Page 9 of Nothing to Deny

Good for Holly knowing what she wanted. Freya, on the other hand, had no clue. Already Squires had given her more than she’d bargained for.

FOUR

SETTLING THEMSELVES in Conrad’s office didn’t take long. Yet the setup felt wrong. The masculine man seemed out of place in a room designed more like a boudoir than a business. At that moment, seated on a chaise longue next to her cousin, perpendicular to the one Conrad had to himself, their purpose was ambiguous.

“I hope you don’t mind…” he began. “Holly and I spoke some about your situation while on the hunt for you.”

While she was being seduced away from good sense. “My situation?”

“Our situation,” Holly said, joining their hands.

Since when was her cousin so tactile? Could be the environment brought it out in her.

“With engagements leading to weddings, we tend to assume you’ll need contact for up to a year. Sometimes that goes longer. Vacations, meals, dates, it’s all fine. We just need to ensure that you get the right match.”

“I don’t want sex,” Freya said, recognizing her own voice only after it left her lips.

Conrad’s smile quirked. “That’s acceptable. We’re paid for it, not in it.”

Another stupid thing to say, what a talent she was discovering. “No, I meant, I would like to be matched with a man who doesn’t… offer sexual services.”

Bobbing his head, Conrad was completely at ease on his chaise longue. “We do have operators who only provide company and companionship. Operators who don’t go all the way… However, they don’t tend to be available for this kind oflong-term work. I can check, but those operators tend to work on a date-to-date basis, what you’ll need is someone willing to make regular appointments. Sometimes at short notice… Although the more notice you can give us, the better.”

“We will always give as much as possible,” Holly said. “The vacation is the most important thing. Other things, one-off things, we can always say a boyfriend has a work commitment or something if schedules don’t match.”

Conrad was smiling and nodding again. “You’re flexible, that’s good.” Straightening, he reached for two folders and handed them one each. “We ask you to fill out these questionnaires and contracts.”

Flicking through the pages, the volume shocked her. There had to be more than twenty, maybe as many as thirty sheets.

“This is a lot.”

“I know, we’re thorough,” he said and produced two booklets from the table behind his chaise. “You should take solace we’re as thorough in every area.”

He gave them the booklets.

“What’s this?”

“Our user manual.” Holly laughed. It wasn’t funny, not to her, this was a whole new world. “I know, it sounds funny. But it explains everything that’s in the forms and it has a glossary, which should help you when making your selections.” He grabbed two full sized folders. “We’ll fill out your forms today and I’ll talk you through a couple of potential matches. We don’t just make one. You can list two or three from these folders. We’ll double-check they meet your requirements. After that, we’ll process everything and match you with a maximum of five candidates. We’ll set up a date with each of them. They can be double dates if you’re both more comfortable with that. Those initial five dates are on us, you meet five men and pick which oneyou want to see this process through with. After that, we’ll have a meeting, the five of us, and hammer everything out.”

“Sounds perfect,” Holly said. “How do you decide on the five?”

“As I said, if anyone stands out, you can list them. As long as they meet your requirements, time, scheduling, pricing, services offered, we’ll put them on the list of five. Five is the maximum we offer complimentary.”

“But we can keep going?”

“If you want, at your own expense, of course,” he said. “We want to find you the perfect fit.”

“What about Baer?” Holly asked. “Is he available?”

Conrad’s smile was warm but apologetic. “Scheduling is always a problem with Baer. He has more regulars than anyone else on our books.” Holly’s shoulders sagged as Conrad’s strengthened. “Fortunately, I know he’s desperate for the money. So I can’t see him not working out the time off with his regulars.”

Holly squealed, prompting Conrad’s laugh. The room felt positively giddy. How was this her life right now?

“Oh goodie,” her cousin said. “This is going to be so much fun.”

“It is fun,” their host replied. “Let’s get started.”

Five dates with five different men. Sounded like a punishment. Maybe it was. Punishment for acting the way she had with a stranger. Brazen wasn’t her middle name. Then again, neither was simpering nor shy.

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