Unlawful Escort (Unlawful Series book 1) Read Free Page B

article, he was doing remarkably well.
    So he wasn’t bluffing then, when he’d spoken of the substantial amount of money he would pay her to be his girlfriend. She sat up straighter as a thought occurred to her; she needed money to pay for her brother’s transplant and he was willing to pay her to pose as his girlfriend. What if she posed as his girlfriend? No absolutely not, she scolded herself. What if her deception was uncovered? She could not expose Joshua to such a life and she couldn’t imagine what posing as his girlfriend would entail. Shrugging aside her silliness, she put aside her laptop and went downstairs to prepare a cup of hot chocolate before she went to bed.
    She went to the hospital the following morning to see Joshua and similar to the evening before, she broke down in tears afterwards. She’d felt as if her heart was being ripped from her chest as his soft brown eyes had pooled with tears as he had begged her to take him home. She went to work with a damper on her spirits and remained so for the entire day. She tried to shirk her melancholy mood as she went back to the Hospital but she was barely able to keep it together through her visit.
    She spoke to the Hospital’s administration as she had when Joshua had just been diagnosed; beseeching them to offer her any assistance they could and they promised that they would try to help her but procedures would have to be followed and it could take time. Time, her brother did not have; his name needed to get on their donors list, immediately. She left their office, feeling thoroughly depressed. They had given her that same response more than a year ago, only to inform her a few weeks later that she did not qualify for such benefits as her earnings were above their threshold.
     
    As the days went by and the severity of her situation grew worst, the more tempting Sebastian’s offer became. Each night she eyed the card on her nightstand broodingly until finally, three nights after his visit, at her whit’s end, she threw aside her reservations and dialed his phone number.
     
    She cursed her rash ways as the phone rang; she should have at least rehearsed what she was going to say. She didn’t have much time to brood as there was an answer on the first ring. She was taken aback when an impeccable female voice emerged from the other end of the line.
     
    “Hello. This is Sebastian Bradley’s Personal Assistant, Sophia Francis speaking. How may I assist?" the voice said.
     
    Paige summoned her most professional tone and said, “My name is Paige Sinclair. Is there any chance that I could speak to Mr. Bradley please?”
     
    “He has been expecting your call Ms. Sinclair. Please hold while I put you through to him”, Sofia said.
     
    “Thank you and I’m sorry for the late hour”, Paige apologized.
    “That’s ok Ms. Sinclair”, Sofia said, “goodnight”.
    Paige paced the floor as her courage faltered. She had not considered that this was not his personal number or she would not have called at this hour. What would she say to him? Her mind groped for words but it seemed as if her mental capabilities had taken leave of her.
    “Pai ge. I see you’ve decided to accept my proposal”, he said in his smooth baritone as if it was the most normal thing in the world for her to be calling him.
    “Yes I…” she faltered, her usually glib tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth.
    “Meet me tomorrow at noon”, he said brusqu ely, “I’ll send my chauffeur to get you”.
    “OK…”
    “Goodnight”, he said and the line went dead; no preliminaries or polite niceties.
    She stared at the phone in her hand. “Well hello Mr. Bradley. Hello Paige. How are you”, she role-played, trying and failing to imitate Sebastian’s deep tone, then switching back to hers, “I’m fine Mr. Bradley. I’d like to pretend to be your girlfriend”.
    She fell unto her bed and laughed at her own silliness until a sob broke free from her lips. What was she doing?