Pretenders (Firsts and Forever 3)

“That doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that we slept together,” I told him. “He’s just a nice guy, and I enjoy his company. It’s that simple.”

“It’s clearly more than that, which would be fine if he hadn’t hired you to do a job.” He took a sip of white wine without flinching at the taste.

“The job doesn’t start until Saturday.”

“But you’re already getting attached to him, and that’s a problem,” Jasper said. “How are you going to feel when the job ends and you never see him again?”

“I’ll be fine. I always am.”

“No, you’re not,” he said gently. “You always pretend you’re fine, even when you’re hurting, because you don’t want anyone to worry about you. It breaks my heart.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

My phone beeped just then, but I left it sitting on the tabletop and pretended I didn’t care. Jasper rolled his eyes. “Go ahead and look. I know you’re dying to.”

I glanced at the text message and tried to maintain a poker face as I said, “It’s from Wesley, thanking me for a lovely evening. He has excellent manners. I’m just going to send a polite reply.” I shot him a quick text, then dropped the phone into one of my shopping bags. “See? No big deal.” No need to mention the way my heart leapt when I saw Wes’s name on the screen.

Jasper had a rare night off. We ate dinner together, then changed into our most comfortable pajamas, picked a campy old movie, and kept up a running commentary all the way through it. When it was over, he went to his room to work on an art project. Meanwhile, I went to mine and decided to stream the opera Wes was currently attending.

After watching a recorded performance on my laptop for a few minutes, I had to pause it so I could do some research and figure out what the hell was happening. Then I stretched out on my bed and started it again. Eventually, I realized the best approach was just to enjoy the music without trying to keep track of what exactly was going on.

When my phone rang around ten p.m., I was surprised to see Wes’s name on the screen. I answered with, “Hey! What are you doing?”

“It’s intermission, so I thought I’d call and say hello.” When he heard what I had playing in the background, he exclaimed, “You’re listening to Carmen! I didn’t know you’re a fan of the opera.”

“This is actually the first time I’ve ever listened to an opera, and I’m enjoying it.”

“I wish I’d had an extra ticket. I would have loved to share this with you.”

“Are you having fun with your friends?”

“Yes, although Darrah is back on one of her setting me up on a blind date kicks. Her husband is taking her side, of course. The three of us had dinner beforehand, and it was all I could do to talk my way out of it.”

I asked, “Does she know you’re taking me to the wedding?”

“Yes.”

I waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, I said, “Let me guess. She doesn’t approve.”

“She doesn’t know you. Darrah heard ‘paid escort’ and jumped to all kinds of conclusions.”

“I can imagine. Would it help ease her mind if I dropped by the office and introduced myself?”

“You don’t owe her anything,” he said.

“I know, but I don’t want her to spend all of next week worrying about you.”

“Well, if you wanted to have lunch tomorrow, you could meet me at my office and I could introduce you. As long as it’s not too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all. Should I be there at noon?”

“That’s perfect.” After a pause, he said, “There’s just over an hour left in this opera. I suppose it’d be too late to drop by afterwards.”

I sat up and grinned. “I’m used to going to bed around three or four in the morning, so it’s definitely not too late. Just text me when you get here instead of using the buzzer. Jasper’s home, and he might be asleep by then.”

After we ended the call, I bounced on my mattress because I could barely contain my excitement. I knew this was nothing more than a booty call, but I was still so happy I didn’t have to go all week without seeing him.

Since I had over an hour to kill, I went into the bathroom to shower and primp. Then I dressed in a sexy black jock strap and hid it under a pair of gym shorts and a matching baby blue tank top, so he’d have a little surprise waiting for him.

Sometime later, Wes sent a text to tell me he was downstairs. I buzzed him in and opened the door, then waited for him to appear at the top of the stairs. When he did, my jaw dropped.