Page 3 of Escorted

“Ander is. Mylast name has been changed.” He gave a huff of dry laughter that she foundremarkably appealing. “To protect the innocent.”

She snickered alittle, instinctively drawn to wit in any form. His answer had been particularlyclever—as it remained ambiguous as to which party in question was innocent. “Sowere you named for Alexander the Great or Alexander Graham Bell?”

He gave her acurious look, as if he were mildly startled at her nosy questions. But beforeshe could start to feel self-conscious about what might be inappropriatebehavior on her part for meetings such as these, he said, “The Great. My fatherwould never have named a child after someone as innocuous as an inventor,however brilliant the inventor happened to be.”

“Ah,” shereplied, “So your father liked the warriors.”

“Exactly.”Idly, Ander put a hand on her back to guide her over to an empty bench in thecity park.

Lori sat on thebench and looked up at him, noting that he was ridiculously handsome in the sunlight,with a breeze blowing against his dark clothes. “I suppose your father must beespecially proud of you, then,” she said wryly.

Even sheknew—as soon as she spoke the words—that the comment was far too presumptuousfor first acquaintance. She bit her lip and felt a pang of guilt andembarrassment.

To her relief, Anderdidn’t look offended. He just looked off in the distance and murmured, “Oh,he’s proud all right.”

The note ofbitterness told Lori something about this man’s feelings for his father. Therewas a whole story here, a mystery to unravel.

But it was noneof Lori’s business and wasn’t at all what she was here for. Pulling herselfback to the purpose of this meeting, she felt a new wave of self-consciousness.

What the hellwas she doing here?

Ander sat downnext to her on the bench and sipped his coffee, his expression becomingprofessional again. “I always meet with prospective clients to ensure we’re onthe same page before we schedule an engagement.”

Lori nodded,dropping her eyes to stare at her hands in her lap.

“Did you haveany questions about the prices your friend explained to you?” Ander asked. “You’llpay for an entire evening. That’s the base price. I offer nothing lower thanthat.”

She looked upat him, frowning. He didn’t have a website like some escorts, instead relyingon personal referrals, but details Sabrina had gotten from the women she’dtalked to were quite clear. She was a professional woman. Not an idiot. “Yes, Iwas able to understand the services you offer and what you charge for them,”she said, her tone a little snippy.

His mouthtwitched, so slightly she almost didn’t catch it. “Good. I just wanted to makeit clear that you pay for the entire evening, whether or not you use it. Idon’t hire myself out by the hour.”

So some reason,his dry tone made her want to snicker again. She stifled it, in case he’dmistake it for mockery. “Understood.”

“We can dowhatever you like for the evening. I can act as escort, play a part if youwant, provide general companionship. If you’re interested in anything sexual,that will cost extra.”

Lori couldn’tbelieve she was sitting here, in the middle of a park in downtown Seattle,having this conversation. Her cheeks burned involuntarily, but she wasn’t asmortified as she’d expected. Ander was so business-like and matter-of-factabout the situation that it helped Lori feel that way too.

“I thought Imade my interests clear when we talked on the phone,” she said.

Ander nodded.“Of course. The prices differ for oral on you, oral on me, and fullintercourse.”

A naggingquestion that had been bugging her for a few days prompted her to ask, “Whowould pay you that much money foryouto get the blow job?”

Again, thatslight twitch of his mouth. She wasn’t even sure it meant anything—hisexpression was generally so calm as to be stoic. But she found that occasional littlequiver of his mouth the most appealing thing about him. “Women have differentdesires when they make use of my services. Some find giving more thrilling thanreceiving. Some simply want the practice.”

Lori thoughtabout that for a moment. It was something she’d never even considered before.

Ander clearedhis throat, bringing her attention back to him. “Perhaps you can give me alittle information about your goals for this engagement.”

She nodded. “Right.Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t pay this much money for a date.” She took abreath. Summoned all her fortitude and courage. “I want to have sex.”

“Yes, but whatare your goals for the sex? Are you looking for a particular mood or brand ofexcitement? Do you just want to relieve tension? Get something you can’t getfrom other partners? I’m not trying to pry into your personal motivations, butI need a little direction if we’re to make this a successful engagement.”

“Right.” Sheshifted on the bench. Told herself she would be paying this man a lot of moneya few days from now so she had nothing to be embarrassed about. And surely he’dencountered a lot of stranger things in his line of work. “I want to have sexbecause I haven’t had it before. Yet.”

To her infiniterelief, Ander didn’t even bat an eye. “I see. Did you have any specific detailsyou wanted to play out? A particular fantasy?”

“No fantasy. Ijust want to get it over with.” When she realized how that must have sounded,she shot him a rueful look. “That came out worse than I meant it. I’d like itto be good, of course. As good as possible, I mean. I don’t have anyunrealistic expectations. No romanticizing or anything.”

---