‘You have the most beautiful skin; almost looks good enough to eat, if you don’t mind me saying,’ Jericho said, licking his lips. Again, my womb quickened. This guy was GOOD.
‘Well, if you don’t mind me saying – I’ve been told I taste good in the past so you’re probably correct in that assumption, Jerry,’ I responded cheekily. Because why not? I’m paying for the entertainment. Jericho’s grin turned into a wide smile as he winked at me and turned towards the menu.
‘So. Couldn’t wait to see me again, huh? Did I make that much of an impression? Am I that irresistible?’ He laughed at his own joke as I playfully prodded him with the menu.
‘I’m really annoyed that you’re correct in your assumption,’ I replied, trying to be careful with my response. Ultimately, Ididn’t want to come off as too desperate to the point where he would feel no way in taking my money for dates – I wantedhimtowantme.
‘But I suppose you piqued my interest yesterday. I like you, and ideally, I’d really like to get to know you better if that’s … if that’s something you do?’ I peered at him, as I tried to judge his reaction. His face was expressionless as he continued to smile somewhat politely at me.
‘Shall we order some drinks in and get this party started?’ he said eventually, avoiding my question. Too soon, Cassie. Too soon.
After a short wait, our drinks arrived, and we spent the next thirty minutes chatting about our favourite things and catching up on recent happenings. I found out that his favourite movie wasScarface, that his favourite food was a jacket potato with tuna and cheese, and that in his spare time, he liked to draw. All wholesome. All cute.
By now, we were about three drinks in, and I could feel myself starting to relax. Jericho’s eyes had taken on a hazy look as he lounged back in the booth, gazing at me sleepily. As I sipped on my spicy margarita, I decided to take my chance and amp up the questioning.
‘So. What would you say is your ideal woman? Both from a physical and personality point of view? Hopefully that’s not too personal to ask?’ I asked, slightly slurring my speech. I figured it would be a good thing to find out before I continued on my offensive with him. Jericho scratched his head briefly, before finally answering.
‘Haha, not personal at all. Hmm. Well, from a personality aspect I suppose I love a strong woman,’ he replied, staring directly at me with those piercing eyes yet again. ‘I love a woman who knows what she wants, is compassionate, kind, creative, intelligent and funny. I guess it’s one of the thingsthat attracted me to this job, you know? Being able to meet women who know what they want and are determined to get it at all costs. Ignoring the gender roles that society puts on them regarding sexuality and desire, and taking the bull by the horns. It’s fucking sexy to me, really.’
I straightened up in my seat as he spoke – transfixed. I felt like I ticked all the boxes under the traits he’d mentioned thus far; so far so good. But what about the physical?
‘With regards to how a woman looks?’ he continued, taking a sip of his drink. ‘Honestly, I wouldn’t say I have a specific type, but I do tend to prefer curves, I guess? I grew up surrounded by confident, curvy women in my family who celebrated their bodies and were unapologetic in their confidence, so growing up, that was always my norm. I guess that appreciation naturally carried over into my dating preferences.’
It took me a second to notice that I had stopped breathing. I subtly got it together, while taking in the information. Before I could allow the sense of relief to wash over me however, I had to ask the crucial question.
‘When you say “curves”, do you mean “Instagram model hourglass curves”, or—’ pointing to myself ‘—my kind of curves?’
At that, Jericho looked at me up and down, slightly biting his lip in the process. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as his eyes travelled from my face, down my cleavage and towards my hips. I subtly moved closer to him, allowing him to get a better view.
‘You’re definitely more my type, Cassandra,’ he said finally, his eyes travelling to meet mine again. He inched closer towards me as he maintained eye contact, as if daring me to look away. ‘As I said yesterday and tonight, you’re very … alluring. And before you say anything, I’m not just saying that because of the nature of our date; I genuinely mean it.’
Far be it for me to swoon under the weight of external validation from a man, but Jericho had captivated me from the very start, and I was completely under his spell. No man had ever treated me like this; I wasn’t used to this level of attention and focus before. It was like a drug, and I was hooked.
A moment lingered as we both stared at each other longingly, the weight of his words hanging in the air with a degree of sexual tension neither of us saw coming. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me, and I stared at his lips, hoping he would take the hint. Instead, his eyes came up to meet mine and the longing vanished from his eyes as he smiled meekly and sat back.
The moment had gone. What had just happened?
‘So, what if I wanted to get to know you more?’ I said, slightly frustrated and going for the jugular. ‘I know this is only our second date, but say I wanted to keep dating you, would I – would I have to keep paying for it? Even if you liked me too?’
Jericho then switched to take a sip of water, straightening up suddenly. I’d pressed him too much.Fuck.
‘This isn’t the first time this has happened with someone I’ve dated fromOuiMeet, Cassandra. I go on a couple of dates with someone, and then over time, they develop feelings and want to see me for real. If that were to happen between me and you, I suppose a separate conversation would have to be had but, for now, this is my job so I need to keep those certain boundaries in place. Do you understand where I’m coming from?’
I faltered. ‘So … what you’re saying is, in order to keep seeing you, I have to keep paying for you. Even if we at some point ended up as friends and I wanted to hang out with you outside of all of this, with no expectations – you’d still make me pay?’
Jericho sighed and took my hand in his, stroking the back of my hand lightly. I flinched at the warmth and softness of his touch.
‘Essentially, yes. That’s how this arrangement works. At least for now,’ he said, apologetically.
I sighed and backed away, returning to my drink. Suddenly, I was ready to go home. But after a couple of awkward minutes, another thought struck me; something I had wanted to delve deeper into on our first date, but wasn’t sure it was appropriate at the time. I had nothing to lose by asking him now, plus I wanted to change the tone of our conversation.
‘So, I know you said that you got into this whole game ’cause you’re trying to save for a house,’ I started, smiling meekly. ‘But is there more to that? Not trying to get in your business or anything, but I find the whole industry fascinating; I wonder what drives people into the lifestyle I guess, and whether it satisfies them. I mean, I’m as sexually liberal as the next person, but doing it as a job – I dunno – it seems like it must get physically exhausting after a while?’
Jericho shifted in his seat before facing me again, studying me with exaggerated suspicion. ‘You’re not some kind of investigative journalist doing a piece on escorts, are you? I’ve never had anyone so intrigued about my work before – it’s new.’ He broke into a grin, making it clear he was teasing.
‘Sir, I promise you, I am but a homely medical secretary who earns a modest living in order to care for my feline son,’ I said innocently, making the Scout’s honour hand salute. ‘It’s not often I encounter these kinds of situations, plus I’mreallynosy and—’
Jericho raised an eyebrow and giggled at that part, which I responded to by giving him the middle finger.
