Escorting the Billionaire (The Escort Collection 1)

Jenny looked grim. “It’s not that,” she said. She gritted her teeth and then examined them for lipstick in the mirror. “It’s that he said he’d buy me an apartment, buy me whatever kind of car I wanted, blah blah blah.”

“Oh. Huh.” I paused for a beat, trying to understand why she was upset. Jenny lived in a crappy studio apartment in Dorchester. She’d always wanted a rich John to buy her and set her up as a mistress. “And that’s bad?”

“Yeah, it’s bad, Dre,” she said. “’Cause that’s not what I want.”

“What do you want?” I asked, confused.

“More.” Jenny rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror. “Jesus, you’d think I was some kind of amateur. I shoulda never come on this trip.”

I rubbed her arm. “It’s okay, Jenny. But did you tell him how you felt?”

She snorted. “No fucking way. He told me he didn’t want me to go back to hooking after this trip. So I told him to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse, ya know? And he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was just the wrong one.”

“I think you should talk to him,” I said. “Just like you told me to talk to James. Remember? When you told me to be brave?”

“I’m not you, Dre. It’s not possible to clean this up,” she said, motioning to herself, “put it into a Volvo, and pretend it knows how to play tennis. Do you understand?”

I nodded while I watched my friend carefully blot her eyes. “I don’t know if Cole cares about Volvos and tennis, Jenny. But I’m pretty sure he cares about you.”

“Do not try to turn my airplane pep talk around on me,” Jenny said, her voice jagged. “This is totally different.”

“If you say so,” I said, unconvinced. “But you had some pretty good advice. I’m just saying.”

Jenny blew out a deep breath. “What about you and James?” she asked, changing the subject. “You looked a lot happier in the pool earlier. Are you all better?”

I nodded at her. “He asked me to move to California with him.”

“I knew it,” she cried. “I knew it! I could tell just by looking at him. You’re gonna live happily ever after.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said.

“I do.” She looked at me levelly. “I know it’s gonna happen.”

“Jenny, I see the way Cole is with you. I think he’s in love with you.” I hesitated to say it because I didn’t want to be wrong and make it worse. Still, I’d seen the way he looked at her. I believed there were real feelings there.

“I thought he was, too,” she said, returning to her reflection and fluffing her hair. “But it must have just been that thing with his balls. I do it exactly the way he likes.”

She smiled at me. “I’m not even mad at him, though. He’s great. I’m mad at me. I think I got too inspired by my own pep talk. I’m the one who started hoping—and that was a dumb fucking move. If I hadn’t hoped, I’d be psyched that I was getting a South End condo and a Range Rover. Now all I’m doing is crying.” She blew her nose loudly.

“You should give him a chance,” I said. “See what he has to say for himself.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said and gave her hair one final fluff. “In the meantime, I need some liquid courage to keep up with these people. Rich people sure drink a lot, huh?”

* * *

Much to my chagrin, we passed Celia Preston on our way back to the restaurant. “May I have a word with you, Audrey?” she asked. She looked at Jenny. “Alone?”

“Of course, Mrs. Preston,” I mumbled. Jenny shot me a worried look but obediently headed back to the table; Celia was not someone you said no to. “What can I do for you?”

“You could start by doing what I asked,” Celia said tightly. “And stop digging your acrylic claws further into my son.”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“You heard me. We agreed that you would break up with James after this trip. I want to make sure you keep your part of the bargain.”

“Excuse me,” I said again. “I never agreed to break up with James after this. You asked me to. I said I would think about it. You offered to bribe me. I said I would think about it. I promised nothing.”

“You’re going to promise me now,” she said, her voice dangerous.