Page 5

5

Elle

I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. He was just going to come right out and ask me? Weren’t we supposed to negotiate first? He hadn’t even told me what he wanted in exchange. But I’d also agreed to this for exactly one reason. “Yes.”

The dragon grinned. Actually grinned. Then he reached into his wallet and pulled out a wad of money.

“Thank you,” I croaked.

But when I went to stuff it into my purse, he asked, “You aren’t going to count it?”

It was a fat stack of hundreds, and the way his eyes fixed on my hands, he seemed to want me to count it.

I thumbed through the cash, shooting him nervous looks, and my heart rate ratcheted up each time I hit another thousand. His eyes were half-closed by the time I finished, and hot desire tugged at my lower belly.

Five thousand dollars. Chills and relief hit me in equal measure. I could walk out of here now, and with what I made from my regular jobs, I’d be set for months. I’d been drowning for so long, and it was like I’d finally found the surface and sucked in a breath of air.

I stuffed the money into my purse and stuck the purse in my lap .

Except. Except I had five figures in credit card debt, student loans for a degree I’d never finished, and even though Mama would never admit it, she usually needed a hundred bucks a month or so for things Dwayne didn’t approve of. New mascara, or the pain-relieving lotion for her joints that Dwayne “didn’t believe in,” or a million other small things.

If I stayed and negotiated , I could wipe out my debt and stop feeling like I was treading water. Maybe even get ahead before the wheels of Az’zael’s plans crushed me beneath them.

So I straightened up, all that warmth flushed right out of me. What did he expect in exchange for five thousand dollars?

He watched me with those slit-pupiled eyes, as if checking for signs I’d bolt now that I had the promised money.

“So, Az’zael, you wanted to talk?”

The hand that held his tea trembled slightly when I said his name. “Az, please.”

“Az, then.” Using his nickname felt overfamiliar, but I forced the feeling down.

“Yes. I’d like to make an arrangement.” His red claws tapped the side of his paper cup. “With you.”

He was nervous. Possibly as nervous as I was. It made me feel a little less alone in my awkwardness. I wanted to ask him why , but I had a feeling I wouldn’t like the answer. Richest guy in the city picks up a server and propositions her? Yeah, I could do that math. Although I supposed I couldn’t hold it against him when I was going along with it.

“What do you want out of this ‘arrangement’?” That was the important question.

He cocked his head to the side, his brow furrowed. “The usual things, I assume. I’ve never done this before. But I’d like your time and…” He paused, seeming to hunt for the right word. “Companionship.” His eyes darted over me, and the tips of his wings twitched in an unsettling manner.

“What, uh—” I bit my lip, then plunged ahead. “How much companionship?”

“Attend parties and family functions with me.” His gaze swept over my face. “Visit me a few times a week. And, of course, I will compensate you generously for your time.”

Alright, that was a little more than I’d expected. If we went out in public, I’d end up splashed all over the news and social media. How would people react, seeing us together? I didn’t look anything like the other humans who got involved with dragons. Had none of their polish or class. Not to mention that I didn’t even like people I knew talking about my private business. How much worse would it be if strangers were doing it?

I stuffed the unease of being on public display with the most high-profile person in Kilinis into a teeny, tiny box in favor of another anxiety. “Family functions?” He wanted to bring his sugar baby around his family ? Wouldn’t they be offended?

He shifted in his seat. “Of course. My parents have little get-togethers a few times a year.”

I relaxed. He’d surely grow bored with me before I had to go to one. Still, I asked, “They wouldn’t mind if you brought me along?”

“Not at all. My sister and parents would probably spend the whole time interrogating you about yourself and human customs, and my brother”—he winced at the word, and I sensed something under the surface—“would do everything he could to be an asshole. It’s his specialty. They can all be a little… hectic.”

The second he’d winced, I knew I’d agree to go, if the time ever came. His relationship with his family was obviously complicated, and I knew how tough that could be. If he wanted a companion, someone who was on his side? Yeah, I could give that to him.

So, if I was definitely doing this, that left only one question. “How generous?”

“Send me your bills, and I’ll pay them,” he said.

Hand over my landlord’s name, all my utilities, my credit card bills, everything to a total stranger? The damage he could do if I accidentally upset him… I shook my head. “That doesn’t work for me.”

He shifted; that inhuman gaze locked on my lips. “Of course. You want fun money. I’ll give you a credit card as well.”

Heat curled through me, and I forced myself to meet his amber gaze. “No. I need a specific number.” Reserves I could draw on for a few months after this ended.

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’re delightfully exacting.”

Oh, damn. He liked that I’d countered his offer. That did something to my insides. Not the heat that had built when he watched me count bills with such avid interest, but something a little farther north, toward my heart. I’d never had a boyfriend act pleased when I asked him for something. They always bitched and moaned about doing the tiniest thing.

So I listened to instinct and gave him my sassiest smile as desire ignited in my blood. “It certainly pays to be exacting.”

His grin grew wider. “Will ten thousand a month cover your needs?”

Holy. Fuck. I could pay off an entire credit card. One entire monthly payment, gone forever. It was higher than I’d hoped for, and he tossed it out casually?

I opened my mouth to say yes and lock this down. Then the morning sunlight glinted off his diamond watch, and I remembered that he wasn’t a boyfriend who miraculously wanted to take care of me—he was a rich dude who wanted to purchase a service. So why the hell shouldn’t I negotiate a little? If he said no, I’d be in the exact same position I was this morning.

Plus, he seemed to like it when I countered. “Twenty thousand.”

“For that amount, I’ll expect more .” His eyes glinted.

My gut tightened with a mixture of anxiety and intrigue. “How much more?” Anal? Sure. Getting passed around to all his friends? Never.

“I want to see you every night.”

I blinked. If he wanted to spend every night together, why was he looking for a sugar baby instead of a girlfriend?

Regardless, it wasn’t possible. I had to have something to fall back on when this went tits-up, and ducking out of every dinner shift would get me fired.

“Every other night,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest.

His lips curled over his teeth. “Twenty-five thousand, and I can see you every night.”

I ran a hand over my arm, my skin suddenly sensitive. The way he looked at me, like I was the most important thing in the room…I wanted more of that. I didn’t work every night, and I could afford to take more lunch shifts for a month or so.

But giving up my job and relying on a complete stranger who would surely bail in a few weeks…my stomach clenched.

“Every other night is the most I can do. You’re welcome to give me twenty-five thousand anyway.” I kept my tone breezy, infused with a confidence I didn’t feel, and waited for him to volley back a more reasonable number.

His eyes went heavy-lidded. “I agree. Twenty-five thousand, and I see you every other night. ”

What the fuck?

“Send me your banking information, and I’ll send your first payment through. You’ll come by tonight?”

His body was angled toward mine, his expression hot and intense. To my shock, I felt myself grow wet in response.

I drew in a shaky breath, sent him my banking info, and said, “Tomorrow night.”

“Why not tonight?”

I was scheduled for a shift tonight. I should tell him. He met me at work. Then I remembered how Adrian used to bitch about me working all the time, even though I was the only one paying the bills, and how Dwayne constantly interfered with Mama’s jobs, and my stomach sank. We’d been having such a nice time, and I didn’t want to ruin it. “I have plans.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “If you have another arrangement, you’d better be ending it.”

I stared at him, slack-jawed. “No. No other arrangement.”

“Good.”

Then I figured, damned if I would allow a double standard. Twenty-five grand didn’t purchase all of my dignity. “I assume this arrangement will be your only one as well?”

He looked horrified, his thin lips curling back to expose every sharp tooth. “I would never be unfaithful.”

What an oddly romantic choice of words. My stomach swooped, and I told it to calm down. My phone dinged with an incoming email, distracting me from my nerves. The transfer.

I fumbled with my phone to set everything up before I chickened out.

“I’ll get tested and send you the results. Assuming you do the same, we can forgo condoms,” I said, to cover for myself. I’d gotten an IUD a couple years ago, and for twenty-five grand, I doubted he’d want to wear a condom, assuming they made them for dragons.

Az’zael’s empty coffee cup crumpled in his massive hand, his scales going dark crimson. “Whatever you want.”

My phone dinged again. Twenty-five thousand dollars had just been deposited into my account.

My hands went numb. I stared at the balance in my bank account for a good thirty seconds. No hesitation on his end to give me exactly what we’d agreed to. No arguments, no nitpicking, just kept promises. My stomach knotted while that warmth near my heart grew. “I can see you tonight. Eight o’clock?”

Across from me, Az’zael grinned, the tips of his wings fluttering. “I can’t wait.”

My throat tightened. Az’zael seemed nice, but I’d seen enough human men turn on a dime to trust my intuition. Especially when money was involved. They had a way of attaching all kinds of hidden strings.

No, no, we agreed to the strings up front. That was the whole point.

I sucked in a breath. “Yeah, me neither. Thanks for, uh…” I waved a hand, as if the slight motion could encompass everything he’d just done for me. “But I’m sure you must be very busy at work today.” If I didn’t get out of here soon, I might melt into a puddle of panic. I had to get some space and pull myself together.

Az’zael’s grin faded, and his hands twisted together in an oddly human gesture. “Everything at City Hall is well in hand. I can afford to take off for a few hours.”

“Right, I’m sure you’ve got everything managed.” My face flamed. The list of things I had to do between now and eight piled up in my brain. I shouldn’t have changed my mind about seeing him tonight, but he’d kept up his end of the bargain, so how could I back out now?

His lips thinned. “But I’m sure you must be busy as well. I’ll see you at eight?”

“Yeah. See you at eight.” The words echoed in my ears.

After switching shifts with Maya and running by the clinic in a daze, I dropped by my mom’s. I had a few hours before I needed to get ready to go to Az’zael’s place, and even though there were ten thousand other things I should do to prepare for my “date,” I hadn’t seen Mama since Saturday.

Instead of trotting up to her door, I sat in my car in front of her apartment building, my phone clutched in my hand. Then I pressed the transfer button and paid off an entire credit card. I glanced at the number in my checking account. Still way higher than I’d ever seen before today. I took a deep breath, my heart pounding in my throat, and paid off another card.

I slumped back in my seat and tried not to cry. Relief warred with anxiety. Over half the money Az had given me, gone with a few taps of my finger. But those cards had been hanging over my head for months, keeping me awake as I tried to figure out where else I could work, how I could cut my expenses, how I was going to keep from drowning, and now they were gone.

When I’d gathered myself together, I trudged up to Mama’s apartment and knocked on the door. I had a key, but Dwayne hated it when I let myself in. Mama opened it and stepped aside so I could enter.

“Hey, baby. What’s the occasion?” She motioned me inside.

I looked past her head to the thrift-store curtains on the far wall—I’d been taller than her since I was in the sixth grade, though our coloring and features were similar .

“Just wanted to see you.” I stepped into the living room like I was moving through molasses, my limbs weighing a thousand pounds each. It took what seemed like years for my feet to carry me to the same broken-in couch that had followed Mama from apartment to apartment for the last fifteen years. I dropped into a well-worn dip in one cushion.

I just agreed to be a sugar baby.

Mama had moved in here with Dwayne a few years ago, but it looked like every apartment we’d lived in together. Cramped. Run-down. As clean as Mama could make it and with as much cheer as some curtains and a few thrift-store pictures could add.

I stared at the picture of the Pyramids of Giza hanging across from me. Mama had always wanted to visit. Maybe I could afford to take her on a little vacation now. Not to Egypt, but a nice weekend at the beach.

“You okay, baby?” Mama’s voice broke through the static playing in my head.

“Yeah.” I licked my lips. “Sure.”

She snorted. “Course you are.” She bustled around in the kitchen, then returned with some sweet tea.

I took a glass, staring at it.

We sat in silence for a long moment.

She broke the silence. “You have any luck finding a subletter?”

I shifted in my seat. I’d briefly tried to find someone to take over my lease so I could find somewhere cheaper, but nothing had panned out. “Uh, no. Don’t think I’m going to have any luck with that.” I don’t have to worry about rent anymore. Hot and cold raked over my guts, and I prayed it didn’t show on my face.

Mama clucked her tongue. “That’s too bad. Why don’t you tell me something good instead?” We’d played this game all throughout my childhood whenever one of us got down about money. She was a single mom, and my deadbeat sperm donor rarely paid child support. Money had been a constant worry, but she’d always tried to find a silver lining.

There is ten grand sitting in my bank account. The words piled up behind my lips. But I couldn’t own up to how I’d gotten the money. “I picked up some more shifts at work.” I’d need to explain the influx of cash somehow.

Mama sniffed. “Work isn’t good , it’s life. Tell me something good . ”

“I had a nice cup of coffee.” I turned to look at her, making eye contact for the first time. “One of those real fancy ones. With oat milk.” A dragon bought it for me. I dropped my gaze.

“They make milk out of oats?”

“Yeah. Somehow.” It was all the rage these days.

She blinked. “Why…?”

I shrugged. “Some folks can’t drink milk.” Usually, having a guy order for me felt controlling, but the way Az’zael had thought of every option felt indulgent.

“ You can drink milk.” Mama drew herself up, like my being lactose intolerant would have reflected poorly on her abilities as a mother.

“Yeah, but I wanted to try something new.”

Her lips curled down. “What was it like?”

“Normal milk, mostly.” It was a little disappointing. I wished I’d gone for the hazelnut latte. It’s what I usually ordered, but I hadn’t been able to resist trying something new. I hadn’t even thought to grab the hazelnut one on my way out, my brain too full and totally empty at the same time, like static was playing on a constant loop.

Mama sighed. “So. Fancy coffee and extra shifts. Does this mean no more of that driving job? ”

“Yeah.” I wouldn’t have time to drive anymore, because I had to visit my sugar daddy every other night, but I bit my lip before the words escaped.

“Good. I didn’t like you doing that. You never know what kind of crazies’re out there.”

“Most folks were nice.” I’d never told her about the clients who hit on me, or, worse, the one who puked in my back seat.

Mama tsked.

“When do you start your shift?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.

Mama worked at a convenience store down the road, which was lucky because she’d had to walk to work for the last month or so. Dwayne hadn’t gotten around to fixing the ominous grinding coming from her brakes, and she couldn’t drive her car when her brakes might fail at any minute.

“I’m off today.” She shifted on the couch.

“You always work Wednesday nights.”

“Riley dropped me down to twenty hours a week.” Riley was her manager.

“Oh, Mama. What happened?”

“Dwayne didn’t like that I was always scheduled for nights. He didn’t think it was safe, so he talked to Riley about moving me to days. Riley must not have liked his tone, because he put me on days alright, but he dropped me down to part-time.”

My eyes went wide. “Dwayne talked to your manager? Behind your back?”

“It wasn’t behind my back. He told me he was going to do it.” Her lips thinned. “He’s very protective.”

“Um. Right.” Protective enough to get Mama almost fired. I recalled Az’zael’s hesitation in talking about his own family and wished I could snap my fingers and have a supportive companion sitting next to me right now.

“Anyway, it don’t matter. I applied to a couple other places earlier today.”

“Great.” Hopefully Dwayne wouldn’t tank her next job like he had this one. Or her last one, when he’d accused Mama’s manager of hitting on her.

“Where is Dwayne, anyway?” I glanced around. It was ten minutes after five, and he was usually home by now.

“He picked up some overtime.”

“That was quick,” I said.

“He’s got extra hours every night this week.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Every night. Huh.” His auto shop got a lot of work, but I didn’t think that many cars needed servicing. Plus, he’d been there less than a year. If they were handing out overtime, they wouldn’t give it all to the new guy.

“Honestly, Elle.” Mama’s lips thinned. “I finally found a man who takes his responsibilities seriously, and all you do is judge.”

“Sorry, Mama.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I took a deep breath. I did not want to have another fight about Dwayne or the meaning of “responsibility.”

“Look, I made good tips last night. How much do you need for your brakes?” I asked.

“You know Dwayne handles that. He can’t stand having another man rooting around inside one of his cars.”

“It’s your car.” She’d bought it before she even met Dwayne.

Mama waved a hand. “You know what I mean. He’s responsible for it, so it’s his.”

“If he’s so responsible, why hasn’t he fixed the damn brakes yet?” It would take an hour, two max .

Mama’s back went stick-straight. “He works a very demanding job, and he don’t always have the energy to muck around afterward. I ain’t about to make him work on his day off, either.” Mama’s country accent, softened by decades of living in Kilinis, deepened. A sure sign she was irritated.

What had I just been telling myself about not arguing? If I pushed it, she’d kick me out. Especially now that Dwayne was paying most of the bills. You shouldn’t disrespect a man in his own home, Elle.

“Right. Sure. What about rent?” I asked. Mama and Dwayne had barely been able to keep this place even before she lost her hours.

“Don’t worry about me, Elle. Dwayne always manages to figure something out.”

Fire ignited beneath my skin. While it was true that Dwayne had an uncanny knack for figuring out solutions to the problems he created, he sure created a lot of problems. And a lot of his solutions benefited him . With Mama working fewer hours and him working more, she’d spend more time home-cooking his favorite meals—to “save money” on eating out—and catering to his every whim.

I’d seen her do it over and over again, every time Dwayne’s assholery lost her a job or cut her hours. And if I pointed it out, Mama would clam up and we’d go a week without talking, so I shoved my anger back into its tiny little box.

“It’s fine, Mama. I want to treat you.” I reached for my purse, then froze. Forking over a handful of crisp hundred-dollar bills would raise questions I didn’t want to answer.

Out came my phone. “Here. Don’t you dare try to send it back.” I sent her enough money for a month’s worth of rent. To her account, not the one she shared with Dwayne.

“What am I supposed to tell Dwayne?”

I shrugged. “Tell him whatever you want.” She always did.