NINETEEN
THE FINAL DATE with Lyon went better than all the others combined. Thank you, Baer. Holly now had a plus-one for their vacation. On the Wednesday, the two of them did the paperwork at Squires, then Conrad showed them to a large private room with couches and a bar. An entertaining space all to themselves.
“Make yourselves comfortable,” he said, heading out. “I’ll be back in a while.”
Left alone, she wasn’t entirely sure what would come next.
“Should we get drunk?” Holly asked, going over to the bar.
Freya went to the couch and bent to unbuckle her shoes. “Conrad said we could spend as much time in here as we have to tonight.”
Hunting through bottles, Holly flashed her a grin. “We have our men for the whole night… You know what that means.”
For Holly maybe. Not for her.
Monday past, she’d held good on her promise to cook brunch for Baer and Abel. The latter regarded them with some kind of… something in his expression. Were they suddenly so peculiar?
Meeting the boys from school had been fun until she sat with Presley to tell him they couldn’t be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. She’d asked permission to see Baer socially, Presley wanted time to think about it.
Fair request.
Because they didn’t see each other the night of that conversation, it had been their date on Tuesday before she could fill Baer in on the development. He’d promised to talk to his little brother and that was the last she’d heard about it.
Baer came in with Lyon not far behind.
“Holly,” Baer said in greeting then came straight to her.
Dropping onto the couch with a tired exhale, he was quick to slide into a slouch.
“You look tired,” she said, moving onto her knees to touch her lips to the corner of his.
Closing his eyes, a wry smile appeared. “Could do with a vacation.”
“Good thing you met me then,” she said, loosening his tie and undoing some of his shirt buttons. “You could’ve changed before you got here. Was your dinner good?”
He’d eaten with another woman. Whether or not he’d been required to eat the woman too… she wouldn’t ask.
“The food was good.”
That was as nice an answer as he could probably give.
“Take off your jacket,” she said, pulling at his lapel. “You can go and change if you want, I’ll wait.”
“No, I’m good.” He slid an arm around her to stop her fussing. “Come give me a proper hello.”
After a longer, slower, more intimate kiss, he seemed to relax. Good. She offered some benefit.
Opening his eyes to slits, he caught a section of her hair between two fingers and tucked it behind her ear. “How are you, Lil’ Skit?”
“Did you talk to Pres?”
He nodded. “He says we’re good so long as we don’t flaunt it in front of him.”
Tucking her feet to the side, she rested an elbow on the back of the couch under the arm he lay along it. “We’ll be gone for two weeks, so…” the youngster wouldn’t have to see them together for that. “I do feel awful though.”
“Shouldn’t have fallen for me,” he said, exhaling and stretching to lock his fingers behind his head.
Pushing off the back of the couch, she lifted a knee over his lap, surprising him with her straddling.
Scooping his hands onto her ass, he blinked at her.
Her answer to his unasked query was a saucy smile. “You’re just so irresistible.”
“This went a new, and damn good, way fast,” he said, skimming a hand up her back to lose it in her hair.
Pulling her down, he kissed her.
She resisted just enough and leaned back to nuzzle his mouth. “How does it look like they’re getting along?”
The other couple, he probably wasn’t expecting her concern.
Still, his eyes shifted past her shoulder to check. “She’s a little nervous, little awkward.”
“I feel like we should give them some privacy.”
“We’re supposed to be getting our stories straight,” he said, combing his fingers through her hair, using her locks as cover to cup and squeeze her breast. “Not getting fresh.”
“We don’t have to worry about our story,” she said. “You’re Baer Clayton, we’ve been seeing each other a while, not sure if we’re serious.”
“Yeah?” he asked. “What do I do for a living? Do I have family?” Her mouth opened, but she had nothing. “Mm, yeah, Lil’ Skit, not so confident.”
Crunching up, he plumped the swell of her breast above the neckline of her dress and sucked her warm flesh.
“Well, there’s no time for the heavy petting stuff now you’ve said that,” she said, swatting him away, climbing off his lap to put a foot of space between them. “Teach me.”
“Are you kidding? I just talked myself out of sex?”
“We weren’t going to have sex,” she said. “Tell me about Baer Clayton… please.”
Drawing in an almost grumpy breath, he huffed it out. “Actually, you have to tell me… We have various profiles you can pick from, or you can make one of your own…” He opened his arms, letting his hands flop onto the couch. “I am whatever you want me to be.”
That was… There was only one thing she wanted him to be.
“Huh, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”
Sensing her confusion, he slid a hand to her face, directing her focus to his. “What’s wrong, Little Skit? Talk to me. What do you want me to be?” He smiled and ran his thumb across her lip. “It won’t upset me. I’ve been just about everything, and I still have time to do research if you want me to be something—”
“I want you to be you,” she said. “Except, I know I can’t ask that of you… I don’t want you to be anything you’re not… But if we tell my family what you do—”
“That I’m a hooker?”
She frowned. “I’m not ashamed of you, Baer, or what you do.” Though it was a little rich of him to be curt with her about it when he hadn’t told his own family what he did. “I know why you do it and I have a lot of respect for that. I can’t even imagine the position you’re in.”
“I don’t need your approval,” he said, shifting to sit straight. “But having it means something to me.”
Oh, uh… no fight? She’d expected conflict, yet all she read in him was acceptance.
“Conrad said he was coming back.” She got closer so she could whisper. “We’re in a really difficult position, Hound. No one knows about us.”
“I know.”
“I can’t ask you to be honest about your family and your personal business because that reveals Lyon too… Even if it didn’t, it’s not my place to—”
“It is your place, sweetheart,” he said, stroking her face again. “But I understand your point…” He exhaled. “Come over here, give me a minute to think about it.”
Scooping an arm around her waist, he pulled her body against his.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m looking forward to having you to myself for two weeks,” she admitted, caressing his chest. Shame about, you know, the inconvenience of her family. Maybe they would keep her honest. “My Baer.”
For two weeks only.
“There are beds through the back if you want to claim—”
She slapped his chest, which granted her his laugh just as Conrad entered carrying two tablets.
“Okay,” the boss declared. “Let’s create our relationships.”
Holly and Lyon came over to sit nearby while Conrad moved a seat across to face them like they were in some kind of impromptu therapy session.
“I’m nervous,” Holly said. “Is it weird that I’m nervous?”
“Perfectly normal,” Lyon said.
She was nervous too, but not for herself. There was a foot of space between Lyon and Holly; they couldn’t look any less like a couple. Baer was stretched out next to her, slouched on the couch with his shoulder blades against the back and his legs straight, crossed at the ankle. With his arm relaxed along the backrest behind her, he included her as an extension of his being. He looked like someone’s boyfriend, her boyfriend, he couldn’t be more at ease.
Holly and Lyon, who were supposed to be an established couple, were awkward and ill-at-ease. This was bad. Holly had been talking about her ‘Paul’ for more than a month. If they didn’t pull this off…
Laying a hand on Baer’s thigh, she couldn’t be more grateful for him. Until Baer, the idea of this vacation was not a happy one. Now, with Baer, she was kind of looking forward to it.
Twisting around, she joined their lips and brushed her nose over his, tempting his mouth to give her more.
“Uh…” Conrad said. “Plenty of time for that after we get the formalities out of the way.”
“Let the woman work,” Baer said, coiling an arm around her waist to hold her tighter. “You okay, Lil’?”
“What did you do before this? Before you did this?”
“Different things,” he said. “Mostly carpentry. I was a personal trainer at a couple of gyms, worked security at clubs.”
Considering it for just a second, she pushed her lips to the side. “Carpentry. Let’s go with that.”
“Carpentry?” Holly distracted her from Baer. When she laid her head on his chest, Baer’s hand moved into her hair, stroking her over and over. “You could pick any job in the whole wide world, why would you want to be with a carpenter?”
Baer’s hand stopped on her crown.
“Because if we say he’s a personal trainer or works security someone might ask where. They might have a connection to any place we lie about. They might go there or know someone who works there. Carpentry is perfect because it doesn’t have to be done at a specific location, he can be self-employed, doing jobs as and when… perfect.”
“And if someone breaks a chair?” Holly asked.
“He can fix it.”
“How do you know he can—”
“If he can build a chair from scratch, he can fix a broken one.”
Her cousin frowned. “How do you know he can build a chair?”
Oh, yeah, another thing she wasn’t supposed to know.
“I told her,” Baer said with unexpected tension.
Not a lie, he had confirmed he’d built the chair she’d seen in his bedroom. Smoothing her hand down his torso, she hoped to soothe but didn’t know what aggravated him.
“So we’re good,” she said. “Your turn, Hol.”
“Lil’,” Baer said, stroking her again. “I can be whatever you want me to be. If you need me to talk stocks and shares and—”
“Hound, there are important things we can fight about later. This is not important.”
He didn’t say anything else but must have put some sense of anticipation on the other couple because Holly suddenly straightened. “Oh, I… I already told my family about my boyfriend.”
“Paul,” Baer said. “Right.”
Conrad held up the tablets. “That’s why I have these.” He handed one to Holly and the other to her. “There is a list of suggestions for things you’ll want to consider, everything from family to daily habits to likes and dislikes, political views, fill in as much as you can. It will give our guys a quick reference guide to what they need to be.”
Reading over the list at the top of the tablet, she was surprised by how much they could dictate. Then again, they were paying a ridiculous amount of money. It became clear right then that they weren’t just paying for sex or companionship, these men had to be actors twenty-four seven.
Turning a grin on Baer, she curled her legs under her. “Will you get me a drink, please, baby? This might take a while.”
“Geez,” he said, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “I’m already scared to read it.”
Lyon and Conrad joined Baer at the bar.
Taking the stylus from the top of the tablet, she got to work. Holly scribbled kind of furiously; her stress level didn’t match. This should be fun, not a slog. Though, admittedly, she didn’t have as much at stake.
When Baer brought her drink, she hugged the tablet to her chest so he couldn’t see it. He laughed and kissed her. Nothing wrong with hamming it up.
Almost forty-five minutes went by before Conrad came back over. “How are you ladies doing? Can we start talking now?”
“I… uh… sure,” Holly said, still writing.
They couldn’t spend the whole night on their tablets, Conrad probably had better things to do. Baer came over with a fresh drink for her.
“If you’re ready,” the boss said, “hand the tablets to your dates and let them read your requirements. This is the time to clarify any points they don’t understand.”
She and Holly made eye contact, then handed over their tablets in unison. Lyon’s eyes bugged. He blew out a breath and straightened to concentrate. While she… didn’t want to look at Baer. Oh, but she had to. First thing he did was frown.
He looked over the top of the tablet at her. “Really?” he asked. “Are you shitting me?”
She shrugged and hooked an arm over the backrest.
“We can talk about anything, any points of disagreement,” Conrad said. “If there’s something outside our guy’s purview, we’ll find a compromise.”
“She wrote two damn words,” Baer said, reaching beyond her to hand the tablet to Conrad. Sweeping her hair from her shoulder, he cupped her face. “Lil’ Skit—”
“Be yourself,” Conrad read from her tablet. “Huh… That’s a new one.”
Baer was kind of staring her down.
Diverting herself, she pointed the stylus at the tablet. “Do you like my flowers?” She’d covered the bottom of the screen with a field of purple daisies. “They’re my favorites.”
“Freya, I’m not sure that…” Conrad looked past her at Baer. “Are you okay with this?”
“Okay with not pretending I only drink Cristal or am a proud Republican?” Baer asked and shrugged. “It’s easy to remember.”
“Yeah, but what about family?”
“I’d suggest we keep that vague,” she said, looking to Conrad who had to be seeking a balance between protecting his employee and satisfying a client. “His parents are living, two brothers, that’s all anyone needs to know.”
Conrad’s frown became more discerning, then seemed almost concerned as he tipped his head to the side to look closer at Baer. “There’s something going on here I don’t know about, isn’t there?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Baer said, resting a hand on her back.
What an idiot! She wasn’t supposed to know anything about Baer’s personal life, yet she kept opening her big blabbering mouth. And Conrad was his boss. His boss! The worst part was, she knew exactly why she was doing it, and it was so immature and ridiculous that she wanted to slap herself.
Standing up, she smoothed her skirt. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” Taking her purse off the couch, she went for the door. “Please carry on without me.”
It didn’t matter if she knew all the details of Holly and Lyon’s relationship. Holly already told her a lot about the imaginary guy anyway. For everything else, she’d vamp… not that she was good at that. Probably better to play dumb, if necessary.
She didn’t stop walking until reaching the entry foyer. Actually, even when she got there, she didn’t stop, she just turned to cross ten feet, then returned, pacing back and forth
It was nuts. This was easy. Should be easy. It wasn’t like she couldn’t be discreet in other areas of her life. She could. She could keep a confidence. This shouldn’t be difficult.
“Lil’?”
Baer’s voice turned her around.
She immediately held up a hand. “Don’t, okay? I know. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” he asked, coming to her. “Baby, you have nothing to apologize for.”
“That, in there,” she said, opening a hand in the direction he’d come as he laid his hands on her shoulders. “It’s like I can’t help myself.” And he’d joked about Presley scenting her, wasn’t that exactly what she was doing to Baer? And for what reason? Pique? Pride? Ego? “I shouldn’t have… I’m not supposed to—”
“Hey,” he said, bending his knees to bring himself closer to her level. “Lil’, if you want to go in there and tell Conrad—”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I won’t risk your career here.”
He laughed. “Babe, this is not a career, not for me.” Skimming his hands down her upper arms and back up, he brought their bodies closer together. “I never planned to do this forever. You know why I do it.”
She couldn’t call herself his girlfriend. Couldn’t use the word love. But she was certain this wasn’t normal procedure.
“Is this against the rules?” she asked, almost afraid to meet his eye. “Whatever this is… will it get you into trouble?”
“No one can make rules about who someone falls for,” he said, cradling her cheek. “Don’t worry so much.”
“I do worry,” she said, pulling his hand away. “If you lose this job… where does that leave you? How will you make the money you need to support your family?”
“This isn’t the only agency in town.”
Surprised, she blinked at him. “There are… others?”
He nodded. “But I’m popular here. I make a lot of money for the agency… Some of the guys have wives, most have girlfriends, occasionally more than one. There’s no rule that says I have to be single.”
“But we met here,” she said. “I’m a client.”
“This started before you were my client… I know you’re worried about me,” he said, a slow smile rising on his lips. “Are you worried enough to dump me?”
She wasn’t sure she was his current, let alone being an ex. “Dump you?” she asked. “Wouldn’t that be kind of awkward? Your ex hiring you?”
“Long as it was you and you relaxed your sex rules, I’d be okay with that.”
Opening her hands on his obliques, she ran them around to his back, sinking against him. “Everything will be better next week.”
“Next week,” he said. “During our no sex vacation?”
Tipping her head back, her drowsy eyes met his. “I’ve dreamed about falling asleep in your arms… waking up with you every day.”
Wearing a smile, he hooked her hair away from her temple. “You know where I sleep, baby.”
She exhaled. “I don’t actually. I know where your bed is… Not where you are. I never know whose bed you’ll be in.”
“You know there’s only one bed I’d choose to be in,” he said. “I don’t say it… I haven’t said it… But I do appreciate that you’re… understanding.”
“That I don’t demand you give this up,” she said. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about how much easier life would be if this wasn’t a part of it.”
“It won’t be,” he said. “Not forever.” Resting her head on his chest again, she sank into their embrace. “Want to get out of here? We can get caught up about Holly and Lyon whenever.”
Smiling, she stayed put. “You know you’re not getting laid. You’re being paid to be with me all night.”
“Until six a.m.,” he said. “Believe me, I’m counting the minutes.”
“How is your schedule this week?”
“Nothing tomorrow,” he said. “I have two clients Friday… and there are some maintenance jobs I’ll need to do before we leave.”
“And you have to pack,” she said. “Good thing you have tomorrow off.”
“Believe me, that was no accident,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”
Breaking their embrace, he laced their fingers together to lead them the way of the elevator.
“I want dessert,” she said. Stopping to peer over his shoulder, he narrowed his eyes. She laughed. “Actual dessert, Hound… Take me out for coffee and cake.”
“What do I get?”
“The pleasure of my company,” she said, deliberately not mentioning that he was being paid to entertain her. Stepping in close, she pouted at him. “And I’ll let you cop a feel when you kiss me goodnight.”
“Sold,” he said, picking up her hand to kiss her knuckles. “I’ll go talk to Conrad. Wait here.”
Watching him go, she breathed out. This was complicated and messy and wonderful and frustrating. Whoa, boy…