Page 14 of Sugar Baby Mine

“You’ll come with me to events, parties, overseas trips—a chance to meet a lot of people you’d otherwise never connect with. You get gifts, financial compensation, and of course, sex and aftercare.”

Oh God, cuddling? Blankets, ice cream, my favorite comfort movie I always have on a loop? I desperately want to lay with his arms wrapped around me, tightly enveloped in his scent that I already can’t get enough of. I’m going to have to snoop through his bathroom and find his cologne so I can buy and spray it on my pillows, and God, I really am a fucking los—

“Emme?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you do that often?”

“Do what?” He gives me a look, and I wince. “Oh—sorry, I have ADHD.”

He frowns slightly. “Don’t ever apologize for that.”

I blink. In my entire life, he’s the only person who has ever said that when I tell them I have ADHD. It’s always some variation ofoh, that’s okayorthat explains a lot. Suddenly, my lack of self-worth becomes very apparent.

My mouth runs dry and I take a sip of my water before letting my fingers run through the condensation forming on the glass, absently drawing shapes as I fight for what to say next.

“So, how exactly are we doing this?”

Ben takes a big breath in and I realize this is the blind leading the blind, maybe with only some Googling and advice from each of our counterparts, Cora and Fred. I don’t think my obsessive watching ofThe Girlfriend Experiencein the last few days is really anything serious to go off of here.

“Well, let’s start simple. Do you have a passport?”

“Working on it. Cora had me apply for an expedited application earlier this week. Not much else I can do to hurry it along.”

“That’s fine, it’ll come back when it’s ready.” He shrugs. “I don’t have anything in the books for overseas travel until November anyway.”

That’s less than two months away, which is probably going to be pushing it, but maybe I’ll get lucky.

“If it’s not back by then, I guess you’re just going to have to go back to your right hand for a bit.”

“I’m left-handed.” He smirks.

“Oh, well, don’t they say it feels better with your non-dominant hand anyway?”

He laughs again, and it’s quickly becoming my favorite sound.

“I suppose so. We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it. But there is one thing I’d like to request that you wear whenever we meet.”

My eyebrows raise, and my arms cross over my chest. “And what’s that?”

“Heels.”

My gaze automatically drifts down to my nude wedges as I kick a leg out to examine them. “These are the only ones I have. If you want me to wear something nice, you’ll have to buy them.”

“Of course. I’ll send them to your address.”

My nose scrunches up. “And you have that already without asking me?”

“Yes.”

Awareness prickles along my spine, and I pull a breath in through tight ribs. “From Cora?”

A guilty look passes over his features, and my heart stutters. “Not exactly, though that might have been easier.”

“A background check?”

“Yes. Granted, I’m no mafia mob boss, so I don’t know the name of the street you grew up on when you were six, but I know enough.”

---