Page 7 of Fake Dating Daxton Hawk
“What, have you gone mute all of a sudden?” Delphine asks. She joins me at the railing. “Ugh, you’re smoking.”
“You got a problem with cigarettes?” I exhale the smoke right into her face, amused when she scowls at me. It’s too fun playing with this girl. Even more fun whenever I make her nervous.
“I hate smokers. Your attractiveness has dropped from a four to a two.”
“Only a two?”
“You wear nice suits. But I guess that’s an attribute to the clothes, not you. So you’re really a one.”
I return the cigarette to my lips to stop myself from smiling. Delphine glances out at the city right as a cold gust of wind sweeps by us, ruffling her curls. She clings to herself for warmth, half her body exposed in that tiny red dress. Doing the polite thing, I slide my jacket off and wrap it around her shoulders. After all, I’m the one who asked her to wear something revealing, so it’s my fault she’s cold.
She glares at me as soon as the jacket touches her skin. “What are you doing—Oh.”
“Trying to keep you warm.”
She accepts the offer and throws me another insult. “The jacket smells like smoke. I’m surprised you’d give up your jacket for me. I guess you can be a gentleman when you want to.”
I smile again, for some reason enjoying her insults. I can’t deny Delphine has sex appeal. She’s gorgeous and captured my attention among twenty other girls dancing on stage when I found her at Club Noir. I would have asked her out on a date right then and there, arealdate, if I weren’t so set on Jordan being the girl for me.
Where appearances are regarded, Delphine is exactly my type of woman. She looks like a pinup model with her porcelain skin and long black hair that is always curled. I’ve never seen her without red lipstick. It looks incredible on her, but Delphine’s eyes are her best feature—a hypnotic snake-green, always framed with sleek cat-eye makeup. There’s a seduction to them that says “fuck me,” no matter what mood she’s in or how much she dislikes me. She’s thin and tiny, with amazing breasts. And more than once I’ve been fascinated with the impressive sleeve of ink on her right arm. The tattoos are a colorful collage of flowers and pinup models. It’s the kind of tattoo I could examine for hours and keep finding hidden gems inside.
She’s brilliant. She’s sexy as fuck. She’s just…
Not Jordan.
I don’t want anyone but Jordan, which is crazy, because how can I be so… in love with a girl I’ve never met? But I am. I’m fucking obsessed.
My phone vibrates and I pull it out of my pocket in a rush, desperate to see Jordan’s reply in Secret Santa. Instead, it’s a message from Felicity. For fuck’s sake. Ifshe’smessaging me, it can only be about one thing. She’s trying to mend the damage between me and my brother so I’ll attend their wedding. Not going to happen. How do I say in polite termsFuck off. I don’t want to speak to either one of you ever again?
“Whoa.” Delphine’s voice draws me out of my mind and back to the balcony with her. “You look like you could murder someone. Who texted you?”
“Just this… girl,” I grit out.
“Oh, a girl. Spill the details. You were checking your phone constantly at the table. Is she why you’ve been in such a bad mood all night?”
“It’s not like that.”
Delphine is the last person I want to share this information with. Aside from my family, I’ve never felt comfortable speaking about the Brad and Felicity drama with anyone other than Jordan.
“There are no details to share.” I take another puff of my cigarette and change the subject. “You weren’t free the other night.”
“Yeah, because you requested me last minute and I was already booked to escort Tom Sanders.”
God, I hate that prick. I’ve heard he’s rough with women in the bedroom, and not in a good way. “You should stay away from Tom Sanders. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
She gives me a strange look, as if wondering why I care. Delphine may be just a paid date, but I don’t take well to any woman being physically abused.
“Tom was fine,” she says.
“Good. Look, is there some way we can avoid this availability issue in the future? I couldn’t find another escort on such short notice. I had to bring a real date to a business dinner.”
“Oh, how terrible for you.”
I run a hand through my hair and sigh. “The issue is she expected something romantic from me. Every woman does, even other escorts I’ve hired in the past, no matter how clear I am about the date being only business. That’s why I like hiring you. For whatever reason, you clearly don’t like me.”
She grimaces. Fair enough, my words were a little brash. “This may shock you, pumpkin, but I have a life outside of escorting for you and am not available at your beck and call. Why do you even need a date for these business dinners?”
“My advisors tell me I have a tendency of being intimidating when discussing business. They say a feminine presence helps ease the atmosphere.”
