Page 80 of Sex Coach

"Ah..."

"Darling!"

My mother's familiar, ebullient voice sounded through baggage claim and I winced a little. "I think my ride is here ."

He was still watching me with expectant eyes, and for half a second, I thought about saying yes .

Have a nice life ...

"I can't," I said, the words tumbling free. "I'm just down here to see my parents." And get away from somebody who hurt me .

"Of course." He nodded. "I understand ."

He stepped away just as Mom drew even with me, and she gave me a wide-eyed look. "Was he asking you out?" she whispered – not too quietly either .

"Mom..."

"He was , wasn't he ?"

"Mom ," I said again. My face was so hot now I knew my cheeks probably rivaled my hair. I'd started wearing makeup again, so hopefully that was concealing some of the blush, but I doubted it was covering all of it. "Come on. I want to get my bag and go ."

"He's very cute. You should say yes," she said, walking with me as I headed toward the conveyor belt just as the red light flashed .

He was cute, but there was no way in hell I'd say yes now , even if I didn't still have thoughts of one sexy Jake King dancing through my head. "I came here to see you and Dad, not date ."

"Honey..."

Spying my bag and the chance to escape, I grabbed it and spun around, giving her a bright smile. "Okay. I'm ready! Besides...he just headed out. Too late, now ."

Dad was waiting at the curb for us with the car, a shiny black SUV rental. He greeted me with a quick kiss on the cheek and cupped my chin, turning my face from one side to the other. "Aren't you looking lovely ?"

"Thanks."

He pinched my chin the way he had when I'd been a small girl, then let go. "Your mother said you sounded unhappy earlier, but you look quite well to me. Is everything alright ?"

I hesitated, not wanting to get into...well, anything. I didn't think they'd approve to hear I'd been having an affair – of sorts – with a male prostitute and now I was mooning over the fact that he'd ended it, all because he thought I'd gone to the press .

No.

That so wasn't something I wanted to get into with my parents. Our relationship was finally returning to something resembling normal, but we weren't so close that I felt comfortable discussing anything like that with them .

No way in hell .

* * *

I liked Philadelphia.

It didn't have the frenetic, fast-pace lifestyle of New York, but there was never a lack of things to do either. I could even order in Chinese in the dead of the night – which I liked .

They might not have a dozen different theatres all vying for your money crammed into a couple of square blocks, but they definitely had a love of the arts .

And I loved the Forrest Theatre – Dad had bought tickets for a Broadway play when he heard I was coming to town and that made everything seem a little better. For the time being at least .

Mom and Dad often traveled to Philadelphia, so I'd been coming here off and on most of my life and had seen everything here from plays like A Christmas Carol to Les Miserable to Stomp and Lord of the Dance .

The outside of the magnificent theatre was unassuming. It was tall and made of pale stone, sitting on one of Philly's narrow, tree-lined streets. But on the inside, it was...beautiful. Walls that gleamed like pale gold in the dim lights, interspersed with rich accents of deep red. The chandeliers overhead sent splinters of light down to shine on the stages. People dressed in everything from semi-formal attire to jeans and t-shirts. I'd surprised my parents when I emerged from my hotel room in a dress of snug, red jersey. I'd planned to wear the dress for Jake, but that plan was out the window now. I might as well wear it for me .

Both of them had looked a little dazed at first, and I thought maybe one of my boobs was hanging out, but a quick look down revealed that the sweetheart neckline, while sexy, wasn't all that risqué. "What's wrong?" I'd asked .

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