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  She hesitates before answering. “You’re sure that you want me to be in your home full time?”

  “Aye.”

  “I’ll move in but only if you’ll promise to tell me if I need to leave before August 31. I don’t want my presence to be a problem for you.”

  I bring her hand to my lips and kiss the top. “I promise.”

  Okay. It’s a done deal; Lou is moving in with me for the next two and a half months. And I’m more excited about that than she could possibly imagine.

  Lou’s silent during the remainder of our ride home, and I’m worried about the thoughts going through her head. I hope she isn’t putting any merit into being called a whore by Cora’s son.

  I give her hand a squeeze where it rests on my thigh and she turns to look at me. “He’s wrong. You’re not a whore.”

  She lowers her head. “I took your money. Isn’t that what a whore does?”

  “We are two consenting adults who have a great time together because we’re friends. We enjoy spending time together, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the money. Do you understand that?”

  She nods and whispers, “Yeah.” But her voice isn’t very convincing.

  “Come here, mo maise.” I pull her into my arms and hold her tightly, saying nothing. Words aren’t what she needs right now.

  She is relaxed against me when we arrive at my house. That’s when I realize that she has fallen asleep.

  I brush her hair from her face, and she reminds me of a sleeping angel. A beautiful sleeping angel, one that I hate to wake.

  I brush my fingers against her cheek. “Lou, we’re home.”

  She stirs a wee bit but doesn’t wake. I scoop her in my arms and slide across the seat when Calvin opens the door.

  “What are you doing?” Her voice is barely more than a whisper.

  “I’m carrying you to bed.”

  “It’s okay. I can walk.”

  “I want to carry you.” I want to take care of you, Lou. I want to make you feel safe.

  She wraps her arms around me and rests her head against my shoulder. “I’ll allow it but only because I’ve had a lot of champagne and I’m really tired.”

  “Is there a particular reason that you had a lot of champagne?”

  “Because I missed you.”

  I lower her on to what I have come to think of as her side of the bed. “I missed you too. That’s why I worked so hard and came back early.”

  I slip off one of her heels and then remove the second one, dropping both on the floor next to the footboard.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m happy to do it.”

  Her eyes remain closed as she says, “I don’t mean carrying me to bed or taking off my shoes. I’m talking about treating me like I’m somebody instead of nobody.”

  My NOLA girl is showing me who she is deep down inside: a woman who is damaged, a woman who is carrying a scar that is as old as she is, a woman who longs to be loved. She’s filled with heartache and it penetrates her bone deep. I know because it deeply resembles my own pain.

  I brush my fingers down her cheek. “You’re a special person, Lou. You should always be treated like someone special.”

  She reaches for my hand and holds it against her face but doesn’t say anything.

  I want to tell her how her heart belongs to someone she’s yet to meet, and she’ll be loved and adored by one bloody lucky man someday. She’ll have his babies and he’ll love her in a way like she’s never known before.

  But I can’t tell her these things. I can’t bring myself to say the words. And I don’t know why.

  19

  Caitriona Louden

  I open my eyes and I’m alone. Waking in Hutch’s bed without him isn’t surprising. The man is an early bird.

  I love waking in his bed, but I wish he were here with me. The thought barely enters my mind and then it hits me. I remember what happened with Chambers last night and why I won’t be waking in my bed at home for a while.

  Oh my God. Chambers. What a dick.

  I hope Rachel isn’t upset that I’m going to be living with Hutch. But how can she be when she’s been spending more nights at Claud’s than at home?

  I pick up my phone from the nightstand to call her and see her texts.

  RACHEL: You disappeared. Are you ok?

  RACHEL: Can you text me back and let me know you’re all right?

  RACHEL: Just met Brady. He told me you left with Hutch. Glad you’re ok but I’m pissed off b/c you left without a goodbye.

  Rachel’s missed texts came in after I was asleep. Shit. She’s going to kill me. Might as well take my ass-chewing and get it over with.

  She answers on the first ring. “Well, thanks a lot for saying goodbye last night.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “It’s okay. Brady assured me that all was well. He also told me that Hutch came back early from his business trip to be with you.”

  “He did.”

  Rachel sighs. “That man is falling in love with you, Cait.”

  Rachel loves to make something out of nothing. “Maxwell Hutcheson is possessive of what’s his and my time belongs to him. He’s paid through the nose for it. He doesn’t want other men having a single minute of it.”

  “He may be possessive of your time, but he’s also possessive of you in general. I’m on the outside looking in and I see it clear as glass. He’s falling, you silly lass.”

  “Hutch is lonely. And horny. I fulfill both of those needs for him. That’s not love.”

  “All right. I’m not going to argue with you about it. But in time you’re going to see that I’m right. And then I’m going to say I told you so.”

  No one loves saying I told you so more than Rachel. I wish I wouldn’t have to disappoint her this time.

  “It’s the other way around. When our arrangement ends and I never see him again, I’ll be the one to say I told you so.”

  “And what would you say if I told you that I’m falling in love with Claud?”

  Falling in love. Those are three very frightening words. “Are you, Rachel?”

  “I think I am.”

  I’m not surprised. She glows every time she talks about the man. “Has Claud told you how he feels about you?”

  “No, and I haven’t asked. I’m afraid that he only sees me as a good time that he paid for.”

  Rachel didn’t see what I saw last night at the party. Claud only had eyes for her. “Your relationship with him is more than that. He doesn’t allow other men to book you. That means something and I think that you should ask him what.”

  “And what if it means nothing?”

  “It’ll be painful but at least you’ll know where you stand with Claud.”

  “I guess a painful truth is better than a false hope,” she says.

  “Agreed. But I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

  “I don’t want to think about it right now. Makes my stomach nervous. Tell me about Hutch showing up at the cocktail party.”

  “I was shocked. I thought he was still in Italy on business.”

  “You were at the party one minute and gone the next. He wasted no time in stealing you away.”

  I have to tell her about Chambers. Warn her. “Listen, Rach. You have to be careful around Chambers. I went to tell Cora goodbye last night, and he cornered me in her office. That bastard tried to rape me.”

  “The fuck? Are you all right?”

  I feel nauseated just thinking about his hands on me. “The only reason I got away from him was because I remembered what I had learned at the self-defense classes.”

  “I was warned by one of the other inamoratas to not be alone with him. It was right after I started working for Cora and I forgot about it. She wouldn’t go into details when I asked why but I guess I know now.”

  I don’t know our chatelaine as well as Rachel does. “Do you think that Cora would do anything about it if she knew what her son was up
to?”

  “I think so. Assaulting her inamoratas is bad for business and above all, Cora is a professional. She takes care of her girls.”

  Cora definitely cares about her inamoratas. She wouldn’t want any of us to be harmed.

  It may cause a problem between us, but I don’t have a choice. He could be hurting other inamoratas. “I have to tell her what happened.”

  “I agree.”

  “Hutch was furious. He believes that Chambers will come after me at home, so he wants me to live at his house for the remainder of our relationship.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I present exhibit B,” Rachel says.

  “Oh, stop reading into something that isn’t there. He’s just looking out for my safety.” I’m going to change the subject instead of engaging her ridiculous theory. “Call me next week and we’ll go see a movie or do some shopping.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  I end the call and reflect upon how different our lives are today than even two months ago. Rachel and I have partied, worked, and lived together. During the last year, we’ve hardly been apart for more than a day, and now our time together is barely existent. I miss that nerd.

  I leave the bedroom to go in search of food and find the refrigerator door open when I enter the kitchen. I tiptoe over to Hutch with the agility of a lioness and wait for him to close it so I can take him by surprise with a morning kiss. But it’s me who’s caught off guard when the door swings shut.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  I’m standing face-to-face with Sonny. And I’m wearing a T-shirt that barely covers my panties.

  He smiles at me. “Good morning, Miss Lou.”

  “Just Lou.”

  He turns around, busying himself with taking the eggs to the counter and I reach for the bottom of the T-shirt, pulling it lower on my legs as if it’s somehow going to magically stretch into a dress.

  “May I cook you something for breakfast? Omelet? Waffle?”

  How could I forget about the staff being back in the house? “A waffle would be lovely. Thank you.”

  “Tea or coffee?”

  “Neither. I prefer juice.” I hold up my index finger. “Please excuse me. I’ll be back in just a moment.”

  I pull the shirt over my panties and streak toward the bedroom, praying that I don’t encounter any of the other staff while on my way.

  You are so stupid, Cait. This is your first official day of living in Hutch’s house, and you’re already screwing it up. He isn’t going to let you stay if you can’t do better than this.

  I’m rummaging through the new clothes that Hutch had delivered for me when I’m startled by warm breath on the back of my neck. “You’re up.”

  A panicked screech leaves my throat and I spin around, landing a slap across Hutch’s chest. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.” He smiles and any irritation that I might feel disappears. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  A deep chuckle rumbles from his chest. “I’m sorry. Scaring you wasn’t my intention.”

  He kisses the side of my neck and his hands creep around my waist, slipping into the back of my panties, gripping my bare butt cheeks in his hands. “I had something very different in mind besides scaring you.”

  I don’t know if he will after I tell him what happened in the kitchen. “I just ran into Sonny in the kitchen… while I was wearing this.”

  “I bet he didn’t mind that one bit.”

  Ew. Sonny is old enough to be my grandfather. “You aren’t mad at me?”

  “It’s going to be impossible to keep our relationship a secret from the staff with your living here and sharing my bed. And as I told you before, I don’t owe any explanations about my personal life to them.”

  “So we aren’t going to make any kind of effort to hide the truth from them?”

  “It’s probably not the best idea for you to walk around the house in your knickers, but I see no reason to go to the trouble of trying to fool them. They’re intelligent people. They’ll figure it out. And they’ll either keep their gobs shut about us or they’ll find other employment.”

  His hands leave my butt, and he moves them lower, grasping the back of my thighs and lifting me up. As though my legs have a mind of their own, they instantly wrap around him.

  “I haven’t had you since Sunday night. It feels like a lifetime ago.”

  That’s right. Hutch rushed home from his business trip to be with me last night. And after the Chambers incident, he put me to bed without making any kind of advance toward sex. He handled me with kindness and patience last night. Because that’s the kind of man that Hutch is.

  He’s so damn lovable. And the woman I was three weeks ago would throat punch the woman I am today for having that kind of thought about Maxwell Hutcheson.

  He carries me from the closet to the bed, lowering me to the mattress. He stands upright and I watch as he unfastens his belt and trousers. My heart pounds against the interior of my chest, as does my clit between my legs, aching for his touch.

  Hutch lowers his body and his mouth devours mine, swallowing all of my moans with his kiss.

  “Fuck, you have no idea how much I missed you.” His voice is so low that I question if I heard him correctly.

  Hutch slides his hand beneath my T-shirt and cups the underside of my breast, rubbing his thumb back and forth over my nipple, making it harden. “I’m going to wreck you.”

  I’m going to wreck you. I don’t have a lot of time to decipher what that means because his hands are already on my hips, pulling down my panties.

  A breathy whimper slips from my mouth before I’m able to contain it, and I don’t even have it in me to be embarrassed. I’m turned on and I want this. No reason to pretend that I don’t. “I want your cock inside of me.”

  “My tongue insists on having you first.”

  He kisses me from mouth to groin, his lips exploring my body on its downward path to between my legs. But not before his tongue takes a brief detour, prodding my navel, and then resuming its southern route.

  He stops moving when his face is between my legs and looks at me. Well, not actually sure that I can say me. It’s my lady bits that he’s looking at.

  His eyes dart to mine and he grins before looking down again. He buries his nose in the top of my slit, taking a deep whiff. Breathing it in. Sucking my aroma into his lungs. “Tell me that your pussy is mine.”

  The tingles in my body are throbbing, attempting to match every beat of his heart, synchronizing us as one. “My pussy is yours. I’m yours.”

  “That’s my good lass.” He kisses my slit, flicking his tongue over the top, teasing my clit. “Spread your legs. I want to taste what belongs to me.”

  My legs fall apart, and Hutch stiffens his tongue, moving it up and down my slit and plunging deep into my opening. My eyes are closed but they’re in danger of rolling backward in my sockets when his tongue rubs that spot, the glorious one inside the roof of my vagina.

  Hutch’s finger brushes through the leaking body fluids below my opening and spreads it between my butt cheeks, wetting the area. Rubbing and lubricating me back there.

  Revolted. Appalled. Outraged. I am none of these things. And although I’ve never allowed anyone in through the back door, I would let Hutch come in if he knocked.

  He teases my tight, puckered ring with the tip of his finger while he eats me out, and the two set off the first of many rhythmic uterine contractions deep inside my pelvis. “Hutch… I’m… coming.”

  My breathing slows but my thighs continue quivering while I ride out the aftermath of the climax that just shook me to my core. I relish the warm sensation glossing over my entire body as it washes through me.

  Hutch reaches into the nightstand drawer, and then I hear the familiar sounds of a ripping foil packet and the stretching of lubricated latex over his cock. He grabs my ankles and pulls me to the edge of the bed where he’s standing. “Put your legs around me, mo maise.”

  I position my legs around his wais
t, and he slides inside of me in one fluid motion. “Fuck, Lou. How are you always so tight?”

  He grasps my waist tightly and holds me in place, pounding into me without a bit of mercy. And still I want more. In one quick motion, I move my legs from his waist to his shoulders and within a minute, it does him in. He thrusts deeply one last time and groans a few profanities, followed by my name.

  My ankles are hooked over his shoulders and he’s smiling down at me. “That was so damn good.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  Hutch kisses the inside of my inner thigh and allows my legs to fall onto the bed. He reaches for my hands and pulls, helping me to stand.

  Grabbing my panties from the floor, he holds them out for me and kisses the inside of my thigh as I step into them. My hands grip his shoulders for balance as he pulls them up my legs. “Men usually take panties off. Not put them back on.”

  “I do both.” He pats my butt when my panties are in place. “Get dressed and go enjoy the breakfast that Sonny is cooking for you. In that order this time, please.”

  “You won’t eat with me?”

  “And I’ve already eaten. Twice, as a matter of fact.” He grins and winks.

  “Such a clever lad you are.”

  “As much as I hate it, I have to go to work.” He puts his arms around me and kisses my forehead. “See you this evening.”

  Forehead kisses. Those are the things that romantic relationships are made of. There’s no place for them in sex-for-money relationships.

  This is going to end badly for me.

  20

  Maxwell Hutcheson

  Lou doesn’t know that it’s my birthday or that my only birthday wish is to stay home with her. But I can’t; I have to go to my parents’ house for my annual birthday dinner with the family.

  Dammit. It’s my birthday. Shouldn’t I get to do what I want to do?

  Lou’s only been in my life for a month, but it feels like much longer. Our situation has expedited the process of getting to know each other. I can’t remember ever feeling so well acquainted with a woman this early in a relationship.