Page 59 of Purchase Power
He grunted. “My mother.”
“Oooh, does she live at the house?”
“No. She hasn’t for some time.”
A smug countenance greeted Lucy’s face. Did she know more than she let on? “Just your mom, huh?”
“My father lives in Europe.” That was all he shared.
“Have you known Candace for a long time? Is she family?”
Something about her inquiring toward Candace bemused Noah. “She’s not family by blood. Or marriage. Or adoption, for that matter.” Did Lucy know that his knees were cramped as hell? Would there be a reprieve before they left this tub? Wheneverthatwould be? “She’s been with my family for almost as long as I can remember, though. She joined the staff when I was in elementary school. Believe it or not, she was young back then.” That dry joke was completely lost on Lucy, who continued to look askance at him over her shoulder. “I mean, she was in her early twenties when she became a maid. By the time I was in middle school, she was second only to the steward. She had the perfect personality for doing what she does. She’s very no-nonsense with the staff and me. Tough, but fair. We’re not really friends in the traditional sense, but she’s one of the few people I trust, never mind with my household. Now…” He grunted, swinging a leg over the side of the tub. There. Much better. “Isn’t it my turn to ask you an invasive question? At the rate you’re going, I might start thinking that you’re a journalist trying to get the inside scoop about my life.”
He had meant that with candid humor, but Lucy wasn’t laughing. Her face had paled, even with the steam rising around her cheeks. Was the water getting that cool already? Strange. Perhaps it was time to turn the tap on again.
“How did you get into your line of work?”
“I, uh…” That was the only thing to startle Lucy more than his comment about the journalism. “You mean… how did I come to seduce you for your money?”
“Sure. Let’s put it that way.” Whatever made Lucy happy.
“Well…” Had Noah finally caught her off guard? All it took was dressing themselves down after sex, and hopping into a bath together? Go figure! “To tell you the truth, I haven’t been doing this for very long… but I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”
“You’re fairly young.”
“Notthatyoung. Aren’t you used to your sex workers being in their early twenties? I barely qualify now.”
“I seem to recall you being around twenty-six, yes.”Twenty-six and every inch the word.Noah had noticed the blemishes on her body that made her human, of course, but that only added to her beauty and her character. Lucy’s stretchmarks were a testament to her healthy growth as a young woman. The little moles where she probably couldn’t see them only made her stand out. He didn’t even care that her blond hair was fake. Why should he? He had been with women who had pink hair, for fuck’s sake – and a woman with blue hair tried to convince him that it was hernaturalcolor. As if he were that ignorant!She was, however, that high on drugs.
“Twenty-six. Yeah.”
“Why? Did you lie about it? Are you really thirty, Ms. Craig?”
“No,” she was quick to say, albeit without offense. “I’m not ‘really’ thirty. Although I feel like I’ve grown a few years in the past week alone.”
Something soured the water. “I hope it’s not me. I apologize if I’ve been too brutish.”
“Brutish? No, no. I don’t see how you could be…brutish.I like it kinda rough, you know. These past few days have been the hottest sex of my life, and I don’t make that up.”
“Thank you kindly.”
“All I’m saying is that it’s quite a bit of change for me. Going from the kind of life I lived before, to staying in a strange man’s guest suite for a whole month while he gets to do with me as he pleases. Even an experienced woman would be a bit freaked out by that, I think.”
“I hope everything has been satisfactory. Even if you don’t get a kiss, Ms. Julia.”
There! Another funny! He was on a roll tonight. If only he could crack a smile on Lucy’s face.
“Like I said, the sex is hot. And the money is gonna change my life. And my sister’s, at this rate. I’m gonna pay for her college. After I’m done paying my own debt.”
“Very admirable.”
“You know…” Lucy said, as if changing the subject was her lot in life. “You really remind me of a book character. This whole situation does. Have you ever read ‘Jane Eyre?’”
“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before, but go on.”
Finally, Lucy chuckled. “You didn’t answer the question.”
“I know of it, but I don’t think I’ve ever sat down to read it.”
