Authors: Claire Kent
Complicated (10 page)
Glancing at her watch, she noticed it was just after
three o’clock. Surely this guy wouldn’t be late for a potential new client.
She was looking at the entrance with a slightly peeved
expression when a voice startled her out of her impatience.
“Lori.”
She jerked her head around and inexplicably saw the
compelling, bald man standing next to her table with his cup of coffee. She
blinked up at him, wondering vaguely if he’d noticed her leering at him.
“Is it Lori?”
She nodded mutely.
The man smiled—an urbane, sensual smile that ignited
even his blue-gray eyes. He reached a hand out to her in greeting. “I’m Ander.”
Lori’s mouth dropped open and she gaped at him.
While she was normally a friendly, outgoing person who
handled social situations with ease, she was already insecure about this
meeting. And her shock at having the random man she’d admired turn out to be
the one with whom she had this particular appointment left her speechless and
completely discombobulated.
Ander’s elegant eyebrows lifted slightly. “Ander
Lourdes. We were scheduled to meet, right?”
She had to assume the name was a professional
appellation. Surely no loving father would have saddled a little boy with a
name like that. The boy would have no choice but to go into the profession
Ander had obviously chosen.
“Yes,” she said at last, belatedly pulling herself
together. She stood up and shook his hand. His grip was warmer than she’d
expected. He looked so cool and polished that she’d thought his hand would be a
cooler temperature. “Sorry. It’s nice to meet you.”
He nodded politely and smiled again. “Do you want to
talk here?”
Lori glanced nervously at the other seat at her table.
She definitely wanted to meet with him where there were plenty of people
around, but the kind of conversation they’d be having wasn’t one you wanted to
carry on with dozens of ears within range.
“We could walk over to the park,” he suggested with easy
courtesy. “Still a public place, but not so crowded.”
She agreed and grabbed her purse and mocha. She’d made a
point of not dressing up for this meeting, so she was wearing her favorite pair
of jeans and a dark green vintage jacket of crushed velvet that matched her
eyes. She’d pulled her shoulder-length brown hair back in a low ponytail and
wore no make-up except mascara and lip-gloss. She’d instinctively known that
dressing up would make her even more nervous.
As they crossed the street, Lori asked her companion,
“So what kind of name is Ander?” She wanted to make casual conversation and
she’d genuinely wanted to know the answer since Sabrina first put this man’s
name in front of her as a suitable candidate.
Ander’s mouth tilted up on one side. “It’s short for
Alexander.”
“So it’s your real name?” It might be too personal a
question for this context, but she’d always been overly curious.
“Ander is. My last name has been changed.” He gave a
huff of dry laughter that she found remarkably appealing. “To protect the
innocent.”
She snickered a little, instinctively drawn to wit in
any form. His answer had been particularly clever—as it remained ambiguous as
to which party in question was innocent. “So were you named for Alexander the
Great or Alexander Graham Bell?”
He gave her a curious look, as if he were mildly
startled at her nosy questions. But before she could start to feel
self-conscious about what might be inappropriate behavior on her part for
meetings such as these, he said, “The Great. My father would never have named a
child after someone as innocuous as an inventor, however brilliant the inventor
happened to be.”
“Ah,” she replied, “So your father liked the warriors.”
“Exactly.” Idly, Ander put a hand on her back to guide
her over to an empty bench in the city park.
Lori sat on the bench and looked up at him, noting that
he was ridiculously handsome in the sunlight, with a breeze blowing against his
dark clothes. “I suppose your father must be especially proud of you then,” she
said wryly.
Even she knew—as soon as she spoke the words—that the
comment was far too presumptuous for first acquaintance. She bit her lip and
felt a pang of guilt and embarrassment.
To her relief, Ander didn’t look offended. He just
looked off in the distance and murmured, “Oh, he’s proud all right.”
The note of bitterness told Lori something about this
man’s feelings for his father. There was a whole story there , a mystery to
unravel.
But it was none of Lori’s business and wasn’t at all
what she was here for. Pulling herself back to the purpose of this meeting, she
felt a new wave of self-consciousness.
What the hell was she doing here?
Ander sat down next to her on the bench and sipped his
coffee, his expression becoming professional again. “I always meet with
prospective clients to ensure we’re on the same page before we schedule an
engagement.”
Lori nodded, dropping her eyes to stare at her hands in
her lap.
“Did you have any questions about the prices your friend
explained to you?” Ander asked. “You’ll pay for an entire evening. That’s the
base price. I offer nothing lower than that.”
She looked up at him, frowning. He didn’t have a website
like some escorts, instead relying on personal referrals, but details Sabrina
had gotten from the women she’d talked to were quite clear. She was a
professional woman. Not an idiot. “Yes, I was able to understand the services
you offer and what you charge for them,” she said, her tone a little snippy.
His mouth twitched, so slightly she almost didn’t catch
it. “Good. I just wanted to make it clear that you pay for the entire evening,
whether or not you use it. I don’t hire myself out by the hour.”
For some reason, his dry tone made her want to snicker
again. She stifled it, in case he would mistake it for mockery. “Understood.”
“We can do whatever you like for the evening. I can act
as escort, play a part if you want or provide general companionship. If you’re
interested in anything sexual, that will cost extra.”
Lori couldn’t believe she was sitting here, in the
middle of a park in downtown Seattle, having this conversation. Her cheeks
burned involuntarily, but she wasn’t as mortified as she’d expected. Ander was
so business-like and matter-of-fact about the situation that it helped Lori
feel that way too.
“I thought I made my interests clear when we talked on
the phone,” she said.
Ander nodded. “Of course. The prices differ for oral on
you, oral on me, and full intercourse.”
A nagging question that had been bugging her for a few
days prompted her to ask, “Who would pay you that much money for you to get the
blow job?”
Again, that slight twitch of his mouth. She wasn’t even
sure it meant anything—his expression was generally so calm as to be stoic. But
she found that occasional little quiver of his mouth the most appealing thing
about him. “Women have different desires when they make use of my services.
Some find giving more thrilling than receiving. Some simply want the practice.”
Lori thought about that for a moment. It was something
she’d never even considered before.
Ander cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to
him. “Perhaps you can give me a little information about your goals for this
engagement.”
She nodded. “Right. Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t pay
this much money for a date.” She took a breath. Summoned all her fortitude and
courage. “I want to have sex.”
“Yes, but what are your goals for the sex? Are you
looking for a particular mood or brand of excitement? Do you just want to
relieve tension? Get something you can’t get from other partners? I’m not
trying to pry into your personal motivations, but I need a little direction if
we’re to make this a successful engagement.”
“Right.” She shifted on the bench. Told herself she
would be paying this man a lot of money a few days from now so she had nothing
to be embarrassed about. And surely he’d encountered a lot of stranger things
in his line of work. “I want to have sex because I haven’t had it before. Yet.”
***
You can find out more about Escorted
here
.
Claire has been writing romance novels since she was twelve years old.
She has a PhD in British literature and, when she's not writing, she teaches
English at the university level.
She also writes romance novels under the penname Noelle Adams (
noelle-adams.com
).
If you would like to contact Claire, please check out her website (
clairekent.com
)
or email her at
[email protected]
.
Other Books by Claire Kent