The Hookup Handbook(9)

So after three full days of either being ignored by Case or dodging his pretentious comments, why am I still looking at this picture of him at the gala? I’m practically hypnotized by the way that tux looks over his broad shoulders, and even in pictures, he’s got the same laser stare he was drilling me with all day today. It seemed so aggressive in the office, but now, there’s almost something alluring about it. I wouldn’t mind getting lost in that intense stare.

What the hell am I thinking?

I close out of the pictures of him, my screen replaced by the happy beach sunset on my background. I guess this is proof I really do need to get laid this summer.

? ? ?

“Why are you here so early?”

It’s 7:45 a.m. when I step through the door to Case’s office. A whole hour and a half earlier than when I arrived yesterday. I was hoping the boss wouldn’t be in yet, that I could have a little time to myself to make a cup of coffee and get my bearings before he arrived, but no such luck. He’s already behind his desk, halfway through yet another pile of paperwork, and seemingly unimpressed with my early arrival.

“Ryder dropped me off on his way to the gym. What’s your excuse?” I ask, resting a hand sassily on my hip.

“Maybe you forgot, but I live here,” Case says matter-of-factly.

“Oh, right,” I say with an embarrassed giggle. “I guess that’s one of the perks of having your office in your house, huh? You can just roll out of bed.”

Case’s eyes narrow into slits, challenging me as his mouth twitches into a smirk. “Why do you say that?” he asks, pushing up the sleeves of his formfitting blue button-down. “Do you think this is what I wear to bed?”

“I have no plans to find out what you wear to bed.” My cheeks heat up. Shit, Sienna. Do you ever think before you open your mouth? I chomp down on my lower lip to keep myself from making some sassy remark about how most of his work takes place in a bed anyway.

Instead, I elect not to respond and scamper over to my desk, settling in for the day. Not that I’ll have any work to start on until Case sends a project my way. Maybe I should remind him that he’s paying me by the hour, whether he gives me work or not.

Before I have a chance to get a word in, an unfamiliar voice interrupts my train of thought.

“Well, if it isn’t the legend himself.”

A tall, chiseled man with dark hair and a short beard is taking up most of the door frame. Another escort, I assume, but he doesn’t look familiar. Definitely not one of the guys Ryder said hello to yesterday. I would have remembered the beard and the bright, inquisitive eyes.

“Nic! Fuck, man, it’s been too long. Damn, it’s good to see you.” A genuine smile spreads across Case’s face, a welcome change from his usual conceited smirk.

As Nic enters the room, Case gets up from his desk to give him a firm handshake that turns into a familiar bro hug.

“Sienna, this is Nic. Nic, Sienna. You remember Ryder? This is his sister. She’s helping me out this summer.”

I wiggle my fingers in a polite wave, and Nic gives me a friendly nod.

“Have a minute or two to catch up?” Nic asks Case, who glances at me.

Taking that as my cue to give them a minute alone, I hop out of my desk chair. “I was just about to go grab a cup of coffee. Do either of you want anything?” Nic and Case both turn down the offer, and I scurry out the door, on my way to the kitchen.

“How’s the wife?” Case asks.

Their deep voices carry easily down the hall, where I add water to the countertop café machine.

“Elle is great. The baby is due in three months already. I can hardly believe how fast the pregnancy has flown by.”

A wife and a baby? Interesting. I didn’t even know it was possible for an escort to be married with a family. I don’t think I know a woman in her right mind who would be comfortable with her husband renting out his dick to a different customer every night, even if they are paying top dollar for it. Based on all the luxury cars outside, I’d say all of these guys must have YOU MUST BE THIS RICH TO RIDE emblazoned on their boxers.

“Congrats, man,” Case says. “A wife and a baby. I can’t even imagine. It seems like you got out of this business at the perfect time.”

Ah, he’s an ex-escort. That makes a lot more sense. It’s also certainly less dramatic. The details of the married life of a former escort are probably not worth running the risk of being caught eavesdropping.

I busy myself with placing a coffee pod into the machine and press the button as it hisses to life. I’m reaching for a mug when Case says something quietly that stops me in my tracks.

“There are days I feel like getting out too.”

“No shit?” Nic asks, his voice suddenly hushed and serious.

My fingers curl around the ceramic and I freeze, curiosity burning wildly inside me.

“Don’t start spreading rumors. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got a business to run. I’m just saying I get why you left. It gets old, man. And tiring.”

Nic’s laugh echoes through the room. “Well, goddamn. I never thought I’d see the day Case Smith got sick of fucking a different woman seven days a week.”

“I only take a few clients a week now. The ones who are really willing to shell out the cash and don’t want any dick but mine. But even that gets old when I’ve got a hundred other things on my plate. Hell, I’ve got a book deadline I’ve gotta hit.”