Page 14 of Paradise & Vodka

I looked at the people in line around us again, my eyes wide. "No, I've been with others over the years, just nothing serious."

It was our turn to check in, so we stepped up to the counter, showing our passports and checking in our bags before getting our boarding passes.

"Come on, Sugar Tits. Let's grab a drink."

"Oh my God." I started laughing. "Is that what you're going with?"

"I'm not sure I can until I taste them." He winked.

I was really startingto like Ashleigh. Although she classified herself as a nerd, I would never have pegged her as one. She told me about her job and how she liked science stuff, but she didn't look like a nerd to me. In fact, I thought her smarts were sexy.

Shewas sexy.

It surprised me that she was single and had only had one boyfriend before. I’d only had two girlfriends in my day, but that was by choice. I didn’t want to have anything serious. What I gathered from Ashleigh was that she wanted something long-term—she wanted what my friends had.

"So, tell me about your work," she said as we sat at a bar near our gate.

I took a sip of my drink. "It's glorified dating."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Women hire me to go with them to important things."

"Like weddings." She smiled.

I grinned. "Yeah, like weddings, but also parties and stuff like that."

"And you enjoy it?" Ashleigh took a sip of her cocktail.

"I do."

"Do you …" She looked away, staring at a baseball game playing on the TV.

"Do I what?"

She took a deep breath as though she were nervous. "Do you ever want to settle down?"

I chuckled. If I had a dollar for every time I was asked that question … "Honestly, no. Why would I?"

Ashleigh shrugged. "I think it would be nice to come home to someone every night after work and just have that love and connection you can only have with that one person."

"My friends seem to love that life, but I just can't imagine it."

"Are they married?"

"Most of them are."

"And you really don't want that?"

"No." I shook my head and took a sip of my salty dog.

"What about when you're older?"

"Hopefully, I'll be doing this until I can't get it up."

She snorted. "So, women want older escorts?"

"Sure, why not? Even older women need to have a man on their arms."