“I’m clearing my schedule for the entire weekend. I want you to spend it with me at my house.”
“You’re already asking me to stay over?”
“I understand that overnights will cost extra. Cora has been clear about that and I’m prepared to pay.”
He’s failing to see that my hesitancy has nothing to do with money. “We hardly know each other.”
“I want to change that. I’m ready to get this stranger anxiety behind us so we can move on to the fun stuff.”
Fun stuff. We both know what he means by that.
“I’ll think about staying over. That’s all that I’m promising.”
“I had a lovely evening with you, Lou.” He kisses my forehead, instantly changing my mood. The sweet, intimate action is completely unexpected and feels as though it has no place in the arranged-relationship discussion that we’re having.
I watch him walk to his car, stopping midway to turn around and call out, “I hope you say yes to my proposition and to staying the weekend.”
This beautiful man has a dark side that draws me in yet makes me want to run. But I know I won’t run. I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life, and I wonder how in the world that I’ve allowed myself to be sucked in.
And there it is. I admit it. Even if Hutch doesn’t yet know, he has me.
I take out my phone and choose Cora’s contact. “Hello?”
“Cora. It’s Caitriona. I’m calling to tell you that I want to move forward with Mr. Hutcheson’s proposition.”
“That’s wonderful news. I’ll contact him tomorrow for the consultation. Welcome aboard, Caitriona.”
There. It’s done.
I’m an inamorata. Officially.
“This is cute.” Rachel holds up a G-string, the back made entirely of stringed pearls. “You should buy this for your date this weekend.”
I take the G-string from her and hold it up by the waistband. “Pearls in the crack of your ass? What do you think that would feel like?”
“Dinnae ken but I think that I’ll buy it just to find out.”
Nothing about that statement surprises me.
I pass the near-nothing scrap of fabric back to her. “Let me know how that works out for you.”
We browse through the lingerie store and Rachel stops, turning to look at me. “Are you ready to sleep with him?”
I look around the store. “Could you say that a little louder? I don’t think that old lady at the front of the shop heard you.”
“Fine.” She lowers her voice. “Are you ready to sleep with this guy?”
“No, of course not. I’ve only known him for a few days.”
“You’ll sleep with him if you stay at his place this weekend.”
Rachel knows that I’m not a girl who sleeps around. “Why would you say that?”
“It’s what he’s going to expect. It’s what I would expect if I were him.”
“He can expect it all he likes, but I’m not going to have sex with him because of expectations.”
“How much is he paying for you?”
God, those words make me cringe inside. “I don’t know yet.”
“You like this guy, don’t you?”
“I like Hutch as much as I can like someone that I’ve only interacted with a few times.”
Rachel shrugs. “Maybe you should go into it with an open mind and see what happens.”
“Are you saying that I should sleep with him this weekend?”
“I’m saying that you don’t have to rule it out completely.” She chooses a silk cami-and-shorts set from the rack and holds it up to herself. “And it might be a good idea to show up prepared, just in case.”
Prepared, just in case. Translation: pack lingerie in case there’s some sexy time.
She holds out the silky pajama set for me to take. “Purple is a great color on you. It always makes your eyes look greener.”
I take the set from her and hold it up to myself, imagining the way it would look on me. “This is sexy, yet it doesn’t imply that I’m wearing it because I came to his house planning to have sex with him.”
“Exactly. It could go either way.”
I pluck a similar set in ivory and black from the rack, holding it up to myself as well. “I guess I would need a second outfit if I decide to stay both nights. A man like Hutch would expect me to wear something different on night two.”
“Absolutely, but I also think you should buy something a wee bit sexier too.”
I look up at Rachel’s reflection in the mirror. “Something sexier?”
“Aye, in the event that you hit it off and want to go all the way with a bang.”
“Buying lingerie for sex is premeditated. It’ll be like going in with the mindset that I’m going to do it.”
“Not really. It’s no different than buying condoms. Doesn’t mean that you’re ever going to use them, but you always need them on hand for the what if.”
Funny that she should bring up condoms. “He asked me to do it bare.”
Rachel’s eyes widen. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Not even a little. He wants the full girlfriend experience. No condoms.”
“No fucking way. I’m putting my foot down on that one.”
“He says that he’ll provide medical documentation regarding his health. Proof that he’s clean.”
“Are you considering it?”
“No.”
“Good, because yer aff yer heid if you do.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
I never even had sex with Cameron without a condom. And thank God for that.
Cheating fuck.
We migrate over to the section of sexier lingerie, and I pick up a pale pink baby-doll set trimmed with black lace. “This is sweet with a side of sexy.”
“It’s very cute. And it would look awesome on you. Well, hell. Anything would look great on you.”
I look at the price tag. “It’s cute and also very expensive.”
“Think of it as an investment. If he likes the way you look in it, he’ll be more inclined to spoil you with gifts.”
I couldn’t care less about purses and clothes and jewelry. “I’m doing this for tuition. For my future. As long as that’s covered, I’m good. I don’t need that other stuff.”
“Tuition is a brill goal but carrying a new Louis Vuitton handbag never killed anyone.”
I love Rachel but we have different objectives in life.
“If I decide to have sex with Hutch, it’ll be because I want to have sex. Not because he’s paying me for it.”
A wide grin spreads across Rachel’s face.
“What’s that shit-eating smile about?”
“I wasn’t going to tell you but…”
I wait for her to finish the sentence, but she doesn’t. “Tell me what?”
She giggles and smiles even wider. “I slept with my client last night.”
Oh wow. I wasn’t expecting to hear that. “Really?”
“He’s a repeat client. It wasn’t about the money at all. I did it because I wanted to. I like him.”