Page 38 of The Arrangement

The way her fingers had danced over my skin was like nothing I had ever felt before; I knew it was supposed to be healing or clinical or whatever, but I had never felt so cared for. She had looked, really looked and saw my discomfort, and instead of brushing it off, Georgiatook care of me. She wanted to. I swallowed hard, and even in the haze of my relaxation and sleepiness, something fluttered in my stomach.

"You're exhausted, and it's late," she whispered, walking out of the bathroom softly and taking her bags. "Go to sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow."

I collapsed back down on the bed, the ointment feeling warm as it soaked into the painful knots and joints. "Thanks, Georgia," I mumbled sleepily.

There was silence, and I think she said, "No worries," but I had already reached the edge of unconsciousness. There was something that pulled at me, wishing I’d been able to grab her and pull her against me.

But that wasn’t our plan. It was not in our contract.

My room was plunged into darkness as she switched off the ambient lights, and I heard the click of my front door. And Georgia was gone.

Chapter 20

Georgia

"So what's the man's name that you're seeing?" my grandmother asked slyly, taking a sip of her latte as we browsed the clothing section at her favorite shop.It had been a good day; when I called yesterday, it took her a few moments to remember who I was. I still was trying to brush that sick feeling off.

"Oh my god, I'm not seeing anyone!" I replied quickly, feeling a blush creep up my neck as I did so. I wasn't lying. We weren't seeing each other, not like that.

"Hmm," my grandmother hummed, obviously not believing my answer and looking at me with narrowed eyes. "Then why are you blushing, Georgia Ann?"

I threw back my head with an exaggerated sigh, "I'm not!" The older woman just shook her head, pulling out a comfortable blue dress from the rack and holding it up to herself.

"I'm just saying if I was your age and in my prime, I would be buying a cute dress here and talking to all the cute boys I could." She winked, tossing the clothing item into the cart as we moved on.

"Oh, Grandma, you still could talk to cute guys," I reminded her, making sure she was holding onto the cart as we walked. Her vertigowas getting more pronounced when she walked too quickly, but she refused to use the shop's wheelchairs.

Smiling softly, she answered with a far-off look in her eyes, "Well, there was only one man for me. I've waited for him before, and I can do it again."

I squeezed her hand lightly, a soft silence falling over us as we continued. Grandma Mary cleared her throat as we passed the delicates section and whispered, "I do need some new undergarments; let me look for a bit." I nodded and cast a look around to realize I could honestly use a few things; I had never really had the excuse to buy "vanity" lingerie. Dylan never saw the point in spending the money, saying he would rather just have me naked anyway. I bit my lip, looking at a few of the more racy pieces—well, as close to racy as you could get when buying from a department store that had a grocery shop attached.

A short, silk-like nightie caught my eye. I looked around to make sure my grandmother was fully occupied as I traced the lace that hemmed the item, which came in a variety of colors. It would barely cover my crotch if I put it on, and the neckline plunged dangerously low, for a barely-there slip effect made to hug the curves of the body. Gnawing on the inside of my cheek, I quickly grabbed the black one and the green one. They were relatively inexpensive, and, you know, at this point wasn’t it a business expense or something?

I hid them behind the cereal boxes and vitamins, straightening as Mary turned around with her packaged underwear in hand.

"We should leave now if we want to hit the movie in time!" she exclaimed, looking at the timepiece on her wrist. We ushered ourselves back to the checkout lanes, where I quickly pushed my things behind hers. I ushered her to the small cafe at the front of the store so there would be no way for her to interject my payment or see the very scandalous negligee.

By the time I got my bags, she was finished with her decaf latte and ready to go. As we walked out the door to my car, she grabbed my elbow and whispered, "Good choice by the way, I think the green one will really bring out your eyes! Now, where did we park?"

Takingmy grandmother back to the assisted living home was always bittersweet. She seemed genuinely happy there, with plenty of friends, especially her next-door neighbor Lizzie, who often came over for trash TV binges. The movie was good, and I felt happier than I had in a few weeks, so when I walked to my car and noticed steam coming out from under the hood, I closed my eyes in disbelief—that stupid radiator.

The gallon of water that I always had stashed in my trunk was thankfully still partly full, at least enough to cool it down enough for the short drive home. I thanked my lucky stars that it hadn't happened while I was out with my grandmother; she would have been worried about me, and things would have just gone downhill from there.

As I popped the hood, I was pleasantly surprised not to see a ridiculous amount of steam pouring out. I gave the radiator a quick tap to make sure it was cooling down. Smart? Maybe not, but it was chilly, and I was in a hurry. Hurriedly I dumped what was left from the jug of water I kept in my trunk and I was on the road in no time. I made a mental reminder to put more water in my emergency jug.

My phone vibrated in the cup holder, but I made myself wait until I pulled into the apartment complex, idling in my assigned spot, staring at the link that Quinn had sent. Jesus, he was fast.

Thumb hovered over the link before I finally killed the car, all but running inside, tossing off my parka before collapsing on my couch, nearly taking out Hannah as I did so. Looking around, I closed the blinds even though it was dark outside by now.

Before pressing the link, I read the accompanying text from Quinn that simply stated;

Quinn: These are the teasers and the full cut of the two videos I can put out on Monday. Let me know your thoughts.

My thoughts, like it wasn't a sex tape I filmed with a guy I went toschool with for extra money, I shoved those thoughts aside and clicked the link. My stomach was spinning with the movie theater popcorn and candy, which apparently wasn't a great dinner choice.

The teasers were…sexy. Like, was that even me? My face looked unfamiliar even to me, with the bright red lips and thick lace mask that was surprisingly sheer on the other side. Wolfe's muscled body touched my stomach, his fingers ghosting over my clothed nipples as I rolled my body into the pressure.

He included a shot where I was on my knees, his briefs still on at that point, allowing my hands to skate over his finely muscled thighs, tracing the lines where his dark hair disappeared in the black underwear as his cock strained for release.

---