CHAPTER 11
Declan
I chatted with Rayna every day when she was at the office in between bookings. I sensed that there was a part of her that was a little lost and looking for someone to love her…to really love her. I knew that I shouldn’t step into her life since I was going through my own divorce soon, not to mention the fact that she was married. I did a little digging after one of the long talks one evening, seeing that her husband was a powerful attorney in the area with a lot of wealth and connections. I didn’t find any kind of trace to violent criminals in the city, just that he was a rich asshole.
I felt my scowl when I realized that he’d stayed in my hotels in the past, more than likely with other women. His name was in the system.
He was a cheater, and I wondered why when his wife was so beautiful.
I never cheated on Claire when we were still together. I respected the vows that we took and willingly let her go when she told me that she wanted to be with someone else. I knew that we weren’t the couple of the year when we hooked up but it seemed like a good idea to get married, so I asked her. I was beyond wanting children, and she appeared to feel the same way at the time. With her new boyfriend being a mere twenty-five years old, who knows?
I considered what it would be like to be with Rayna in a stable relationship. We had a terrible beginning if you looked at the facts, but there was something there. There was from the moment that I saw her, but there were so many complications involved in this.
I could see that her self-confidence was wavering at best, even though she was gorgeous. I wasn’t sure if that was because of her parents or the husband, or perhaps both. Being raised to please your family had to be awful, making me angry that she married a man that hurt her because it was what they wanted. What kind of father was okay with his daughter being beaten?
My blood boiled, and I thought about all the things that I’d like to do to that guy. He was cheating on a smart, beautiful woman as well as hurting her. She could do so much better, even if it weren't me that she was with. I didn’t want her to be with anybody else, though. I enjoyed the feeling of being inside of her, having felt her from all my favorite angles and even some that I wanted to try. I liked hearing her laugh and even the way her eyes softened when she got a little sad.
I just liked Rayna, even though I didn’t want to. I was just getting out of a relationship, and here I was considering another.
We kept chatting, and when she told me that she was on her own for a week and suggested coming over after work one weekend, I was happier than I should have been. The idea of spending more than a few hours with her excited me and my mind raced with things that we could do, out of town where nobody would know us. I had hotels everywhere, and I knew how to be discreet.
I told her that sounded great and she sent me a smile.
We had talked the rest of the night before she went home. I tossed and turned, knowing that she was coming over on her own the following evening. I planned to get some dinner or even making something in my neglected kitchen, then watching a movie with her before we went to bed. She was suggesting staying the night, wasn’t she?
Shit, I felt like a teenager again.
I got up early and went to work the following morning, so I’d have the night free. There was another prospect for a location of one of the hotels that I needed to research, and I wanted my mind clear to focus on Rayna.
It came to mind that I never got her phone number during our chats. I knew why being that she was married, but we could talk while he was gone. Couldn’t we? Was her husband the type that traced her phone calls when he was cheating? As far as I knew, that seemed to be the pattern with men like that.
Fuck, I was angry again, and I turned to look out of my window. I remembered the bruises on Rayna’s arm, and though they were faint, I could tell they still hurt. I had played down my reaction to them since she was clearly embarrassed but I felt like it needed to be addressed. I vowed to talk to her about it this weekend.
I went home in the evening to pick up a little bit and chat with her to make sure that we were still on. I was limited to her work hours for communication, and I wondered what it might be like to call her in the morning or to wake up with her. I wondered what it would be like to text when we couldn’t sleep.
Rayna answered me and told me that the night girl had a sick baby, so she was working a double shift at the office. It was a small staff, so they helped each other out, and I clenched my fist for a moment. It wasn’t a bad part of town, but I didn’t want her working through the night and part of the morning. I asked if they could just stop the bookings for the evening, but she apologized, joking that it was a twenty-four-hour business with a wink.
I sat back and formulated a plan B for us. I knew that she wouldn’t want to go out of town after working all night, but I could work from home while she slept in my bed. We could go somewhere for dinner outside the city, a place that nobody would recognize us if she felt up to it. I felt a bit regretful that I didn’t know her sleeping habits, making me wonder if I wanted to.
Want to come over after the shift? You could sleep, and I’ll do some work from home. Maybe we could get some dinner later.
I sat back and waited, knowing that she might tell me no. I didn’t know if she planned to spend the night or not, to begin with, so asking her to come right over might be a bit presumptuous.
Are you sure? That’s not too fun for you, is it?
I smiled at her response, telling her yes as she offered to get us some breakfast and coffee on the way. Rayna said that she’d be over around seven and I asked if we could keep talking. I sensed laughter when she told me that of course since she’d be up all night and need the stimulation. The very idea of stimulating her got me hard as I silently told my cock to wait until the morning, assuming that she was up for some morning sex. I worked through the night, nibbling on a pizza that I ordered as we chatted. It wasn’t the same as having her here, but I was enjoying the chance to get to know Rayna this way. There was something more open about it even while we kept the subjects mostly light. It was mostly about being a kid and how we grew up, even though she made light of her lonely childhood.
We talked about the agency, and I sensed hesitation when she asked me if I planned to hire another escort. I told her that no, I didn’t plan on it. It was more of a one-time event for me, and I was honest when I assured her that I found someone I liked a lot in that process, a woman that I’d never consider an escort again in my life.
My husband is going to be gone a month. Would you like to see me in that time?
A month was a long time. A lot could happen since I already knew that I liked her more than I wanted to. I imagined the time ending when we wouldn’t be able to be together as freely as we could in that time. Would we be relieved? Would it rip us apart?
At this point, we’d only slept together a handful of times. After a month, it would be so much more, and I sat back and drew from the bottle of beer beside me. The idea of her in my bed on a semi-nightly thrilled me inside, and I knew that there was no way that I would tell her no.
I would. As much as I can.
Me, too.
It was getting late, and I finished the third beer as we chatted, and I wrapped up my work for the night. I gave her my cell phone number in case she needed anything and found myself in an empty bed at two in the morning. The moon was bright tonight as I looked out of my row of high windows across the room, missing her warm body beside mine. I’d planned to fall asleep with her sometimes around this time, if not later but there was always tomorrow.
I set my phone on the table beside my bed, checking that the sound was on. Just in case.