She instinctively leaned forward. “Oh?”
He looked down at the papers in front of him and reached for a pen. “Yes, here—your educational level is missing.”
“I have a BA in English.”
Mr. Keller jotted something down on the piece of paper. “Excellent.” Then he scanned farther down the sheet. Without looking up, he asked, “Your marital status is still single?”
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“Are you cohabiting with anybody?”
Uncomfortable about the question, she shifted in her seat. “Um, why would the bank need that information?”
He looked up. “Just to know whether you might have any adult who might support you.”
She shook her head. No, there was nobody to support her. Or her child. “I’m on my own.”
“Good, good. As the purpose for this loan, you state here that it is to purchase a business. What kind of business?”
She smiled. “It’s a boutique matchmaking business. Very different from any of these online dating businesses. The current owner is retiring, and I have the chance to buy her business. I’ve submitted information about the business’s turnover and profit and loss over the last couple of years, and since I’ll be buying the business with all its current and former clients, it will ensure continuity. There should really be no change in its financial health. If anything, I plan to improve the services the company provides and make it even more profitable.”
She knew she could do this. She knew people, their wishes, their desires. She knew what women were looking for and what men desired in their partners. She would be a great matchmaker.
Mr. Keller scribbled something down. “Very good. Then there’s still the issue of your prior employment.”
Holly stiffened. Misty’s escort service had always paid her above the table, and since Misty had chosen a very inconspicuous legal name for her company, nobody would be able to instantly figure out that she was being paid by an escort agency. “Yes?”
“It says here you worked for Executive Relocation Services for the past four years.”
She nodded.
“But there’s no note in your file about what position you held there.”
“Um, oh, didn’t I fill that in?” She leaned closer and braced her hand on the desk to peek at the piece of paper. She was sure she had written that she’d been a client services manager. She’d come up with the title herself, and despite the fact that Misty was still pissed at her for having quit so abruptly two months earlier, Holly knew her former boss would back her up, if only to cover her own hide and not let on what her company really did.
“You did,” he said, his voice suddenly different. He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “But I’m not sure that’s the only position you held there.”
Holly sucked in a breath.
“If I remember correctly, there were all kinds of positions you got into.” His hand slid across the desk and clamped over hers. “And I seem to remember distinctly how versatile those positions were. It would be a shame not to point out on your application how multi-talented you are.” His grip tightened, while his fake smile never faded. “Now, Ms. Foster, the way I see it, it’s up to me to approve or deny your application. I can be swayed either way.”
Keller dropped his gaze to her décolleté, leering at her like a randy dog, and Holly wished she’d donned a high-necked sweater instead of the V-line top that accentuated her ample assets.
Bile rose, and the bitter taste spread in her mouth. She had a choice to make: give in to his advances and do what he expected—and she was only too aware of what he wanted—and get her loan approved, or refuse him and say good-bye to her dream of owning her own business and being independent. She needed this, needed to have a means of making a living so she could take care of her child. But if she gave in to Keller, nothing would change. She would still be a whore. And she didn’t want her baby to have a whore for a mother.
Holly leaned in and dropped her voice as low as she could. “Mr. Keller, I wouldn’t touch you with gloves, let alone with my bare hands.” She ripped her hand from his grip. “So if you don’t mind, you sleazy bastard, get your kicks somewhere else. I don’t need your stinking loan. You touch me one more time, and I will file assault charges against you. Do we understand each other?”
With satisfaction she noted the shocked look on his face.
She rose from her chair. “And one other thing: There’s a reason somebody like you has to pay for sex. Because no woman in her right mind would do you for free.”