Matthew

Fuck.

How the hell did he find out?

“Did she tell you?” I ask, trying my hardest to remain cool. I have never been in a situation like this before. I have never been found out.

“No. She didn’t have to. I knew it as soon as I met you.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…well, Matthew, I’m a lawyer. I see right through people. That’s how I decide whether or not to work with a client. Nothing against you or anything, but I saw it as soon as she brought you in. Plus, with as many times as I call her a week, I'm almost certain Piper would have at least mentioned a guy she was interested in. I mean, I know she tries not to because of how I lost my wife and all, but it’s Piper. She knows she can tell me anything. She can hide it from the rest of the family, but not me. Plus, I did a little digging in your coat, found your wallet, and figured out your full name and where you’re from. Found out a few things about you, bud. Having someone that can access criminal backgrounds and records comes in handy.” He wiggles his eyebrows.

I look away. I cannot believe this shit. “You looked into my records?” I ask underneath my breath.

Stanley turns in my direction and I look up. “Look, don’t worry about me. I won’t tell a soul about any of it. Not about you being a fake boyfriend or even the fact that you almost killed someone when you were eighteen.”

I swallow thickly. “Look, I’m just doing this for Piper,” I say quickly, pushing to a stand.

“Oh, I know what you do. You prey on wealthy, lonely girls, use your charm and those dimples and that beard so you can get your bills paid, and then you forget all about them.” Stanley smiles smugly, and I wonder just how in the hell he can be Piper’s favorite.

“That’s not why I do this,” I say as calmly as possible. “If they need help, they come to me. I do my job, and when it’s over, I leave them alone. Those are the rules and my clients know that.”

“And see—that’s the thing. You shouldn’t just leave Piper alone. I think you are starting to grow on her.” He folds his arms, focused on me.

My jaw locks.

“Do you like her?” he asks.

I blink, and that question is like a blow to the gut. “I don’t develop feelings for my clients. It’s all business.”

“Nah, I don’t think so.” He shakes his head. “I think…what you were saying to Dad was kind of real. You admire her.”

“I do think she’s smart and sweet and funny…but that’s just her personality. She knows just as well as I do that when this weekend is over, it will be like we never even met.”

Stanley makes a tisk-tisk-tisk noise. “I don’t want to be all in your business, but I know Piper. She clings. She doesn’t like to let go once she’s latched on. I’m sure you know she hasn’t been in a serious relationship since graduating college. That was over five years ago. Why do you think that is?”

His question is a rhetorical one but it does make me consider everything I know about her. Shit. Maybe having sex with her was a bad move. Hell, I knew it was but I went through with it anyway.

I don’t get attached because I can’t. I have a criminal background. It was an error in judgment, a ruthless decision I made while I was angry—angry with how the world and life worked. Angry about my reality. I spent four years in jail and, oddly enough, it changed my life for the better.

“Please don’t tell her about that,” I plead. “After this weekend, you can tell her. But I’d rather she not know. Especially right now, while things seem to be going so well.”

“I wouldn’t ruin her Christmas like that, Matthew. Your secret is safe with me,” Stanley says, walking around me. “But do me a favor and try to keep your hands off of her a little more. I’d hate for her to be disappointed once she discovers who you really are.”

A fake. A cheat. A man with a past.

I watch Stanley walk up the stairs, and with each step he takes, my heart seems to plummet even more.

“Shit,” I curse beneath my breath.

And here I thought things were going so well. I thought I had everyone under my thumb and on my side. I’d received points from the man in charge of the house…but then the protective older brother charges in and blows that shit right up in my face.

Piper was right. This family is extreme. Who would have thought someone would actually investigate me? Who could blame me for what I did with my life?

After being released from jail, I wanted to become a better man, create a life worth living. I got a job that paid me four dollars an hour to start as a Town Car driver. With a job like that in Manhattan, I figured why not?

I drove rich people around, to and from parties and organized events—all over the city. It wasn’t much money, but the tips they gave were decent. I’m glad I took the job because that’s how I met Renee.

A rich, older woman. A woman that changed my life for good.

She had blonde hair and blue eyes and she was one stuck-up bitch.

Her date had bailed on her at the very last minute, and with as much pride as she had, she refused to go to the party alone. It was her event—she’d organized it.

I pulled up to the curb, opened her door, but she didn’t get in.

Her eyes ran up and down the length of my body as I stood in my black suit. She liked what she saw.

And then she finally said, “I will pay you $8,000 at the end of the night if you attend this party as my date.”

I was shocked. Stunned, really, but most of all, suspicious. I thought it was a trick, and I immediately turned it down. I didn’t need to get into any more trouble.

I couldn’t afford it. I needed to turn a new leaf. I needed a fresh start and I wasn’t about to let a rich, self-righteous woman ruin that for me.

But when she pulled a wad of cash from her purse, fanned it in the air—in my face—and repeated her offer, I knew she was serious.

I knew it was official when she took me to an Armani store, had me fitted for a tuxedo, and then rushed us to the party with her elbow hooked through mine and a large smile on her face.

It was easy money and the night ran so smoothly that I got hooked. I made my own business out of it, and since that night I haven’t gone back.

With that first $8,000, I invested in new, fashionable attire and created a website for my escorting business, using a fake name on there so I couldn’t be traced. Matthew Cooper is my real name and is shared in confidentiality after a non-disclosure contract is signed.

There were women out there—desperate women—that needed a man at the last minute to boost their reputations. Renee sent several women my way to get me started.

Renee also gave me seven simple rules that changed my life and turned me into the professional escort I am today:

1. Play the part and do it well.
2. Be professional and smart about my answers.
3. Be affectionate when needed.
4. Ogle her so people will find things between us believable.
5. Always be confident.
6. Don’t have sex with the client.
7. Don’t get attached.

I took those rules with me and I worked hard at keeping true to them.

But rules six and seven have been tricky to stick with while around Piper.