Page 1 of Escorted

One

Lori Addison sat in a crowded coffeeshop in downtown Seattle, nursed a caramel mocha, and tried to pretend shewasn’t nervous.

Shewasnervous. So nervous she literally jumped when her cell phone buzzed from herpurse. She fumbled to pull it out and gave a silly giggle of relief when sheheard Sabrina on the other end.

“Is he thereyet?” Sabrina asked.

“No. I toldyou. We’re not supposed to meet until three o’clock. Not for fifteen moreminutes.”

“I thought hemight be early.”

“Then why didyou call?”

“I’m dyinghere! You have to call me the minute you’re done.”

Lori laughed,relaxing a little in the face of Sabrina’s characteristic, pesteringimpatience. “I will. I told you I would. Who else would I call?”

“Definitely notany of your other acquaintances. I can’t believe you’re really doing this. Youget to have all the fun.”

Shifting in herseat restlessly, Lori tried for tartness as she asked, “You call this fun?”

“Well, you’regoing to be paying him a lot of money. It sure as hell better be fun for you.”

To her infinitemortification, Lori blushed hotly, even sitting alone at a table in a crowdedcoffee shop. She mumbled something incoherent.

Sabrinacackled. “What was that?”

“Shut up. I’membarrassed enough. I’m still not sure if I’m going to go through with this.”

“Well,definitely don’t go through with it if he gives off any creepy vibes. I meanit. The slightest twinge of weirdness and you get out of there.” Lori’scousin’s voice had altered. She was serious now.

“I know that.I’m twenty-six years old and not a fool. I have a pretty good man-sensor. But Ican’t imagine he’ll be creepy. I mean, you got about fourteen referrals forhim, didn’t you?”

“Sixteen,” Sabrinacorrected. “The man must be a god. I’ve never heard such raves. Some of thesewomen are frigid, middle-aged harpies, but get them started onthisguy…”

Lori clearedher throat and felt the nervous jitters in her belly again. “Um, yeah. Sothat’s good anyway. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to make sure it’s withthe right guy.”

“You soundnervous.”

“Of course, I’mnervous,” Lori snapped, lashing out as her anxiety started to rise.

Sabrina’s voicechanged again. “Lori, you don’t have to do this, you know. There’s absolutelynothing weird or unnatural about you—”

“I know that.But I’m sick of still being a…” Lori lowered her voice so the other patronscouldn’t hear her. “Still being a virgin. It’s ridiculous. And I’m sick ofwaiting around hoping some man will sweep me off my feet and take care of thisinconvenient little detail.”

“Lori—”

“We’ve beenover and over this,” Lori interrupted again. “Do we have to rehash it all?”

Lori had madeit through high school and college without having sex, mostly because she’dbeen futilely in love with her best friend for all those years—an sweet,adorable soccer player who’d never been into to her that way. No one else shefound remotely attractive was interested in her at all.

She’d dated onand off, but it had never gotten as far as the bedroom. In the years since,even after she’d realized that her friend just wasn’t the man for her, she’dgrown gradually more and more self-conscious about her sexual inexperience. Andit just got worse as she got older and everyone assumed she had a typicalsocial life. Because she was so self-conscious, she kept pushing men away. Shefelt caught in a ruthless cycle and didn’t know how to break free of it.

“I’ve beenthinking about it for months. It’s kept me from getting close to anyone—eventhe few men who’ve seemed mildly interested.” Lori shook her head and tookanother long swig of her coffee drink. “Besides, the irony is becoming bitterlypainful. I’m lauded as the Goddess of Romance and looked to for swoon-worthylove scenes. And yet I have no experience at all.

For thefourteen-zillionth time, Lori wondered how she’d somehow become a bestsellingromance novelist, when she was a complete failure at love.

“Well, itispretty remarkable how hot your sex scenes are,” Sabrina ventured, an edge oflaughter in her voice.

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