AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She grins and nods.
And I can’t help but laugh at her. “You’re such a goober.”
“Come on! Think about it. This is the perfect cover for a spy or a sexy assassin. You can totally think of him as some enemy intelligence officer you have to sleep with to get information, and?—"
“Did I just get a peek into your sex life with Daniel?”
Her cheeks redden fast. “Um. No.”
I snort a laugh at her unconvincing lie. “Uh, huh. Sure. Okay.”
“My point is, you can make tonight into whatever you want in your head. He doesn’t need to know, and you can pretend he’s anyone. I mean, what kind of guy does this?”
“The same could be said for the women. Let’s not go there.”
“Oh please. Everyone wants money. It’s easy to think of what kind of woman would do this. But the guys?” She drifts off for a moment. “They could be here for any reason, really. Hell, maybe they just get off on the idea of paying for it. Or they like outcompeting the other men in the room for the woman they want. Or maybe they hope the woman will do things their wife won’t?—
“Shit,” I bite my lip, “my bidder could be married.” Great, so now am I not only freaking out, but also there’s the possible guilt to consider. This night just keeps getting better and better.
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“How come?”
“These kinds of people … well, I’ve known this sort of person my whole life, June. As much as we all try to ignore it, a certain amount of indiscretion is swept under the rug. Wives and their tennis instructors, husbands and their executive assistants, it happens all the time. If he is married, this isn’t the first time and it won’t be his last, and it’s likely that if he’s doing this, his wife is doing something just as iffy.”
I peer into her eyes and for the first time, I see something less than cheery. “Callie, your parents?—
“Oh, right as rain. Not my parents. But my aunts and uncles have all had their own … let’s say, hobbies. There’s a reason my Uncle Marcus spends so much time at the office and Aunt Regina is so good at tennis, and the rest of my aunts and uncles are just as distracted with their own hobbies.”
I wonder if she’s purposefully ignoring her own parents’ affairs, or if they truly are the exception to her rule. But bringing that up now seems cruel. “Ah. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter then. Or well, that’s what I’ll be telling myself, because if I could make enough tonight to pay off my student loans, I’ll be thrilled. I might even be able to do what I’ve always really wanted to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Start a photography business. It’s lame, I know, but?—"
“Oh my gosh, that’s a great idea!”
I blink at her. “Really?”
“Well, you take the best selfies of anyone I know, and normally, you have that plain-dressed, simple makeup thing going that every genius photographer does. What else do you need?”
“Actually, I looked into it. I have a list of things I need, but as businesses go, it’s one with a very low start-up cost. I figure I’d start off with wedding portraiture to get my feet wet, and go from there.”
She hugs my shoulders. “I am so proud of you for doing this.”
“Really?”
“You’re going after what you want, June. Maybe in an unconventional way, but still. Too many people never take this kind of a leap. Or any kind of leap. They just do what’s expected of them their whole life and give up on their dreams.”
I take a breath. A full one. Since agreeing to this, a weird sense of shame has twisted me up, but hearing that from Callie—the sweetest, most moral person I know—makes all of this easier somehow. “Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.”
“Plus, Camille said she works one night a year and makes nearly a half million dollars to live on for the rest of the year. If this goes well, maybe you could do that and live retired for the rest of the year.”
“I’ll be happy if I can pay off my loans and start a business. I’m not sure I’m up for doing this again.” But she has a point. Still, it might not be for me. I’m so nervous I could pee myself right now. “We’ll see how tonight goes. Once is a wild night. Annually is a career, and I’m not sure I’m down for that.”
“Well, no negative judgment from me either way. I just hope you have a fabulous time and make a ton of cash.”
“Me too.”
