Page 7 of Escorting the Mogul

I’d like to say that this sort of client behavior was unusual, but it wasn’t. Compared to a lot of the guys, Loopsy wasn’t even that bad.

Although maybe that wasn’t true. I didn’t really know. Because what usually happened after that, I really couldn’t tell you. I went dark, as I liked to think of it. It was a trick I’d learned as a little girl. I’d taught Dre the same thing—to think of life like a movie. If it was bad, I pretended I was watching it and that it was happening to someone else. If it got really scary, and it often did, I just closed my eyes. Then I could never remember it—poof!It was like it never happened.

Instead, I thought about the dogs I would get, the Pitbull or the Rottie and the fat BFF mutt sidekick. I thought about picket fences, well-tended yards, kids playing on a swing set, sunshine, and lemonade. I thought about how my life could be someday, maybe if I saved enough money and found a way out.

Maybe. Someday.

I never cried. I never fought back. I’d learned a long time ago that it was better if I just went away for a little while.

Sunshine. Lemonade. Dogs wagging their tails.

Hooking sucked, Loopsy sucked, and the movie of my life that I’d been watching since I was little sucked. But I wasn’t going to focus on that. Rent was due. One thing I’d sworn to myself was that I’d never be homeless again, and I made more in one hour hooking than I would in an entire shift waiting tables.

I had nowhere to go, no one to run to. So this was it.

This was my life.

For now, Jenny,I reminded myself.This is just for now.

Sometimes I wondered how, after all this time, I could still be hopeful. My hope was like a little weed growing in a crack on a dirty sidewalk. Even when I tried to pluck it out, as I often did, it grew back.

So I’d decided that my hope was Meant to Be. And no matter what happened, even with my eyes closed, I knew it was always there. And that was something.

In fact, as it was all I had…it was everything.

COLE

I watchedAudrey and James for the rest of the night. They appeared to be a couple that was madly in love. They didn’t stray from each other’s side, and James had his arm around her waist for the entire party. He even had another bite ofcrab cake. If that wasn’t evidence of something, I didn’t know what was.

James said he’d hired her, and I believed him. But what Ididn’tbelieve was that it was strictly business. I’d known him for years, and I’d never seen him look as interested in a woman as Audrey. He said it was for show, but my buddy wasn’t that good of an actor.

I might have to force his hand a little—just a tiny nudge.

I waited to make my move. The party started to break up, and James left to get the car. Audrey was finally alone—and I made a beeline for her, approaching from behind.

She turned and jumped a little. “Oh!”

“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” I lied.

“Hey, Cole.” She sounded fake-friendly.

“Hello, Audrey.” I gave her a wide smile. I made sure it was on the side of leering. I was being a dick, but it was all for a good cause.

“James is calling for the car,” she said, sounding nervous.

“I know.” I leaned against the wall next to her, blocking our conversation from the crowd. “He told me about you, you know.”

She only hesitated for a nano-second, but I caught it.

Audrey blinked at me. “Really? What did he say?”

“I know why you’re here,” I said. “I know he hired you. He never could stand to be alone with his family. But he also told me things aren’t physical between you two. That’s why you should come home withmetonight. And I’m not saying this to be an asshole—I’m saying it to help.”

Her brow wrinkled. “You’re not saying it to be an asshole, Cole? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” I smiled at her. “It’s abusinessproposition. You fill my need, I’ll fill yours. You come home with me tonight, and I’ll pay you your regular fee. And James will still be paying you. You’ll make a tidy profit. It’s like a twofer.”

I leaned closer, waiting to hear what she said. Audrey looked torn. If she said yes, I could tell James she was just in it for the money. If she said no, my suspicions would be confirmed: she was into him.

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