Late Call (Volume 1) Read Free

put a hand to my chest. “ You’re my client?”
    Aaron motions for me to sit, lowering himself down when I do so. “You’re my date? I hired a Mia Lopez?”
    “Mia is my working name,” I say quietly. “Being an escort is a double life.”
    “I can’t believe this.” He pushes a button and a waiter appears. “A bottle of Pinot Gris. Two glasses,” he orders, the guy disappearing quickly. Neither of us speaks again until he returns and places the tray on the table.
    My heart pounds as Aaron pours two glasses. In the five years I’ve done this, since escorting became my life, I’ve never had a client I know. I’ve never had to worry about anything other than getting the job done. Now, sitting in front of Aaron Stone, I know this job is anything but simple.
    I drain my glass as a brown envelope appears on the table. Taking it silently and slipping it into my purse is the single most awkward moment of my life. Aaron pours me another glass.
    “Thank you.”
    “This was unexpected.”
    “Ya think?” I raise an eyebrow. “I can’t say I’m in the habit of having a previous personal relationship with my clients.”
    And what a relationship we had. Six weeks filled with fun, kisses, and endless passion in the city of love.
    “I’d imagine not.” He pauses, dropping his eyes to the table before bringing them back to mine. “Can I ask why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why you do this?”
    “That’s a bit personal.”
    “Dayton, I’ve seen every inch of your body. Don’t fuck around and tell me it’s too personal.”
    “You’re my client,” I remind him, sitting up straight. “Our past is irrelevant here. You’re paying me to do a job, and I’m going to do it. No personal details. Tell me what I need to know so I don’t look like a complete idiot when I’m out there tonight.”
    He clenches his jaw and reaches up to adjust his tie. “Dad has decided to step back from the company, and this is one of many events designed to introduce me to the people I’ll be working with when I take over in just under two months.”
    “The modeling agency?”
    “We branched into advertising and rebranded the summer after Paris. It went global three years ago, and now there are offices in Australia and Europe as well as here.”
    “Impressive. And you needed a date because?”
    “Because if I turned up alone, the vultures would get me.”
    My lips twist. “The vultures?”
    “The daughters of my mother’s friends. They’re single.”
    “And you’re the perfect target. Nice to know I’m hired to be a buffer.”
    “I’m sure Mia Lopez is used to it.”
    “Oh, she is. But we both know there’s not a chance in hell I’ll get away with being Mia tonight.”
    He studies me intensely. His tongue traces a path across his bottom lip, and my eyes flick there before I can stop them. He smirks.
    “Mr. Stone?” a voice asks from behind the curtain.
    “Yes?”
    “Your father is asking for you, sir.”
    “Tell him we’ll be there momentarily.”
    “Of course.”
    Aaron looks at me again and reaches a hand across the table. His fingers curl around mine, sending jolts up my arm. “Day, you don’t have to do this. You have a working name for a reason. I won’t ask you to jeopardize that for me.”
    I slide my hand from his and stand, smoothing out my dress. “You hired me to do this job, and I’m going to do it. Besides, I can’t have you being eaten alive by the vultures, can I?”
    His eyes light up when his smirk turns dangerously sexy. “Very true.”
    He stands, and for the first time since I walked in the booth, I take note of how he looks. His black-and-white suit is perfectly tailored to the body that’s bulked out since I last saw it, the jacket stretching across broad shoulders and tucking in at his waist. Dark hair curls against the collar of his white shirt and frames his face perfectly.
    Aaron Stone cuts a damn fine figure in that suit.
    His hand rests on my lower back as he leads me toward the