CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 40
I laughed as he patted his thin arm. “Then I’ll have the mussels.”“Yes!” He fist pumped the air and turned, pointing a finger at the other staff. “I told you!”I raised my eyebrows, his infectious happiness making me smile.“I’m sorry. We had a bet over who could sell the mussels first.”“You set me up!” I gasped.“I’m sorry!” He took my hand. “Gosh. Have whatever you want. Here. You can even have me. My bum is peachy.” He wiggled his hips.I think I found my new favorite place.“I want the mussels,” I replied, patting his arm. “Really.”“Done. Nancy, tell Barry we need a mussel dish. And not his muscles—he can keep those.” He slid in opposite me and leaned in. “Believe me, there’s nothing nice abo
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 41
And not in a good way.Tension bounced between us on the drive back to the hotel, and when we arrived, he all but carried me into the elevator that would take us up to our suite. Still, he didn’t say a word, but the ticking in his jaw told me just how pissed off he was.I kicked off my shoes inside the suite and chucked my purse onto one of the sofas. No words left him as I walked into the bathroom and stripped off my clothes.Who the fuck does he think he is? Coming in there and dragging me away like that? What gives him the right to do that?Oh, that’s right. He owns me because he spends his endless amounts of cash on my time. I forgot about the part where I’m supposed to appreciate that gesture.I scrubbed my hair and body under the hot spray of the shower, and once I was clean, I got out, still angry. I was so angry I could barely f
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 42
“Why not? Do my feelings mean that little that it doesn’t matter to you?”“Don’t you ever fucking say that!” He stormed to me and cupped my face. “Don’t ever say that.”“Then listen to me when I say I can’t!” I pushed his hands from my cheeks. “I can’t. Okay? Do you hear that? It’s not that I won’t. I can’t. Physically, mentally, emotionally, I can’t do that.”“Why?”His blue eyes were full of anger and pain and heat and what once was.“I can’t fall in love with you,” I whispered. “Not again. If I have to pretend all the time, I might just do that.”“Is that such a bad thing?”“Yes!” I found his eyes and hugged myself. My voice increased in volume until I was shouting so hard my thr
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 43
“I don’t care what you say,” he whispered in a shaky voice. “To me, you’re still my Gina. You’re still my Bambi.”I held him tighter and squeezed my eyes shut.I’m afraid of love and I always will be.****** *********George rubbed his thumb in lazy circles over the inside of my wrist. There had barely been a moment where he hadn’t been touching me this morning. Even through the night, he was there whenever I woke—his arm draped over my stomach, his legs tangled in mine, his chest gently rising and falling beneath my head.Last night had affected him. I could see it in his eyes and felt it in the way he touched me. Since we woke, limbs entangled, he had treated me like I’d break if his gaze was too sharp or his touch too heavy.Like if he did a single thing wrong, I’ll pick up my c
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 44
“You’ve got that right.” George ran his hands down my body and crept his fingers beneath the hem of my dress. “I could do with another pair of hands to deal with you.”I smiled against his mouth and heard a cough from the doorway.“Not to interrupt, but we’re ready to start.”“Thank you, Joe.” George smiled at him and winked at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I reached up and wiped his lip again.“Red isn’t your color.”“Oh, it is. It’s my favorite color,” he said into my ear. “As long as it comes with you, that is.”“Lips or underwear?”“We’ll arrange both.”I grinned and pinged my bra strap. “I already did.”He dropped his arm, bent back, and lifted my dress. I shrieked and jumped away,
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 45
He stopped, and both he and Joe turned to me. I knew what they were going to say before they opened their mouths, and I shook my head. “No. Oh, no. I’m not a model.” I walked backward. “You have dark hair and an incredible body. You could stand in for her.” George cupped my face. “Please, sweetheart. If we have to cancel this shoot, Marline might never use us again. She doesn’t do fuck-ups.” “I’m not a model.” I swallowed. “I don’t do pictures, George. I do…you know.” “And you are amazing at it, but now you need to put that gorgeous body to use in a different way,” he pleaded quietly. “Please.” I glanced over his shoulder to Derrick. “And you’re happy for Mr. Baby Daddy over there to rub his body against mine?” “Not at fuck
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 46
“Anytime, Annabelle. Anytime,” Joe responded, coming closer with his camera. “You two are fucking magical. Ms. Ruiz is going to be one happy lady when she sees this.”I smiled and rested my nose alongside George’s. He opened his eyes and I got lost in a sea of blue, completely captivated in him in this moment. Still with desire humming through my veins.He ran his thumb along my jaw, and my lips parted. I curved my fingers around his neck, and I nearly forgot we were not alone.“Perfect. Hold it there.”I couldn’t move away even if I tried.“And we’re done.” Joe stood and clapped once. “Unravel yourselves and come see.”Everyone’s eyes were suddenly away from us, and George helped me stand. “You’re a natural,” he murmured, kissing me softly.I smiled and shoo
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 47
If. If, if, if, if. Fucking if.My life had been one big goddamn ‘if’ since George Stone walked back into it. Everything I planned and everything I thought I knew would happen had been ripped away and torn into a thousand pieces. The certainty I prided myself on had been worn down, stripped back, destroyed. Now everything about me was uncertain.How I’ll feel tonight, tomorrow, next week. What I’ll do when we get to Paris. What I’ll do when this trip is over. How I’ll feel. What I’ll want. Where I’ll go.I knew none of it and I couldn’t even begin to contemplate it. I never thought I’d see George again, and when I did, pulling away that certainty, he made me his client. I let go of the freedom and ignored my gut. Then he didn’t want to be my client anymore, and in one traitorous beat of my heart, I agreed.I agreed
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 141: EPILOGUE
EpilogueFour Months Later“No, no, no!” I dropped my forehead to the table. “Why is this so hard for them to get right? Champagne and ivory are not the same color. The seat sashes are supposed to be champagne, not fucking ivory!”Brenda patted my shoulder. “There, there, Bridezilla. You have three months still to chew their asses out until they get it right.”“Brenda, with the amount George is paying them to get it right, I shouldn’t have to be chewing asses.” I sighed and straightened again. “This is crazy. Why can’t we just elope in some tropical country and get married without all this fancy crap?”My best friend laughed and shut the laptop down. “Okay, babe. Let’s get you a drink. You and I both know you wouldn’t want to have this any other way.”“I know. I just… I
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 140
I was not getting it out of him no matter how hard I tried. I knew he wouldn’t give anything away until he was good and ready, so I was stuck sitting here in my awkward limbo until he did. Stuck here, wondering, waiting, what-iffing.Our plates were cleared away and replaced with our main course. Again, it was eaten in silence, our eyes flitting from our plates to each other’s. The only difference was that there was a zinging of tension, one tight enough to cut, and I swallowed hard. My fork clattered as I placed it against my plate and looked at him firmly.“Do you want dessert?” he asked innocently, his steady voice betraying the tightness between us.“No. I want to know what this is.”“This? It’s dinner in the Eiffel Tower, sweetheart.”“No. What is it? Why are you doing it?”Geo
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 139
He prodded me in the side. “I think I found desires you weren’t aware of over the last few days.”Ah, this much wass true. Who knew having sex in front of a large bay window in the middle of the day was so fun?“I was very much aware of them. They’d just never been satisfied before now.”“They’ll continue to be satisfied, too.”“I should hope so.”He laughed quietly, burying his face into my neck. “Sit up. Let me wash your hair.”I did as he said, and he grabbed the showerhead from the little holder I placed it in for easy reach. When the water was the right temperature, I leaned my head back and let him wet my hair.“Ivan’s coming back to Seattle in a few weeks.”“He is?”“Hmm. He said he’ll call you to arra
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 138
“Again?”“Mhmm.”“Oh no.” I wrestled myself from him. “No, no, no!”I laughed, running through the apartment. And as I slammed the office door shut behind me, I realized my mistake.You never run from someone willing to stalk you until he can catch you.“Gina.” He hummed my name through the door. “Do I need to break the door down?”“That’s a habit for you.”“Open the fucking door. The longer you keep me waiting out here, the harder I’ll have to fuck you.”Oh, silly, silly man. When will he realized that, that was not a bad thing at all?I giggled and tapped out a random beat on the door. Truth was, I had no intention of letting George Stone fuck me right now.I planned to sit him on that fancy-ass leather chair an
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 137
“We are?” “Yes. You’re wearing my shirt again, and I believe it was some six hours ago I was promising to fuck you on my desk, so I suggest you get your ass into my office and hop up onto that desk pronto.” “You’re getting more demanding by the day, Mr. Stone.” I added some extra wiggle to my hips as I walked, and I was rewarded by a low growl of pleasure behind me. And punished with a sharp smack on my ass. “I never said anything about a demand. I’m requiring you get on my damn desk. Now move.” *** “Thank you.” George took a large envelope from someone and closed the door behind him. I watched from my slouched position on the sofa as he pulled a letter opener from the kitchen drawer and sliced the letter open. Because who doesn’t keep one of those in their kitchen?
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 136
It was ten in the morning and George still wasn’t up.That alone told me how much yesterday tired him. He was incapable of sleeping past six. Crazy man.I rocked my head from side to side. If I had any idea exactly what he was doing last night, I’d go into his office and finish it. As it was, I had no idea, so all I can was sit there like a freaking orange waiting to be juiced.I couldn’t read because my concentration wouldn’t last beyond a page. I had done my Candy Crush and Coin Dozer thing, and if I saw one more whining status post on Facebook, I’ll do one of my own.The sound of a phone ringing in his office cut through the silence, and I paused. Oh hell.I jumped down and ran into the room, barely blinking at the name on screen before answering. “Hello?”“Hello? Gi
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 135
I sat up, brushing hair from my face, and listened for any indication of him being around. There wasn’t any, so I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and made my way out of the room. The city lights flooded the front room, and I glanced at the clock. Three a.m. Where could he possibly be at this time? Something creaked in the direction of his office, and I walked down the hall to it. His door was cracked open slightly, and a gentle light from the television was flickering through the tiny gap. I wrapped my fingers around the edge of the door and eased it open, my eyes landing on his exhausted, shirtless figure. He was slumping over his desk, his fingers buried in his hair. His laptop was open in front of him, papers were scattered everywhere, some lying idly on the floor, and a desk light was illuminating the mess. “You should be in bed, asleep,” he mutte
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 134
“George!”“What does it say?” I looked at her. She bit her lip. “Rachel. Tell me now!”“She said that if you don’t pay within the hour, she’ll have it distributed to a large number of websites and presses ready to run a breaking news story first thing tomorrow. They’re waiting for her story.”“Will she fuck.” There was no wavering in his voice. Despite his lack of jacket and tie, George looked as serious as ever. “Rachel, get me her on the phone ten minutes ago.” He turned. “Alexander, get something drawn up that prevents her from contacting either Gina or me for the next fucking lifetime. This ends right now.”“George, you can’t pay her!” I wrenched myself from his mom’s grip. “Don’t be so fucking stupid!”He br
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 133
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, looking at my feet. Guilt and remorse—they flooded me. Consumed me.George pulled me into him and tilted my face back. “Look at me, Gina.”I shook my head. I couldn’t. Not this time. I couldn’t look in his eyes and know that everything we have was on the line. Everything he and his father have worked for was now hanging in limbo because of me.How many reporters have picked that up? How many stories will I see tomorrow? How many news alerts will pop up on my cell?“Gina.” His voice was hard. No-nonsense. “Look at me. Now.”My eyes disobeyed me. They raked up his body until they found a sea of bright blue.“We will figure this out. Do you understand me? It’s unexpected and sudden, but we will fix this.”Tears born of a real fea
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