“But you have to find him. He has to help you with the child. At least he needs to pay child support,” Sabrina protested.
“This child is mine. I’m not going to have some guy I met once interfere in its life. No, Sabrina, I’m going to do this on my own. That’s why I need the money Paul is paying me.”
“I understand, but it can’t be enough to make a difference. You’d have to accept a whole bunch of assignments like that to get enough money together to—”
“He’s paying me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the week.”
Sabrina’s chin dropped a second time and for a moment, she didn’t say a word, only stared at Holly wide-eyed. She swallowed hard. “That’s crazy. And you’re telling me he doesn’t even want sex in exchange for paying you two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?”
“Who doesn’t want sex in exchange for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?” a familiar male voice suddenly asked from the door to the living room.
Holly whipped her head in his direction and watched in horror as Daniel stepped onto the porch.
Crap!
Daniel’s gaze fell on her. “Holly? Wow! What are you doing here? Where’s Paul?”
“Paul?” she echoed. Did Daniel already know what was going on? But how?
“Yes.” He jerked his thumb toward the house. “His Porsche is parked in the driveway.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” Holly squirmed on the couch. “He let me borrow it.”
Daniel’s expression changed to one of disbelief. “Paul never lets anybody drive his Porsche. Least of all a woman—no offense.”
Holly shrugged.
“What’s going on?” His gaze bounced between her and Sabrina. “Baby?” He looked at his wife and raised his eyebrows.
Holly exchanged a look with Sabrina. She knew her friend wouldn’t say anything unless Holly allowed it. “Fine. But let me tell him.” At least that way she could control how much Daniel found out. “Paul hired me to pretend to his parents that I’m his girlfriend. It just a job for a week, and then I’ll be back in San Francisco again. That’s all. No big deal.”
Daniel whistled through his teeth. “No big deal? Did I hear right? He’s paying you a quarter of a million dollars for it? And he doesn’t even want sex?”
“That’s right. So don’t make it sound like it’s something distasteful. You of all people shouldn’t throw stones.” She hated having to remind Daniel that he at one time had hired an escort too, only the woman who’d shown up hadn’t actually been an escort, but a lawyer: Sabrina.
“I’m not throwing stones. But I would like to point something out to you: If you think that Paul would pay a quarter of a million dollars for a pretend girlfriend without expecting sex, then you don’t know him at all.”
Holly jumped up. “I’m not having sex with him! And I don’t intend to in the future.”
Because Paul didn’t want her. He would never respect her, and she didn’t want a man who was revolted by the thought of having pleasured a call girl.
15
Paul got out of the taxi and let himself into his parents’ house. Except for a low light coming from the living room, the house was dark. Slowly he walked toward the source of the light. The TV was on, but the sound was set to a low volume.
He spotted Holly slouching on the couch, wearing sweatpants and a loose T-shirt. She turned her head when she heard him approach.
“Hi,” she murmured.
He knew he’d had too much to drink, but he could still stand and walk normally. His speech wasn’t slurred, but his judgment was impaired. And the reason he knew that was because he now walked to the couch and sat down on its edge, nudging against Holly’s thigh, when he should go up to his room and go to sleep.
Holly shifted away from him, but he only used that opportunity to take up more space on the couch and force her into the corner.
“Hi,” he answered back. “Did you have a good time with Sabrina?”
She nodded, watching him like a hawk. And rightly so. His inhibitions were at an all-time low, and he was about to do something that he would surely regret in the morning. But he didn’t have the strength to stop himself. Not when Holly looked so enticing.
“Listen, Holly, we all make mistakes sometimes. I didn’t . . . ” He swallowed hard. “I overreact sometimes. You know. But it’s hard to take things back, even if you want to.”
“Some things nobody can take back,” she said in an even voice.