Page 69 of David

Playing with her a little won’t hurt anyone.

“I never said I wanted you.”

“Mm-hmm… What’s your book about?” I shift gears and bingo––her cheeks turn red.

A beautiful woman with sparkling eyes and a flush of blood dusting her cheeks.

“Some romantic story,” she says, her eyes tearing away from mine. “Honestly, I don’t know,” she goes on. “I lacked inspiration that day.”

I watch her bring her drink to her lips and tilt it against her mouth.

She swallows her wine, her nostrils flaring.

It’s a sweet, light wine. I’m not surprised she likes it.

“That’s why you studied me?” I ask.

She brings her gaze to me, her eyes glistening a bit––more from the alcohol than me being a catch.

“I know you have inspired Rain’s book.”

I stare at her, pretending I forgot about the book.

“Owned by L. Carter,” she murmurs.

“Uh… That book,” I say, smiling.

Despite being published over a decade ago, everybody seems to know about this book these days.

“The book was also about her husband.”

“Sure.”

She dismisses me with a flick of her hand.

She must know a lot about me if she read that book.

Rain hadn’t made a secret of how we met, how I paid her, and how she became my steady girl.

I was her first client. And she was a call girl.

I never called women like her hookers. To me, it was never about that. And if it weren’t for that book, I’d never go back to revisit those times.

Rain Sexton is a closed chapter for me.

Besides, she wasn’t Rain Sexton back then.

She was Red, a girl I met in a hotel restaurant. She’d made a few bad choices and walked into chaos.

She was hungry, beautiful, and without a cent in her pocket because she dared to stand for what she believed in.

I liked that about her. I liked it a lot. She and I had a lot more in common than she could ever imagine.

A thirst for dirty pleasure and revenge.

She’s never learned my entire story.

Nobody has.

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