The Escort (4 page)

“Julie?” Cal
gave her a look of concern. “Are you alright?”

She nodded and
gathered her courage. “I am. It’s just – well, I appreciate that
you’re trying to make me feel like this is an actual date but I’d
feel better if I just told you exactly what I’m looking for.”

He nodded.
“Alright.”

“I don’t know
if you’re allowed to say no to a client’s request so I wanted to
give you a heads up. If you’re not interested, you can tell me
right now, and I won’t say a word to Vanessa. I’ll just tell her
that I’m not interested in you and would like to meet another
escort. Okay?”

“Okay.” He
replied simply.

“I hired an
escort because I’m a virgin and I’m looking for someone to, you
know, deflower me.” She blurted out and then stared anxiously at
Cal.

Court stared in
shock at the woman sitting across from him. He wondered for a
moment if he had heard her wrong. She seemed a little shy and
introverted, but there was no way a woman who looked like her could
be a virgin. She had to be in her late twenties at least, and with
that voice and body, how could anyone resist her?

He realized
that Julie was standing and gathering her purse. He blinked in
surprise and stood up, grasping her arm gently. “Julie? Where are
you going?”

“It’s obvious
what your answer is from the look on your face.” She looked close
to tears yet again and he cursed himself once more.

“Julie, wait, I
– “

“It’s fine.”
She tugged timidly at his hand. “I get it and I’m not insulted,
really I’m not. I’ll just find someone else at the agency to uh,
help me with my, um, problem. It was very nice to meet you,
Cal.”

He refused to
let her go. “Just sit down for a minute, okay? Please, Julie.”

She bit at her
bottom lip and then nodded and returned to her seat. He sat down
and eyed her carefully, not entirely sure she wouldn’t make a break
for the door.

“I’m just, well
I’m a little surprised. That’s all.” He said softly.

She laughed
bitterly. “Really? Why? Because I’m thirty? I – I’ve led a bit of a
sheltered life. My father was very domineering and controlling and
I had a hard time making friends, let alone go on a date with a
man. Now that he’s dead, I want to live my life.”

He shook his
head. “It’s not because of your age. I have a hard time believing
that a woman as beautiful as you has never been with a man.”

She finally met
his gaze, her mouth dropping open, and she stared wide-eyed at him.
“I – I’m not beautiful.”

“Yes, you are.”
He replied immediately. “I can’t believe you don’t see it.” He let
his gaze wander over her thick dark hair that fell to nearly her
waist before staring at her eyes.

“You’re
gorgeous, Julie. Honestly. You’ve got amazing hair and eyes the
colour of the ocean and your body is…”

He trailed off,
his eyes dropping to that magnificent rack, and she crossed her
arms nervously over her chest. “I know what my body is.”

He frowned but
let it drop as he leaned forward and captured her hand. “Julie, can
I ask you a question?”

“Yes.” She
whispered.

“Are you sure
this is what you want? What you’re offering to me is a gift. Do you
really want to give it to someone you barely know?”

“It’s not a
gift. It’s a burden.” She replied quickly. “You’re being nice to me
because you’re paid to but you know as well as I do that as soon as
a man finds out I’m thirty and still a virgin, he’ll run screaming.
I want to get rid of it and maybe learn some tips on how to,” she
paused and blushing, looked away from him, “please a man in bed. I
– I have enough self-confidence issues as it is with being heavy, I
don’t want to have to worry about how I am in bed too.”

She suddenly
gave him a pleading look. “I’m not asking for romance or flowers or
anything like that. I don’t want to go on a date. I just – I just
want to rid myself of the hassle of being a virgin so I can find
Mr. Right.”

When he didn’t
reply, she sighed and picked up her purse again. “I’m sorry. I
don’t blame you for not wanting to do this and it really is fine.
I’m sure there will be someone at the agency who can help me with
my problem.”

He felt an odd
twinge in his stomach at the thought of one of the men at the
escort agency taking this beautiful, fragile woman’s innocence.

“It was nice to
meet you, Cal.”

She was walking
by him now and, without stopping to think about the consequences of
his actions, he caught her by the arm and tugged her to a stop.
“Stop, Julie. I’ll do it.”

She gave him a
look of surprise. “I – you will?”

He nodded.
“Yes. But on one condition.”

“What do you
mean?” She sat back down in her chair and stared tentatively at
him.

“I’ll do what
you ask, I’ll take your virginity and teach you how to please a man
in bed, but only if you let me take you on a date.”

“Are you
serious?”

He nodded.
“Yes. Let me take you on a date, Julie.”

She hesitated
and he could have smacked himself. “If it’s about the money, I can
– “

“The money
isn’t an issue.” She interrupted. “Will we, um, have sex after the
date?”

He watched the
blush creep up her throat and stain her cheeks a bright red.

“If money isn’t
an issue, then give me two dates. The first date we’ll get to know
each other, and on the second date we’ll sleep together.
Alright?”

She nodded.
“Alright.”

She glanced at
her watch. “It’s been over half an hour. I’d better let you get
back to work.”

He stood as she
did and she held her hand out. He shook it and she gave him a faint
smile. “Thank you. I, uh, I’ll give Vanessa a call and set
something up.”

“Sounds good,
Julie. I’ll see you soon.” He shook her hand and held it a moment
longer than necessary.

She took a
shaky breath and gently tugged her hand free. “Bye, Cal.”

She left the
coffee shop and Court sat down. His heart was thudding in his chest
and he rubbed at his forehead. Cal was going to kill him.

Chapter 4

“Why are you
not angry with me?” Court took a large swallow of beer and stared
at his brother across the table.

Cal shrugged.
“Why would I be? I know you don’t like to hear about my work life,
but this is what I do, Court. I have sex with women for money. I
would have done exactly what you did. Of course, I wouldn’t have
thought to sucker her into an extra “get to know you” date, so
thanks for that.”

He winked at
Court and took his own swallow of beer.

Court frowned
at his brother. “Cal, this woman is sweet and a little fragile. Do
you get that?”

“Yeah, yeah.
I’ll admit though – I’m not thrilled that she’s never been banged
before. I’ve done a few virgins in my time and half the time they
just lie there.” Cal was checking his text messages and Court
gritted his teeth.

“Cal!”

“What?” Cal
gave him a look of frustration.

“This is
important. You need to be gentle with Julie. She’s not like the
usual – “

Cal laughed.
“Jesus, Court. Now you’re trying to give me sex tips? I hate to
tell you this brother but I’ve got skills in the bedroom and I
don’t need your advice. The woman will be completely satisfied,
trust me.”

“That isn’t
what I meant.” Court said through gritted teeth.

Cal was busy
checking his phone again and Court raked his hand through his hair.
Maybe Julie would chicken out and not even make the appointment. He
kicked Cal under the table and Cal gave him an irritated look.

“What,
Courtney
?” His twin only called him by his given name when
he was angry with him and Court glared at him.

“Kiss my ass,
Calvin
. Julie probably won’t even set up another appointment
but if she does – “

“You don’t give
yourself enough credit. She called Vanessa this morning and set up
the appointment. I’m taking her out tomorrow tonight.”

“What? That
soon?” Court stood and began to pace restlessly back and forth.

“Yes.” Cal gave
him a curious look. “What the hell is up with you, Court?”

Court, his
stomach churning, made a sudden decision. “Cal, I want you to let
me take your place.”

“What?
Why?”

“What does it
matter? I want to take your place.”

“No, man. I
need the money. I won’t hear back from that investor guy for a
couple of weeks.”

Court rolled
his eyes. “You can keep the goddamn money, Cal. I’m going on the
dates with Julie.”

“Why?” Cal
asked again. “What is up with you and this chick? I’ve never seen
you this worked up over a woman before. Is this girl like
incredibly hot or something? I mean, she was cute in her picture
but something’s got you all hot and bothered.”

“It’s not like
that.” Court said. “In fact, I’m going to do my best to convince
her not to go through with this deflowering thing.”

Cal looked up
from his phone. “Whoa! No you are not! I told you that I’m already
on thin ice with Vanessa. If this woman calls and complains about
me, Vanessa will fire my ass.”

“She won’t put
in a complaint. Julie is very sweet and innocent, and I just want
the chance to convince her that she should wait for the right man.
Someone who won’t think of her virginity as a burden.”

“Someone like
you?” Cal raised his eyebrow at him.

Court flushed.
“What do you care? You’ll be getting paid to sit at home and drink
beer.”

“Good point.”
Cal tipped his beer to him. “Fine. You can go on the date with
Julie the Virgin but you have to promise me that you don’t fuck
this up. If Vanessa finds out what we’re doing she won’t just have
me fired, she’ll have my balls on a platter.”

“I won’t fuck
it up. Give me Julie’s number.”

Cal shook his
head. “That’s not how it works. You can’t call her or text her
unless she gives you permission. And even if she does – trust me,
it’s not a good idea to contact her outside of your scheduled
appointments. Very few escorts contact their clients outside of
working hours. It’s frowned on by the agency because it usually
means you’re making some extra money self-contracting, if you get
what I mean.”

He drained his
beer and set the bottle on the table with a loud thump. “I’ll text
you her address. You’re picking her up tomorrow at four for your
“date”. I had Meagan at the agency tell her it was casual dress.
Got it?”

“I’ve got it.”
Court relied.

“One last thing
- if it goes past four hours, you need to text me and let me know
exactly how much longer it was. Do you understand? I’ll need to
send in the information to the office so they can bill her credit
card the extra charge.”

“Yeah, I’ll let
you know.” Court stood up and started towards the door of his
brother’s apartment.

“Court?”

He paused in
the doorway. “Yeah?”

“Don’t get me
fired.”

“I won’t.”
Court said firmly. “Text me her address.”

* * *

She was waiting
nervously in the hallway when he rang the doorbell. She waited a
beat and then opened the door. Cal smiled at her before letting his
gaze drift over her body and she blushed. He was wearing jeans and
a dark green t-shirt that clung to his upper body. She stared for a
long moment at the bulging biceps in his arms before making herself
look away.

“You look
beautiful, Julie.” Cal said warmly.

“Thank you. Am
I – is my outfit appropriate?”

Mary had taken
her shopping yesterday and helped her pick out her outfit. She was
wearing a dark pink empire style dress. It hugged her breasts and
flowed loosely down her body to her knees. Mary had squealed over
the way it showcased her chest but Julie had chosen it because it
hid the bulge of her stomach and her thick thighs. It was autumn
and a bit too cool for the sleeveless dress but she had a dark
brown cardigan to wear over it. It was soft and warm and it made
her more comfortable to have her arms hidden.

Mary had
frowned over the cardigan, insisting that no woman wore a cardigan
on a date, but Julie had insisted. Mary had finally allowed her to
wear it when Julie promised not to button it up.

Now, Cal gave
her another warm, appreciative look that made her entire body
tingle. “Yes. You look amazing. Really.”

“Thank you.”
She replied softly.

Court tried not
to stare at Julie. It was obvious she was feeling self-conscious
and he still couldn’t believe that she didn’t have at least some
idea of how gorgeous she was. The dark pink of her dress
highlighted the paleness of her skin, rather than washing her out,
and he could hardly stop himself from touching her dark hair to see
if it was as soft as it looked. She wasn’t wearing makeup, just a
touch of something glossy on her lips and he studied the curve of
her bottom lip. He had the ridiculous urge to suck on it and he
cleared his throat as his cock stirred in his pants.

“You have a
lovely home.” He said politely. He had been a little shocked when
he’d pulled up to the address that Cal had texted him and seen the
size of the house. It was a literal mansion and he peered
interestedly over her shoulder at the paintings that adorned the
walls of the wide hallway.

“Thanks.” She
said briefly. “So should we get going or…”

“Yes,
absolutely. Wait – are you wearing comfortable shoes?” He glanced
down at her feet. She was wearing flat sandals and he nodded his
approval.

“Yup, those’ll
do.” He held out his hand and after a brief hesitation she took it.
He waited while she locked the door and then took her hand again
and led her to his vehicle.

She looked in
surprise at his battered truck as he opened the passenger door.

“What?” He
raised his eyebrows at her.