That weekend, Lori went out and bought some new lingerie.

She didn’t have much in the way of lingerie, usually sleeping in tank tops and pajama pants. She really liked the cashmere nightie she’d worn for her second session with Ander, and she thought it might be wise to buy up a few more similar pieces of nightwear.

It wasn’t that she thought she needed to impress or attract Ander, but feeling pretty and sexy had made the evening more enjoyable for her. If she was going to do this, she was determined to have a good time.

So she and Sabrina had a grand shopping expedition on Saturday, searching boutiques and department stores for lingerie that was simple and classy and didn’t look overtly sexy.

Sabrina, of course, thought the whole situation was hilarious. She couldn’t believe her virginal cousin had scheduled multiple engagements with a male escort. Lori was forced to tolerate a significant amount of teasing over her decision to extend Ander’s services.

Lori put up with it good-naturedly. She was kind of embarrassed but she knew it wasn’t worth getting uptight about. Sabrina’s mockery hid genuine affection, and Lori thought her cousin was probably pleased that Lori had started to get over her hang-up over sex—even if it had taken this atypical form.

The shopping trip had resulted in several purchases, one of which Lori put on as she got out of a bath on the following Thursday. The chemise was a silvery-gray satin with gorgeous black lace on the straps, and the same lace overlay the princess-style bodice. It nearly reached her knees and wasn’t particularly revealing, but Lori felt pretty and elegant as she looked at herself in the mirror.

She brushed out her hair, applied her favorite lotion, and tied on the gray satin robe that was sold with the chemise. Then she went to count her cash and wait for Ander to arrive.

She’d been anticipating this evening for several days and more intensely for the last few hours. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t need the help of a DVD to get in the mood tonight.

Ander showed up five minutes early again, dressed in a gray suit and black shirt without a tie. When she opened the door, his eyes scanned her from newly-brushed hair to bare feet. Then his mouth slowly lifted into a smile.

That same urbane, sensual smile that he obviously used as a standard technique.

For some reason, Lori realized she hated that smile. She felt the irresistible urge to slap it off of his face.

Instead, she asked bluntly, “Don’t you ever wear anything but black and gray?”

Ander blinked and the smile faltered. “Excuse me?”

“Every time I see you, you’re dressed in black and gray. I was wondering if you own anything in another color.”

He lifted his eyebrows slightly and his eyes lingered on her own outfit. Black and gray.

Lori sniffed disdainfully as she stepped aside to let him in. “I’m not saying anything is wrong with black and gray. I was just wondering.”

“Were you?”

Confused by his slightly amused expression, she wondered what he was implying. Then she decided to just be pleased that she’d gotten rid of that annoying fake smile. “Did you have a good week?” she asked, following him into the room.

Ander put his case on the table as usual and turned to look at her. “It was about normal. You?”

“Pretty good.” Now she was torn between ironic amusement over the bland nature of their small talk and the acknowledgement that, in this context, they would just never get any less superficial.

His lip twitched as he opened his case. “Did you try the vibrator?”

“Yes,” she said, beaming up at him as she thought about her successes. “It’s great. Thanks so much for getting it for me.”

“Any problems coming?”

“No. I mean, once I get in the mood, I can make it work pretty well.”

She’d been so excited about the vibrator that she’d tried to use it every day. But she’d found that she still had trouble reaching orgasm if she wasn’t really aroused. Concluding that there was no reason to come if she wasn’t really turned-on, she’d determined it to be a success.

“Good.” He pulled out a DVD, a tube of lube, and a couple of condoms from his case. “So, in terms of the parameters for tonight…”

Lori drew her brows together. “Parameters?”

“Do you want to continue as we have been? I know you’d originally intended to simply have sex for the first time. Does your choosing to continue my services imply you’d like to try something different? I’m happy to help you play out a fantasy. Most of the clients who come to me regularly prefer me to play a more seductive or romantic role than you initially asked for.”

A random thought flashed through her mind, and she wondered if he preferred to play roles, to pretend something that didn’t exist, to act as someone other than himself when he was with his clients.

But that wasn’t what she wanted. It would make her feel fake, silly, and kind of sleazy. So she shook her head. “I prefer the way we did it before, if that’s all right. No pretending or anything.”

“Of course,” Ander said mildly. “Shall we watch another one of the short films?”

Lori opened her mouth to say she didn’t need one but then was hit by an unexpected wave of embarrassment and self-consciousness. There was no good reason for it, but she was suddenly mortified by the idea of admitting that she was ready to jump into bed right away. So she just smiled, nodded, and went to sit down on the sofa.

It wasn’t like they could fuck for five whole hours anyway. It was still just her second time.

The second of the short erotic films on the DVD was actually better than the first one, and Lori was extremely turned-on when it ended thirty minutes later. While Ander was shutting it off, she stood up and slid off her robe.

She thought she looked nice, and she had every right to wear what she wanted when she was paying a lot of money for the experience. She still felt a wave of self-consciousness, though, when Ander turned around and took in her lacy chemise.

No expression was evident in his blue-gray eyes. She really hoped he didn’t think she looked silly.

Without being prompted, she went to turn back the covers and lie down. Ander moved the condoms and lubricant to the nightstand and turned off all the lights except the bathroom light.

She watched as he wordlessly undressed, and this time she wasn’t remotely tempted to snicker.

When he got into bed and moved over her, she sucked in a gasp as his face lowered toward hers. For a moment, she was sure he would kiss her, but he just trailed a line along her jaw with his lips.

The foreplay was just as slow, attentive, and delicious as it had been before. Lori panted and squirmed beneath him, occasionally having to bite back a few helpless moans.

After what felt like an exquisite, torturous eternity, Lori finally couldn’t wait any longer. Her hands were splayed across the back of his bald head, and she had to fight not to use her fingernails to dig into the smooth skin. One of Ander’s hands cupped her breast, alternating between squeezing and rubbing circles against the nipple. And the other hand had bent up one of her legs so he could reach the sole of her foot. He was giving it the most delicious massage she’d ever experienced. Which, when combined with his mouth moving skillfully between her free breast and her belly, sent Lori into agonized erotic urgency.

She couldn’t remember ever being this aroused before. And Ander showed no signs of slowing or stopping.

Part of her was amazed that she was no longer embarrassed or self-conscious. Her classy chemise was pushed up brazenly above her breasts. Her body was twisted into an undignified position, her spine arching and her hips rocking wantonly. Her hands eagerly clutched at Ander’s head, pushing his mouth more firmly against her flesh. And one of her legs was folded up so that her knee was pressed toward her shoulder. The position stretched her groin, and her throbbing arousal was sopping wet and exposed to the cool air of the room. She wasn’t making any noises, but even her frantic breathing sounded shameless and overly eager.

But she wasn’t embarrassed. Not even when she finally gasped out, “No more. Please, Ander. I need you to fuck me. Please.”

He straightened up immediately, releasing the nipple he’d been suckling with a faint smacking sound.

As he rolled the condom onto his hard erection and lubed up, he murmured, “I think we better try missionary again this time. You’re still likely to be really tight.”

Lori just nodded mutely and tossed her head on the pillow, barely able to hold her body still as she waited.

Then finally Ander settled himself between her legs, pushing her thighs farther apart and lining his cock up at her entrance. He didn’t use his fingers to test her readiness. He must have already known that she was hotly, wetly aroused.

“Breathe a few times for me,” Ander said, bracing himself above her and staring down into her face.

Lori did as he said, and on her third exhale she felt his large cock pushing into her, stretching her inner walls and slowly sinking inside her.

It didn’t hurt nearly as much this time, but the discomfort was still there. She arched up dramatically and fisted her hands in the sheets.

“Is it all right?” Ander asked a little thickly, holding himself perfectly still.

She managed to look up at him, noticing that his skin had broken out with a faint sheen of perspiration. “Yeah. Just give me a minute.”

He waited patiently until she’d relaxed and caught her breath again. Then she reached up to grab at his shoulders the way she had last time. “Okay.”

“Are you going to want me to come again this evening?” Ander asked, before he started to move.

Lori just stared up at him, so turned on she had trouble understanding the purpose of the question.

“It’s easier if I know beforehand, so I won’t take so long after you’ve come. But I’m more than able to delay it,” Ander explained, “If you want me to stay hard. If you want to come several times—”

“Oh,” she interrupted. Once again, she found the whole idea a little disturbing. “No. I don’t think so. It’s just my second time and I don’t want you to thrust me raw trying to give me multiple orgasms. You come like last time, if that’s all right.”

“All right.”

He helped her adjust her legs, bending them up on either side of his hips. Then he braced himself on straightened arms and started to thrust.

She focused on pumping her hips in time with his and she even remembered to squeeze around him occasionally with her internal muscles. This time, they didn’t speak, and the only sounds in the room were her accelerated breathing and the rhythmic squeaking of the bed.

For some reason, the squeaking of the bed—the audible result of their carnal motion—gave her silly jolts of pride and pleasure.

After a few minutes, Lori’s pulse began to race and she felt overwhelmed with waves of heat. Her steady rocking beneath Ander became more urgent and clumsy as the deep pressure of her arousal began to tighten into a delicious knot.

Ander’s eyes were focused and unreadable, but she thought she could see his features begin to tense up a little. That tiny evidence of physical response made Lori clench around his cock.

He grunted when she did and jerked his head to the side. His steady thrusting speeded up but never faltered. She’d moved her hands unconsciously down to his ass, and she could feel the firm muscles there clenching and unclenching with each pitch of his hips.

She began to shake as the erotic pressure got deeper and deeper at her center. She writhed beneath him, desperate for it to finally break.

“You’re about to come, Lori,” Ander murmured hoarsely. “Try not to clench up like that.”

She gave a soft, tiny sob as her body twisted. “I can’t. Help.”

He shifted his weight onto one hand. He adjusted her legs again, pushing them up even farther. Then he pulled up enough to squeeze his free hand down between their bodies so he could find and massage her clit.

Her orgasm broke at the first pressure of his thumb. Her cry of pleasure and relief was no more than a raspy exhale, but her whole body shook and jerked beneath him as the spasms sliced through her.

Ander slowed his thrusts, pushing deliciously against her contractions until her body had ridden out the pleasure. Then he asked, “You ready for me to come too?”

“Yeah,” she gasped, flushed and sated by her hard climax. “Yeah.”

She felt incredibly tight as he pumped into her with a fast, choppy rhythm. She squeezed around his cock the best she could and dug her fingers into his shoulders.

It didn’t take him nearly as long to come this time, and she watched as the tension cracked on his face and a blaze of pleasure flared up in his eyes. He let out a choked sound and then a thick exhale as his body finally let go.

There was something deliciously hot and soft about his body after he came. Lori felt it under her hands and between her legs. She only had a few seconds to enjoy it, however, because he pulled off and out of her almost immediately.

When he got up to dispose of the condom, she pulled down her now wrinkled chemise. She felt kind of weird. Warm, relaxed and pleased with herself but at the same time wanting even more. She was a little sore, but not as much as last time. In an hour or so, she might be up for another round.

It was just after nine o’clock. They still had a lot of time before midnight.

When Ander returned, he pulled on his silk boxers and stretched out beside her, obviously realizing she wasn’t through with him yet.

He turned his head and smiled at her. It wasn’t a broad or uninhibited smile, but it was much better than the one he’d used earlier. “How was it?”

“Good,” she admitted. “Really good. The best one yet. And I didn’t need all the detailed instructions, so that has to be progress.”

“How do you feel?”

“Not bad. Just a little sore. But I think maybe later, we could...” She trailed off, annoyed with herself for feeling a little surge of self-consciousness at her obvious eagerness to have sex with him again.

“We have plenty of time.”

They lay in silence for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts. After a while, Lori turned her head to look at Ander beside her.

Tonight, she couldn’t tell if he was posing or not. He lay on his back with his hands twined behind his head. His body was relaxed, but his position highlighted the muscles development in his arms and abs.

She let her eyes linger on his fine chest, his tight belly, and then his long legs and bare feet. When her eyes returned to his bald head, she felt a familiar question prod her unmercifully.

As if he’d somehow been able to tell the difference between her leisurely leer and her intense curiosity, he glanced over at her. “What is it?”

“I’m sure you get asked this all the time, but I’m dying to know.”

His mouth quirked up slightly. “The no hair thing?”

She nodded sheepishly. “I can’t even tell if you shave it. I’ve never felt any bristles.”

“I don’t shave it. I started going bald when I was seventeen. I was completely bald by the time I was twenty-three. It’s a hereditary thing. Ran in my mother’s family.”

Lori was uncharacteristically silent, watching his face, trying to figure out if it was a sensitive subject for him.

Finally, she asked, “Weren’t there any treatments or whatever you could have tried?” He looked calm and natural, and so she hoped she wasn’t being unforgivably rude.

Not that it necessarily would have stopped her.

“Yes. There were. Medical treatments or cosmetic remedies. I was…encouraged to try them.” The brief falter in his reply surprised her, as she’d never heard him stumble over his words before.

“You didn’t want to try them?”

He hesitated and met her eyes. And something in her expression must have encouraged him to continue, “No. My father wanted me to do something about it, and I wasn’t inclined to do what he said.”

“A teenage rebellion thing?”

Ander gave a half-shrug. “Maybe. There’s a long history, and it’s not a pretty one. Maybe it was just a way to rebel, but my mother died when I was very young and the hair loss came from her family, so it seemed important that I…”

When he didn’t finish, Lori said softly, “That you affirm her memory that way?”

“Yeah. My father wasn’t always kind to her.” He cut a quick glance over to her, as if he didn’t intend to say as much as he had.

She didn’t speak for a minute, not wanting to come off as too nosy and have him close up. Then, “Was he mad about it? About your not treating the hair loss like he wanted?”

“Yes,” Ander admitted softly, his eyes shifting to stare up at the ceiling. “He was mad. That was the turning point.”

There was something here. Something Lori desperately wanted to know. A story. A history. The shadows of Ander’s background. She was dying to ask him, to give him a whole inquisition—despite the guarded look in his eyes and the slight tension on his face.

But she had grown up a lot since she was a child and blurted out any question on her mind. Now, occasionally, she could manage to keep her mouth shut.

So she didn’t push him, realizing it might bother him or hurt his feelings. Instead, she just said, “I’m sure you know you’re absolutely gorgeous and the baldness just makes you look more fascinating, so I think you made the right decision.”

Ander’s expression relaxed and he turned back to her with a slight twitch of his lips. “I appreciate your affirmation, but where were you when I was seventeen years old and all the kids thought I was a freak?”

She laughed softly at his dry question and responded in kind. “I was probably still playing jump-rope, don’t you think? I’m twenty-six.”

His smile widened briefly. “Yeah. That’s about right. I probably wouldn’t have thought much of the admiration of a ten-year-old. Besides, when you were a teenager, you were probably crazy about some big, strapping jock with a full head of hair.”

To Lori’s absolutely annoyance, she blushed.

Chuckling, Ander said, “Thought so.”

She made a face at him, but she answered willingly enough. “I was in love with my best friend—who was definitely jock material. He, of course, never thought about me that way. But I was in love with him all through high school and college.”

“That’s a long time to be in love with someone who doesn’t love you back.”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “Sometimes you hold onto something—just because.”

Ander met her eyes. “In my experience, it’s rarely just because.”

Lori was silent for a long time, thinking about that. Thinking about her hopeless yearning after her friend. So many years of her life.

No wonder she was a failure at love.

Eventually, she let the questions and insecurities dissolve into her memories and she turned back to look at Ander. His eyes were closed, and she didn’t know if he was dozing or if he was just giving her some privacy for her thoughts.

Gazing at his smooth bald head—which she now found infinitely attractive—she thought about how he must have felt at seventeen.

“You must have been so lonely,” she blurted out.

Ander’s eyes flew open and he turned toward her with a little jerk of surprise. “Excuse me?”

“As a teenager,” she explained, feeling silly at her lack of segue. “I was just thinking you must have been so lonely. Kids can be cruel about things like that.”

He gave a half-shrug. “I’ve grown accustomed to not having any hair.”

“Of course. In fact, I’m sure it’s been an advantage in your profession, since it makes you look so cool and interesting. But I meant as a teenager. Even though you had your reasons for not doing anything about it, it still must have been…hard.”

Ander swallowed and gave another half-shrug.

Obviously, this wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. So Lori changed the subject by saying, “Can I feel it?”

He blinked at her.

“Your head.” She waved in the direction of his scalp, suddenly wishing she hadn't asked. “It’s fine if you don’t want me to—”

“Of course, you can,” Ander said. He adjusted so that his head was within arms' length of her.

She gently, almost delicately, stroked his smooth head with her fingertips. It really did feel delicious—the skin stretched tight over the rippling curves and ridges of his skull.

She let out a breath as she caressed him and ridiculously felt her own body respond.

She really wasn’t very sore anymore.

When she brushed against a spot on the side of his skull, she heard Ander’s breath hitch very slightly. Whether or not it was in response to her touch, the sound made her inner muscles clench in excitement

Without her volition, her hands trailed down his head and neck to gently caress his chest. Ander lay still and perfectly silent as she rubbed the smooth planes there. Then her hands lowered and lingered on the rippling muscles of his flat abdomen.

She felt the sensations under her fingertips deepened in her growing arousal.

After several minutes, during which her breathing accelerated audibly, Ander murmured, “Again?”

She nodded. She’d been noticing some progress in his boxers, but she didn’t know if it was from her touch or because of the mental thing he did to prepare himself. “Is it all right if we try another position this time?”

“Of course. It’s always your choice.”

Feeling very brave, she swung her leg over his hips and straddled his prone body. “Like this?”

“Of course.”

Ander raised his hands and stroked her upper body over her satin chemise, his skillful touch triggering nerve endings and pleasure receptors and causing Lori to drop her head back for a moment. Then he eased her upper body down so he could take one of her breasts in his mouth, stroking her hard nipple with his tongue through the thin lace and slippery fabric.

He suckled and kissed her breast for a few minutes while his hands slipped under the chemise to caress and fondle her back, thighs, and bottom.

She’d thought being on top was supposed to make one feel more in control, but she felt helpless and overwhelmed by the growing sensations as she sprawled on top of him and panted hotly into the pillow.

She gasped when she felt one of his hands at the hot, swollen flesh between her thighs. Then he nipped her over-sensitized nipple and slipped two fingers into her wet, clinging channel.

She bit down into the pillow as a jolt of intense pleasure shot through her.

“Do you like that?” Ander asked, his voice once more sounding just a little hoarse. His mouth was still against her breast, and the vibrations traveled through the wet fabric to stimulate her even further.

“Mm-hmm,” she whimpered, her voice muffled by the pillow. “Mm-hmm.” She had to hold herself back from humping his belly, since her clit was getting some delicious, indirect stimulation on his torso. She managed to turn her head and gasp out, “More.”

Ander nipped at her nipple again and started to pump his fingers inside her. She buried her face in the thick pillow again, desperately glad Ander was lying far enough down on the bed for the pillow to be in her reach. She let his mouth and fingers build her up toward climax.

She’d been gasping and grunting softly into the pillow, but after a few minutes of ever-increasing urgency she turned her head and begged, “Ander, please make me come.”

“I will,” he murmured, the rhythm of his fingers accelerating even more. He twirled her nipple with his tongue with agonizing skill and added, “You’re close now. I can feel it.”

For some reason, his words made Lori want to whimper so she hid her face in the pillow again. His fingers were curling against her g-spot, applying hard, steady pressure exactly where she needed to feel it. He hadn’t touched her clit at all, and the bit of flesh was pulsing and swollen.

Lori’s body tightened. She suddenly realized she was going to come without any stimulation on her clit. She shook desperately. Then felt Ander’s teeth on the soft flesh of her breast.

She came, biting down on the pillow and trying shamelessly to ride his fingers to draw out the sensations.

When her body had softened, she was able to summon up enough energy to pull herself up. “Wow.”

Ander’s face was slightly flushed, probably because she’d been nearly smothering him by pushing her breasts into his face.

“Am I going to be too tight now?” she asked, scooting down his body until she was straddling his thighs. She could see that he was fully erect beneath the thin fabric of his boxers.

“I think you’ll be all right.”

She pulled down his shorts while Ander reached over to grab the condom packet and lube from the nightstand. Then she waited while he rolled on the condom and slicked his cock up with lubricant.

“All right,” Ander said, holding his cock upright with one hand. “You still want to do it this way?” She nodded, mesmerized by the sight of his waiting erection. “Lift up and we’ll get ourselves lined up. It takes a little practice.”

Lori raised herself with her thighs and scooted forward until she was poised above his cock. Then she lowered herself slowly and, with Ander’s help with alignment, was able to slide her body down over the substance of his erection.

It was tight, and it took a minute to adjust and catch her breath. Then Ander helped her ride him, guiding her motion with his hands on her hips.

She rocked over him, trying to build a steady, pleasing rhythm the way Ander always did when he moved above her. She wasn’t sure she did it very well, but finally she found an angle and speed that seemed to bring the most pleasure.

Lori was glad she was still wearing her chemise, even if it was wrinkled and the fabric was wet at the breasts from Ander’s mouth. She felt his eyes on her, scanning her body and motion in what was likely observation designed to give her the best advice about improving her technique. But his hands were firm on her hips, and his face was once again damp with perspiration.

After several more minutes, Ander moved one of his hands under the fabric of her chemise until he could find her clit. As he started to massage it, Lori’s head fell back and her spine arched.

“There you go,” Ander murmured. “Can you come again?”

“Yeah,” she said on a taken breath, feeling like her eyes might roll back in her head from the raw feeling of his cock's penetration from this angle and his firm massage of her clit.

She rode him until she came, and then her body bounced and jiggled in response to the spasms of release. She kept moving over him, even after she came, because Ander hadn’t yet come himself.

“You came?” Ander asked thickly.

She blinked. “Yes. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Thought so. But you’re always so quiet.” He jerked his head to the side as her inner muscles tightened involuntarily. “Should I—”

“Yes. That’s all I can handle tonight. You come now.”

Flushed, sated, and ridiculously proud of herself, she gazed down at him and intensified her motion, trying to squeeze around him as best she could despite the soreness she already felt.

Ander began to buck up into her from below—not hard or rough, just little upward pushes of his hips. In less than a minute, his back arched up just a little and his face transformed with his climax.

Completely exhausted, Lori collapsed on top of him as she felt the pulses of his release. His body was hot beneath her, and it was starting to soften deliciously. She gasped and clung—completely unconscious of doing so.

“Let me up for a minute,” Ander said, “So I can take care of the condom. I can hold you afterwards, if you want.”

Lori rolled off him immediately, wincing as she pulled her body off of his cock. She pulled up the covers against the chill of the room, but she shook her head when Ander returned and gave her a questioning look. “No. I don’t want any fake cuddling. Thanks, though.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t know my body was capable of feeling that way,” she admitted, glad she was already flushed so he wouldn’t see her blushing even more at the memory of her shameless eagerness.

He gave her a little smile. “You might be surprised by what your body is capable of feeling.”

That made her blush even more. But, keeping her courage up, she quipped, “We’ll have to test that theory next time.”

He chuckled as he returned the lube and DVD to his case. “So you want to schedule another engagement?”

“Definitely. When do you have open?”

Ander pulled out a smartphone to check his schedule. “My earliest is two weeks from tomorrow.”

“That will be just fine. Put me down.” She couldn’t remember her schedule but figured there was nothing important enough to keep her from taking his earliest slot.

“You can book ahead if you want,” Ander offered. “If you want to schedule regular engagements.”

Lori swallowed. That was exactly what she wanted to do, but she wasn’t sure whether she was emotionally ready yet to schedule weekly or bi-weekly appointments with a male escort. It would mean committing to this lifestyle, and that still made her feel a little weird.

At least this way, she could decide on the next appointment on a case-by-case basis. And she could change her mind at any time without seriously inconveniencing Ander.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, smiling at him teasingly. “But why am I not surprised you threw that option out there?”

He blinked and his face grew strangely still. “What do you mean?”

A little surprised by his reaction, she explained, “Just that you’re the quintessential businessman, always looking to expand his business.”

Ander relaxed. “Right.”

“You can take a shower again, if you want.”

He thanked her, grabbed his clothes, and then went into the bathroom. Lori stretched out in the bed as he showered, thinking that she was going to really sleep well tonight. She’d spent the night in the hotel room the week before after Ander had left, and she decided to do so again tonight. After three orgasms this evening, she was feeling incredibly relaxed and there was nothing like sleeping late into the morning in a plush hotel room.

When Ander returned fully dressed, she got up and went to stand beside him near the table. “Thank you” she said, sliding the cash in the envelope over to him. “I mean it. Thanks for all your help.”

Ander arched his eyebrows over the envelope, which he discreetly slipped into his pocket.

His expression made it clear. She’d paid for his help. She had nothing to thank him for.

Lori sighed, although she wasn’t really surprised or disappointed. They were more friendly and relaxed around each other now, but it wasn’t like they’d ever be friends. Lori paid him for his time and attention, and thus their interaction would always be professional.

A little part of Lori’s mind told her that this was exactly why she was able to be comfortable with it.

As she walked Ander to the door, she asked randomly, “If refusing the hair treatments was a teenage rebellion thing, have you ever considered doing anything about it now?”

Ander frowned. “I thought you said you liked it.”

“I do. I was just wondering.”

He seemed to think for a minute. Then said, “I still have no desire to concede to my father’s wishes.”

He opened the door.

Lori had more questions than ever, but Ander was leaving and she wasn’t able to ask them. He was such a fascinating man, with shadowed layers that were just begging to be uncovered. And he had a tantalizing hint of humanness underneath the suave sex-machine surface.

Next time, Lori would pry even more. Start to figure out more of his history and what made him tick.

She stuck her head out the door and said, “Have a good evening.”

“You too,” Ander replied. “I’ll see you two weeks from tomorrow.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

She, of course, was looking forward to the sex. But she was also looking forward to finding some more answers to the enigma that was Ander.