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Lori giggled,feeling absurdly better about the whole thing now that Ander had somatter-of-factly sentenced Phil to the same level of hell she and Sabrina had.“That’s what I say.”

When sheglanced over at Ander, she caught him scanning her face with obvious scrutiny.“What?” she demanded.

“You hadn’treally fallen for the asshole, had you?” His tone was casual, nonchalant, andit didn’t quite match the urgent searching of his eyes.

“No. I reallyhadn’t. I mean, I felt like crap after he dumped me. But I was mostlyhumiliated. I really thought he had potential so I felt so stupid afterwards.And itdidhurt. I’ve always felt ...” Her words had spilled outunthinkingly, but she cut herself off when she realized what she was about tosay.

“You’ve alwaysfelt what?”

Lori closed hereyes. She had no intention of opening up about this, but she heard herselfsaying the words anyway. “I’ve always felt second-best. You know, always in theshadow of someone else. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was inlove with a guy all through high school and college who didn’t love me back.And this thing with Phil kind of made me feel that way again. Like I was beingstupid for expecting the hot guy to fall in love with me.” Her voice cracked alittle as she concluded, “I guess I keep waiting for someone to choose me, towantme, over all the other women he could have.”

The hotel roomwas silent as she finished, and she darted nervous eyes over to Ander. Hisexpression was quiet, reflective, and it made Lori burn with self-consciousnessagain.

What the hellwas she thinking? Spilling her guts like that.

He must thinkshe was a needy, foolish girl.

Ander didn’tspeak immediately, and Lori couldn’t think of anything to say. She squirmedrestlessly, trying to talk herself back into the comfortable familiarity she’dfelt earlier this evening.

She was just onthe verge of back-pedaling when Ander finally spoke.

“There was awoman who was a business associate of my father’s. She was about ten yearsolder than me, but she’d been making moves on me since I was eighteen.”

Lori blinked,disoriented at first with the change of subject. Ander lay on the bed besideher with his hands crossed behind his head. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling,and there was no trace of emotion on his face.

She realized hewas answering her question from earlier than evening—about his first time as amale escort. Maybe her confession, her making herself vulnerable, had openedthe door for him as well.

“After my dad andI got into our ten-millionth fight, I swore I’d have nothing more to do withhim. I kept my word. I’d been working on an MBA, but I dropped out of school,and I would no longer use any of his money or resources. I bummed around foralmost a year, living with friends and doing nothing constructive. And thiswoman kept making moves on me. I wasn’t interested. She wasn’t my type and Ididn’t like her connections to my dad. Then she offered me five-thousanddollars to go on a date with her.”

Ander’s voicewas dry and matter-of-fact, and his features were so calm they were almoststoic. “I accepted. I didn’t have a job and I had no money of my own. I tookher to dinner, then a cocktail party, then back to her place where I fuckedher. I lived for a month on one night’s work.”

Lori’s heartwas racing for some reason, and she couldn’t seem to take a full breath. Butshe kept her voice natural, not wanting to make a big deal about the fact thathe’d opened up for the first time. “Did your father know about it?”

“Oh yeah. Imade sure he knew. It seemed so easy to me. Take women out. Make money doingit. This woman had a lot of friends, so I got referrals from the verybeginning. Gradually, I made a whole business out of it.”

“Was it hard?” Loriasked, keeping her voice as light as possible. “That first time?”

“No.” Andershifted his eyes over to meet her gaze, although he only held it for a fewseconds. “It really wasn’t. I was angry and...and determined. I’m not saying itwasn’t hard at...other times. But the first time wasn’t. At all.” He gave abitter laugh. “It didn’t take long for my father to disown me completely.”

“He knows you stilldo this?”

“Yes. Hepretends not to recognize my existence. But he knows.”

As she gazedover at Ander in the artificial light of the room, she thought for a momentthat he looked incredibly young. Which was ridiculous. He was seven years olderthan she was, and he’d had more than one lifetime’s worth of experiencealready.

But he lookedyoung. Like a boy. Like a boy who still wanted his father to love him.

She movedinstinctively, without planning ahead or thinking her actions through. She justraised herself up on her elbows and leaned over toward where his head wasresting on a pillow.

Then her lipsfound his. Pressed against them in a soft, brief kiss.

It all feltperfectly natural until Ander’s breath caught audibly in his throat. His bodyjerked slightly and he stared at her in astonishment, his blue-gray eyes wideand bewildered.

Lori blushedhotly and pulled away.

“What’s goingon?” Ander asked, his voice slightly breathless.

Lori feltbreathless too. “I don’t know,” she admitted sheepishly. “I just...just feltlike kissing you. Sorry.”

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