Page 51 of Their Courtesan
Chapter 14
SETH
“Thank you for your bid in the interest of Miss Judith. We are writing to inform you that…”
Seth lowered the letter as soon as he was done reading it. So, another man was interested in his muse? Somehow that didn’t surprise him… and yet he was greatly annoyed all the same.
It wasn’t the matter of money. Yes, already promising thirty grand a month was huge, especially for him, but it wasn’t like he didn’t have the money. He wasn’t used to spending so much of it at once, regularly, and on one person. For $30,000 a month he could pay off some poor student’s loans. What was the fun in that?
He had thought long and hard about it. Sometimes too long, and too hard. Whenever Seth had his bearings again, he reminded himself that thirty grand a month wasn’t bad when he was already spending that once a week to fuck her every time he visited. The penny-pincher in him constantly reminded his conscience that he could save thousands by wrapping up his cock and pulling out, but then his conscience retorted with, “Then what’s the fuckingpoint?” He had gone too far. He knew what it was like to make love to her the natural way. There was no going back.
Still, bidding higher made him uneasy. The letter stipulated that increased bids went in $5,000 intervals, so he had to bid at least $35,000 to be taken seriously.Still cheaper than fucking her at the standard rate.Seth hated thinking of Judith like that, but he had to be practical. He was spending a shitton of money on her. Money that he didn’t have to spend if he found love the old fashioned way.
It’s not love, dumbass.
Yet when he lowered the letter and looked at the finished and unfinished paintings in his studio, he couldn’t help but think that there was somethingmorethan a mere relationship between professional and client.
Or maybe she really was that good. There was a reason why men like Seth were lining up to buy her, after all.
This is practical.If he was going to continue using her as a muse and get some extra benefits on the side, then it only made sense to become a patron. It would save him money,andhe could take her out of her fancy house. That was important to an artist. He wouldn’t be happy with painting her on that estate for the rest of his life. He would want to bring her to his studio. Maybe the gallery opening, if there was one. Fuck it. He wanted to take her to the coast, to the mountains, to Vancouver and Cancun. His family had their own private jet he sometimes borrowed. Why couldn’t he have her there too?
Yes, this was the practical thing to do. Better than the hundred grand he would soon owe the Château for bending his model over for a month and losing himself inside her as nature intended. That didn’t include the modeling fees!
He picked up his phone and dialed Monica Warren’s business number. All Seth could do was raise his bid and hope the other fool didn’t care about Judith as much ashedid.
***
“Holy shit.” Zack gasped upon entering his friend’s studio Wednesday morning. “You’ve done all these in two fucking weeks?”
“Is that fast?” Seth was grinning.
“Is that… you bastard! Are you on speed or crack orwhat?” He didn’t wait for Seth to answer. “Worse. You’re high on this woman.”
Seth didn’t like the tone in his voice. He sat by the largest window in his studio, overlooking a green courtyard between his townhouse and the neighboring apartment building. “She is my muse. That tends to be how it works.”
“You’re playing with some serious fucking fire,” Zack continued, as if Seth cared a single iota about his opinion on the matter. “She’s not any woman, Seth. She’s not even the usual warnings againstmodeltypes.”
“You might as well stop right there.” He didn’t need to hear this.
“Why? I don’t think you’ve realized what you’re doing.”
“WhatamI doing?”
Zack looked him square in the eye, a serious demeanor that did not suit him crossing his face. “You’re falling for an escort, to put it lightly. Don’t you get it? She’s not your girlfriend. She neverwillbe your girlfriend, unless she quits her job, I guess. Don’t count on it, though. I saw those girls there. They’ve got a good thing going. Unless they want out anyway, they’re not likely to run off even with a rich doctor like you.”
Seth turned away. “Didn’t realize I had asked for your unsolicited advice. Please. Give me the benefit of a doubt here. First of all, I’m not in love with her. I barely know her.”
“I’ll say.”
“Second, I know what kind of relationship we have. I pay for her time and, yes, her services.”
“Expensive services. You won’t even buy a new car because you think it’s too expensive, and you could pay cash. Dude, you’ve got more than one thing hard for this woman if you’re shelling out thousands of dollars to spend a few afternoons with her.”
“Hey, stay out of it, would you? If I want your advice, I will ask for it.”
Zack shook his head, but not before turning toward the finished portraits lining one wall. “This woman has done wonders for your work, that’s true.”
“But?” Might as well let him have it.
