Page 13 of Rum & Coke

He grinned. “Meet her at the bar, talk to her, go up to a room she books, and you know. It’s easy.”

“Wait,” I stammered. “I have to have sex with her?”

“What is it that you think I do?”

“Go on dates,” I answered honestly.

“I do, but I also get to do a little extra.”

“Every time?”

He shook his head. “No, but if you’re horny, do it. There are no strings.”

“No strings.” I tested the words on my tongue. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but sex without the added stress of wondering if a chick would want more would be nice. I wanted to be a bachelor my entire life. I craved the chance to travel the world whenever I desired. Granted, I knew I couldn’t do it on a teacher’s salary, but I was going to find a way to have the life I sought. Maybe this was it?

He told me where and when to meet the client and how to prepare for my night. I shaved, trimmed, and lathered my entire body with lotion. For some reason, even though I was nervous, I wanted to impress whoever I was meeting because who knew what this opportunity would bring.

I couldn’t believe I was going to do this.

That night, I’d done just that. Shelby became a regular, and I escorted her on numerous occasions with an LA-based company before I moved to Vegas five years ago for a teaching job and joined S&R. And while I knew going to lunch with Tessa was nothing like escorting Shelby or any of my clients, I was still nervous. I hadn’tdatedsince high school, which was ten years ago. And that wasn’t dating—it was fucking.

The moment I saw Tessa walk out of the side door, a smile spread across my lips. Dressed in jeans, boots, and a sweater, she was still gorgeous. I didn’t need to see her in a bikini, topless or even naked to appreciate her beauty. I got out of my SUV and started for her so she’d see me. Once she did, her smile matched mine.

I wrapped my arms around her as soon as we were within inches of each other. “Hey,” I greeted.

“Hi,” she replied.

We broke apart. “Hungry?”

“Starving.” She followed me to my SUV.

“Do you like Bonefish Grill?”

“Never been there.”

I opened the passenger side door for her, and she slid inside. I went to my side and did the same. “Do you like fish?” I cranked the engine after buckling my seatbelt.

“Yeah.”

“Good. Bonefish Grill is one of my favorite places.”

“Sounds good, and just a reminder that I only have an hour.”

“Have another hot date?” I teased as I drove out of the parking lot and toward the restaurant.

Tessa chuckled. “No. I have errands, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

“Are you working tonight?” she asked.

“Yeah, a little later.” I did have a date. Because of Gabe’s bachelor party and trying to organize everyone’s schedules, I had taken Thursday off from school, and now half a day on Friday. We had the shindig on a Wednesday night because most guys had their dates on the weekends and didn’t want to pass up the opportunity of making money.

“Is it true? Do you sleep with your clients?”

I turned and smirked at her. “You’ll have to hire me to find out.”

She laughed, and then a few minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot of the shopping center where the restaurant was. After we were seated in a booth, Tessa said, “I heard you came looking for me yesterday.”