Authors: Doris O'Connor
The Job
Evernight Publishing ®
Copyright©
2015 Doris O’Connor
ISBN: 978-1-77233-538-5
Cover Artist: Jay
Aheer
Editor: Stephanie
Balistreri
ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction.
All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual
events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
DEDICATION
To all my readers who loved
this story when it was just a 200 word flash, and wanted me to expand it. Hope
you like it.
THE JOB
Premiere
Companions, 1
Doris
O’Connor
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
Alex
slid her key card through the slot and gasped as the door swung open to reveal
the luxurious interior of the hotel room. It wasn’t so much a room, but a suite.
She whistled through her teeth even as her unease grew.
This
…
this w
as too much. What on earth was she expected to do for
this
?
The dress draped over the sumptuous bed caught her attention. A shimmering
concoction of flowing aquamarine silk, it was beautiful. As she held it up to
her, goose bumps broke out on her skin when she noticed the lacy underwear set,
sheer stockings and garter belt, plus the killer stiletto sandals she also
spotted.
A far
too visible reminder of what this job would entail.
“You
are not expected to sleep with the clients.” Marissa’s instructions rung in her
ears.
Alex sat down on the bed with an
inelegant thump, as she recalled that particular conversation. “Having said that,
you might want to. This client is to die for sexy, or so I’m told. He had very
particular needs for this assignment. I’ve been desperate to meet him, and if
it weren’t for this damn chest infection I would be, but you’ll be perfect.
We’re the same size, so he’ll never need to know you’re not me.”
Therein
lay the problem. Alex was indeed not Marissa. Despite her flatmate’s
reassurances to the contrary, this
client
would clearly expect her to have sex with him. No man paid for a hotel room as
swish as this one, provided such risqué underwear and not expect payback of
some sort. Alex didn’t even want to contemplate how much it must have cost him
to pay for the agency.
Premiere
Companions were
the
elite escort agency in London, or so Alex had been
led to believe. She hadn’t quite managed to bring herself to check past the
glossy landing site her Internet search had led her to. She’d had a hard enough
time getting her head round the fact that her flatmate did …
that.
Alex
was no prude, by any means. She enjoyed sex as much as the next girl, but the
whole getting paid for it … that was wrong, wasn’t it? Which of course begged
the question as to what she was doing here in Marissa’s stead now? The buzz of
her phone in the back pocket of her jeans made her jump. She grimaced at the
display, and swiped across the screen to take the call.
The
coughing fit in her ear reiterated why she was here. She pinched the bridge of
her nose, and waited for Marissa to be able to speak. When she did, the hoarse
croak down the line bore little resemblance to her friend’s usual bubbly
sparkle, and Alex sighed.
“Did
you get there all right?” Marissa asked, before promptly dissolving into
another coughing fit.
“Yes,
I did. I’ve never felt so embarrassed in my life as when I walked up to
reception and gave your name. Jeez, Marissa, this isn’t just a room, it’s a
freaking suite. This dress alone must cost more than I make in a month at the
pub. This is insane. I’ll never pull this off.”
“Of
course you will. You grew up in that mansion after all, and—”
“I
was the housekeeper’s daughter, Rissa,” Alex interrupted her friend.
“So?
The point is you know this stuff by osmosis. You’re far more refined than me. That’s
why you’re perfect for this job. Perfect for the agency, period. You’d earn a damn
side more than you do in that pub—”
“Stop
it, Rissa.” Alex interjected again. She had to grin at Rissa’s exasperated huff
down the line. “If I told you once, I told you a thousand times, this is not
the way I want to earn my living. Nothing against those that do, but I’m an
actress, dammit, not a…”
She
couldn’t quite bring herself to finish that sentence. When there was no
response down the phone, other than Rissa’s wheeze of trying to draw air into
her lungs, the silence grew oppressive.
“Forget
I said that. Look, I’m here, I’ll do this … this thing for you, but that’s it.
You don’t sound too good, so get back to bed, let those antibiotics kick in and
don’t worry about a thing. I’ll muddle my way through this somehow.”
“You’ll
do more than muddle through.” Rissa sneezed down the line, and groaned. “Just
remember what I said. The agency carefully vets their clients. He’s a regular. All
the girls talk highly of him. I never would have asked you to fill in for me,
if I didn’t think you’d enjoy yourself, and fuck the money I lose. I…” Another
coughing fit stopped whatever else she was going to say. Alex sighed.
“It’s
okay. You need the money. I’ll be fine. Go back to bed. Bye, Rissa.”
Before
her friend could add anything else, Alex had hung up. She turned her phone off
for good measure. Enough of this second guessing stuff. She would just have to
get her head in the game, pretend this was a role. Yeah, that should do it.
After
all, she hadn’t attended one of the best stage schools for nothing. It was just
a shame, that talent or not, London was swamped with more than capable
actresses. Minor parts in plays notwithstanding, her big break still eluded
her. Alex pushed the disturbing thought of it perhaps always eluding her firmly
to the back of her mind, as she headed for the bathroom.
Time
to get ready to play the part of this mysterious businessman’s girlfriend for
the night. Though, if he was such a hunk, as they all made out, why did he have
to pay for some girl to hang off his arm for the night? Surely he’d have them
queuing around the block?
Alex
gave a short laugh at her thought processes. Sinking into the bathtub, she sighed
in relief, her long blonde hair already piled on top of her head. If nothing
else, she would enjoy the luxuries surrounding her for one night. If this
fellow got frisky … well, killer stiletto sandals would make a good weapon, as
long as she didn’t break her neck wobbling along on them.
That
thought buoyed her along as she made short work of her preparations. She had to
give it to the unknown client. The man knew a thing or two about women’s
undergarments. It was just as well, Marissa and she were the same size, as
everything fit like a glove. Not only
that, it made her feel
sexy and decadent. Once she’d slid into the shimmering silk dress, she gasped
at her reflection in the mirror.
With
the heavier eye makeup Marissa had applied for her, and dressed to kill in this
finery, she barely recognized herself. She certainly looked the part. As long
as she didn’t make any sudden moves she could even walk in the torture objects
on her feet. Alex stuck her tongue out at her reflection, and giggled. Shutting
her eyes, she took a deep breath in.
What
was it her coach always said?
To act you need to become that person in your
mind.
Alexandra,
femme
fatal, that
was her tonight. Not Alex, who lived
in jeans and t-shirt, who couldn’t care less about how the rich and famous did
things. Her breathing evened as she cleared her mind and let her worries go. When
she opened her eyes again, her mask was firmly in place until the impatient
knocking on her door sent her tummy into spasms again.
“I’m
coming, just a minute.”
A
grunt and more knocking was her answer.
Seriously?
He was early, so what
was his hurry? At least she assumed the man trying to knock the hotel room door
in was her client. Then again, if he was he would have a key, surely?
With
one last look at the strange woman staring back at her from the full length
mirror, she took another deep breath in, wrenched the door open, and promptly
wished she hadn’t, as she stared up into a face from her past.
“
Alexandra
?”
Nathanial
Longton’s scowl changed into a grin as he slowly ran his gaze over her body,
leaving heated awareness in its wake. Her world came crashing down around her
ears with a speed that left her breathless.
No,
not you, this is a nightmare.
Of
all the clients, it had to be
him
. The menace that had hounded her
childhood self, had been her teenage crush, and the man who had ultimately
broken her heart that awful night all those years ago, when she’d overheard him
talking about her. She’d sought him out for his help. Instead she had heard him
utter those fateful words. She’d known then it was useless. In her mind she
still heard his voice, as though it was yesterday.
“Mine?
Don’t be daft. I don’t fuck the help…Feel free to have a go.”
****
Nathanial’s
dark mood lifted somewhat. He couldn’t believe his eyes, when the door opened
to reveal Alexandra. A very grown-up, sophisticated, sexy as fuck version of
the young woman he remembered. The housekeeper’s daughter had always been
beautiful, once she’d left the awkward teenage phase behind, making his libido sit
up to take notice of little Alex. However, this older version of her was
stunning … and furious. Her green eyes flashed fire, and Nat narrowly saved
himself from having the door slammed shut in his face by jamming his foot in
the gap in the nick of time.
He
winced at the sharp pain that shot up his leg at the sheer force she’d put
behind the movement of the door. Putting all his weight behind it, he shoved
the thing open. Alex teetered precariously on her high heels in a bid to get
out of the way. Acting on impulse he grasped her around the waist, and stepping
into the room, kicked the door shut behind him. Alex gasped at his action and
Nat allowed himself a moment of quiet admiration of the fragrant bundle in his
arms. With her breasts pressed into his chest, he could appreciate the softness
of her curves. Alex was all woman, soft, pliant, not the stick insects the
agency usually sent. Her breathing hitched when curling his hand around one
perfectly formed ass cheek, he pulled her in closer still.
“Let
me go.” The words were barely above a whisper. Her expressive eyes widened when
he bent his head until his lips hovered over hers. This close their breaths
mingled, the light floral perfume she wore filled his nostrils, and made him
smile. He’d bought that very fragrance for her sixteen-year-old self for
Christmas, after his father had given him a dressing down for not having
included Alex in the presents he’d bought for the staff that year.
It
had been an impulse buy for a girl with pigtails he could hardly remember.
Little had he known that Alex had grown up in the time he’d been away at
University.
Her smile when she’d opened her present had ripped
his heart wide open. That moment had started his infatuation with Alexandra
Farrington, which had led him to behave like an ass in the end. Under pressure
from his peers, and not at all comfortable with the strength of his newfound
feelings for a girl almost seven years younger than him, he’d brushed their
connection away, as though it had meant nothing.
He still couldn’t smell that particular
perfume without thinking of her, and what might have been. The fact that she
still wore it ten years later…
Nat
released her with a frown. To mask his reaction to her, he grinned, and pushed
his hands into his trouser pockets.
“Well,
well, well, last I heard you were an actress. Your mum was singing your praises
in fact. I wonder what she would say if she knew the truth.”
The
feminine growl that erupted from Alexandra’s impressive chest shot straight to
his balls. The resulting slap from her palm connecting with his cheek bounced
around the room. He blocked the next attempt easily enough. Having imprisoned
both her wrists in his hands, he marched her backward until her back hit the wall.
Kicking her legs apart, he wrenched her arms high above her head, and crowded
her against the cream colored structure.
“Is
that any way to treat the man who paid for the
pleasure
of your company
for the weekend?”
“I’m
not, that is … dammit, let me go. She said it was just tonight. What the hell
do you mean?” Alex bit her lip. All the fight went out of her, when he simply
looked at her.
“What
do you think I mean? Come on, you’re an escort. You know how this works,
sweetheart.”
Alex
growled again in that cock-hardening way she had.
Satisfied
that he got his point across he stepped away from her.
“For
the record, I am
not
an escort. Even if I were, I have no intention of
sleeping with you—ever, so you can stuff your money, and clothes. I’m out of
here.”
He
had to give it to her, she sounded convincing, but Nat wasn’t that
lovestruck
idiot anymore. He’d had his eyes well and truly
opened back then. His subsequent dealings with the females of this world, had
only served to make him more cynical. After all, that’s why he was here. It was
far simpler to pay for some arm candy when he needed it, take the sex on offer,
and walk away in the morning, satisfied in the knowledge that the
lady
knew
the score. That way there would be no repercussions. No tears, drama, not so
subtle claims on his status or bank balance. That had only just recovered from
his messy divorce after all.
With
that in mind he really ought to let Alex go. There was too much unfinished
business between them. Far too much potential to have all this blow up in their
faces, but dammit, he wanted her. Now that he had her here, he was damn well
going to see this through. Besides, this was business. He never lost a deal.
“You
walk out of this room, and I’ll be on the phone to your mother to tell her
exactly what her darling only daughter does.”