Page 4 of Bait Me
And then her eyes widen. “Oh my god, seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. Is he a client?”
“Shit, I didn’t realise it was the same Darius. Huh, talk about a small world. And no, Bon, he’s not a client, he’s the boss.” And fucking hell, my brain has malfunctioned completely, but I don’t have time to say anything else as a deep voice says, “Sadie,” in acknowledgment, and then she’s turning her surprise into a smile for Darius Cole.
Oh shit. Just breathe. It’s going to be fine. Totally, totally fine.
“Darius, good to see you,” Sadie tells him, reaching out to shake his hand, and there’s me, yet to turn my head because I can feel a blush creeping over me. Pretty sure I’m going to look the same colour as my hair when I face him.
“And who is this?” he says, and I close my eyes, wishing the ground would swallow me up. My heart is picking up speed, and my mind is on overdrive. He’s seen me sat at the kitchen table, rolling my eyes at my family, dressed in jogging bottoms and an oversized T-shirt, sans make-up, hair chucked up in a messy bun, because I had no reason to dress up or act like someone I’m not, and here I am now, dressed to the nines for a goddamn escort job that is going to get me out of a financial hole and away from the family that seem to hate me so much. But he’s the boss. The fucking boss. And I can’t do this. With that decision made, I reluctantly turn my head, until my eyes collide with his, and I say the only thing that comes to mind as a sizzle makes its way down my body.
“Hi, Darius.”
Chapter Three
DARIUS
For a moment, I’m struck speechless, acting the part like I would if I hadn’t already known Bonnie would be sat here. But I did know, because I do my homework, and when Sadie came to me with a plea and a name, I knew I’d never be able to say no to Bonnie, the sister of my most recent ex, and the one that I couldn’t stop fucking thinking about as I sat across the kitchen table from her at her parent’s house. Small world.
I regroup, as I say, “Bonnie, pleasure to see you again.” I hold my hand out for her to shake, and when she moves her arm and places her shaking hand in mine, I feel a fucking current shoot through me, taking me by surprise once more. Well, that’s new. Bonnie looks more than surprised, and she’s not good at hiding it, her emotions written all over her face. Nerves, excitement, embarrassment, and if I am not mistaken, desire.
I release her hand as I take a seat, admiring how fucking good she looks in her figure-hugging top that’s showing nothing but sculpted arms from having no sleeves. Most guys would prefer to see the goods, but me? I’m more about the unwrapping to see what lies beneath. At thirty-two years old, I’m past the ‘eye’s hanging out of my sockets’ stage of life and more about modesty until you get to the bedroom, of course. In the bedroom, all bets are off.
Her long red hair frames her face, and her fierce green eyes send signals straight to my cock. Her teeth are biting her bottom lip, one I could run my tongue over before I nipped it with my own teeth, making it look more bee-stung than it already does.
I’m aware that I haven’t said anything yet, and as both women stare at me, I realise I should probably say something to avoid the awkward tension ramping up a notch.
“Bonnie, what brings you here?” I say, deciding to get straight to the point, even though I know that Sadie has brought her here for a possible job.
“Well, I, uh?—”
“I brought her here for the possibility of an escort job,” Sadie says, cutting Bonnie off from her struggle to form words. I already know this, because Sadie and I have spoken briefly, before I gave the go-ahead for this meeting. There are thousands of Bonnie’s in this world, possibly more, but as soon as she said her name, even before she gave me her surname, I knew. Call it an inkling, a feeling, a fucking calling card, I just knew. And it just so happens that she is the one I want to wrap her lips around my dick, who is interested in a job, as an escort, with me as her boss… I already know my answer without her trying to convince me that she would be perfect.
“And can you tell me why you think you would be a good addition here, Bonnie?” I ask as I focus all of my attention on her.
“I’m, um…” Her face is colouring up a darker shade of pink, making her cheeks rosy, as she tries to think of what to say. I’m pretty sure she’d have been okay had I not walked in here and sat my arse down in front of her, but hey, life likes to throw curveballs at you and see how you deal with them. Bonnie is not dealing, she’s floundering, and I can’t help but find it endearing, even when she finally gets so frustrated that she blurts out, “You know what, fuck this, I’m clearly not cut out for the escort business. I’m sorry to waste your time, Darius.” And then she’s up and walking out of here like her arse is on fire. It fucking will be, eventually, I think to myself.
“I apologise…” Sadie begins, but I hold my hand up to stop her from saying anything else.
“You wait here,” I tell her as I stand up and push my chair under the table. “I’ll go and speak to her.”
Sadie nods her head, knowing better than to argue with the man that runs the whole show. I have to flaunt my control here, because without it, there would be absolute fucking chaos. Clients and staff need to know there is no room for error here, no room for mistakes when it comes to how things are run, and my staff know to do what I say, when I say. So even as Sadie looks on worriedly, I know she won’t follow me, and that gives me a prime opportunity to get Bonnie and her smart mouth on her own.
Chapter Four
BONNIE
What the hell was I thinking coming here? I mean, did I really entertain the idea of being paid to provide men company? Because fuck was I going to provide the pleasure. I couldn’t be paid for that, ever. Could I? I guess the questions are redundant now anyway, seeing as I just told the boss I was out, and not just any boss, but my sister’s ex. I think I’m still in shock that he’s who he is. I’m guessing Kelly never knew what he really did, because she’d have been spouting off about it, for sure, never one to keep her mouth shut.
I feel like a goddamn fool as I march down the pavement, the taxi rank coming into view down the street. But being caught up in my own thoughts makes me unaware of anyone creeping up behind me, until they’re wrapping their arm around my waist and hauling my back to their chest. The breath whooshes from my lungs and I freeze momentarily before kicking into action and doing everything I can to get whoever is holding me to let go. But of course, as cliché as it is, I can’t fucking budge the mountain behind me, and even as I kick and try to flail about, no one can hear my shouts which are muffled by his hand sliding over my lips. And in less than thirty seconds, whoever he is has got me bundled down a side road and is then pinning me to a wall, their body behind mine, their chest pressed to my back, their hand no longer covering my mouth but holding my arms behind me.
“What the fuck?” I shout, even though I highly doubt anyone will come and investigate down here.
“You need to calm down,” he says, and my mind registers that I know the voice of the man behind me.
“Darius?” I say after a beat, and then his lips are beside my ear as he says, “When you’re calm, I’ll let go, but until then, we’ll stay as we are.”
Him pushed against me.
