She pulled in a deep breath. “Ellis approached me, and I agreed but on my terms. I agreed to try it out. Some of the men that I spent time with thought that they were God’s gift to women. Some of them were downright assholes. I knew that a ton of the guys were married.”

Torrent growled but caught himself doing it and snapped his mouth shut, pursing his lips together. His hands were fisted in his lap.

“The agreement between Ellis and I was that I got to choose who I dated, who I had sex with. There was no way I was going to disrespect other women and have sex with a married man. I saw what it did to my mom and…” She paused. “I had rules regarding the sex. What I was comfortable with and what I wasn’t.”

Torrent jumped up to his feet. “I’m sorry.” His voice was gruff. He looked distraught. Candy felt tears prick in her eyes. This was not going well. It was a disaster.

He grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed. “I wasn’t expecting this. I need a minute.” He strode away, walking for about a hundred yards and just stood there. After a couple of minutes, he made his way back and took a seat in front of her. His chest heaved. He still refused to look her in the eyes. Torrent nodded. “Go on.” He clenched his teeth.

If he couldn’t accept her past, this wasn’t going to work. Her eyes burned. Her throat felt tight.

You can finish this. Suck it up.

“There were two guys that I initially agreed to have sex with. Two quickly became four. I refused to allow Ellis to increase the number. A lot of Kitty’s is based on referrals, the guys talk. It quickly became known there was a woman, an escort that was exclusive. That turned away huge amounts of business. As a result, more men wanted to date me and my price increased. I refused to take on any more clients. If someone dropped out, only then, would I agree to date a new person.”

“Only you weren’t dating them, were you?” His eyes lifted to hers, they were full with… hurt. Just as quickly they seemed devoid of emotion. “Were you fucking them all?”

Candy cringed at how horrible it sounded. “Not always.” There was a definite edge to her voice. “They still enjoyed spending time with me, going out with me, doing mundane things with me. Most of these men were lonely. It wasn’t just about the sex.”

“Maybe not to them.” He interjected.