Page 55 of Reason to Believe (White Lace 2)

Sometimes I had real trouble trying to reconcile the man who was holding me and the one who’d had sex with me. The man who wanted desperately to keep me at a distance, and I had no idea why. Despite wanting the exact same thing, despite doing my best to keep myself from falling head over heels, it pained me to know he was doing his best to do it, too.

When my forty-five-minute lunch was up, I walked Ben to the lobby.

“I think this was exactly what I needed,” he said as he pushed the button to call the elevator. “Will I see you tonight?” He grabbed my hand, his fingers playfully touching mine. “My place?”

I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face, and his touch righted something inside me. Calmed me.

From the moment we’d first had sex, I had become a Pavlovian experiment. Just his presence evoked a sexual response. But the more time we spent together, and now the more we had sex, the less that response happened. I was sure it was because the novelty was wearing off, but there was a part of me, a very small, confused part that knew the simple touch of his playful fingers in mine had been the thing I’d been searching for this whole time.

So I pulled away, thankful that I had a valid excuse to refuse his invitation. “I promised Everly a girls’ night. We’ve both been so busy we barely see each other anymore.”

The elevator binged and the doors opened behind him.

“Tomorrow?” He looked hopeful and vulnerable at the same time.

“Tomorrow is great.”

He stepped back slowly, without even having to watch where he was going.

With a wink, the doors closed and he was gone. But the flutter in my chest didn’t stop with his exit. Neither did the smile leave my face.

I went to my office, disappointed that I had to wait a whole twenty-four hours before I saw him again. And I realized I hadn’t ever felt this before. There was only one other person in my life that I couldn’t stand not seeing every day, and that was Everly.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly and when 7:30 rolled around I was just about to shut down my computer when I looked up from my desk.

My blood ran cold. There, standing on the opposite side of the glass wall at the front of my office, were Scott and two friends, peering in like humans at a zoo.

Scott clapped his friend on the arm. “I told you it was her.”

The friend he hit smirked, the surly curve of his thin lips reminiscent of Scott’s creepy ways. “Hookers in the workplace. Sounds like a reality show.”

All three of them laughed.

I recognized one of Scott’s friends from the frat party, the other one I’d never seen before.

I was terrified. I couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t here out of fascination. They were here for…something. And they wouldn’t give me a choice. All because I had been an escort and somehow that forfeited my right to say no.

I clenched my pen in my hand under the desk, moving in a stabbing formation just in case.

“Does your sister know she hired a hooker?”

They were talking about me like I wasn’t even in the room.

Scott shook his head. “I’m debating how I should tell her. Maybe at one of her managers’ meetings. For once the golden girl did something wrong.”

He would use his knowledge of my past to not only humiliate me, but to ruin his sister.

This guy was a grade-A asshole.

“I’m really busy,” I said. “Not much time to chat, so if you don’t mind…”

All three of them just stood there. Their eyes were red, pupils dilated. They were definitely on something.

“Come on, Jade. We’re just having some fun.”

“My name isn’t—”

“We’re going out for a few drinks. You should come with us.” The third guy, the one I didn’t recognize, pointed at the door.

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