She left me her number.
At thirty years old, I should not be this excited to be getting a woman’s number. But with Scarlett, it’s so much more that I don’t even bother to contain the giant grin that spreads across my face.
Lucas picks that moment to walk into my apartment.
I don’t wipe the smile from my face. I can’t. So when he sees it, he freezes.
“Do I want to know?”
I shrug, still smiling as I quickly save the number to my contacts. “Probably not.”
He peeks at the note in my hand, of course. And then he sighs.
“This isn’t being careful, Nico.”
Turning toward him, I clap his cheeks in my hands. “Lucas, I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I don’t give a flying fuck about being careful.”
He’s tense, more tense than I’ve ever seen him. He even hesitates for a moment, which I rarely see him do.
“Are you still paying her?”
His question stops me in my tracks.
I got so excited about the phone number, I didn’t even think about the cash.
My eyes dart over the kitchen and living room, searching. I know I gave her six thousand for this week’s date, but that was when she first arrived, when I was frustrated and trying to prove a point. She wouldn’t have kept it, would she? Not when she left me her number. The number means something.
Right?
I dart down the hall to my bedroom, just in case she left it on a nightstand or in the bathroom. But when I don’t find any cash laying around, dread grows in my stomach.
Lucas reads the answer on my face when I walk into the kitchen. To his credit, he looks sad to be proven right.
“As much as I should make the financial suggestion to stop seeing her, I won’t,” he says carefully. “Clearly, she’s giving you something you need. But Nico, you can’t fall in love with this girl. She’s an escort. There’s a 99% chance she’s playing you. You see that, right?”
But I don’t. All I can see is her phone number, and her smile, and that damn 1%.
She’s not playing me. There’s no way.
“Why are you here?” I bark out, harsher than I intended. Wincing, I drag a hand down my face. “Sorry. What’s going on?”
Lucas sighs. “Alexander called me. Said your girl got the stomach bug and that we needed to keep an eye on you in case you got sick, too.”
Immediately, shame floods me. My brothers have only ever wanted to have my back. I’m a dick for snapping at him.
I collapse onto one of the barstools. “I’m fine, but I appreciate it.” When that only earns me a look of skepticism, I let out a tired exhale.
“Look, on paper, I know you’re right. I knowI’m paying her to seem interested in me. But Lucas…I don’t think she faking. I really don’t. I think she had a fucked-up childhood or a fucked-up life or a fucked-upsomethingthat got her into this career, and I know it sounds insane, but I swear, it feels like she’s her real self with me.”
Now is when I get pity from Lucas. “And the money?” he asks gently.
I let out a sound of frustration. “I don’t know, okay? At first, she was taking it because it was the only way I could convince her I wasn’t just fishing for a free date. But now…” I sigh. “Now, I don’t know.”
Lucas doesn’t seem to have an answer for me. I don’t have one, either. The high from receiving her phone number has dulled.
“Look, I only came over to check that you’re okay,” Lucas says. “Not to give you a hard time. Alright?” A pause pairs with a worried look. “We good?”
I nod. “Yeah, of course.”
