Page 3 of High Class

She snatches it from me, clearly flustered. “Something like that. I have a work phone and a personal phone. What’s the problem with that?”

Nothing. I have four phones. But she doesn’t need that information. I want to learn more about this woman. “And which were you just talking on?” I ask.

Before she can answer, my father approaches with a man I recognize to be the boss of another crime family we sometimes do business with. The man glances at Zara, and for a moment, I think they might know each other. Something about this girl isn’t adding up for me.

“Your cousin is busy. Please take Zara to the dance floor. I have business to discuss in private.”

I stand and offer my hand. “Shall we?”

She’s hesitant at first but puts her hand in mine. There’s that shock of electricity again. We move to the dance floor, and I pull her close and whisper in her ear.“D’où venez-vous?”Where are you from?

She smiles. “So, you speak French. Very good, Mr. Bowden. I also speak Spanish, Arabic, and Russian.”

I’m impressed, but I don’t show it. “Let me guess, a foreign language major in college?”

She laughs. “Something like that.”

“And you haven’t answered my question, Zara. Where are you from?”

“I’m from all over the place. I was born in London but raised in the states.”

“And where do you live now?”

I don’t know why I’m grilling her. But I want to know everything I can. For one, something is still bugging me about her. For another, I’m attracted to her, and talking is the only thing keeping me from dragging her to a dark corner somewhere.

“Why do you care? I’m here with your cousin.”

“Anyone who wants to date a Bowden is subject to a lot of scrutiny, Zara—what did you say your last name was?”

She smiles. “I didn’t. And who says anything about dating? I’m accompanying your cousin to an event. Nothing more.”

“Bullshit. I saw the way you were eye-fucking him in the car.”

She leans up and whispers in my ear. “That just makes me very good at my job.”

Well, fuck. She’s an escort. An expensive one, if I had to guess. The designer clothes, perfect body, and multiple languages. It all makes sense. And it makes even more sense why she’s with my cousin. Though I’ve never known him to pay for sex. It was stupid to bring someone like her to a business event. And while I don’t know the details of how tonight came to be, it’s clearly Bowden family business.

Either way, I chuckle and spin her around the dance floor. Finding out she fucks people for money doesn’t turn me off. But I’ve never felt the need to pay for it either. Even so, I’m still intrigued. Is her line of work the thing I couldn’t place? I don’t think that’s it. But I should have recognized it since I’ve given many sex workers and their clients rides in my limo back in Vegas. When I was first starting the company, I drove almost every night. Now that I have a fleet of cars and an entire roster of drivers, I rarely go out myself. But the escorts were always some of the most interesting passengers. Especially when I picked them up alone.

Zara is different though, and I can’t place why. Is it just because I find her stunning and want to fuck her myself? Or is it something else? My gut says get to know her and find out everything I can. There’s a reason she’s with my cousin. Did she approach him, or did he approach her?

“You don’t seem shocked, Mr. Bowden.”

I shrug. “I live in Vegas. You’re not the first whore I’ve danced with.”

It’s a harsh thing to say, and I would normally never call a woman that, sex-worker or not, but I want to get a reaction out of her and see how she takes the insult.

She doesn’t flinch. Just keeps staring up at me. “You won’t get to me so easily, Luke. I’ve been called worse. Sometimes I even like it.”

Chapter 2

Zara

DancingwithLukewasa bad idea. I’ve been trying not to stare since I first climbed into the Limo earlier tonight with Oliver. I rarely take jobs when I’m in New York, but the money was right, and it was a favor for one of my best clients. The Bowdens are a powerful lot. And they don’t shy away from violence, so I’m not excited about the prospect of going to a hotel with Luke’s cousin.

Being attracted to Luke just makes it worse. But since he just called me a whore, it should be easier to shake this lust.

And lust is all it is. The trouble? I’m enjoying this attraction and I don’t want to shake it. Even his insult has me humming with arousal. I’m pretty sure that makes me fucked up.

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