Page 11 of Games We Play

“Three… three thousand dollars?” That was more money than Leah made in a month!

Something wasnotadding up!

“More than you thought you might get, huh? Considering how much you charge per thirty minutes, it should be a nice bit of inflation.” Sloan continued writing out a check.

“Charge?”

Sloan stopped writing and gave Leah and incredulous look. She was the type of woman who looked hotter the angrier she got, wasn’t she?As long as she’s not angry at me! Whoops. I think she is.“Are you, or are you not, the woman I saw Saturday night?” Sloan laughed in disbelief. “Unfuckingbelievable. Your hair may be combed and you’re wearing clothes that fit you, but Jesus. I’m not blind.”

“Wedidmeet up Saturday night. Yes. On my birthday. That you were hired to attend.”

Sloan remained dumbfounded. “What?”

“You’re a… um… a…”

“I’m a businesswoman, Leah. Margaret Sloan. Co-Chair of Sloan & Giles, from Chicago. Not that I expect you to have heard of it.”

“You’re the biggest cunt in America, right?”

“Oh, so you remember that?”

“I remember a lot of things… that don’t make a lot of sense right now.” Leah sighed and sank into her seat. “Like how you fingeredmycunt.”

“I sure fucking did. I paid for the privilege, didn’t I?”

The car stopped at a light. Leah was almost at a loss for words.

“Are we having a misunderstanding here, Leah? Mandy?Birthday Girl?”

“You’re the sex worker.” Leah’s lips were dry, yet she couldn’t move her tongue over them. “Not me.”

“Excuse me?”

“It was my birthday. Didn’t my friend hire you to, uh, entertain me?”

Sloan slammed her checkbook closed, eyes so wide that Leah feared they would pop out of her pretty head.

“I amnota sex worker. Ihiresex workers. Like you!”

“I’m not a sex worker, either!”

Silence strangled them. Sloan looked toward the privacy petition and promptly whipped out her iPhone. Leah had never seen a woman punch in commands so quickly, and her sister was a whizz at texting.

“Do you know what happened with the girl I hired Saturday night?” Sloan barked into her phone. The more aggressive she spoke, the more Leah shifted in her seat – because it was too exciting to bear.Damn, she’s dangerous. I need to get out of this car before I’m sucked into something bad.She had started her teenaged years on the wrong foot. Why not fuck up her thirties too? “What are you talking about? She didn’t show up? Then who thefuckdid I finger, Ayla?”

Two seconds later, Sloan slammed her phone down onto the leather seat and changed her tone. Although she spoke with a softer voice, Leah did not feel more comfortable. If anything, Sloan had truly reached terrifying peaks.

“Miss… Leah…” Every word coming through those thin lips was carefully contemplated. “I am absolutely mortified by what has happened.”

“You are?”

A deep breath racked Sloan’s already shaking body. “I thought you were the sex worker I hired. A woman in a pink dress was supposed to meet me at the club that night.”

“Really? I thoughtyouwere an escort my friend hired for my birthday!”

Sloan made a face. Really. She was offended that someone might “mistake” her for a sex worker? Oh, but she had no problem hiring them for her own sexual pleasure?Typical.Things started making sense, and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

“I can assure you that I have never in my life been paid for sex. I’m usually the one doing the procuring.”