I stared at him for almost a full minute, waiting for him to give me the punch line, to confess he'd taken his joke too far. Then his eyes met mine and I saw he wasn't kidding. My heart twisted, pain mingling with anger. I sat up, pulling his blanket over me .

“You're still going to be an escort?” The question sounded even harsher than I'd meant it, but I didn't take it back .

“It's my job, Aubree,” Cade said. He sat up, frowning. “I wouldn't ask you to quit your job .”

“My job doesn't involve me fucking other people!” I snapped. I climbed out of bed, yanking the blanket from underneath him. My eyes burned with tears but I refused to give in. Cade would think I was trying to manipulate him by crying. “You said you couldn't stand the thought of another man touching me. How do you think I'd feel, knowing you were doing a hell of a lot more than touching other women ?”

He scowled, his eyes flashing. “Well, I'm sorry I don't have a college degree and a career as a lawyer or doctor to fall back on. You knew what I was. Should've just said then that I wasn't good enough for you .”

My jaw dropped and it took me a moment to find my voice. “When the hell did I ever say that ?”

“Right now.” He climbed off of the bed and folded his arms across his chest. “You tell me you care about me, but you're just like the rest. You want me to be something I'm not. To pretend .”

I took a step toward him, my anger curbed by the pain I could hear in his voice. “I don't want you to be something you're not. I want you to be the man I see in you .”

He gave a bitter laugh. “Right, the man you want me to be .”

“Who I know you are,” I said firmly .

“You don't know me,” he snapped. “You think because we fucked and I told you some shit about my past that you know everything there is to know about me ?”

“I know enough to know that you're better than this .”

“Bullshit.” He practically spat out the word. “You want to believe that because you think you're too good to fall for a whore. Too precious and pure for someone like me. So you convince yourself that there has to be more to me. The hooker with a heart of gold, right? Some fucking Hollywood fairy tale .”

I clutched the blanket more tightly to me. Why was he saying these things? What had happened to the man who'd told me that he cared about me? The one who'd made me feel things I'd never felt before ?

“If I'd wanted to, don't you think I could've figured something out after nine years?” Cade's face was a cold mask, his words equally as icy. “Don't you think if I had any sort of marketable skill I would've used it to get out of this life years ago?” His mouth twisted. “This is what I'm good at. The only thing .”

“That's not true,” I protested. “You could do anything you want .”

“What if this is what I want?” he asked, his voice flat .

I took a step back. I hadn't even considered that. I'd assumed he'd kept being an escort because he didn't have a reason to stop. My heart gave a painful thump. I thought I would be that reason. I turned away from him so he couldn't see the tears spilling over .

I picked up my coat and pulled it on, wishing I had real clothes to wear. My bra was somewhere around here, but I wasn't going to look for it. I just needed something to cover me. I felt too exposed. It didn't, however, stop me from feeling the slick wet on my inner thighs, or prevent my sensitive skin from chafing against the coat. I wiped the back of my hands across my cheeks and took a deep breath before turning around .

I had to make him see what I saw. There was no way he wanted this. No matter what he said, I did know him. “You're a talented artist, Cade. And you're smart and sweet ...”

“Smart and sweet?” He sneered. “How fucking naïve are you ?”

I flinched but didn't back down. He was scared. That had to be it. “You could sell your work and I could help you until you get on your feet –”

“Get out .”

“What?” I shook my head. I couldn't have heard him right .

“We're done. Contract ended.” Cade took a step toward me, but there was no desire, no emotion in his eyes. “You got what you wanted, Bree .”

I caught my breath. He'd never called me Bree. Not once .

“I taught you how to fuck, how to seduce a man.” He gave me a tight, humorless smile. “And you got to try to save the whore. Too bad the whore doesn't want to be saved .”

I stepped back. I didn't want to hear this .

“I like who I am. What I do. Why would I want to give up fucking hundreds of gorgeous women and getting paid obscene amounts of money to do it ?”

Each word was a blow and I couldn't stop the tears this time .

“Just get out .”

“You bastard,” I whispered. I turned toward the door, using all of my self-control not to run. I had to preserve at least that much of my dignity. I didn't have much left. Not after I'd bared my heart to him, let him do things to me I'd never considered doing. Shame and humiliation flooded me, mixing with anger and hurt until I wasn't sure I could handle feeling anything else. I needed to get as far away from here as possible. And I needed to forget I'd ever heard of Cade Shepard .