Page 94 of Sex Coach

"You don't much like doctors, I'm betting ."

"You're not a doctor," she said, her tone going waspish .

"No. So you shouldn't have a problem letting me take a look then clean it up." Giving her the same charming smile I used the night we first met for dinner, I hunkered down in front of her. The towel didn't hold up to the strain, but I ignored it as it fell .

Her eyes dipped. "You lost your towel ."

"I don't need it to check out your foot," I said, wrapping my fingers around her ankle .

She didn't resist, but I wasn't sure if I was because I was now naked or if she didn't see the point in fighting. I wasn't going to question it though and hurriedly examined the cut before cleaning it with a wipe from the box, then dabbing it dry with a piece of gauze. The only band-aid big enough to cover it was huge, coming up over her heel on both sides, but at least it was covered now. The bleeding had stopped, and when I finished, I looked up to meet her eyes. "Did I hurt you ?"

"Yes," she whispered .

"I'm sorry." I rubbed my thumb over her ankle. "I tried to be careful ."

"Not with that." She looked away but that didn't keep me from seeing the tear that broke free to roll down her cheek. "I know this was all supposed to be sex, but it ended up being more for me. I know it's stupid, and you don't have to worry about –"

I cut the words off with a kiss, plunging my fingers into her hair and angling her head back .

She sagged against me, and I had to fight the urge to pull her to the floor with me, bury myself in her, over and over again. It ended up being more for me ...

The words echoed inside me and I broke the kiss, pressing my forehead to hers .

"It ended up being more for me too, Michelle. That's what scared me. That's why I acted like such a dick ."

She blinked, a flicker of disbelief, followed by confusion lighting her eyes .

I went to elaborate, but decided this wasn't a conversation I wanted to have in a bathroom. I rose, then swept her up into my arms, ignoring her when she tried to tell me to put her down. "We're talking," I told her. "And we're not doing it in the bathroom ."

We ended up in her bedroom, because she was shivering slightly, and I wasn't exactly warm. I took the towel she had wrapped around her and used it to dry her hair before giving mine a cursory rub and tossing it over the foot of the bed. "This was just supposed to be sex," I said, sliding into the bed and pulling her up against me. "That's all this was supposed to be for both of us. I know you were getting ideas for your articles. I was able to be with a woman who wasn't paying me for it...we both got something. But it ended up being more for me too. You got in my way, Michelle ."

She sat stiffly against me, even after I lapsed into silence, waiting for her to ask what I was talking about .

But she didn't .

"Aren't you going to ask ?"

"I imagine I got in the way of you being able to do...whatever you do. Like being the King of the Multiple O, I figure. Otherwise you wouldn't do it ."

For a second, I didn't know how to reply to that. Eyes closed, I sat there. There was a padded headboard, and I dropped my head onto that as I tried to think .

"I ended up with that stupid nickname because I was good at fucking, Michelle. And I'm a good whore ."

I sensed her entire body flinch .

Opening my eyes, I caught her chin and guided her face around until she met my gaze. "What?" I asked bluntly. "That's what I am. I have sex for money. You can change it up or make it sound prettier than it is – a male prostitute, a gigolo, an escort – but I have sex with women for money. It started out because the only jobs I could get were odd ones that paid under the table, and when a few women made it clear they wouldn't mind paying me to give them a good time, I was tired of scraping by so I went with it. But whether you put a pretty tag on it or not, it doesn't change what I am. I'm a whore ."

"You're more than that," she said softly .

"Not much." Disgusted with myself, I let her face go and wondered who in the hell I was fooling .

Michelle turned around then, facing me. As I sat there, she threw one leg over my hips and cupped my cheeks, studying me with shadowed eyes. "You're my friend. And although it was wrong what you accused me of, you were pissed off for another woman you care about. Your heart was in the right place, even if you were an ass about it ."

She sighed and leaned in, rubbing her lips against mine. "And you helped me figure something out. All this time, I've been stuck inside myself, half afraid to live, and I didn't need to be. I didn't figure that out until you came along, Jake. So...thank you ."

"You didn't need me for that," I said, voice raw. Fisting a hand in her hair, I tugged her head back, staring into her eyes. "Everything was inside you all along ."

"But maybe it took you to help me see it." She kissed me again. "Just like I'm going to make sure you understand there's more to you than what you think ."

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