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"Sure. I can do lunch." Rising on shaky feet, I shot him a dazzling smile the way my mother had trained me to do and grabbed my purse from the coat rack behind my desk. "That sounds great."
Chapter 3
Archer
Audrey was an enigma. Full face of makeup that bordered at times on overdone, designer clothing, perfectly done hair, nails and eyebrows, she looked like the type of society-type ladies I usually avoided. The kind that busied their days with garden parties, spa appointments and the occasional charity luncheon.
But her countenance didn't match her appearance. She wasn't stuck up, she had a job, she was super-smart, soft-spoken and always seemed to bask in the slightest of praise.
But, I thought as I observed her from across the table at La Corner Bistro, none of that was relevant. I knew she was qualified for what I wanted her to do. I just didn't know if she'd do it.
That's what I was here to find out. I was biding my time, waiting until after we ordered: iced tea, roasted salmon, asparagus and creamed potatoes for both of us, and made small talk some more until our food had arrived. I wanted to make sure we had as few interruptions as possible.
Finally, when our food was in front of us, and I knew I could stall no more, I cleared my throat.
"So… that proposition?" Audrey prompted, before I could get around to bringing it up.
"Right. That is why we are here. Not that I need any sort of arm-twisting to lunch with a pretty lady." I could have smacked my own face for the words coming out of my mouth. If I wanted her to believe I wasn't hitting on her, I was going in the wrong direction.
She was frowning and I could tell she was wondering if she had made a mistake agreeing to lunch with me.
"Sorry. That was inappropriate. What I meant to say was… uh… what do you know about me?"
Her brows furrowed. "Not much I suppose. I know you are a lawyer, obviously, but not much beyond that."
Of course. I get ‘spotted’ all the time while randomly out and about, and the one time I want someone to recognize me, they don't.
"So, well, yes, I'm a lawyer, obviously, but I'm also a business owner. A pretty well-known one due to winning the lottery with my friends the day before we graduated college."
"Oh, I remember that. I mean kind of. Not well. I was like twelve."
That put her at twenty-two or twenty-three now depending on when her birthday was. Not that it mattered. I wasn't looking to date her or even play with her. I just needed her help.
Audrey frowned and took a bite of her salmon. "So, you're like… super rich. And you're sure this isn't some sort of fifty-shades-type proposition?"
"I promise. But funny you should mention that. When my friends and I won the lottery, we bought the two skyscrapers in the center of town…"
"One of them has a kink club at the top!" She gasped loudly, then, as if realizing that she'd said it just a bit louder than needed, she looked down at the table.
"Sorry," she muttered. "I'm too loud sometimes. That wasn't very couth of me. I'm sorry."
The way she recoiled into herself like I was going to yell or be angry with her didn't match her confident outward exterior which now seemed like a shell or a mask. It gave me pause, but I wasn't going to dig into that right now.
"I'm the one who is sorry. I'm bumbling this. Yes, we have a kink club. And our kink club has a service we offer. Rent-A-Daddy." I choked the words out. "Anyway, somehow I ended up with way too many clients at once. And I need help keeping them straight, and remembering who I am meeting with and when. My friend and business partner, Nyla, has been helping me but she isn't the most organized person on the planet."
Audrey listened, and when I stopped speaking, her jaw dropped. "That's it?" she whispered. "All this…" She waved her hands around the table to indicate the lunch I'd bought her like it was a big deal, "so you could ask me to do my job?"
"Your job is to help me manage my legal career," I corrected. "This is more of a side gig."
"So like a second job? How many hours?"
"Maybe five or six? It will be hard to quantify because it will be during regular work hours while you are doing other things mostly. But I can pay you an extra two hundred a week."
Her eyes widened to saucers, nearly popping out of their sockets. "Two hundred a week? Okay, yes, done."
"Done? Really?" That had gone smoother than I'd anticipated.
"Yes. Really. Why not? It's a no-brainer. Is this a permanent position or temporary?"
