I stand still, frozen, unable to move.
I’m not entirely sure what just happened here. It kind of felt like Chris was hitting on me, but also it felt like he was threatening me. I’ve never considered the guy a friend, but I can’t deny it feels… weird.
Like, for a moment, he thought I was someone else.
“I’ll leave you two to get unpacked,” he says, leaving Aaron and I alone.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
“Peachy,” I say, shoving the weirdness aside.
He rolls my suitcases to me and drops my duffel on the bed.
“So… how do you know Chris?” he asks as he hoists his suitcase up on the bed and unzips it.
I ponder for a moment how to answer him.
“Truth?” I ask carefully. He looks up at me.
“Yeah, of course. Told you when it’s just us, you can be honest with me. If this is going to work, we need to behonest.With each other.”
I contemplate his words, hoping what I’m about to say doesn’t put a monkey wrench in this whole thing.
“His neighbor is one of my regulars.”
Aaron’s gaze softens, his expression unreadable, and for a moment I think maybe I did say the wrong thing, or I should have said it differently or—
“Man or woman?” he asks, so plainly, I almost have to ask him to repeat himself. There’s no judgment. No disgust. Just curiosity.
“Woman,” I say as I lift my suitcase onto the other side of the bed and unzip it.
“She pretty?” he asks, pulling out some shirts.
“Beautiful, actually.”
He saunters over to his dresser and opens a drawer before coming back to his suitcase.
“You… uh… have a lot of regulars?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Not really. I mean, I’ve had a few return clients, but most are one and done deals.”
Aaron catches my gaze, and immediately I realize I put my foot in my mouth. Shit.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like…”
“No offense taken,” he says with a shrug. “It’s your job, I get it.”
I should let it go. I really should, but it’s the way he says the words, with an air of hurt, that makes me feel like I can’t.
“Yeah, but… my clients arereal people,Aaron. With goals and dreams and tough situations. And they come tomefor myhelp.”
I open my suitcase, staring at my folded clothes, feeling strangely naked. I can feel his gaze on me. Hot, like a flame.
“And then I give them what they want, so usually there’s noneedfor someone to come back.”
“Why does she come back?” he asks, his voice slightly dark. Almost jealous, even.
I think about his question, wondering how much I should tell him because Bella is a client and I don’t usually talk client info with people who aren’t privy to that info in the first place, like my brother. It goes against the NDA and confidentiality agreement.
