Page 53 of Personal Escort

She makes a shushing sound and hugs me even tighter. “But we’re going to have the most amazing dinner tomorrow night. Totally casual. Clambake and dancing on the beach.”

“We can celebrate all the things,” I murmur. “My new husband, your new baby…”

“Jake just got engaged,” Toby says, looking up from his phone. He turns the screen toward us. “Like a minute ago.”

I pump my fist in the air. “Yes! More to celebrate!”

Elana frowns. “Maybe we can have a breakfast for them the day after… try to keep this—”

“Nope,” I say, blissfully spinning my big sister in a circle. “All the things. Happy night tomorrow. This is perfect.”

She shakes her head at me, but lets it go as she reaches for Toby. His turn to be squeezed to death. “You married my baby sister? In secret?”

He grins at me over her shoulder. “I did.”

I miss what she says, but from the exaggerated face he pulls, I’m thinking it’s some kind of threat. “Elana, let him go.”

He whispers something in her ear before she releases him, and they’re both smiling when she turns around.

I roll my eyes and tug him toward the stairs. “Holler when Ben pulls into the driveway with Nana, okay?”

She laughs. “I will. And remember that my children are just outside, so don’t be too loud.”

I groan. “Well now we’re not going to be loud at all. Thanks for that.”

We stop on the landing and look out toward the beach. Sure enough, there’s Elana’s husband racing back and forth with her boys.

Toby sets his hands on my hips. “I can be very quiet,” he murmurs in my ear.

I twist my head around. “What did you say to Elana?”

“Same thing that I tell you every day. You are the best, most unexpected gift I’ve ever been blessed with, and I’ll never hurt you.”

My heart melts. Okay, quiet it is.

I have the smallest room at the back of the second floor, but it has a small balcony and a private bathroom, so I’ve never minded the cramped quarters before.

Now, as we set our bags on the single chair in the corner, and bump into each other navigating around the bed, I start to second guess my choice. There are ten bedrooms in the house, and they won’t all be full. We could move…

“Do you want a shower after all that travel?” Toby runs his fingers through my hair, then brings them back to my neck and rubs. “We can conserve water.”

“Later,” I say, turning in his arms. “I don’t want to be in there when Nana arrives.”

“I’ve met your grandmother. She’s not that scary.”

“You haven’t met her when the empire is on the line. You are going to be grilled.”

“I’ll pull my public filings up on my tablet so she can see my estimated net worth.”

“It’s not funny.”

“It’s hilarious. Take a deep breath. There’s no need to go spinning. What would you have done if you’d actually hired an escort and brought him here this weekend?”

I bury my face in his chest. “Can you imagine what a disaster that would have been? And you’d be just down the hall. We’d have had phone sex, and then I’d have an actor here with me.”

I’m mortified just thinking of the fake love triangle I almost found myself caught up in.

Toby is shaking with quiet laughter. “I’d have glowered the entire time. We’d have ended up on the beach late at night, and I wouldn’t be able to resist kissing you.”

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