James is leaning back in his leather chair a little too proudly. Even though he didn't go into the actual office today, he's dressed in a white button-down shirt with sleeves cuffed to his elbows and matched with dark slate gray dress pants. He's barefoot, and his hair looks unbrushed.

My nostrils flare. Why does he always have to look so fucking mouthwateringly delicious? He makes the floozy in me flare to life and want to pounce. Like right now. Just at first glance he made my heart drop and my pussy wet for him. I swear, the older he gets, the hotter he gets.

He's not wearing a full-on grin, but I can sense the one underneath his salt and pepper beard threatening to spill from his skilled lips. James's eyes are fixated on mine, challenging me. I have a feeling he's not going to stop until I say yes, and there's a small part of me that's secretly happy about that. Not because I want to lead him on, but because I have hope that one day I can say yes without the anxiety of losing someone clouding my vision.

My fears may seem irrational to someone else, but Grammy taught me not to judge others until I've walked a mile in their shoes. Having only her to raise me, I learned to keep my family close and do what’s necessary to cherish them. James and Natalie are my family regardless of a piece of paper. The risk of losing them is greater than the risk of marriage.

Fifteen

"Turn it off, James, or you'll be paying for mine and Aubrey's therapy," Natalie demands.

James responds by lifting a shoulder. His lips twitch. "What's wrong with this movie? It's considered a classic to some."

"To who?" I scoff. "Serial killers? Men who like to skin women alive and wear their flesh like a fashion statement? I don't think so."

He waves his hands out, palm side up, and this time he grins because he can't help it. My heart palpitates and I briefly wonder if he feels what I do.

"You know I don't judge what goes on behind closed doors, sweetheart. My door is always open."

"Don't make me regret telling you about my Johns."

Natalie gasps and winks at me when I glance at her. I had told James I came clean with Nat and told her all about my escort days. He can never know it was really his daughter who introduced me to the lifestyle. It would kill him.

"You told him about all of them?" Natalie chimes in. "Even Ram Jam?"

I offer her a loose shrug and her eyes widen further, then I turn back to look at James. I didn't have anything to hide and he wasn't judgmental.

Leaning on his elbow, his eyes glisten with delight. "The most memorable bedtime stories ever told."

Natalie fakes a gag like she's revolted. "You guys have the weirdest fucking foreplay. Christ Almighty."

My cheeks heat at her words. What Natalie doesn’t know is that when I’d told James about my test Johns and clients, he turned around and recreated a sexual fantasy from each one. I thought it was a sweet gesture. He didn't need to because my past honestly doesn’t bother me, but James had insisted he wanted this with me because what he had planned needed to be experienced.