“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Becks answered. She threw a thumb to the side. “He wanted to come back here to thank you. And honestly,” she admitted to both Sandy and herself, “so do I.”
Sandy raised an eyebrow. “I’ve done a lot of things in my line of work. Receiving gratitude from a client’s girlfriend?—”
“Wife,” Ghost corrected, even though Sandy wasn’t talking to him.
“—wife,” Sandy repeated without missing a beat, “has never been one of them. Call me intrigued.” She sat back with her wine glass in hand.
“I don’t know what you said to him, but whatever it was, it made him come back for me. Saved me time from having to track him down,” Becks threw in with a smile. Sandy smiled back. “When he first said he wanted to come back here to see you, I wasn’t sure what to expect. And maybe it’s mean of me, but I was kind of hoping you’d be ugly.”
Sandy laughed, nearly choking on her wine. “Oh, honey, you don’t need to worry about that. You weren’t even in the room, and that man only had eyes for you.”
Becks’ cheeks flushed as she beamed at the other woman, who in many ways was a professional seductress. “Well, anyway, thank you for knocking some sense into him.”
Sandy gave her an appreciative nod. “I have to say, a few nights ago was a first for me. But it was pleasant, and a change of pace. I didn’t realize how much I needed that either. So, honestly, I should be the one thanking you.”
Ghost cleared his throat. “I was the one who paid the bill.”
Both Becks and Sandy waved off that minor detail. Becks adjusted her chair to be closer to the table, and a little closer to Sandy too. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.” Sandy didn’t seem nervous about the possibly intrusive inquiry coming her way.
“Why didn’t you sleep with him?”
Sandy raised an eyebrow as Ghost made a choking sound. “He paid me to talk.”
Becks nodded. “Yes, I know. But you still could have pushed it. He was in a low place, and I know this because I was. If you’d tried, it probably wouldn’t have taken much. But you didn’t, and I’m curious why.”
“I already told you, he only had eyes for you.” When Becks continued to stare at her, Sandy put her wine glass down. She sat very regally in the dining chair. “Honestly? I planned to. When we got upstairs, I assumed we would. A lot of clients say they want to ‘just talk’ but very rarely do they really mean it. It’s affection that they want, intimacy. Even if it’s just for a few hours, that illusion soothes them. But not with your man. He truly is a rare breed, and if I’m being honest, I’m extremely jealous of you.”
“Of me?” Becks’ shock raised her voice an octave.
“I made peace with my profession a long time ago, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind. I’ll never have a man look at me as Ghost does you. Don’t squander that or take advantage of it. You truly do not know how rare it is.”
Sandy’s honesty made Becks reach across the corner of the table to take her hand. She squeezed it once. “Never,” she assured Sandy. “And don’t give up hope. You never know what, or who, might come your way.” Feeling sassy, she added, “I’m living proof of that. Five days ago, I hadn’t even met my husband yet.”
Sandy chuckled, but though she smiled, it didn’t reach her eyes. Becks had a feeling that though the woman did not lack partners, she was lonely.
Turning to Ghost, she poked his upper arm several times. “Let me see your phone.”
“Oh, now you remember I exist?”
Becks rolled her eyes, and held her hand out for the device. Ghost pulled his phone from his pocket and placed it in her hand. She’d seen him unlock it several times over the past two days and knew his passcode. Then she handed it over to Sandy. “Here,” she said. “If you need anything. Money, a friendly ear, whatever, you can reach out to me. Beyond that I owe you, I like you.”
Sandy stared at the phone for a second, almost like she wasn’t sure what to do with the blanket invitation. “You really mean that, don’t you? You don’t want anything from me, yet you’re offering me this?”
Becks still held Ghost’s unlocked phone out to her. “It’s called friendship,” she told the worldly woman, who in this moment seemed so confused.
Sandy took the phone. “I haven’t had a friend in a long time,” she confessed. “At least, not one who didn’t eventually turn onme or want to use me.” After typing in her information, she handed the phone back to Becks.
“Well, now you do.” Becks quickly sent a message off with her information to the number Sandy provided so she would have Ghost’s and Becks’ numbers. “All my stuff is still in Alabama, but I’ll check in with you once I have my phone back. And you better answer or I’m sending Ghost back here to hunt you down.”
Sandy smiled widely. “I bet you would.” Turning to Ghost, she said, “You picked a good one.Neverlet this woman go.”
Ghost took Becks’ hand in his. “Never, and she’s right by the way. If you need anything, you use that number. Day or night. I know you have your own security, but I mean it.” He looked at Becks, though he still spoke to Sandy. “My beautiful bride has already said everything I came back here to say.” Becks smiled widely at Ghost, loving that they were so in sync. “With the exception of one thing.” Ghost turned his attention back to Sandy. “I’d appreciate it if you’d check out of my room now. My credit card is not running a brothel upstairs.”
Becks gasped as she now understood how Ghost had been so positive that Sandy would still be at this hotel.
Sandy wasn’t offended in the slightest. Like it was the most logical explanation in the world as to why she had kept Ghost’s one-night hotel room reservation going two extra nights, she shrugged and said, “Your room had a jacuzzi.”
