Page 2 of Nothing to Deny
“It will be fine.”
If only she could have the same confidence. “Hol—”
“It’s no big deal,” Holly said, straightening up, exaggerating her grin. “This is a fun adventure. We’re being daring. Don’t you want to be daring?” When Freya tried to shake her head, Holly tightened her grip to clamp it still. “Men do this all the time. All over the world. Every day. And this place has the good stuff, we’re not curb-crawling. It’s elite. Top secret. No one will know what we’ve done. All we need is a couple of men to be loved up and devoted, just like Nickson. It’s the only thing that will make our lives bearable. Don’t you want a bearable life?”
“A bearable life?” Freya muttered. “Yes, I do, but—”
“My sister is marrying a man who proposed after two months of dating. Two! They’re getting married, talking about houses and kids. And what are we doing? Nothing. We’re losers, love losers.”
Hmm, she couldn’t argue against that.
“But—”
“My father is forcing us to go away with them to get to know this man who came from completely nowhere. Do you know how many social functions we’re going to have until this damn wedding? Days, maybe weeks, at some resort with my sister and her adoring fiancé, a private engagement party, a public engagement party. We have the bridal shower, bachelorette parties—”
“I don’t see how fake boyfriends will help us with that.”
Stepping back, Holly thrust her fists to her hips. “You don’t want to be the only loser singleton at a bachelorette party. Trust me, that’s announcing eternal spinsterhood.” Whoa, wow. “Besides, we can sendourmen to the bachelor party, make sure this Nickson doesn’t do anything that might hurt Kelly.”
Great idea. Maybe. Her nerves jangled. There was no one around, yet it felt like they were being watched.
Paranoia didn’t usually shake her. “This just seems… complicated.”
“It’s not complicated. Squires is the premier male escort agency in the country. Probably in the world. The men here are vetted to the hilt; they’re not crazy perverts. They’re discreet and will offer any service we want. Any service…” Her cousin’s suggestive tone didn’t allay her anxiety. “It’s tailored to what the client wants, that’s us. We’re the clients!” She grinned again. “Can you imagine having a guy who actually does what he’s told?”
“I don’t think—”
“Come on, Frey, we agreed to do this together.” Did they? When did she say yes? Had agreement ever left her lips? The situation was snowballing out of control. “We have to support each other. This way, we can back each other up and talk, ‘cause we’ll know everything.”
“I can know everything without having to participate,” she said. “Seriously, Hol—”
“It’s a man,” Holly said and tilted her head. “One you’re going to pay to treat you the way you want to be treated… the way you deserve to be treated.” Obviously Holly could tell her argument wasn’t convincing because she huffed again. “Either you control your own choice or I pick a guy for you.” Crooking a brow, the threat was clear. Her cousin was aware of everything she’d hate in a partner… and how she hated to be out of control. “Bodybuilder, right? Low IQ… maybe someone who slurps his soup… you like messy eaters, right?”
Restraining her irritation at the attempted tease, she breathed out, resigned this was going to happen whether she wanted it to or not. Somehow this felt like a prime, “What would Roxie do?” moment. An adage some of her newest friends swore by.
“You’re going to owe me big time for this.”
Clapping once, Holly squealed. “I will. I love you. Thank you!”
Grabbing her hand, Holly led them across the large, curved space filled with couches and armchairs so soft they might consume a person. The carpet was thick. A warm beige color, it complemented the elegant gold pinstripe on the walls.
“You’d think they’d be more particular about security,” Holly said, stopping at the far wall, looking left to right down the corridors running the length of the full-height windows.
Broad spiral stairs led away from the seating area. Were they supposed to go up there? Either way, there should be a more defined reception. The corridors were long, no labels or signs, which way should they go?
Holly spun around and planted her by the window. “You wait here; I’m going to find someone.”
Without giving her a chance to respond, Holly stalked off, a woman on a mission. She wouldn’t chase after her. If her cousin found someone, so be it. If not, oh, well, she wouldn’t lose sleep over Squires not meeting Holly’s expectations.
Breathing in and then out, she checked out the bustling street below. There were offices on the opposite side of the street, bullpens and private boardrooms with people in suits hustling. A typical work environment. Not like this one.
Something drew her eye toward the corridor opposite. Terrible at standing still doing nothing, she wandered that way. Not really going anywhere just… wandering. At the mouth of the corridor an archway to an enclosed circular space, maybe ten feet in diameter, prompted her on.
Headshots of men lined the walls from hip height to a couple of feet above her head. All kinds of men, men of different ages, races, builds, every demographic. Someone for everyone.
This was a menu. She shivered, unimpressed by the idea the men were lined up to be sampled and selected like caviar or wine.
All the men were attractive. Some more her type than others. How did the positioning work? There had to be some sort of system. Alternatively, the men were added and removed as they started and stopped working for the agency. Gaps would have to be filled. Could be scattershot. Maybe there was no pattern.
