Catch Your Breath (26 page)

Jimmy halfway smiled. “This is an apology. How did things go with Liam?”

“As well as could be expected.”

She went to the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase. As she reached over her head
into the cabinet, Jimmy let out a low whistle telling her just how short her dress
was. Her inner diva gave a self-satisfied smirk. “Liam thinks you’re going to hurt
me because you’re looking for a wife who will stay at home and be at your beck and
call.”

Jimmy winced. “For the record, I don’t expect beck and call service, but I do want
a wife who will stay at home with our kids.”

He got points for honesty instead of brushing it aside. “I explained to Liam that
we haven’t gotten to that point in our relationship. I can’t believe you told him
we had sex.”

“I told you I talked to him.”

She slapped her hand on the counter beside the flower arrangement. “You said we were
taking our relationship to the next level.”

“After dating, sex is the next level.”

“But he’s my brother. You could’ve shown a little more tact.” She leaned forward and
buried her nose in the bouquet.

“He’s also my friend. I never thought about censoring myself.”

She moved away from the flowers and stepped on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “You also
never dated his sister before. New game, new rules.”

His arm circled her waist, pulling her closer. “Where do you want to go for dinner?”

“We can order in.”

He grunted in her ear and kissed her lips. His hands found the hem of her dress and
inched it up. She curled her calf around his.

“I like the way you think. Pizza will give us a good forty-five minutes.”

She laughed and stepped back to grab her phone. “What do you want on it?”

“Something with meat.” He wrapped his arms around her again.

She turned in the circle of his embrace and tried to focus on talking to the pizza
guy. Jimmy made it increasingly difficult by nibbling on her neck. She breathlessly
rattled off her address for delivery and tossed the phone on the counter. “Forty minutes,”
she said as she faced Jimmy.

He captured her mouth again and she sighed. She ran her hands over his head, allowing
his soft hair to bristle against her palms. Lost in the heat of his body, exchanging
breath with him, Moira melted as he deepened the kiss.

M
oira studied herself in the mirror and wondered if the dress she wore was nice enough.
Piper had texted that she should dress for a date, even though they planned to meet
for coffee. The cocktail dress would work for most dates, she assumed. Her idea of
a good date was shorts and gym shoes for riding the Tilt-A-Whirl. Remembering her
first date with Jimmy brought a blush to her cheeks, which wasn’t entirely unflattering.

Screw it. Her dress would have to do. She wasn’t good at auditioning repeatedly. Billie
had hired her, so she must’ve done something right.

She checked the time, and a stab of panic hit her. She had to hurry and pray for no
traffic on her drive into downtown. Shoving her keys into her clutch purse, she rushed
out the door.

Forty minutes later, she stood in line to order coffee and kept looking for Piper.
She ordered a grande with a double shot. As much as she enjoyed having Jimmy spend
the night, she needed an extra boost of caffeine to keep going, and it was only four
in the afternoon. It was probably good that she’d told Jimmy she had work to do tonight.

Piper strode through the door wearing expensive jeans and a glittery top. Not quite
what Moira would consider a date outfit. The barista handed her a cup and she went
to join Piper.

“I thought you said dress for a date.”

“I did.”

Moira pointed at Piper’s jeans.

“You need to be ready for a date because I’m giving you my client for the night.”

Moira’s heart leaped into her throat and she couldn’t swallow. For a moment, she forgot
to breathe. She wasn’t ready for this, a date where a man might want her to have sex.
She took a gulp of hot coffee hoping it would dissolve the lump so she could talk.
The scalding her tongue received earned her a few seconds to think as Piper laughed
at her.

After Piper ordered, Moira regained her ability to form words. “What do you mean,
date?”

Piper shrugged. “I talked to Billie and told her I thought Mr. Lee would be a good
initiation into the business.”

Moira walked slowly to a table and sat, waiting for Piper to get her coffee and offer
an explanation. In the meantime, Moira focused on how to respond. Piper was being
generous to give up a paying job, but Moira hadn’t quite thought this through. She’d
believed she had time to develop a plan. She already knew the type of clients the
service catered to; Moira just knew them in a different setting. For her, the escorts
were more interesting. She wanted to know what made them take this job.

Piper sauntered over. Long legs leading out from swaying hips. She was the kind of
woman who had men stopping to look at her. She flipped her hair over her shoulder
and pulled out the chair across from Moira.

“So this date . . .” Moira started.

“Mr. Lee has been a client of mine since I started. He’s a good guy. He’s old and
wants a beautiful woman on his arm for a fancy dinner.”

“Just dinner? That’s it?”

“Yeah. I like the old guy. If you can make it through a date with him, you’ll ace
Friday night. The men at the party will be younger and smoother. Mr. Lee will let
us know if you come across as plastic.”

“When is this date supposed to happen?”

Piper glanced at her watch. “About an hour. We’ll walk over to the office, and Mr.
Lee will pick you up there.”

“Won’t he be mad if he’s expecting you?”

Piper crinkled her nose. “He’s my regular, but he sometimes gets another girl if I’m
busy. He’ll be okay with it, unless you screw it up.”

“Okay.” Moira sipped her coffee. She could do this. Dinner was no big deal. “Do you
like working for Billie?”

“Yeah. She’s fair and she runs a clean operation. I mean, stuff happens, but Billie
never forces you to take a date with a guy you don’t like, and she vets the guys pretty
well.”

Moira didn’t want the sales pitch; she wanted the nitty-gritty. “What’s the weirdest
date you’ve ever been on?”

“Shoot. That’s a pretty long list.” Piper narrowed her eyes and looked up. “Lots of
kinky weird stuff, but the weirdest had to be a woman who wanted me to take a guy
out and spend the night at a hotel with him. She paid me five grand to keep him happy
for the night.”

“What do you mean, some woman? I thought all dates came through Billie.” An idea caught
in the back of Moira’s brain, like an itch she couldn’t quite scratch. She was on
to something.

“This was after a party Billie had sent us to. A guy was hitting on me pretty hard.
When he went to refresh our drinks, this woman talked to me. She had twenty-five hundred
on her, with the promise that if I could convince this guy to take me to a hotel,
she’d meet me the following morning with the rest.”

“Wouldn’t Billie get mad about that?”

Piper shrugged. “Some girls work for more than one service, so I didn’t see the problem.”

“How did you know the woman would show?”

“I didn’t, but I was late with rent, and the twenty-five hundred would make me straight.
I wanted the rest, but if I didn’t get it, no big deal. But I did get it. First thing
the following morning, the front desk called and let me know I had an envelope waiting
for me. Some people are into weird stuff. I figured she was setting her husband up
to either get off because things weren’t good in the bedroom or get caught because
he was a cheater. I half expected someone to be taking pictures while we were fucking.”

Moira almost choked on her coffee. Piper talked about being a prostitute in a regular
conversation as if it wasn’t illegal and no one would think anything about it. Moira
glanced around to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

“Chill out. You don’t have to screw a client if you don’t want. But if you do, a bit
of advice. Don’t expect earth-shattering orgasms. Think like a porn star. You’re there
as a tool to get them off. Anything you get is bonus.” She finished her coffee and
tossed the cup.

Moira had had some lousy, selfish lovers, but she always held out hope that things
would improve. She supposed if she viewed it as a business transaction, the disappointment
would be kept at bay. Her mind wandered briefly to Jimmy. After the way he’d handled
her last night, she could never view him as a simple transaction. And she’d come to
expect an excellent roll in the hay.

Jimmy’s intensity made her shudder. How would he react if he found out about this
date? Would he accept it as part of her work, much like being James Buchanan was part
of his?

“What are you thinking?”

“About a guy I’m seeing. How he would react if he knew I was doing this.”

“There is nothing to be ashamed of. We’re providing a service. Would you be ashamed
to be a cook or waitress who serves food to a man who can’t cook? Of course not. These
men don’t have time to play the field and the games that go along with dating. They
just want a woman on their arms when they go out.” Piper tilted her head to signal
it was time to go. “Besides, the boyfriend will feel like a god after he makes you
come because a client didn’t.”

Moira widened her eyes at Piper’s comment. The woman talked much too loud in a public
place, which was saying something coming from Moira.

“Shoot, it’s a good thing Mr. Lee will be your first. You blush much too easily.”
Piper led the way out of the coffee shop.

They walked briskly down the street, dodging pedestrians who were leaving work. Revolving
doors on each office building spun, spilling businessmen into the street. Everyone
talked on phones or into Bluetooths. The flow of bodies reminded her exactly why she
preferred to work from the comfort of her apartment. She might never have the income
these people had, but she’d never have the stress either.

At the next corner, Piper stopped and pulled out her phone. “You don’t need to go
up to the office unless you want to. You can shoot Billie a text from the door when
Mr. Lee shows up. He’ll have a driver who will open the door for you.”

“How will I know it’s him?”

“It’ll be a limo.” She glanced down the block. “In fact, that might be him now.” She
typed quickly on her phone. When it buzzed back, she said, “Yep, that’s him. Go forth
and have fun. When you get back, it’ll be early enough that Billie will still be here
and she’ll pay you.”

Moira turned to go but asked, “Why are you giving up your work? Don’t you need the
money?”

Piper lifted one shoulder. “I’m okay. I think everyone needs a break, a hand up. Pay
it forward kind of thing. See you tomorrow night.”

“Thanks.” Moira hustled down the block as quickly as her heels would allow. When she
stopped in front of the building, the driver standing at the limo nodded to her and
then stepped back to open the door.

Moira walked carefully over, not quite sure what to expect. What she saw was a bit
of a shock. When Piper had said Mr. Lee was an old guy, Moira figured she was talking
about a man in his fifties. Mr. Lee had to be pushing seventy. His fluffy gray and
white hair ruffled in the breeze the open door let in.

“Mr. Lee?” she said in the sweetest voice she knew how to project.

“Get in, girl. We have a reservation.”

She started a little at his sharp tone, but she slid into the limo. The leather cooled
her bare skin, which was warm from both the weather and the quick walk. “Hi, Mr. Lee,
I’m Moira. It’s nice to meet you.”

He eyed her up and down and nodded. “You got a brain in that head?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir. I ain’t your daddy.”

She smiled at his frankness.

“Pretty smile. Did you go to college?”

“Yes, s—to study journalism.” She didn’t feel the need to lie. She figured the closer
she came to the truth, the easier it would be.

The limo pulled out into traffic, and she relaxed against the seat a little. Mr. Lee
appeared to be a harmless old man, if a bit on the cranky side.

“We’re going to a steakhouse for dinner. Do you have any
special
requirements?”

He sneered the question, so she knew her answer had better be no, so she shook her
head.

“I don’t abide by people who refuse to eat food, all vegetables or no bread or tofu
crap. I never understood why people can’t just eat.”

“Well, studies have shown that a balanced diet is healthy. Too much of anything isn’t
good. Moderation is what most people haven’t figured out, which is why obesity is
an epidemic in American society.”

Mr. Lee snorted. “People are just plain lazy.”

“I can’t argue.”

Three hours later, the limo pulled up to the curb in front of Billie’s office again.
Moira’s stomach was full and her cheeks were sore from smiling. She actually enjoyed
her dinner with Mr. Lee. Of course he wasn’t the type of man she would ever think
to date for real, but she would’ve spent that time with him for free, and yet she
was getting paid for it.

She went up to see Billie and collect her money. As she peered down the hall, she
noticed a couple of girls chatting over coffee, and as much as she wanted to pump
them for information, her body was too tired and her brain too busy. She’d thought
her story was going to be about these filthy married men who cheated on their wives
with hookers, but it was so much more.

Lisa called out as Moira headed toward Billie’s office. “Moira, I have your pay here.”

Moira pulled up short and doubled back. Man, her feet were killing her in these shoes.
“Thanks, Lisa.”

She didn’t want to be tacky and open the envelope in front of her, so Moira stepped
back onto the elevator. The thought of walking back to her car made her cringe, but
the prospect of walking down the street barefoot wasn’t any more appealing. The route
back to her car took twice as long because of her slow pace, but it allowed her to
think about something Piper had said.

We’re providing a service.

Tonight, with Mr. Lee, she believed that. If she hadn’t gone on a date with him, he
probably would’ve spent the evening alone. Didn’t everyone deserve to have company
and an enjoyable evening out? So many people were lonely, and Mr. Lee simply had the
means to buy some company.

Was this how prostitutes convinced themselves that what they were doing was okay?
She arrived at her car and sighed as she sat behind the wheel. Driving through the
city to get home, Moira let the ideas turn over in her head. The more she thought,
the more she realized this story had the makings of something really great, if she
could just find the right angle, the right focus. If she did the right legwork, she
could create a series of articles. One would focus on the girls working as escorts,
another on the men who hired them, and then the third, Jimmy’s case. A featured series
would definitely get her name recognized. With that on her résumé, she’d be able to
sell articles almost anywhere.

She pulled up next to her apartment still in a daze trying to figure out the next
move for her story. Her feet screamed as she walked into the building. What she wouldn’t
do to have an elevator right now. Instead, she took off her shoes and trudged up the
stairs. As she rounded the landing, the sight before her made her heart skip a beat.
Jimmy sat leaning against her door, looking as beat as she felt.