‘Okay,’ he said, scratching his head. He looked bewildered.
She bit her lip. ‘But the thing is, I haven’t done any of it. There aren’t any men. None of it’s real.’
‘So you make up these stories? You write down your fantasies? That’s kind of hot,’ he said, with a wicked grin. ‘But I don’t see the problem. There’s no law against it, is there? Everything you write on your blog doesn’t have to be true.’
‘The problem is, a publisher’s interested in it. He wants me to turn it into a book.’
‘So? Just make it up, like on the blog.’
Claire chewed her lip. ‘But he’ll expect me to be all sexy and sassy, like the girl in the blog, and I’m not.’
‘You seem to have done a good job of winging it so far.’
‘Okay,’ Claire said. ‘If you don’t want to help me, that’s fine.’ She took a swig from her bottle to cover her embarrassment, aware she was blushing furiously.
‘There’s more to it, isn’t there?’ Luca scrutinised her closely, and then a slow smile spread across his face. ‘Is that who you went on a date with the other night – this publisher dude?’
‘Well… yes.’
‘You like him, don’t you?’ he asked.
‘Yes, okay, I like him.’ Claire blushed. ‘But he thinks I’m this total sexpot, when in fact I have hardly any experience in… that area. So, you see, it’s not just about having a – a fuck,’ she forced herself to say it, almost choking on the word. ‘It’s a more long-term project.’
‘Okay. Anyway, I’m not saying no.’
‘You’re not?’
‘I’m not saying yes either,’ he warned. ‘I’m not exactly sure what you want me to do. What would you want me to teach you?’
‘Well… everything, I suppose. How to… you know, be good at it. And blowjobs and stuff.’
‘Blowjobs?’ Luca was sitting so close, his dark eyes twinkling with amusement. ‘So basically you want to pay me to let you suck my dick?’
She couldn’t meet his frank, open expression, her eyes darting away. ‘Well…’
‘Sounds like my kind of job,’ he said. ‘When do we start?’
‘So you’ll do it?’
‘I don’t know. What does it pay?’
‘Oh, I’ve researched the going rate for this sort of thing?—’
‘You have?’
‘Um, yeah. I was going to hire an escort, but I couldn’t get up the nerve. Anyway, I didn’t like the idea of being with a professional, um…’
‘Hooker,’ he finished. ‘So you thought you’d go for a talented amateur. Look, I’ll fuck you, if you want. You don’t have to pay me.’
She flinched at his bluntness. ‘But I told you, I don’t want you to just fu— do that. Why should you do it for nothing anyway? I’m not someone you’d choose to, um… do that with.’
‘You’ve got all the usual girl bits, haven’t you?’ he said, his eyes raking over her body. ‘I’d say you’re plenty my type.’
She cringed, but stood her ground. ‘I want you toteachme. You’d have to put up with me being useless and be patient with me. Why shouldn’t you get something out of it? It’s only fair. Besides—’ She stopped abruptly. She didn’t want to offend him.
‘Besides?’ He raised his eyebrows questioningly.
‘Well, we’d have to do it here. I mean, I can’t do it at home in front of my mum.’
