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 48
I licked my lips.“I said”—he leaned in closer, his lips moving against mine as he spoke—“are we clear?”“Still a little murky.”His fingers curled around my neck and he held my face to his. He kissed me slowly. Deeply. Intensely. A ball of need coiled low in my stomach, tightening until it was at the very brink of exploding. It hovered there, growing as George’s kiss teased and taunted me.He pulled away briefly before returning to my mouth and dropping a long, lingering kiss there. “My coffee.”I grabbed the side of the counter until my woozy, heady feeling from him passed. Holy shit, the man can kiss. The tongue strokes, the pressure, the twitch of his fingers on my skin…“Is apparently yours.” He shoved his jacket on and pocketed his phone. “You,” he murmured, roundi
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 49
I left the store with a small smile, despite being caught. I’ll let him have that simply because I had no other choice, but he was not getting away with it that easily.'You’re sneaky, Mr. Stone. Nice move.'I tucked my cell back into my pocket and entered the Museum. And holy crap! Was there a place in this city not completely shrouded in beauty? The glass ceiling stretched high above me, and I was surrounded by the elite shops, old and at home in this Spanish city.Prada loomed before me, and there was something magical about knowing I was standing in front of the very first store. Chanel might be my preference of label, if only because of the country in which it started, but Prada was a close second.My feet pulled me towards the store like a moth flies toward a light. There was no hesitation… Wait, can I fit anything else in my closet? Or my suitcases? Neve
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 50
“I’ll take the black dress Mr. Stone reserved,” I said through a tightened jaw. Fucking ass**le. I’ll make him pay for this—and not in money.“Si. He has fabulous taste, Signor Stone, does he not?” the manager questioned as she wrapped it in tissue paper in a box.“Excellent.” I faked a smile. “What did you mean a moment ago? I wasn’t what you were expecting?”Silently, she placed the lid down and slipped it into a bag. “The dress is charged to Signor Stone’s account. I’m sure you will look wonderful, signora.”“What did you mean?” My voice was harder as I pushed it.She gave me a smile, one lined with the bitchiness she hadn’t hidden since she approached me. “Forgive me. It was a slip of the tongue.”She disappeared, leavi
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 51
“Jesus,” he breathed, burying his face into my neck. “Really couldn’t hold back, could you?” I shook my head. “And I wasn’t going alone.” His lips touched my skin. “No. You weren’t.” He wrapped his arms around my body, and I hooked my feet together behind his back. He was still hard inside me, and as I sighed into his hair, I was struck by a barrage of overwhelming feelings. Of fulfillment. Of happiness. Of belonging. Of completeness. “Shower,” George ordered, moving back and pulling me with him. He carried me into the bathroom as I was laughing into his shoulder and git in the shower before turning on the water. Ice-cold water sprayed over us and I screamed, squirming to get away from it. His laugh washed over me the way the warming water did. “Just a little cold water, Gina.” “Put me down now,” I sighed, pressing
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