Page 17 of Games We Play
Yet Sloan was the woman to come straight from Leah’s darkest, most closely-held fantasies. It wasn’t about the money. Not really. As much as Leah dreamed of being rich one day, knowing that Sloan could rent this large suite in downtown Portland for as long as she liked didn’t do anything for Leah. She was much more attracted to the fire in those eyes and the no-nonsense way Sloan carried herself through public. She didn’t take any shit from anybody, did she? She said so herself.“No bullshit.”Sloan dressed how she pleased and wasn’t afraid to use it to her advantage when conducting business.I wish I could see her in one of her meetings.Those heels on her feet were probably sharp enough to bust a few balls. God knew Portland had enough bigshots that could use a good ball-busting.
Perhaps Sloan didn’t know it, but Leah had been studying her since they met on Couch Street. Every movement she made, every word she said… Leah ate it all up like the fool she was.Did I bump into some Fairy Godmother at my birthday party who decided to make this come true?Even Melissa couldn’t have known how depraved some of Leah’s fantasies were. If her own best friend didn’t know, then how could Leah mention them to anyone else?
Even to… Sloan?
This businesswoman wasn’t in thebusinessof hearing her partners’ fantasies. She rented women’s time so she could enact her own fantasies. The woman was resourceful and didn’t waste a single dollar or minute of time. She got what she wanted.
And she left.
So what the hell was she doing inviting Leah up to her suite on a Monday night?
“Do you want something to drink?”
Leah tripped where she stood. Sloan’s voice was like a snake curling in Leah’s stomach. Calm, passive, but potentially deadly. All it took was one wrong move and fangs would be in Leah’s gut. Poison would drip. Paralysis of logic and reason would commence.
“Sure. What are you having?”
“I’mnot having anything. I was simply being polite.”
“Oh.” Leah relaxed her shoulders and helped herself to a plush chair nearby. “Then I probably shouldn’t have anything either. I don’t need any loosening up.” Her uneasy laughter made her realize what her double-entendre really implied.
Sloan did not react to either the laugh or the words. She only reacted to Leah’s bag slipping off her lap and onto the carpet. Before Leah could dive down to grab her purse strap, Sloan was there, snatching it.
“Th… thanks.” Leah clutched her bag to her chest as soon as it was in her hands again. Sloan abruptly turned, her perfume whipping up a small cyclone of sweet scents.
A different perfume from the other night. This woman mixed it up.I wish I could smell the perfume from when she…Leah hid her embarrassment behind her bag. Now that she was in Sloan’s room, taking up space in her chair and breathing the same intimate air as her… how could she remember getting fingered to orgasm andnotblush?
“I’m sorry.” Sloan placed her hand on her hip and scratched the back of her head. Something about her hair reacted unnaturally. Or at least Leah didn’t know how she could rip at her roots and not flinch in pain. “This is so awkward. I haven’t done something like this in a really long time.”
“Something like this?”
“You know…” Sloan scoffed. “Invited a woman back to my place. Not like this.”
“You mean a woman who isn’t an escort.”
“It’s different, isn’t it? Protocol, that is.”
Am I really the one with more experience in this?Thatwasawkward. Because Leah hadn’t been on many dates in her adult life. The few women she had dated either turned into platonic friends or forgettable one-night-stands. She couldn’t say she had been in a real lesbian relationship before. Not that she thought it was possible with Sloan, but someone like hermusthave had a string of serious girlfriends over the years. She could have any woman she wanted! Even straight ones, if she put her mind to it!
Yet I’m the one in her room.
“How would this go if I were someone you hired?”
“Someone I hired would know what I wanted before she entered the door. I make that clear before I pay a single cent.”
“So… what is it that you want?”
Sloan spared her a curdled glance. “It’s different telling a woman like you. Because it’s about what you want, too. Sexually, that is. If I give you a run-down of what I usually want, you’ll either run or make demands of your own. Maybe I’m not in the mood to deal with another woman’s demands beyond what they serve me.”
An intoxicating lump went down Leah’s throat. “What if those demands happen to align? Wouldn’t you want to know that?” She held her bag closer to her chest. “Wouldn’t that take away some of the awkwardness?”
“Who are you? My therapist?” Sloan’s laughter was anything but infectious. “Jesus. The way you look at me is so weird.”
“Is it?” Leah wasn’t aware that she looked at Sloan with anything but curiosity. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She sucked in a deep breath for courage. Sloan had to power to turn Leah into a different person. Where was that stranger now? The one with the bravery and desire to see a dream come true? “Honestly, Ms. Sloan, I came here because you intrigue me. After what happened Saturday night, whether you thought I was the girl you hired or not, I felt that it was kinda like fate, you know? Because I’ve never met a woman like you before. I don’t only mean the way you look or the kind of car you own. I mean how you make me feel.”
“That’s one way to tell me I have some skills.”
“I meant beyond whatever you can do with your fingers.” Although those helped. “You have an energy to you that I am extremely attracted to.”
