Page 96 of Escorted

But she wasstarting to get an idea.

Ander lookedover at her absently. “Sorry. I was trying to remember where I put the condomswhen I took them out of my case. I know I had a lot of extra.”

Lori blinked athim, momentarily distracted from the larger issue. “Didn’t you have some inyour place already?”

“No.” With asmall, rueful huff, he admitted, “I’ve never had sex here before.”

Despite allshe’d learned about Ander over the last months, she still felt dizzy fromastonishment. “What?”

“I’ve never hadsex in this apartment before.”

“But you’velived here for ten years.”

“Yes. What’syour point?”

“But ...” Lorigulped, processing this revelation. “You’ve only ever had sex with clients?”

Ander glancedaway. “Since I started working...yes.”

And now Loriwas sure she knew what was going on, why Ander had been stalling, why he wasacting like everything was normal when clearly something was bothering him. Notsure how to address it, she dealt with another issue first.

Putting a softhand on his chest, she murmured, “Ander, I don’t think we need to use acondom.”

She felt himjerk very slightly. “What do you mean?” he gritted out. He wasn’t quite meetingher eyes.

“I mean, you’rethe only man I’ve ever had sex with, and you haven’t had sex with anyone but mein over seven months. Right?”

“Right.”

“I know howvigilant you’ve been about your health. You’re healthy. I’m healthy. Neither ofus are having sex with anyone else. We don’t need the condom.”

“But I’ve hadsex with all those other women—”

Lori felt apang of sharp pain at the thought—at the thought of Ander fucking all of thosewomen over all of those years. But she pushed through the pain to what she knewwas true. “They’re in the past, Ander. And you didn’t get a disease from any ofthem. We don’t need the condom.”

Ander’s facechanged, softened. He reached over to cup her cheek with a hand that had alwaysbeen so warm. “Lori, unless you’re ready to start having babies, we still needthe condom.”

Despite theseriousness of what they were dealing with, Lori couldn’t hold back a giggle.“I didn’t forget about that, Ander, but I’ve been on birth control for ages. Assoon as I decided to see you regularly, I went to the doctor. I know we werealways careful about the condoms, but accidents happen, and I really didn’twant to get pregnant.”

Ander made astrange guttural sound. One she didn’t recognize. Then he looked away from heragain.

Her heartracing frantically and her fingers trembling a little, Lori reached up to takehis face in her hands and make him meet her eyes. “Ander, just tell me thetruth. Why do you keep stalling?”

He swallowed sohard she saw it in his throat. But this time he didn’t evade the answer. “I dowant to. Desperately. I’m just...I’m just terrified.”

Lori’s lipsparted, half astonished although she’d suspected something like it. Just not soextreme. “Why are you terrified of making love to me?”

“Because that’swhat it would be.” Ander swallowed again. Looked horribly uncomfortable. But hemanaged to force out, “I’ve never done it before.”

Emotion rosefrom Lori’s heart to her throat, so deeply she almost couldn’t breathe. Withone brief sob, she threw herself against him and hugged him urgently, buryingher face in his shoulder to hide her sudden storm of feeling.

Ander huggedher back with fierce passion, and they stood in the entrance of his bedroomembracing for a long time.

Finally, Loripulled away and managed to say. “I’ve never made love either. Not for real.It’s the first time for both of us. But don’t you want to try?”

He laughedunexpectedly, half ironic and half affectionate. And he said, “Yeah. I want totry.”

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