Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men, #1)(23)

“No. You can’t be stuck. Surely, there’s something else you could do to make money. Something legal and…and…”

“Moral?” he guessed.

“Yes, and moral. And...”

He chuckled and touched my cheek briefly. “You’re cute, Reese. Cheerful. Optimistic. Funny. But completely deluded.” Grasping his bag, he stood up abruptly, letting me know he was done talking. “Thanks for making my sister smile. And thanks for the tomatoes. I’ll see you around.”

As I watched him take off, I wanted to call after him and make him come back. He’d looked so lonely when he’d said he was stuck. The pain in his eyes had cried for help. It had cried for a friend.

And I could always use a new friend. But I’d have to be extra careful. Because that’s all he could be.





CHAPTER SEVEN




“You’ll never guess what rumor I heard yesterday.”

Eva’s voice startled me Friday morning before Brit Lit as she slid into the seat beside mine. I’d been downloading a few songs Sarah and I could boogie to onto my phone.

“What’s that?” I asked, returning my attention to the four-inch screen to purchase a little Black Eyed Peas.

“I heard my favorite cousin on earth was spotted eating lunch with Waterford’s very own hunky, mysterious gigolo yesterday.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, he—Oh, I forgot to tell you.” I lowered the phone. “That babysitting gig I got—the one I started Wednesday—it’s his sister, Sarah. She has cerebral palsy. Did you know that?”

“About his sister? Yes, I’ve heard.” Eva made a grumbly sound in the back of her throat as she waved her hand. “How does that have anything to do with you sitting all alone in the middle of campus with her brother…yesterday?”

“Well, I guess I’m a kick-ass babysitter.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder as I flashed her a smug grin, preening over my awesomeness. “Miss Sarah raved about her evening with me to him, and he wanted to…I don’t know, thank me, I guess, for being so nice to her.”

Eva’s mouth dropped open as if she didn’t buy such a lame excuse. “Really? That’s all he said to you during your forty-five-minute conversation?”

Wow, our gossiping eavesdroppers had actually been timing us? Weird. And had we really talked for forty-five minutes? No way. It hadn’t felt that long. But then, it hadn’t felt nearly long enough, either.

“Well…” I frowned. “Mostly, yeah. After talking about Sarah, we moved on to a couple other topics, but—”

“What other topics? Like his work?”

I rolled my eyes. My God, she could be even more curious than I was sometimes. “Well…sort of. That was on the list. But we talked about all kinds of—”

“Oh, my God, so he admitted what he is.”

“You said he would.”

“But…but everything I’ve ever heard about him was just…hearsay. This is actually…fact.” Her mouth fell open as she whispered, “Holy shit, he’s really a gigolo.”

At that moment, our professor walked into the classroom. A sharp-dressed woman, Dr. Janison wore fitted skirt suits as you could imagine some executive in high fashion might wear. It was too bad I had to hate her now; she really did teach well and knew how to put together an awesome ensemble.

But thinking of her anywhere near Mason made me feel all heartbroken and depressed. And kind of vengeful.

Unable to help myself, I motioned to her with my eyes and leaned across the aisle to whisper, “And guess who one of his clients is.”

Mouth falling open, Eva turned to watch our teacher set her briefcase on top of her desk and click it open. “No freaking way.”

A niggle of guilt gnawed at my conscience. Mason hadn’t acted like it was a big secret, but I suddenly felt ashamed about spreading gossip about him—even though it was true and I was only telling my favorite relative and personal confidant.

Still.

“But you didn’t hear that,” I was quick to add. Both the professor and Mason would find themselves in a world of trouble if someone leaked their association.

“Oh, hell, yes, I did,” Eva whispered, unable to take her eyes off Dr. Janison. “I wonder what position she likes it in.”

Seriously? “You did not just say that.”

“Whatever. Tell me to my face you’re not a little jealous of her right now. I mean, the man ate lunch with you yesterday. Mason Lowe just doesn’t…interact with females in public. I think you have more claim over him now than any girl, like, ever.” She turned back to me. “You should be the most jealous of us all.”

“I…no,” I insisted a little too emphatically. But did I really have more claim over him than any other girl ever? “I mean, no. I don’t hate Jessica for having Justin, do I?”

How could anyone hate another woman for having a man who was totally out of her league?

Eva wrinkled her face in confusion. “Jessica and Justin?”

I gasped. How could she not know who Jessica and Justin were? “Justin Timberlake,” I clarified with that are-you-kidding-me kind of expression all over my face. “Jessica Biel. Only one of Hollywood’s hottest couples.”