Page 15 of The Decadent Gift (The Gift 3)
Yes, it was fraud. Yes, he was responsible. Yes, I filed police reports.
But clearing that mess up with the bank takes forever.
His credit was ruining mine.
It was easier to pay it off now.
And with this bonus, I’d win the final battle.
I’d move on from him.
All I had to do was dedicate myself to this new project for Sin City Escorts.
* * *
I spent the rest of the day diving into a rabbit hole of fantasies.
When the clock sped into evening, I leaned back in my chair, turned to the window, and gazed out over the city, flashing back through the last twenty-four hours.
From Ava’s new display that had beckoned me, to the bride giving the gift of an escort to her friend, to Jake’s kiss and the wild thoughts that accompanied it, the last day had been . . . illuminating.
Then this morning had come Trish’s news and her assignment, and hours of internet perusal. My head was brimming with thoughts, ideas, and concepts.
I had enough to go on to present a marketing plan in a few days for this new role-play service.
I understood the details, the ins and outs of how it would work.
But one missing piece nagged at me as I wrapped up for the day, shutting down my laptop.
How did it feel?
When you ordered up the role-play escort, how would it feel to play boss and secretary, to be the naughty criminal, to beg your teacher for a better grade?
When he left your hotel room that night, a trail of intense orgasms in his wake, how would you feel?
You’d feel . . .
I hunted for words but was unsure where to start.
If I was going to spark a potential customer’s imagination, this was critical information.
I needed to know.
With that unsatisfying gap in my understanding, I said goodbye to Trish, left the office, walked past the Bellagio, and stood in front of the fountains.
I had always loved these spectacular cascades. Some of my most significant debates with myself had happened here—where to go to school, what to do about Damon, where to live in the city.
I’d talked here with my friends too, discussing life and love and the future with Lily and Nina.
The dancing water calmed my mind, the noise quieting my thoughts so I could listen for answers to questions that seemed unanswerable.
With the sun fading and night wrapping around me, I watched the water leap and fall in its beautiful choreography.
And this time, the path was clear.
How would a woman feel when playing a role in a sexy scenario she’d ordered up?
If I experienced just a taste of pretend myself, I would know.
Trish would never ask me to do that, but I could ask it of myself.
Because if I wanted to entice women to try this service, I ought to know what it was like.
I wouldn’t need to order an escort. And I didn’t need to go all in with acting out the boss and secretary or the naughty nurse and pervy patient. Direct experience wasn’t necessary to deduce those feelings and generalize from one’s related experiences—just empathy and imagination.
But I didn’t think my plain vanilla lifestyle would pave my way to understanding.
Maybe something else, something closer to the target, would give me a bit of extra insight.
Call it a crash course in walking on the wild side, Kate Williams–style.
Alex, I’ll take naughty fantasies for a thousand.
A mixture of some role-play and everything I’ve fantasized about for years.
What is my dream dirty weekend?
The water danced, and I grinned a private grin that sent a sizzle across my skin and a spark down my chest.
Yes, that was what I needed to nail this pitch—my version of role-play.
The music in the fountain swelled, the water rising higher, then higher still before it surged to its limit and finally splashed down.
It was hardly a subtle metaphor, but it was the perfect soundtrack to my thoughts.
Once I gave myself permission to indulge in this experiment, I immediately thought of someone to help me.
I gazed at the stars winking in the night sky as I considered the complications.
What about our tentative camaraderie? What about our group of friends, our business relationship?
But Jake didn’t seem like a guy looking for something beyond the physical, like someone who wanted more.
I didn’t either.
Sex would be enough for him. Sex would be enough for me.
I opened my phone and sent him a text.
8
Jake
The silver ball slid down the board on a fast track toward oblivion.
That was no good. Carson was on track for a record score in the AC/DC game, but not if the ball went down the drain.
“C’mon,” I urged. “Just slap that flipper.”
Frowning in deep concentration, my nephew pulled on the flipper with everything he had.
The ball went screaming back up the board, smacking the lights, activating the jackpot round, and launching him into a new high score.
