She reached us before we were ready for her, before we’d even had a chance to catch our breath.
“James,” she said, reaching out and giving him a hug, careful not to get makeup on his suit coat.
“Mother,” he said, and he did not sound friendly, even though the fake smile was still in place. He pulled back and grabbed my hand. “This is Audrey Reynolds.”
“Mrs. Preston,” I said, holding out my hand to her.
She didn’t take it. Instead, she looked me up and down, and looked back at James. “Very nice, James. Very nice.” She turned back to me and beamed. I could almost hear her buzzing, a bundle of sharp edges, nerves, and plans.
She finally took my hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Audrey,” she said. “James never lets us meet his girlfriends. It’s lovely to see that you not only exist, but that you aren’t designed to embarrass his family.”
I looked at her, shocked and wondering what she meant by that. I shook her hand limply. I noted that my plastered-on smile was intact; if the rest of his family was this bad, I was going to need a steady supply of alcohol to keep it in place.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many wonderful things,” I said.
“Oh, nonsense. You don’t need to bother with that, dear—I know what my son really thinks of me,” she said without bothering to look offended.
“Enough,” James said. He sounded defeated, and we’d been here for less than five minutes. “Let Audrey at least think we’re civilized for the first night. Can you show us to the bar? And where’s Dad? And Todd and his bitch-ass fiancée?”
Mrs. Preston stopped inspecting me and turned to him with a glare. It must have been the way she normally looked at him—her face relaxed into it. “You watch your mouth, James. And here’s a waiter—be sure to take your medicine. Just make sure it’s not the kind that has you hurling the c-word, or any other of your trash talk, at your new sister-in-law.”
“Yes, ma’am,” James said.
She rolled her eyes at him and turned to me. “You better order a double, young lady,” she said, nodding her head toward her son. “You’re going to need it.”
Funny, I thought, James said the same thing about you.
Except that it wasn’t funny.
I ordered a double anyway. I really wanted a martini, but I was too worried that I wouldn’t be able to balance it while running away from James’s scary mother.
“What did your mother mean by that?” I asked. “The ‘designed to embarrass your family’ thing?”
“I have no idea,” he said, and I didn’t believe him.
James took a big sip of his bourbon and grabbed my hand. He leaned over to me. “My father, Robert, is straight ahead,” he said. “He’s talking to Johnny O’Mara, the city councilman. Probably dreaming up new ways to pillage the city. And there’s Todd and stupid Evie.” He pointed to a slightly taller, thinner version of himself that must have been Todd. He was next to a young, reed-thin woman with a blond bob. She looked like a Mrs. Preston Jr. except that her teeth were a little horsey, and when she laughed, her bony shoulders shook aggressively.
“Why do you hate her so much? She looks nice,” I said. Actually, she looked exhausting, her laser-like ice-blue stare piercing every person who came within range.
“Let’s go meet her. You’ll see what I mean.”
I held up my drink. “Let me finish this first. Your mother keeps looking over here. I’m worried she’s gonna talk to us some more.”
I leaned up in my kitten heels to whisper to him, keeping a playful smile on my face. “Let’s pretend we can’t get enough of each other. Maybe your mother will leave us alone, then.”
James leaned against me. “That sounds great, Audrey.”
We were pressed against each other, and suddenly it felt as if it had gotten very, very hot in the restaurant. “Don’t you have any friends here?” I asked. “Anyone helpful? We need another buffer besides me.”
“My best friend will be here later tonight. Cole. He’ll probably try to steal you from me.” He slid his hand down my back, into the curve of my spine.
“You can’t lend me out. It’s in our contract,” I said, even though the contract said nothing of the sort.
“I might make you my newest venture,” he said, leaning down to talk into my ear. He rubbed my lower back slowly, his hand lowering down to graze the top of my ass. Every nerve ending in my body was on high alert.
Daring him, I turned my face to his. “I’m not for sale,” I said, our lips close. Too close. I brushed my nose against his so that we looked like the happy couple we weren’t. “I’m like a timeshare, baby. No one gets to own me. You just get to stay a while.”
My words hung in the air as he looked at me darkly. “That’s a horrible thing to say about yourself, Audrey,” he said.
His words cut me, and my back stiffened. But I didn’t have the right to react to him like that.
I knew what I was.
I didn’t let any emotion show on my face, but I pulled back and took another long sip of my drink. Now there was hurt mingled with the heat between us, and I was unsteadied by it, almost a little dizzy. I stood there and absorbed it, letting my shame mix with my other wild emotions.
It was nothing I didn’t deserve.
James took a deep breath and pulled me against him. I stood there, stiffly, wishing the floor would swallow me up. “I’m sorry,” he said in a rush, into my ear. “I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it the way it came out.”
I took a steadying breath and looked up into his eyes, a pretend loving look on my face. If nothing else, I was going to do my job right. “Yes, you did,” I said. “But it’s okay. I know exactly what I am, James. You should, too.”
He stared down at me, his eyes intense. “You’re not a timeshare, Audrey. You’re a beautiful, kind woman. You’re way too young to give up on yourself.”
I simultaneously loved and hated the fact that my body was on fire beneath him, and that I wanted to remember every word he was saying.
“I’m not giving up on myself. But I also don’t lie to myself,” I said, giving him a tight smile that betrayed none of the wild emotion that was going on inside me. At its core, being an escort was just like being an actress, and that had never been more true for me than right now.
“Not lying to yourself is good—we should all try that more often,” James said. “But you’ve said some negative things about yourself this afternoon. Don’t. Don’t talk about yourself that way.”
I hadn’t realized I’d said anything bad about myself. I didn’t want to think about it. Instead, I put on my actress mask and changed tactics, quickly. “Are you lecturing me?” I asked, suddenly playful.
He watched my face, trying to read me.
“No,” he said, “I’m trying to help.”
“Is trying to help a thing with you?” I asked, teasing, trying to break the tension. “Are you one of those do-gooder sorts of billionaires?”
He gave me a small smile then, following my cues. Even though the vibe between us had changed, his powerful arms still gripped me. My body was still molded around his. I tried not to think about that—because if I did, I might try to climb on top of him right here.