.”
But Harry just looked at me with pride. “Well, I think she looks beautiful.”
After our feast, Mom had retired claiming a headache, and being jetlagged from my flight home, I said goodnight to Harry, leaving him to watch TV on his own. I made my way upstairs, changed into pajamas, and brushed my teeth. Christmas dinner was heavy, and I desperately needed a glass of water to keep by my bedside, so I made my way downstairs.
I expected Harry to have fallen asleep. I didn’t expect to overhear him on the phone.
“Come on, Quinn, I’m bored. Let’s go out!” I had only heard one side of the conversation, but it went something like this: “Are you fucking kidding me? A client on Christmas?” A slight pause. “Yeah, well, I guess rich housewives get lonely on the holidays too. I hope DFT’s paying you triple-time, bro.”
My brow creased. What was DFT? Was that where Quinn worked? I made a mental note of the business name.
Harry sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Go service your lady of the night. At least one of us is getting lucky
and
getting paid for it.”
Curioser and curioser.
Harry had ended the phone call as I made my way into the family room. He looked up at me. “Can’t sleep?”
“Just need some water.” I smiled as I walked to the kitchen, quickly retrieving a glass of water, bidding goodnight to Harry and heading back upstairs. I was stopped at the sound of Harry’s voice.
“Mia?”
I stilled at the foot of the stairs and turned to face him. “Yeah, Har?”
He looked at me then, but it was different from the many times before. He searched my face as if he was looking at someone he no longer knew. “You look good, kiddo.”
As soon as I entered my bedroom, I closed the door behind me and retrieved my laptop from my bag. I typed quickly, searching for Matt Quinn and DFT, but no searches matched. Trying once more, I simply typed in DFT and waited.
I clicked on the first entry and began to read.
Women’s services… Hire-a-date… Satisfy your hunger… Escorts for every occasion…
I replayed what I had heard of Harry’s conversation with Quinn.
“Yeah, well, I guess rich housewives get lonely on the holidays too. I hope DFT’s paying you triple time, bro.”
It all made sense. My mind was blown. That was the night I discovered Matt Quinn was an escort for hire. A prostitute. And that would cement my plan two years in the making.
My brother drove in silence as the radio played in the background. An idea hit me and I turned to him. “Do you remember when Josh Turner backed out on me at prom and you came as my date?”
Harry’s brow furrowed. “Yeah?”
“Remember where you took me afterwards?”
He shrugged. “Sure. We went to Giovanni’s for pizza.”
Nodding slowly, I turned to face the road and uttered a nonchalant, “I could really go for a slice right now.”
Without a word, he made a turn at the next traffic light and started driving in the opposite direction. “A Giovanni’s pie it is.”
The groan that escaped me was long and low. I rubbed my belly and turned to Harry. “Oh, God, I ate
so
much. Why didn’t you stop me?”
He looked down at his own slightly protruding stomach then scowled at me. “Why didn’t
you
stop
me
? This is all your fault. I was doing so well before tonight.”
I snorted then uttered, “You can do without steamed vegetables and tasteless chicken for one night, you know? You’re pushing yourself too hard. If you don’t treat yourself every now and again, one day, you’ll snap and eat everything in sight.” Eyes wide, I looked at him and assured quietly, “Trust me. I know.”
His face pinched as if he were thinking. “You wanna workout together sometime?”
A pleasant smile crossed my face. “Sure. Actually, that’s a great idea. That way if one of us wants to miss a day, the other can chew their ass.”
The car slowed as we approached my building. He parked in my allocated space, considering I had no car, and we made our way up to my apartment. As we walked to my door, Harry made an awful joke about a Rabbi and his dog, and even though it was stupid, I laughed so hard I snorted.
My snort-laugh alerted Terry to my return, and the apartment door opposite mine flew open. A very gay, very attractive man in white shorts and a light pink tank emerged holding two cocktail glasses of some sort of concoction with tiny umbrellas and a pineapple garnish, and he sang, “Margarita night!
Holla!
” But then Terry saw Harry standing behind me. “And
who
is this?”
I smiled at my friend. “Terry, this is my brother, Harry.”
Terry stomped his foot lightly and made an
awww
-face. “Your
brother
?” He handed both Harry and me the margaritas and pulled us into a group hug. “It’s so good to meet you, brother Harry.” He let go and grabbed our free hands, pulling us toward the open apartment door. “Come on in. Bill’s making more drinks, and nachos are just about ready.”
Harry’s face screamed ‘help me’ and I swallowed down a laugh. Gently extricating myself from Terry’s falcon-like grip, I tried to save us with, “Actually, Terry, Harry just came down to see my apartment.”
Terry simply snorted. “Oh, honey. There’s nothing to see there.”
My face bunched. “Hey!”