Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Dawson, this year’s picking…” She shakes her head and looks at me. “Oh, tonight you have a pretty date. I approve. Now, find me someone,” she says, smiling at me. But I feel judged by her. Being scrutinized was something I dealt with at these types of events back home. I was either judged for being my father’s daughter, a possible match for their son, or as competition. But this party is based on vanity and companionship alone.
“Mrs. Henderson, I supply you with the best, but you never like any of them,” he replies.
She lays a hand on his shoulder. “It’s because I’m waiting on you, dear.”
I want to laugh at her forwardness.
“I’m sorry, but I’m already taken,” he says, which surprises me.
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind sharing you. Would you, dear?” she asks me.
“Oh, you can have him.” I smile, and her eyes widen, but Dawson pulls me closer, squeezing my hip. I can hear his unsaid “behave.”
“She’s joking. The sense of humor on this one. I don’t share. Sorry, Mrs. Henderson. Please enjoy your night,” Dawson says, pulling me away. I give her a little wave, and she smiles in return as we walk off.
“You would share me?” he asks as we reach an empty table.
“You aren’t mine.”
“But I want to be yours. Or at least make you come again.” He smirks.
I hold up the glass of champagne. “If I get another one of these, I very well may let you.” He hands me his glass, which he hasn’t touched. “I was joking.”
“You shouldn’t joke and play with my feelings like that,” he mock scolds as a man approaches us. He comes up behind Dawson and glances at me briefly before he focuses on Dawson.
“Edgar,” Dawson greets.
“Dawson.”
“Everything okay?” Dawson asks.
“Yes, just a quick update. Do you want to discuss this in front of your customer?” Edgar asks, nodding to me.
“I’m not…” I shake my head, and he eyes me.
“I saw you auctioned off. I know you’re a customer.”
Shock invades me, and I gasp.
“Edgar, I don’t pay you to talk, so shut up and handle the situation.” I watch as his employee walks away and feel extremely judged. I assumed that no one here would know who I was. But then again, every exclusive society group only has so many fish in the pond.
Dawson turns to me and carefully takes the glass from my hand. “Don’t get upset. Edgar has a mouth, but he is good at his job.”
“I didn’t come here to be judged, Dawson. Maybe I should leave so nobody is confused by our ‘friendship.’ ” I go to leave, but he grips my hand.
“No one can leave. Once all the members are here, the doors are locked.”
“What? Why?” I ask, looking to the doors and seeing guards there.
“It’s for protection. Cameras can’t be snuck in, and people who aren’t invited can’t enter.”
“And even you can’t leave?”
“No, not even me. It’s a rule for a reason, Honey.”
I look around, feeling trapped as the people around us socialize. “You didn’t tell me any of this before I came in,” I hiss. “I won’t stand here and be judged as your plaything the whole night.”
“You are not my plaything,” he says seriously, and his hand reaches for one of the curls that frame my face. It’s oddly intimate. “Though, I do have a room here that no one else is allowed in or has the key to.”
In the middle of all these high-society, beautiful people, it feels like it comes back to Dawson and me. Like everyone else is irrelevant. And I certainly didn’t come here for this. I came here for him.
“Take me to it.”
He doesn’t hesitate before he grabs my hand and moves.
CHAPTER 37
Dawson
“Dawson.” One of the regulars, who has gone home with every escort I’ve ever had on my arm at events such as these, taps my shoulder as I try to escape with Honey. Honey pulls free from my grasp, but I reach out to grab her again. I couldn’t care less what these people think of her. They don’t know her, and I don’t intend for them to know her. Bringing her here was never about them. It was all about her and whether she could accept this part of my world.
She shouldn’t make herself small to make room for them.
She might have done that at her father’s events, but she would never do that at mine.
This beautiful woman is above all of them.
“Oh, Dawson, one day you will join us. Please say you will,” Mrs. Laddle gushes. She has always propositioned me like this with the fantasy of me joining one of the escorts in her unique sexual tastes.
Quick to assess the situation, Honey accepts my touch. “Dawson,” Honey says commandingly from behind me, clasping my hand in hers.
“Don’t you know the rules? It’s rude to interrupt someone,” Mrs. Laddle snaps at Honey.