Page 8 of Filthy Rich

“Are you sure about that because the right wheel is riding the edge pretty hard?” She sighs and glances toward me. “Maybe I should get out and walk in front of the truck? I can guide you, so you don’t—”

“Just stay in the truck. The road is getting wider ahead.” I brush my hand down over my beard as I watch the old dirt road in front of us. I’m not sure if anything I’m saying is actually true, but it doesn’t matter. There’s no room to turn around. It’s dark, and at this point, we’re invested in this path until we find a pullout or get to the top of the pines. “Why don’t you tell me a few things I need to know about your family for the party.”

She sighs and turns towards me. “Now?You want me to bother you right now with party stuff?”

“No time like the present. Might as well get it out of the way. What’s our story? How’d we meet? What topics should I steer clear of tomorrow?”

As much as I’d like to glance sideways to see her while she talks, I keep my eyes on the dark, narrow road ahead.

“Okay… well… they already know I went to the ranch to try dating, so we can tell the truth about that. We’ll just leave out the part where you’re paying me now. I’m pretty sure they’ll snap over something so weird.”

“Why is it weird?”

“Doesn’t that do something to you psychologically? I mean, ifyouhad to pay someone to go out. Plus, you… really don’t need to pay for a date. You could just go outside and I’m sure the bitches would swarm you.”

I laugh. “Wow. Thanks for the ego stroke, but you’ve got it all wrong. I can have all the‘bitches’I can handle, but I’m looking for quality.”

“And what makes you think I’m quality?”

A rock catches the truck tire, and we bump around the narrow path. “Trust me. I know quality when I see it.”

“I live in a run-down cabin that used to belong to my grandparents and hasn’t been updated since. I drive a Pontiac that is so old they don’t even make parts for it any more. Hell, just this morning I couldn’t seem to argue legalized prostitution with a seventh grader. None of that screams highly valuable.”

“First of all, that’s not what makes you quality, but you know that already. The last thing I need is a new cabin or your car, but prostitution? How does that come up in school?”

She shakes her head and swallows hard. “He wrote an essay about it, then dedicated his class project to the history of brothels in the American west. I keep debating him on the topic, but he always has something to say about it.”

“Like what?” I try not to laugh. “He sounds… interesting.”

“I’ll say prostitution promotes human trafficking, and he’ll rebut with how legalizing it will actually make women safer since it’s done in a secure location like any other job. I’ll talk about the health risks, and he’ll remind me of the increased regulations for that as well. No matter what kind of approach I take, he finds a way to contradict me.”

“Except it’s morally wrong to pay for sex.”

She grins and turns toward me as though she’s holding something back.“Yeah? You think?”

“Yeah.” My brows narrow. “Why are you saying it like that?”

“Well,” she chuckles, “I mean… here we are on a date… and you’re paying me. So, I assume you didn’t pay a million dollarsnotto have sex.”

I grin. “Is this wishful thinking?”

She turns away and bites back a smile that I only see from the corner of my eye. “You’re something.”

For some reason, even the lively banter about sex has my cock eager to play. I really need to get that under control. It’s not my intention to fuck her. I want more than that. I want a life, a family, a home with her.

“Shit!” Trish groans and a twelve-point buck hops into the road, staring toward us as though he’s caught in limbo.

I brake quickly and the headlights shine on the kicked up dust and steam rolling off the engine.

“That’s it! We should turn around! This whole thing is getting kind of murder-e, anyway.”

“Murder-e?”

“Murder-e.Yeah, like someone is going to hop out of the tree line with a gun or throw one of those spike strips out in front of us.”

“And what would be the purpose of that?” The deer finally runs back into the woods, and I creep forward.

“I don’t know. People are crazy. Haven’t you ever watched a scary movie?”

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