Page 88 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
He tried not to react, but he blanched.
She sighed. She didn’t want to hurt him, not like that. ‘And they’re not strangers. Luxxor vets them, and I don’t go into an exclusive contract without escorting the man to events first. I’m not suited for the nine-to-five. The monotony and the office backstabbing would drive me nuts.’
He nodded. ‘Keep going.’
‘I’m a people person. I like to have fun, and I like to make other people feel good – whether that’s making them laugh, listening to them or having sex.’ She waved at her body. ‘You used your assets to get ahead, and I used mine.’
‘But Gunderson,’ he said, sounding pained. ‘How did you have sex with that Botoxed geezer?’
‘It wasn’t with him,’ she muttered.
‘What?’
She rolled her eyes. Now it was her turn to share something nobody else knew. ‘I like sex. I like the sensations, the endorphins and the feeling of power it gives me. But if my partner isn’t exactly…arousingenough for me, I look for other stimuli.’
He stared at her hard.
‘I fantasised,’ she finally blurted. ‘Sometimes I was with my client, but at others I was with Chris Hemsworth or Zac Efron.’
Understanding dawned in his eyes. ‘Who were you with on the night when those reporters broke in to film you?’
Her lips flattened. ‘Don’t ask me to soothe your ego when I’m still mad at you.’
For once, she surprised him. His jaw dropped, and his body jerked. It was the most animated she’d seen him.
‘My turn,’ she said, pouncing before he kept pushing down that path. ‘Why do you work so hard to hide your emotions?’
He stopped. ‘Do I?’
‘You’re like the male Mona Lisa.’
He gave her a sceptical look – a twitch of his eye and a barely detectable downward turn of his lips.
‘Like that.’ She let out a frustrated sound. ‘Look up the word inscrutable in the dictionary, and there’s your face.’
He rubbed his jaw. ‘I don’t know. It’s the way I’ve always been. I guess it was the way I was raised.’
So he’d grown up in a strict household…one where nobody ever broke loose, yet he’d broken free. She was getting a better and better read on him. It wasn’t a sob story, but a case of rebellion. He’d been restricted and controlled, but now he ruled.
‘Does it bother you?’ he asked.
‘No.’ When she saw him opening up, it made her feel like she was in on the secret.
His gaze slid over her face, and the room went silent. Genieve braced herself. It was his turn again.
‘Can I ask you something personal?’ he asked.
She hesitated. Talking about the sex she had for money wasn’t personal? ‘What is it?’
‘Jenny…can you read?’
Her breathing stopped, and her feet rooted to the floor. ‘I can read!’
He waited, watching her until she wriggled her ankle. She’d become so good at covering, nobody picked up on it anymore. But he had. She could see it on his inscrutable face. His eyes were sharp and curious. But not hurtful…
Damn it, she didn’t want him to feel sorry for her. Indignation started to bubble inside her, the pain familiar but raw. ‘I’m just slow.’
‘And I’m a dancing panda,’ he said dryly. ‘You’re not slow. You have one of the quickest minds I’ve ever encountered.’
