AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nods slowly, and it’s as if each shift of his head gives him more confidence. I can see him slowly brightening in front of me.
Pushing to a stand, I say, “Two last things.”
“Yeah?” He looks up at me.
“One,” I lean down and kiss him, a light but long press of my lips against his, “you’ve had your first kiss.” He nods, mute. “And two, when you’re paying for time by the hour, wear a watch.” And then I pick up my purse and make for the door.
“Hey! Catherine!”
I turn, my eyebrows raised. There’s a part of me that’s expecting him to protest. Instead, he shakes his head, incredulous. “Thanks. For the really expensive life advice.”
“No problem, Tyler. Good luck with Annie.”
And then I leave.
***
“Cat.” Toni answersher cellphone immediately when I call. “How did it go with the Newb?”
I think about how much to tell her. Toni is actually quite serious when it comes to the job. It wouldn’t do well for her to think I’d deliberately procrastinated Tyler Shaw’s time away. So, I stick with the basics, “Good. He was an Easy Pleaser.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Usually, she’d ask if I was coming home or where I was going next. It’s the responsibility of whoever’s on Home Duty to make sure that she knows where all of us are when we’re working. Toni doesn’t. She just remains quiet, waiting for me to come clean.
“I’m going to him,” I manage after a long pause.
“I know.”
Toni is one of my best friends, in some ways she’s even like the mom I never had. Her acceptance should fuel me. It should make me feel okay about the decision I’ve made. So, I am not quite sure how to manage the heavy guilt that comes with my admission.
“Catherine? You still there?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s wrong?” she asks. “This is what you want…”
A short laugh escapes from between my lips. Pausing on the sidewalk, I run a hand through my hair, pushing it back from my face. “It would have been so much easier if you’d told medon’t.”
“I’ve thought about it a lot since we spoke last. And he’s a good man, Cat. One who would fight for you. Why would I ever tell you not to go after that with both hands?”
“Because he’s too good for me and it’ll never work out?” I say immediately. “Because when it doesn’t work out and I end up escorting again, I’ll be devastated?” I don’t add that devastation and addicts don’t mix well—she knows. I swallow the lump in my throat and add, “Because you don’t want me to go?”
“You’re afraid.” It is not a question. “It’s natural, Cat. Clementine Lane was the first safe space that you found as an adult.”
“So?”
“You want to fight your compulsion to let Aiden in because you know that you’ll choose him and that things will change when you do.”
I close my eyes, wishing with all my heart that she was wrong. There’s even a part of me that wishes I’d never met Aiden Flint. Things would have been so simple, things would havestayedso simple. “He’s like a dream I can’t wake up from.”
“I know.” For a small slip in time, Toni’s voice takes on a nostalgic tint. “But isn’t it wonderful?”
Drakos’s last words to Elizabeth flash through my mind then, and even though she hasn’t said anything, I think that Antoinette does understand. “Have you heard from Drakos again?”
“No. It’s complicated.”
“He lied for you, Toni. He wouldn’t have done that if he felt nothing for you.”
