Rent Me By The Hour (13 page)

“
You know how I live East of Houston right? There was this guy I saw every Saturday and he told me he lived in South Houston. Well one day when I was in West Houston, I stopped by a gas station to buy snacks and drinks, and he was at the same gas station buying snacks. He came up to me calling me by my stage name. Then a couple of days later, I went grocery shopping by my house, and he was up there grocery shopping also. He tried coming up to me calling me by Tina and my kids were with me. My kids asked me why he kept calling me Tina. I told them he probably thought I was someone else. I kept ignoring him, and I guess he got the hint because he left the store with no groceries.”

“
What did you do?” Scared for me, there was a crack in Carmen’s voice.

“
The next day I signed up to get my concealed handgun license. I bought me a gun and I brought both of my cars to get the armor put on. I also took self-defense classes.”

There was silence in the room, while Carmen tried soaking in the terrible situation I’ve gone through. She left me in the office, while she collected the fees from the clients waiting in the lobby. With Elite operating from ten in the morning till six the evening, on an average we will have about thirty sessions booked per day and that’s just for incalls. The outcalls will have at least sixty appointments booked every day because we operate twenty four seven. The house gets a hundred dollars per hour appointment. So every month my business makes roughly two hundred twenty eight thousand dollars. I pay my employees very well and the mortgage for Elite is fifty five thousand dollars a month.

When men visit from other states or from other countries for their businesses, they will schedule with the finest providers in Houston. Elite has been known to have the sexiest women working, and we’ve always taken good care of our clients. Since there was no other problems I needed to tend to, I decide its’ time to deal with Jeremiah.

I drive to his hotel, the valet takes my keys, and right when I enter the building, Jeremiah is leaning against the wall like he’s been cut out of a GQ Magazine. He looks like a model. He gives me that sexy smile like he always does before walking up towards me.

“
You look beautiful.” He grabs the tip of my fingers, pulls me closer to him, and kisses my cheek.

“
Are you ready?”

“
Yes.”

He guides me towards the elevators. I point towards the restaurant, “I thought we’re having lunch.”

“
We are.” He slips his card in the slot and the cart arrives seconds later.

When we arrive to his floor, the concierge enters the elevators leaving me and Jeremiah alone.

I point at the elevator, “Where’s he going? I thought he usually waits here.”

“
He’s giving us our privacy.”

“
Privacy for what?”

He opens the doors and he has rose petals spread all over the floor. The candles are lit and smells like cinnamon apple. The same scent of candles I have at home. On the dining room table, he has the exact food we ate Friday. He pulls my chair out and hovers over me. As we stare into each other’s eyes, I can sense he is feeling the same thing as me. We both want each other. We desire for each other’s touch. He leans forward so I sit quickly avoiding from the situation from escalating. Confused, he licks his lips then kisses the crown of my head.

Sitting opposite from me, “How’s your day going?” He gives me a toast then takes a sip.

“
It could be better?”

“
Anything I can do?” I can tell by the look in Jeremiah eyes, he had other things in mind to help me.

“
Nope.” I shake my head as heat starts to creep all over my body. “My employees have it under control.”

“
Great. So let’s enjoy our lunch.”

We eat our seared salmon with asparagus, vegetable medley, and rice pilaf. I have never been a fan on red wine so all I drink is Moscato. He somehow knew which Moscato I drink. I take a sip savoring the exotic flavors. I couldn’t finish all my food. I don’t know if it’s nerves or with the craziness going on at work.

After lunch we sit on the leather coach in the living room. He sits inches away from me. Occasionally he would accident brush his arms against mine causing my blood to boil. My nipples get hard, there are tingles between my thighs and every time we touch, I stop breathing. I don’t think me not being able to breath is such a great thing. Staring into my eyes, I embarrassingly turn my face. With gentle fingers, he tilts my chin to look at his sexy face. He tries to kiss me, but I turn my head. I can’t do this. It was a mistake making out with him the first time. He’s Paula’s client and it would be wrong in many levels if I try to kiss him again. They have a connection and I can’t take that away from Paula. She is very sexy. Paula has long straight blonde hair that touches her butt, blue eyes, and beautiful curves. She’s from Houston so the city lime light fits her. Me on the other hand I’m totally opposite. I am very petite with long wavy brown hair, and hazel eyes. I’m just a country girl. So why is Jeremiah showing so much interest in me?

“
I really have to go.” I grab my purse and run out of there. I press the button for the elevator and the concierge greets me when the cart opens. I rush in before Jeremiah can reach me and he opens his door right when I step into the cart. I beg the concierge to hurry. I give the valet my ticket and he promptly returns my car. I jump in and zoom off. Licking my lips, I can still savor his incredible taste. Would we have gone all the way if I didn’t stop him? I really can’t be doing this. Somehow my feelings for Jeremiah are different from the clients I see at Elite but I can’t put myself in this situation. I force myself to not think about him. I switch cars and jaunt to my humble abode.

My yard is starting to look like a forest, so I figure I need to mow after I’ve natured our animals. I pour sweet tea in a plastic cup, seal the top, grab my earphones, feed our pets, then I jump on my zero turn lawn mower. Mufasa and Mulan chase me while I blissfully listen on my iPod and mow our ginormous yard. Having this much land gives me and my kids the privacy we need to live our lives. It’s an escape from the everyday problems people deal with on a daily basis. In my eyes, I think we have a pretty good life. I have kids that are well taken care of, I make money even when I’m not working, and we are no longer in a financial bind. I can’t get caught up with Jeremiah, because he can ruin my plans. But there’s something about him that keeps me wanting more of him. Maybe he could be the role model for Jordan. Quit thinking like that. He’s a trick. I can’t tame a trick. My kids really need a guy role model especially Jordan. Even though single mothers have taken care their kids by themselves with no guy around, I need to fill that void that Jordan feels. I play football; take him fishing and do everything a father is supposed to do with their sons, but somehow that isn’t enough for him. He needs more. He needs a father figure. When Max was alive, he was great with the kids. He was overjoyed when he had the time to spend with them. Jordan looked up to him, and Jocelyn adored him. He was perfect at making sure Jordan grew up to be a great man and he loved Jocelyn so much which showed her how a woman is supposed to be treated by a real man. But with him being gone for five years, it isn’t the same when I try to do the things he does for the kids. And the guy who I wish could play that part is a client for my company.

After I pick up the kids from school, we go home, and I cook dinner while my babies do their homework. When Jocelyn was done with her homework, she volunteers to help me cook. I love cooking with her. It gives us that mother and daughter relationship. That’s mine and her thing. Jordan and I’s thing is throwing footballs and go fishing. He feels left out sometimes. He watches as Jocelyn chops up the potatoes.

“
Do you want to help me cook son?”

“
Really?” I love to hear the excitement in my kids’ voices.

“
Yup. Come over here and help me season this meat.”

He comes around the bar, washes his hands, and helps season the meat while I cook come rice. I love seeing the three of us close like this. “Your last day of school is next Thursday. What do you guys want to do for y’alls summer vacation?”

“
Disney World.” Jocelyn answers.

“
Disney World? We just went last summer.”

“
So. It was fun. And we didn’t get to do all the rides.” Jordan washes his hands again.

“
Disney World huh? Okay. Disney World it is. I’ll start making plans.”

Once dinner was done, we ate, they help me load the dishes, and we watch television till it was time for bed. After they bathe, I tuck them in bed, and pull out my laptop to start making plans for Disney World. Every summer, I like to take my kids on great vacations so they’ll have good memories when they get older. I have been at the office way too much lately and it’s been wearing me out. I send a text to Carmen

I will not be in tomorrow or Thursday. I’ll be by Friday. Call me if you need anything.

She sends back,
Ok.

I hide my business phone under my socks and continue making plans for Disney World. I think this time we’ll stay for two weeks, so we’ll have plenty of time to do everything without rushing. We can just enjoy our vacation.

Chapter 7

After cooking my kids their breakfast, I drop them off to school; I come home still in my pajamas and sit on my patio rocking back and forth while I sip on my coffee. Mufasa and Mulan chase each other and sit next to me on the patio once they got tired. The morning breeze feels great against my face. I can hear the Blue jays and Cardinals chirping from a distance. The squirrels hunt for whatever pecans are left on the ground from the winter that just passed and store the nuts in a hollow part of the tree. I feed our animals and refill their water as the new pot of coffee is brewing. Once I’m done tending to our pets, I make another cup and sit on the rocker to read
Catching Fire
on my nook. Sitting outside for hours with no worries is wonderful. I cook me a light lunch, and decide to tidy up the house. My kids are pretty trained to not make a mess anywhere in the house but their rooms. Once every two weeks, I have them clean their rooms. I dust off the pictures hanging against the walls. Oh how much I miss Max. He is such a great father, husband, friend, and an overall great person. He’s one of a kind and it’s rare to find someone like him. I would give up all the things we have, just to have him back in our lives.

It’s almost time for my phone to buzz letting me know it’s time to pick up my kids, so I decide to finally get out of my pajamas, take a shower, and go get my kids from school. When I arrive at the Jocelyn’s school, Martha parked next to me, but she was on her phone. Thank god. She moves her hands up and down as she’s rambling on the phone. Today is turning out to be a perfect day. I got to relax and enjoy some quality time; now I’m here picking up Jocelyn, and Baytown’s gossip columnist isn’t bothering me about news she’s recently heard.

With less than a week left of school, Jordan and Jocelyn hasn’t had homework, so the three of us stayed outside admiring many of life’s beauties. They rotate chasing each other, chasing our dogs, and then our dogs chase them. While they continue to play outside with all the animals, I step inside for a minute and pop chicken breast, potato, carrots, and green beans in one glass square pan, and then I go back outside to enjoy the lovely weather with my kids. Thirty minutes later, we all go inside to eat dinner. My babies take their showers, get ready for bed, and after tucking them into bed, I curl in my bed and fall asleep.

Since its Friday, Elite is crammed with
Johns
.

I pull Amanda to the side, “How did the two-girl sessions go with the new girls?”

“
It was good. Thanks for allowing me to do that. I made a lot of money with my regulars and doing the appointments with them helped me out more.”