Page 90 of Their Courtesan
Instead of facing his words, she buried her face in his chest, determined to stay there until she eventually fell asleep. Thankfully, there were no dreams.
***
In the morning, while Judith bathed in his double-jetted shower, Seth made breakfast. A humble omelet to get the day started, but neither him nor Judith claimed to be hungry.
He, at least, was in a good mood. As soon as Judith emerged from his room wearing a light blue sundress, he whistled in her direction and put a ham and cheese omelet on the dining table. “How about some salsa?” he asked. Judith declined. Too early for salsa.
It was also too early for Seth’s delusions.
“You don’t have to go back to the countryside until two. What would you like to do until then? We could catch a matinee. Or we could stay here.” His tone implied he liked that idea a lot better.
“Either one is fine with me.” Judith barely touched her omelet.
Since the night before, she had been afflicted with a stomach ache. Not because of what Seth had done physically to her… but emotionally.
He loves me. Like, really, genuinely loves me.The way he took care of her, talked to her, asked about her life… made that hideously wonderful love to her… he treated her like a fucking goddess. Judith felt nauseous looking at her omelet.
How to count the ways… that it would never work? The worst thing was for a client, let alone a patron, toloveher. The love they exhibited one another was supposed to be tenuous. A mutual understanding that this could never be “real.” Already Judith was thinking about the party she had to work that night. There would be multiple horny men, all ready to spend money on her services. On a good night with that many men, she could easily clear $25,000, especially if more than one took her on. At the same time was the most efficient, but she was okay with moving on from one to the other…
See? She was already thinking about that!
Yet it felt wrong to do in Seth’s presence. This man, who had casually declared his love the night before, was going to ruin himself. Maybe not financially… but Judith was doomed to break his heart.He’s never seen me with another man.The moment that happened, Seth would probably lose his shit. He never smelled another man in her room. Never seen her mussed from being with another man. Never even knew thenamesof the other men, not including those she no longer saw.
She had a lot of thinking to do, and she couldn’t do it around him. Her feelings on the matter weren’t even relevant.
“I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with me, my love.” Judith was ready to hate that term of endearment now, but he said it so gently that she couldn’t help but smile at him. A genuine smile. She was done for. “I hope we can do it again soon. Perhaps when I am your patron?”
Judith hadn’t wanted to hear that tone in his voice. Too hopeful. He probably didn’t even mean to put machinations in motion, and yet here he was, implying that this all needed to end now. In his favor, of course.
What about Miguel?
Miguel was the safer choice. He claimed to love her, but Judith knew it was a fleeting love. He would be over her. Maybe he already was over her after going back to Europe. Besides, he had way more money and wasn’t even in the country half the time. That meant he would take up less of Judith’s valuable money-making time she could be using with other paying clients. That was the downside to a patron. They brought a steady income, but didn’t leave much room for additional profit.
Seth, on the other hand, was arealrelationship. Something Judith had never experienced before… and something she was not in a huge hurry to discover.I don’t want those strings attached to my business. That’s so dangerous.
“Judith?”
She glanced at him, dressed in his plain jeans and dark green flannel shirt. He was far from rugged, what with that smooth face and freshly buffed nails, but he was strong, reliable, creative, gentle (outside of the bedroom,) and… and…
Way, way too much!
“I’m glad you want me this much, Seth.” She tried to use her plastic smile, but it kept slipping off her face. “You’d be a good patron.”
He sighed, fork dropping onto his plate. “I was hoping that I could prove to you these past two days that you should pick me… is the other guythatgood?” His countenance implied he found that hard to believe.
“That’s not the point.” She then decided to lie. “Besides, I don’t get the executive decision. That’s up to my boss.”
“Surely, you getsomesay. I’m already well above the starting bid.”
“Yes, and she’ll take whoever offers the most in the silent auction.”
He furrowed his brows. Neither of them was eating breakfast now. “Come on…”
“What do you want me to say, Seth? That you want me to go to my boss and grovel for her to pick you to be my patron, no matter how much the other man offers? That’s what you want, yeah?”
“Well…”
“Let me guess. You want me to tell her that I love you. That I’m quitting to run away with you and get married and have your babies.” She stood up from the table, angrier than she ever thought she would be.
