And making me hard as fuck.
“Turn around.”
She hesitated before she cooperated.
My hand immediately grabbed her ponytail, and I tugged the hair tie out until her hair was finally free. It expanded down her shoulders, a slight crease in the strands where the tie had gripped the hair. Slightly wavy, it trailed down her body to the middle of her back. “Walk.”
She walked across the room, incorporating everything I just told her. She looked elegant and smooth, a natural at being the sexiest thing alive. The heels tapped against the floor at a perfect rhythm and her ass shook in time to her steps.
My eyes drilled into her luscious ass, admiring those rounded cheeks. She had a body women would die for. She was tight in all the right places, and all woman in others. The curves between her hips and ass were proportional. The crease underneath her cheeks made me want to squeeze her ass with my bare hands. A woman that looked this flawless would make my art a million times more desirable.
It would make all the difference in the world.
* * *
After she put her clothes back on, I pulled out the chair at the table. “Sit.”
“Do you order everyone around like that?” She fixed her hair with fingertips as she looked in the mirror.
I talked to everyone however I wanted. “Yes. Now sit.”
She obeyed, but with silent attitude. She took a seat and looked at the tray Nicole had placed there thirty minutes ago. “What’s this?”
“Breakfast. Are you hungry?”
“Uh…” She licked her lips instinctively as she stared at the egg whites with the side of sautéed kale, mushrooms, and tomatoes. There was also a slice of sourdough bread and a few pieces of avocado. “Isn’t this for you?”
“I already ate. Help yourself.”
She didn’t put up a fight and immediately picked up her fork. She started eating, placing the food in her mouth at a rapid rate, but retaining her elegance and eating properly at the same time. She hardly looked up because she was more interested in her food than me. It was like I wasn’t there at all.
Knowing she was starving and had no place to sleep at night made me wonder what she was running from. I shouldn’t care, so there was no point pondering it. If I asked, she wouldn’t answer me anyway. She wasn’t wanted for murder, I knew that much. She had quite the mouth on her but not a violent bone in her body. She didn’t seem like someone who would break in to someone’s house and rob them. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be sleeping on the street. She’d be squatting on someone’s property. Whatever her offense was, she wasn’t dangerous. But that only made her more mysterious to me.
I had a small safe in my office, so I cracked it open and pulled out a pile of Euros. I stuffed them into an envelope then set it on the table beside her. “This is for you.”
It was the only thing that could get her to stop eating. She chewed her food slowly and swallowed it before she stuck a thumb inside and expanded the opening. “What’s this?”
“An advance.”
“There’s got to be two thousand Euros in here…”
“It should get you what you need for the next few weeks.”
It was the first time she showed me a genuine reaction. Her eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning, and she gripped the envelope tightly, as if I might snatch it back. But then she put it back on the table and pushed it toward me. “I can’t accept it. I haven’t done anything. All I did was spend a few hours with you…”
I pushed it back. “Take it.”
“No.” She pushed it back again. “I appreciate it…but it would be wrong.”
It was hard to believe this woman would be so proud when she had so little. She cared more about her dignity and self-respect than taking the easy way out. It showed a kind of bravery I hadn’t seen…ever. Now I understood why it was so difficult for her to take her clothes off for me. This woman lived by a different code of ethics than everyone else. “I take care of my girls.”
She eyed the envelope one last time before she turned away. “My final answer is no.”
I wanted to force her to take the money, but I didn’t know how I could make that happen. I would just deposit it into her bank account, but since she didn’t have that, that wasn’t possible. “Where will you go tonight?”
She pushed her eggs around with her fork. “That’s not your problem. Don’t worry about me.”
It was impossible for me not to worry about a beautiful woman alone on the streets. She was hungry and dirty, and she deserved more than that. “How about this? You see that bed over there?” I nodded to the corner, where a large king-size bed sat. It was covered with soft sheets and decorative pillows.