Page 101 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
‘He calls you Jenny.’
She nodded, too choked up to say how much she loved that.
‘OK,’ Nina said. She took a deep breath and sat back in her seat. ‘Here’s how I see it. I’m the madam of an escort service, and I’m involved with a Metro PD detective. You’re Luxxor’s top escort, and you’re seeing a DC political operative. This isn’t going to work for any of us.’
Genieve sagged in relief. She didn’t have to explain it. Nina was three steps ahead of her, as always. ‘I know. I don’t want to quit on you, Nina, but I can’t do it any more. I need to get out of the escort business.’
Nina stopped with her tea lifted halfway. ‘Not totally out, I hope.’
‘I’m open to ideas.’
‘Well, I have one.’ She took a drink and set the cup back down on its saucer. ‘I’ve been contemplating it for a while, but tonight at that event everything suddenly became crystal clear. I still need to work out the details. I probably should have waited, but I wanted to run it by you first.’
‘Me? Why me?’
‘Because it’s a proposal for you…’
* * *
The curbside parking was filled when Brody finally made it to Jenny’s rowhouse. It was nearly midnight as he drove down the alley. Her car was in the covered parking, but her visitor spot was open. It was a tight space like most parking in the city, but he took it. He called her so he wouldn’t startle her.
‘I’m here, at your back door.’
He didn’t have to even knock. He was still judging the sturdiness of the new door when she pulled it open.
He frowned. ‘You need a security chain on that.’
She hadn’t even looked out the window before she’d let him in.
‘You called me, silly.’ She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside.
He loosened his tie as he walked into her kitchen. The repairmen and the cleaners had done a good job. He’d wanted the place to say nothing but ‘home’ when she returned.
He ran his hand down her side. She was dressed for bed in another of her skimpy nighties. This one was snow-white with lace. It woke up his tired body fast.
‘Everything OK?’ he asked. She seemed hyped up. ‘What did Nina want?’
‘In a minute.’ She led him into the living room and tugged off his jacket. She tossed it over a chair. ‘Did you fix the situation with the runaway?’
He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘For the first time ever, I just resorted to telling the press to back off.’
‘Did it work?’
‘It did, because I reminded them that this was a kid.’ He shook his head. Usually the complexity of his job filled him with energy, but tonight it had drained him. ‘They need family counselling, but I think I got the press off of them.’
‘You helped, Brody. I know you did.’
‘Yeah? Well, I think I had the easy part.’
He watched her closely. Something was up with her. He could feel nervous energy coming off her in waves. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were bright, but the nerves weren’t all good. She was wearing a hole in the carpet, and she wasn’t pacing. ‘OK, spill. What was the deal with Luxxor? Is something up? Do I need to get on something?’
‘Sit.’
She pushed him back towards the sofa until he complied. Still, he sat on the edge.
‘It’s not anything bad,’ she said. ‘It’s just something I never expected, and…it’s a lot and…I’m not sure what to do.’
‘Jenny, calm down and tell me.’
