Chapter 3
Amelia
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Hope asks, as I signal to turn right, my GPS flashing for me to take the exit.
“Not really. But it’s worth a try,” I say, glancing at her smiling face on my phone screen. My cell is balanced precariously on my dashboard as I talk to her on speaker.
It’s been three weeks since the bachelorette party, and today is the day of my interview for my new job with Sterling House. Hope has called me repeatedly to try and talk me out of it, and she sounds no less worried than I feel.
“I can’t believe you took Bethany up on her offer. I thought you’d run in the other direction.”
I chew my lip. “I probably should have, huh? But the women at Sterling House were great when I went in to talk to them. I got good vibes from them.”
“They don’t know you’re a… virgin, right?” she asks.
“No.”
“So what exactly are you going to do when you have to fuck the guy?”
My stomach flips. “Uh… improvise.”
“Jesus, Mia, this isn’t a joke,” Hope murmurs.
“Bethany called me today to tell me who you’ve been assigned to.
It’s supposed to be confidential, but she did me a favor and found out from her friend who works the desk.
This Crawford guy… I don’t know. She says he’s pretty ruthless.
Goes through women fast and moves on. I just don’t want you to get hurt. ”
“They’ve briefed me on him. I know what I’m getting into,” I say, with far more confidence than I feel.
I have never been this nervous in my life.
Despite the lengthy conversations I had with the woman at Sterling House, I don’t really know what’s in store for me today. I’m a planner, I like knowing what’s to come, and being this far out of my depth is making me so anxious I might throw up.
That said, the benefits if I get the job are already apparent. I woke up this morning at a reasonable hour and didn’t have to immediately shower, dress, and run out the door.
I had time for a coffee and to make Annabelle a real breakfast. If it works out, returning to normal office hours could be a better perk than the salary.
I just have to focus on the money, not fucking some guy I don’t even know.
“I don’t like this,” Hope says tightly. “Bethany’s so confident, and she doesn’t take shit from anyone. When was the last time you even spoke to a guy who wasn’t your dad?”
“You’re not helping, Hope.”
“Sorry, I just… I love you, Mia. I don’t want you to lose your virginity to some rich asshole in a suit. I don’t buy all that bull about it needing to be ‘special’ either, but I was hoping you’d meet a guy who you really liked someday.”
“What, with all the free time I have?”
“I know,” she says, then brightens. “But you will have free time now, right? If you’re working until five, we might actually be able to meet for a drink occasionally. I could introduce you to my friend Phil. I have always thought you guys would get along.”
I chuckle. “Let me get through the interview first, before you marry me off to one your friends.”
She grunts good-naturedly. “I love you. If you get in there and you change your mind, you walk right back out, you hear me? You don’t owe this Crawford guy a thing, and he sounds like a huge dick.”
“Still not helping.”
“But maybe that’s the point, seeing as you’ll be getting an eyeful of it,” she says teasingly.
“I’m hanging up now.”
“I love you!”
“Love you. Bye.”
I hang up the phone, feeling as if rats are clawing at my stomach lining.
The huge skyscraper where Crawford’s office is situated comes into view amidst the Manhattan traffic. Our house is in Brooklyn, and even though I knew I’d be moving at a crawl, I decided to drive today to have some semblance of control.
Once I’ve gotten the hang of the hours, I’ll be able to get the subway to work, saving a fortune on gas. But today I wanted to have my own space, and arrive looking as put together as possible.
I’ve borrowed a suit from my mom’s closet. She hasn’t interviewed for a new job in years, but I knew she had one from a court hearing a few months back. It’s tan, not my color, and too big, but I didn’t have an alternative. I wore it when I went to the first meeting at Sterling House, too.
Pippa, the woman who onboarded me, was immaculate and looked like she’d just stepped off a runway. I was so nervous that I signed a bunch of forms before I even really processed what she was saying.
One of the first requirements was to complete a sexual health screening. And then I had to keep a straight face as she solemnly read through all their rules.
Bethany was right; the agency is high-end and takes the safety of its clients and the women who work there extremely seriously.
Pippa wouldn’t have known that the chances of me having an STI were as likely as finding a unicorn in Central Park, but at least she believed that I’d had sex a few times in my life.
Maybe for my next career I should become an actress.
The closest I’d come to a dick in recent weeks had been on my computer screen, looking at a bunch of porn sites. If I couldn’t practice on the real thing, I could at least do what I do best—research the shit out of anything I don’t understand.
Pippa had explained all of the rules around sex—and there were a lot. The main one being no sex without protection under any circumstances. Well, not for the normal price of admission anyway.
She explained that there is an elite service where clients can request unprotected sex, but they have to sign a guarantee that they’ll be exclusive to the escorts they hire. I could see why that option wouldn’t appeal to many of the finance bros who work with the agency.
I pull up into the driveway of the parking lot. A security guard checks my name, reads the email confirming I have an interview, and then waves me through.
The elevator up to the first floor is glass and spotless. As the doors open, I come out into a lobby filled with people, dozens of men in suits filing past, with women in super high heels sauntering in between them.
Are there other escorts here?
I feel entirely out of place in my awful suit. The shirt and skirt fit okay underneath, but the jacket swamps me, and I tug at it self-consciously as I go over to the reception desk.
A woman with flawless red lipstick glances up at me.
She has long eyelashes slicked with mascara and perfect makeup.
She checks my name and ushers me through some glass gates that ding quietly and turn green as I step through.
I feel like there’s a target on my back, and everyone I pass must automatically know what I’m here to do.
If I get a bad vibe from him, I will walk away. There is no pressure. I am in control.
I walk aimlessly over the shiny marble floor, looking around expectantly. I’m not sure where to go until I see a tall, slim woman staring at me. She has black hair swept back in a tight ponytail and large, blue eyes that run over me with a skeptical air.
Following Hope’s advice, I’ve bought new ridiculously expensive underwear for the occasion. It feels like her piercing gaze can see right through my suit.
“Are you Amelia Brooks?” she asks.
“That’s me,” I say, attempting to sound confident, but it comes out as a squeak.
“This way, please. My name’s Beatrice Johnson. I’m one of three EAs who work for Mr. Crawford. You’ll be the fourth if today goes well.”
Jesus, does she know what I’ve been hired to do?
I know Sterling House is known for their discretion, but when I worked in admin, I knew everything about my boss’s life. That thought hadn’t even occurred to me, and it chills me to the bone.
We step into another beautiful elevator with gold accents swirling around the glass, and a floor that probably cost more than my parents’ entire house.
Beatrice doesn’t speak or look at me other than to glance judgmentally at my suit as we travel upward. In just a few seconds, the doors open, and we emerge onto the top floor.
I try to stop my jaw from dropping. Several desks flow outward from the elevator, creating a stunning design that adds space and texture to the place. I yearn to paint it, knowing the sweeping lines and bustle would be captured in every brush stroke.
I follow Beatrice, glancing around at the other workers who are all sitting at spotless desks.
“Mr. Crawford doesn’t like clutter,” Beatrice says sharply. “If you want to keep your job, don’t even have a coffee cup on your desk for longer than it takes you to drink it.”
I blink at her, then look around me more closely. Sure enough, there is nothing on any of the desks except white keyboards and monitors. There aren’t even any pieces of paper or notepads anywhere, no staplers, pens—everything is out of sight.
We move through a short hallway to a long, white desk that runs along the left-hand side. A partition separates it from the rest of the office.
Ahead of me is a massive set of wooden double doors. They’re exquisitely decorated, with a horse carved into the panels across them, its legs leaping upward as though rearing at an opponent. For a second, I’m mesmerized by the image until Beatrice turns around to glare at me.
“You’ll be sitting outside Mr. Crawford’s office, as you’ll be his liaison for much of the day. Kaitlin, Julia, and I all sit together because we coordinate his calendar and schedule. We need to talk with each other constantly. If you need help, you can always ask.”
Her tone suggests that I shouldn’t ask for their help under any circumstances. I stare at her, nerves pulsing through me.
Is this where his last escort sat? Maybe he changes us every few weeks. That’s what Hope seemed to be suggesting.
“Your interview will start in a few minutes,” Beatrice says, her eyes running over me again, and I want to set myself on fire so she can’t judge my suit any harder than she already is.
“If it goes well, I suppose I’ll see you later.”
“Thank you for showing me everything,” I say, and her eyes narrow at me for a second before her eyebrows rise in surprise.
“You’re welcome. Good luck. Don’t piss him off, or my day gets ten times more difficult than it already is.”
She stalks away. She’s wearing Jimmy Choos, the red soles flashing as she returns to her desk. Two other women are sitting alongside her, one with tight cornrows and long hair extensions.
The second woman appears to be in her forties, with flyaway brown hair and two pairs of glasses: one balanced on her head, the other set on the tip of her nose.
I turn toward the beautiful door, wondering what the hell is about to happen.
Have I completely lost my mind? Am I really going to have sex with this guy?
I startle as a buzzer sounds on the desk in front of me.
“Come in, please, Miss Brooks.” It’s a low, rumbling voice, and I shiver as I walk toward the door.
Opening it, I’m met with a wide, cavernous office, minimalistic in the extreme. There’s a white desk ahead of me made up of shiny metal and glass. The carpet is pale gray, the furnishings creams and whites, giving the impression of an almost heavenly space.
There is a large bookshelf on the left, with the books cascading in height. It looks as if they’ve had new covers printed to match the style of the room.
This guy sure likes his clean lines.
I close the door behind me and finally look at the man I’ve come to meet.
He’s standing in front of his desk, leaning casually against it, but he rises to his feet when I walk in. He’s enormous, almost 6’5 and broad. I can tell by the tight fit of his perfectly tailored suit and the way he carries himself that he has a toned, well-built body.
His face looks younger than I expected. I’ve been told that he’s thirty-nine, but other than some horizontal lines on his forehead, he seems young for his age.
Dark brown eyes follow me as I step into the room. His chin is angular and sharp, completely clean of stubble, hair closely cut and styled beautifully, streaked with gray, giving him a distinguished, icy facade.
I try my best not to stumble as I come to stand in front of him.
What must he think of me in my mom’s suit? I look like a fucking amateur.
Those dark eyes are assessing, moving over me in a languid way that sends another shiver down my spine. My hands are shaking. I’m so nervous, but I force myself to meet his gaze.
“So, you’re Amelia Brooks,” he says, with a smirk. “Would you be so kind as to come here and bend over my desk?”