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“The table where you picked up the money on the way in, if you look underneath it, you’ll find another envelope. It contains the rest of the money.”

Christ! The double money. I’d almost forgotten about it. It suddenly seemed unimportant. Nodding, even though I knew it was a pointless exercise, I reached for the door handle. I didn’t stop to get dressed until I was at the bottom of the stairs, back in the dim light of the lamp. Ignoring the pleasurable ache in my ass, I struggled back into my jeans. The money was exactly where Jay had said it would be. I put it in my pocket next to the other envelope. I took a moment to take one last look around before letting myself out of the front door. At the gate I paused, turning back to stare at the house. As I watched, a light came on in an upstairs room. From the layout of the house, it was easy to work out it was the room I’d just left. I waited, wondering if I’d see a face at the window. When the curtain didn’t so much as twitch, I hurried away.

Chapter Three

I lay on my back, hands behind my head, staring up at the bedroom ceiling. There was a water mark there. It had been there ever since I moved in. If you looked at it for long enough, it was kind of the shape of a dog. A dog with one leg longer than the rest, but a dog nonetheless.

I had no auditions lined up and my shift at the restaurant wasn’t until the evening. Therefore, I had absolutely nothing urgent to stop my brain from dwelling on the events of the previous night. I ignored the insistent throb in my crotch while my mind replayed the intense orgasm. My face burned at the memory: I’d really played the part of the willing whore to perfection. I refused to jack off at the thought, so my unruly cock could just go to hell. Groaning, I rolled over and buried my head in the pillow, the action immediately bringing to mind the smell of cologne on the one last night.

My bedroom door flew open, hitting the wall with a loud crack. I didn’t need to lift my head to know who it was. “Georgia, remember that conversation we had about knocking?”

My roommate stalked over to the bed and stared down at me. “Not really. I tend to switch off when you start talking about something boring.” She grabbed the edge of the duvet and proceeded to climb under it.

“For fuck’s sake, Georgia. I’m naked here!” I decided not to mention the fact that I was also sporting the best part of an erection.

Unperturbed, she continued to maneuver herself under it. She turned her head to the side to give me a prolonged look of scorn. “I am not remotely interested in your naked body, Dean. Get over yourself.”

“I’m going to put a lock on this door.”

She smiled. “Yeah, yeah! So you keep saying. I’ll believe it when I see it. Anyway, it’s not like you’re up to anything interesting. I came to see why you’re just lying around in bed.” She raised a slim arm to stare at the watch on her wrist. “It’s after ten.” She relaxed back against the pillow and made herself comfortable.

“I could have been jerking off…or had a guy in here.”

She arched one eyebrow. “Jerking off maybe. A guy. No way. I’d know if you were seeing anyone. You had a…job last night, right?”

There were only two people in my life who knew about the escorting. One was Georgia, the other my brother. I closed my eyes, waiting for the next predictable question, hoping that for once she might skip it. She didn’t.

“How was it? Was he hot? Was he the man of your dreams?”

I cracked open one eyelid. “I keep telling you it’s real life, not a scene from Pretty Woman.”

Georgia pulled a face and looked like she was about to launch into an argument. Thankfully, I was saved from having to answer any more questions or face a debate on real life versus portrayals in a film when my phone rang. I reached across to the nightstand and picked it up, frowning as Georgia leaned across me to read the caller display. “Oh, it’s your pimp. I’ll leave you to it and go and make a late breakfast.” She levered herself out of the bed and successfully dodged the pillow I threw at her rapidly retreating back. I sighed before answering the phone.

“Hi, Tom.”

“Dean. How was last night?”

Great! The very thing I didn’t want to think about, never mind talk about. “It went okay.”

“Well, you must have done something right.”

I took a moment to digest his words, trying to work out what he was getting at. “What do you mean?”

“He called this morning. He wants to make it a regular thing. Every Tuesday.”

“Well, that’s…good for you, right? A regular client.”

“Good for me!” I held the phone further from my ear as Tom’s already booming voice increased in volume. “And good for you.”

“For me?”

Tom laughed. “Sorry. I’ll rewind. He wants to make it a regular thing with you.”

My silence obviously spoke volumes. I could almost hear the cogs ticking around in Tom’s head. “Was everything really okay last night? Did he give you the right amount of money? Did he do something he shouldn’t have?”

Made me come like a bloody steam train even though I have no idea who he was or anything about him. “No. Nothing like that. The money was fine. Everything was fine. I just don’t know if…you know…again. But, if not, you can send someone else.”

“He was very clear that it needed to be you. It will be the same deal. Same money as well. Double money as long as you continue to keep to the conditions he set.”