Laura’s in a rush when she enters Love in the Net’s headquarters. Truthfully, it’s her first time here, and she’s been called in because of an emergency. About what though, she doesn’t know. She’s not considered an employee in the company; the proper term for her role is ‘Premium Lover’. Barf. As a Premium Lover in the dating company, customers pay her to speak to them. Numerous times in the past, people paid hefty fees to tie her down with marriage, but not one of those times ever ended with a walk down the aisle. Laura doesn’t need money, so she doesn’t need a rich man. All she’s looking for really is love. How cliché.
Ivy League educated and part of a family of business owners, Laura Harmon knows she shouldn’t be working in Love in the Net. When her parents suggested she dabble into the tech sector, they didn’t mean for her to work as an online prostitute, but they always told her to use her strengths to her advantage. And her looks has always been her strongest characteristic. She can turn on the charm with a flick of her fingers. Match that with her fiery auburn hair and startling emerald eyes and any man’s a goner. After having tried both blind and speed dating and failing to meet a compatible partner, she thought maybe the online version would provide better success for her. So far, she hasn’t met anyone that piqued her interest. Aside from being on the receiving end of the wealthy’s attention, she has to admit she’s earning more in Love in the Net than she ever can in a different job.
At the ‘ding’ of the elevator, its doors open up to the tenth floor and Laura steps out and takes a sharp right towards the reception area. A few feet away, she sees Madison Conrad, CEO of Love in the Net, talking, or rather arguing, with a couple of men. Laura has to admit they’re one of the most attractive men she’s even seen in her life, and she knows attractive. One of them has white blonde hair and translucent ice blue eyes, and as Laura trails her eyes down the expanse of the man’s body, she can just assume that what she’ll see underneath the button down and dark jeans won’t disappoint her. The material fits nicely against the man’s chiseled exterior.
As for the other one, he’s the polar opposite of the blond in the looks department. With a dark mop of chocolate hair, its strands flying in random directions, the man’s more disheveled, a very sexy kind though as opposed to the blond’s more clean-cut exterior. With every move of the brunette’s full lips, his jaw, sharp as a knife, clenches, and Laura can see the hard, angular lines of his face from where she’s standing.
To her surprise, both men’s eyes widen into saucers when they see her, and when Madison turns around and motions for her to come forward, Laura hesitantly walks up towards the CEO and the two Adonis.
“Laura, thanks for coming in today,” Madison starts, her voice sounding infuriated, and just like that, Laura’s panicking on the inside. As far as she knows, she hasn’t gotten herself into trouble lately. “As I said in our call, we have an emergency.”
Then she turns to look at the two men. When she speaks again, the hardness in her tone is still there, but the creases on her forehead relax and her lips are in a sly smile. She also has that come-hither look in her eyes, and Laura tries her best not to roll her eyes. It’s very obvious Madison’s trying to flirt with the two men.
“What’s the emergency?” she asks a-matter-of-factly, but deep inside, she’s a ball of nerves.
“It’s more of a mishap from the dev team, really,” Madison says. “Our system booked you for both of them even though they each paid a premium…” Of course Madison stresses the word ‘premium’. “To book you exclusively.”
“Oh.” Laura almost breathes a sigh of relief. That sounds like she still has her job. “I see.” When she looks into the brunette’s misty gray eyes, she almost melts into a puddle of goo on the floor. “Can we offer any of you a refund?”
Thirty minutes into the conversation and Laura fails to get one of them to concede. And so, she takes the argument outside. Madison walks back to her office while the three of them head towards the café on the ground floor of the same building and occupy one of the tables outdoors. She sits across the brunette, who she learns has a name of course – Nate – while the blond, Alex, sits to her left.
“By the looks of it, you two are friends,” Laura then says after noticing the two men seem to be working together against her. “If one of you concedes, I promise to find the other a suitable partner, more suitable than I can ever be.”
Alex and Nate give each other look. Silence passes for a couple of seconds until they nod their heads and turn their attention back to Laura.
“Are you asking one of us to admit defeat?” Alex lifts a corner of his lips into a sexy smirk, and for a quick second, Laura thinks what it would feel like to have sex with a man so confident in his looks and personality. She’s slept with a number of her clients before, not all of them though, but with Alex and Nate, she honestly wouldn’t mind. “Of course, we’re not going to do that.”
“We have a new proposal,” then speaks Nate, hair still tousled in various directions. It adds to his appeal.
“Both of us will have you.” There’s no missing the look of mischief in both men’s faces. “We did pay for you, not for any other woman.”
“B-but…you ordered me…exclusively.” Confusion sweeps across Laura’s face, and with the way she bites her bottom lip, the two men are struggling to keep the restless feeling at bay. They’ve always been possessive of their women. This time’s no different even if Laura isn’t really theirs. “Last time I checked, three people cannot be in an exclusive relationship together. You can’t even marry three people…or can you?”
That reply gets a bark of laughter from each of the men, and the more they’re hooked. Now, they really won’t be letting go of her.
“We’re good friends,” says Alex, never missing a beat. “We don’t mind sharing.” When she opens her mouth in protest, the blond continues. “We’ve done it before, and we did both pay for your service.”
Just like that, Laura’s left speechless. She’s gotten herself into difficult situations, but she has no idea how she’s going to come out of this unscathed.