“Hmph.”
“Hey, you’re still on good terms with your ex-wife.”
Was he serious? “We have akidtogether. There was no choice.”
“Right. Well, I know you’re a nice guy, Ben.”
“And what does that make you?”
“An ass, most of the time.”
At least he knows.“Look, I have no ill feelings toward you. If anything, I’d think you’d hate being around me.”
“Ah, come on, I could never hate you, Ben. I was the reason everything went to hell.”
“I don’t think of it like that.”
They were awkwardly silent for a moment, Benson wondering if he should extract himself from this situation. Yet he couldn’t help himself. He had to ask, “So, you’re seeing someone? Hope it’s not the woman who came on to me right in front of you.”
“Who? Oh, no. I reconnected with someone recently. Things are kinda serious already. So, you know, you don’t have to worry about me.”
Everything about how he said that raised more than a few hackles in Benson’s broad body. “Why would I worry aboutyou?” he asked, crossing his arms. “If anyone could take care of himself, it’s you.”
“Funny. I often think the same thing about you.”
That was how they parted. Not with sarcasm, harsh words, or misgivings. Just well-wishing and a reassurance that they wouldn’t be at each other’s throats whenever they crossed paths.
Knowing that Liam was seeing someone “semi-seriously” made it easier to fathom. Liam was best with a woman hanging off his arm.Let alone a woman he can fawn over and share his secrets with.The only thing about that was Benson’s role in those secrets.Well, as long as he keeps my name out of his mouth…
They lived in the same city again, after all. Benson had a reputation to keep – both at home and at work.
He’d probably say the same thing about me.Benson donned his coat when he stepped outside into the cold but sunny day. He couldn’t help himself. He had to text Eden.
“I still can’t stop thinking about you.”
It was the truth. From the moment he set eyes on her, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Just because he also thought about other people he had loved from time to time, didn’t make that mean anything less.
Chapter 11
Eden
Juggling two boyfriends at once was not the easiest task in the world, even for unemployed Eden, who spent half her days with one of them and the other half recuperating by herself. A couple of times, she met up with friends, including Blair, who invited her out to late lunches when she was in town to work.
“Tell me what you do again?” Eden asked over soup and salad in a hoity-toity place called Bell Jar’s. She couldn’t take her eyes off the cut of Blair’s jeans and the baggy T-shirt that made her look so effortlessly gorgeous. This restaurant wasnota jeans and T-shirt place, yet Blair had sauntered in as if she had slept with half the management.Close.The whole building was owned by the family that owned The Dark Hour and had a giant stake in La Mariposa. Half the management had seen Blair naked at least once. If she wanted to gallivant in jeans and a designer T-shirt, she damn well could.She probably gets a discount!Was Blairpoor again? Eden couldn’t quite tell. The woman made money hand over fist, but still had to work for a living and definitely related more to the working-class crowd than the richie-riches. Which made Eden’s question even more pertinent.What the hell does she do outside of performing and camming?What made her come into the downtown core to work at the end of the week?
“I work up the street at a place called Le Salon,” Blair said while checking something on her phone. “It’s a hostess club. Honestly, you could probably make a killing there. I could get you on the list for when an opening comes up. I’ve been there the longest out of some of them, so believe me when I say turnover is easily a few months to a year. Girls make their bags and leave, or they move on to other sex-work adjacent stuff.”
“It’s sex-work?”
“I mean, nothing like what you just did, girl.” Blair chuckled as she put her phone back in her bag. The waiter came over with a shy look on his face as she tossed her bleach-blond locks over her shoulder and smiled at him as if it were second-nature by now. She left him a wink as he walked away. “God, look at me, I can’t turn it off. I don’t even sleep with guys, but I know where most of my income comes from.”
“So, what is it?”
“It’s a hostess club,” Blair repeated. “You dress sexy and entertain guests all night in a sultry lounge setting.” She rolled her eyes as she picked at her salad. “And get them to buy as many drinks as you can, because that’s where the real money is. Like, they pay for their appointment with you, right? But if you can get them to buy booze or keep a bottle of something expensive at the bar, you get a big cut of that. It’s how the lounge makes most of its money.”
“Interesting. So, no actual sex?”
