Beauty from Pain (5 page)

“
Umm, the best three months of
your life and fantasies coming true? What’s holding you
back?”

“
It just seems pointless to date
someone when I know it’s going to end in three months.” And then
there’s the whole issue of having sex with someone I don’t love.
I’m not sure I can do that.

“
You’re overthinking it, Laurelyn.
The guy’s rich and he promises you the best three months of your
life. It’s a no-brainer.”

I can’t believe I’m considering it. “You think
I should do this?”

“
If you don’t, will you go home
and wonder what you might have missed?”

The answer is clear. “Of course I
would.”

There’s a knock at our bedroom door. “Come
in,” Addison says. Ben opens it.

“
There’s a delivery in
here.”

Addison’s face lights up. “What kind of
delivery?”

“
It’s flowers and a catered
breakfast.”

“
Awesome!” she says, throwing back
the covers. “See? I told you I knew how to play the game.” It looks
like Ben is going to find out about Zac sooner than she’d
planned.

We walk into the kitchen and there’s a floral
arrangement on the counter next to a basket of breakfast pastries.
Addison holds a bottle of champagne in one hand and orange juice in
the other. “Mimosas for breakfast. Can you believe that? And this
isn’t cheap champagne. It’s expensive. Very expensive.”

She takes the card from the blank envelope and
her smile fades after she reads it. “Oh. This isn’t for
me.”

I feel a surge of hope. Could all of this be
for me? From him, the man with no name? “What does the card
say?”

She holds it up. “‘You won’t regret saying
yes.’ It’s signed, ‘from Lachlan.’”

I smile, but bite my lip in a failed attempt
to hide my pleasure. His name is Lachlan.

I’m confused by this unexpected confession. He
said names weren’t part of the game, so what has changed? Maybe he
decided he is more interested in a normal relationship than the
bizarre one he proposed last night.

I pluck the card from Addison’s hand because I
want to read it for myself. I rub my thumb over his written words.
The penmanship is masculine. I’m sure he signed it
personally.

I hear a
pop
as Addison opens the champagne.
“Laurie, this guy is jockeying hard for you, girl.”

Ben’s arms are crossed and he looks pissed.
“Come on. You just met this guy. Doesn’t this seem like a little
much?”

“
I’d love it if a guy did this for
me.” Addison tops up her champagne with some orange juice. “This is
a guaranteed panty-dropper in my book.”

“
Addison!”

Ben storms out of the kitchen and slams his
bedroom door. “You shouldn’t have said that in front of him, and we
both know why.”

Addison reaches for a pastry. “Oh, he’ll get
over it. So, what are you gonna do?”

There’s nothing wrong with trying it. If it
doesn’t feel right, I can always back out. “He asked me to meet him
tonight if I wanted to discuss it further. I think I’m going to
go.”

“
That’s my girl. I love that he
has to wait all day wondering if you’ll show tonight. He’ll be so
hard up by the time he sees you walk in. You have to show up late.
I have the perfect little black dress that will knock his socks
off. The back of it is so low, you can almost see your ass
crack.”

She runs into our room and returns
with a next-to-nothing black minidress. Wow, she’s right. It
is
low. And short. Maybe
even too short. I hold it up and have no doubt it is going to hit
me high thigh since I’m taller than she is.

“
Isn’t this gonna be too short for
me?”

“
What do you mean too short? Have
we met?”

–––––

It’s a lazy Sunday so we spend the day hanging out in
the apartment after gorging on quiche and Mimosas. Ben is sullen
the rest of the day, his attitude suggesting he is unhappy about
the prospect of my new acquaintance. He doesn’t speak to me all
day, but that’s all right. I may be staying with him, but I don’t
owe him anything. And his behavior is making it a lot easier to not
feel guilty about meeting up with another guy tonight.

It’s six o’clock and I decide to start getting
ready to meet Lachlan. Addison wants me to be late so he’ll sweat
it out, but if I’m tardy, it won’t be because I wasn’t ready on
time.

I jump in the shower and shave my
legs and pits twice, just in case, but in case of
what,
I don’t know. I
apply my makeup as I stand with one towel wrapped around my hair
and one around my body. I decide to go with smoky eyes—the
sultriness will go well with the sensual dress and tall heels
Addison has chosen for me.

It’s twenty minutes until eight and I stand in
front of the mirror studying the final product. Hmm, not bad if I
do say so myself. The smoky eyes and scarlet lips are definitely
going to get his attention but my upswept hair makes my bare back
call out to be touched, and quite possibly, kissed. I have never
felt so alluring in all of my life—or so much like a ho—because I
know why I’m going.

Addison surveys me and instructs me to do a
spin. “Laurelyn, you’re smokin’ hot.”

She is my best friend so it’s her job to say
stuff like that. “It’s the dress.”

“
Hell no, it’s not. It’s all you,
and he’ll know it when he peels that dress off you.”

Someone’s awfully anxious for me to get it on
with this guy. “He’s not peeling jack off me tonight. I’m just
going to talk.”

She takes my hands and looks like she’s going
to give me some serious advice. I prepare because this isn’t
something I would expect from her. “Listen to me, Laurelyn. The
best way to get over somebody is to get under someone
else.”

Well, her record stands unblemished. She’s yet
to blow my mind with deep, philosophical advice. I’m laughing when
I hear my cab blow for me. “Cab’s here.”

She hugs me before I leave. “Have a great
time. Text if you see you’ll be late so I won’t worry.”

“
Yes, Mom.”

It’s uncomfortable, but I look to where Ben is
sitting on the couch. He doesn’t make a move to even glance in my
direction, so I leave without speaking to him. It’s probably better
that way.

It’s a short drive to the hotel and I’m almost
hyperventilating by the time I walk up to the hostess. “I’m meeting
someone.”

“
The name?”

I smile as I say it. “Lachlan.” It’s
ridiculous that I feel like I’ve won some sort of battle by knowing
his name. Laurelyn, one. Lachlan, zero.

She doesn’t look happy about my
arrival. “Oh, yes. He left word he might have a guest joining him.
Right this way.” She leads me to a table for two in the same dimly
lit corner we occupied last night. As I walk toward him, he looks
up from the menu. His
gaze
follows my body from my feet up to my
eyes.
He
smiles.

I can’t wait to see his reaction to the back
of this dress.

He stands and walks around to slide my chair
out for me, just as he did the prior evening. “I didn’t know if
you’d …” He trails off and I know he’s giving his full attention to
the back—or lack thereof—of my dress. He clears his voice. “I
didn’t know if you’d come or not.”

Yeah, I think he likes the dress just fine. “I
didn’t intend on coming, but here I am all the same.”

“
I’m very glad you did. You look
lovely.”

“
Thank
you,
Lachlan
.”
His light blue eyes lock with mine and I give him a smug smile,
letting him know I’m happy I won.

The smile he gives me in return is
complacent.
“Did you like the Sauvignon
Blanc last night?”

“
I did.”

“
Would you like to have that again
or try something else?”

I shrug. “That’s fine.”

He orders our wine and then sits back in his
chair, seemingly pleased with himself. “I assume you’re here to
discuss my proposal.”

I sit up straighter when I take notice of
myself slouching. I can’t show any sign of weakness if I’m going to
keep the upper hand. “It would seem so.”

“
Ask me anything.” He’s so
beautiful and confident. Dammit, it’s unnerving.

I lace my fingers together and prop my elbows
on the table. Yes, I know that’s considered rude at dinner, but I
like the confidence it gives me. “You have no qualms about asking
me to do this. I assume you’ve done this before?”

“
Yes, but never for more than
three to four weeks. Three months would be new for me, but I’m
excited about trying something different.”

I’m anxious to point out how he has already
tried something new by giving up one of his biggest stipulations
for me. “You told me your name, so that’s different. Does that mean
your issue with being anonymous has changed?”

He takes a big drink of wine. “Lachlan isn’t
my real name. You needed something to call me, so that’s what I
chose.”

“
Oh.” I feel my silly girlish hope
deflate. “How many times have you done this?”

It could be in the hundreds. Or worse, maybe
he has no idea.

“
Is that really important?” He’s
stalling, so knowing the number becomes crucial to me at this
point—a make-or-break kind of significance.

“
It’s important to me.”

His brow wrinkles and I think he’s doing the
math in his head. “I guess there’s been twelve.”

I admit twelve is far fewer than I’d imagined,
but he has to guess? We’re not talking a hundred and twelve, so is
it really that hard to be sure? “When did you start doing
this?”

“
The first time was four years
ago. I did it on a whim and I liked it. It works for me, so I
haven’t had any other type of relationship since.”

Twelve women in four years. That wasn’t …
terrible. “And you didn’t tell any of those women who you
are?”

“
No.”

Here comes the biggie. “Do you always have sex
with the women who agree to a relationship like this with
you?”

“
Yes.” That’s what I expected him
to say, but hearing him admit it gives me more of a reality check.
I would be added to a list occupied by twelve others before
me.

He sees the reality of it all registering in
my head. “Don’t think about the others. I don’t.”

And he wouldn’t think of me either three
months from now when he moves on to the woman after me. I’m
surprised by how that bothers me. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for
this.”

He reaches across the table and puts his hand
on top of mine. “I won’t feel like a stranger to you for long.
You’ll come to know me quickly. And it’ll be the real me, even if
you don’t know my name.”

I’m attracted to this man, but I’m not sure I
can ever feel comfortable enough to have sex with him when I don’t
know his name.

“
You’ll be surprised how quickly
our relationship will progress when there are no silly pretenses.
We come together knowing what the other’s expectations are, so it
makes things easier, more relaxed. Our time together is so much
more enjoyable because our only motives are to enjoy each other’s
company. There’s no pressure and it’s … fantastic.”

I guess there isn’t any pressure when he knows
I’m a sure thing.

“
Are you on birth
control?”

Damn, he’s no nonsense and doesn’t hesitate in
getting right down to business, although I haven’t agreed to any of
this. “Of course.”

He smiles. “Good. We’ll still use condoms. I’m
more comfortable with two forms of birth control since none of them
are a hundred percent. I don’t want you leaving here with my
ankle-biter in your belly.”

Damn, he’s presumptuous.

As the child of a single mother, I neither
want nor need a child. I catch a rigor thinking about it.
“Definitely not.”

Casual sex. Can I do this? At least when I was
sleeping with Blake, I thought I loved him. As beautiful as he is,
I don’t know if I can be intimate with Lachlan when I feel no love
for him. Hell, I don’t even know him, but he says I will. And soon,
it seems. “Is it difficult to end the relationship when it’s
over?”

He’s so casual about the whole thing. “I’ve
never had a problem with it. There’s no kind of attachment because
we’re not together long enough, and we’re both aware of how things
will end.”

But we wouldn’t be together for three to four
weeks like his other relationships. We’d be together for three
months. That seems like a big difference to me, but what do I know?
I’m not the one who has done this before.

“
So, in all that time, I wouldn’t
meet your friends or family?”

“
No. Meeting those people who are
closest to me is too complicated. It would be impossible for you to
meet them without learning who I am, and I don’t want the task of
lying to them about what we are to each other.”