I Conjure Thee (11 page)

Having to resort to calling an escort service had been embarrassing, but the Lovely Ladies service came highly recommended for their attractive, intelligent women. It would certainly be worth the ten grand if she could help charm his associates into the merger.

The cute female server, who’d attempted to gain his attention, passed him the steaming hot beverage. He had noticed her flirting, just as he noticed Simone noticing the flirting.

Anthony wondered if Simone was even her real name; he highly doubted it. He paid the girl behind the counter, instructed her to keep the change then turned and headed back to Simone.

After sitting down, he was silent for a moment, watching her. Her golden blond hair was straight and settled halfway down her back. Normally he preferred the opposite of what was sitting in front of him. He normally tended to go for dark haired girls with athletic body types.

Anthony breathed in sharply and exhaled slowly.

"So I will need to give you a little information about what is going to happen tonight,"

he began, "my company, Winchester and Sons, is looking to merge with our largest competitor PRT Inc. If I can pull that off, then I will control the lion's share of major advertising accounts in North America."

"Alright," she nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Basically, what I need from you is to help charm them into seeing things my way," He took a sip of his beverage. Still way too hot.
Damn
.

She nodded and smiled seductively. He had a feeling if anyone could charm a person into something, it would be her. She was damned sexy, but at the same time, there was wisdom in her eyes. A wisdom you would normally expect to see in the eyes of someone much older than she appeared to be.

If he took a guess, he would pinpoint her age at around ten years younger than him; so roughly twenty-two years or so. Way too young for the wisdom that shone in her eyes and much too young to be doing what she did for a living. At least in his opinion.

He found himself wondering what had happened in her life that made her decide to choose this as a career. It certainly wasn't something nice little girls grew up wishing for themselves. When he thought about it a moment longer, however, he had to concede ten grand for one night was a mighty fine amount of money to make.

Anthony spent the next half hour filling her in on the details that he felt she would need to know in order to keep up with the conversation that would be taking place at dinner.

She asked a few questions, but for the most part simply nodded her pretty, blond head and took in the information.

By the end of his impromptu briefing session he had finished his coffee and was confident she would shine at dinner. His nerves had finally settled down about his decision to hire her for the evening. She would be perfect.

***

By the contented look on Anthony's face as they drove back to his penthouse, the dinner had been a success. She had played the part of regal, sophisticated, educated girlfriend for him perfectly, charming all of his associates. That was what she was there for; well, one of the reasons anyway.

Selene reached across and placed a hand on his inner thigh as he drove. She could feel his muscles tense up at her touch, for a moment, then relax once more. She had found herself growing more attracted to him as the dinner had progressed. He had such an air of power and confidence about him when talking business that it had turned her on greatly.

He certainly knew how to work people.

She had found herself wondering more than once during the dinner what he was going to be like in bed. What were his fetishes? Did he have any? He had told her yesterday he had none, but men
always
had a secret desire they kept hidden in the closet. Powerful business types like Anthony, who happened to be the vast majority of her clientele, always did.

She studied his profile as he drove, trying to figure him out.

Slowly, she moved her hand further up his thigh, to just a fraction of an inch from his groin.

"We're here," he announced suddenly, flipping on the blinker and turning into the underground garage of a large, modern apartment complex. A complex that just happened to be a few blocks down from hers, but she did not intend to share
that
information with him.

The car swung into a parking spot marked with his name, several feet from the elevator.

Throwing the car into ‘park’ Anthony turned to look at her, his eyes drinking her in, causing her body to quiver. This was the first time since she had met him earlier that evening that he’d looked at her with intense hunger in his eyes. He'd been strictly business and formalities up until this point.

Selene turned to face him, her hand remaining in his lap. She reached out with her free hand and traced the line of his jaw with her fingertips. He took hold of her hand and brought her palm to his lips, kissing it lightly.

Leaning into him, she lowered her hand and brought her lips over to meet his. His lips were surprisingly soft, but firm. He kissed her back, a little more urgently, with a need she hadn't experienced from a man in some time.

His hand caught in her hair, pulling her closer. Deepening their kiss, his tongue found hers, duelling, prodding, claiming hers. She moved her hand higher yet to cup his balls in her hand and massage them.

A moan escaped from his lips as he pulled away from their kiss, leaving them both breathless.

"Let's go," he commanded softly, his voice sounding strained. It was evident he was trying to stay in control, despite her hand on his balls and his growing cock.

Simone smiled at him and removed her hand from his crotch. "Okay," her voice was silky and seductive. A coy smile touched her lips.

He nodded, opening the car door and stepping out. He had made it to her side of the car before she had a chance to even open the door. Simone smiled to herself.
Such a
gentleman.
He was just the type of man a woman could really fall for. Perhaps the type of man even
she
could fall her.

As she took his extended hand and gracefully stepped out the vehicle, she gave herself a mental shake. The last thing she needed was to get emotionally involved with him.

Normally it was quite easy to keep unattached; she'd been doing this for fifteen years now. She began working as a call girl for a sleazy company, at the tender age of eighteen.

Several years later, she took a chance and opened her own company the Lovely Ladies Escort Service. The rest, as they say, was history.

There had been a number of nice, decent men over the years for whom she would have seriously considered giving up "the life" and settling down. The problem was that once a man hired you as an escort, the chance of you being the woman he was interested in settling down with was slim to none. This was the reality of life, despite what happened to Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman."

It was just as well. She loved the money. She was smart, she’d invested wisely and had a large nest egg stashed away. In truth, she would never have to work again if she didn't want to. Most of the jewellery she owned had been bought for her as gifts from her clients. Even the cars she drove. Yes, cars
plural
. All gifts.

As she stepped from the car, he pulled her close to him. She leaned into his hard, rigid body, wrapping her arms around his neck. With the additional height of her heels, she was just an inch short of eye level with him. Lowering her head, she trailed light kisses up and then back down his neck, her tongue teasing his exposed flesh as it went.

"You are making this very hard for us to make it upstairs," he scolded, gently moving her out of the way, as he closed and locked the door behind her.

Simone pulled back from him, just far enough to look him in the eye. She licked her lips seductively. "Would that be so bad?"

"It would be if old Mr. and Mrs. Lambert stumbled on us," He grinned, taking her hand,

"Let's go."

"Old Mr. and Mrs. Lambert?" She raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Yes, they're old fashioned and very religious. Not real fans of
hanky panky,
as Mrs.

Lambert likes to refer to it."

They rode the elevator to the top floor, side by side, in silence.

The elevator opened up to the foyer of his penthouse. As he led her further into his home she was impressed by how elegantly modern it was, the walls painted in basic blacks, whites and greys.

The living room was decorated simply, yet elegantly, white walls, with a number of classic prints hanging from them.

Anthony shrugged off his suit jacket and tossed it carelessly onto a large, overstuffed black leather chair, then loosened his black satin tie.

Motioning for her to take a seat in the living room with a wave of his hand, he walked over to the black and white marble bar at the far end of the room.
He does have class,
she mused looking around. He dipped behind the bar and reappeared with a bottle of red wine and a couple of glasses.

Simone strutted over to the black leather sofa set and sat down at the end of the sofa, crossing her legs.

"You did an amazing job at dinner tonight. Everyone loved you. Better than I could ever have hoped for," he smiled as he came across the room towards her.

A faint blush coloured her face. "That's what you hired me for."

He sat down close beside her, "Well it was a great success. So thank you."

She watched him pour the wine in silence.

He hesitated for a moment, "You do drink wine?"

"Oh course." She accepted the glass from him. Clinking it to his, she toasted, "to the merger."

"And to the woman who helped make it happen," he added, before taking a sip.

"Very nice," Simone said, appreciating the taste of the wine.

"I have to ask you something." He paused, trying to find the right words, "why did you choose this profession?"

Simone was silent, watching him, deciding how much she felt comfortable disclosing to him. It was a typical question. All men became curious about that after a meeting or two.

The more direct ones would ask outright, others would hint about it.

He put his hand up, mistaking her silence as a sign of her being insulted by the question. "You know what; it's none of my business. I shouldn't have asked."

She arched a brow at him, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Okay, I'll answer yours if you answer mine."

Anthony took another sip of the wine, set the glass back down then turned back to her.

"Fair enough. Ask away."

"Why did you need to call the service?" She edged her way closer to him. Her fingers played with the thin material of the white long sleeved shirt he had on. She loved the feel of his bicep as it flexed under her touch.

He let out a nervous sigh, raking his hand through his hair. "Well the truth is, last week I happened to find out my girlfriend of several years, had someone else on the side. She was supposed to go with me to the dinner," he paused a moment, his face reddening. "I have a phobia of attending these types of things alone."

"A phobia, literally, a phobia?"

"Well, yes. I function better at those types of events when someone is with me. Besides, it just looks better in general to have a charming, attractive woman on your arm," he smiled at her. The smile stirred flutters in her stomach.

"So why didn't you just take a friend, or a family member?"

Anthony took another drink, before replying, "No one knows about the break up yet.

It's…well…embarrassing, to say the least. I knew something was going on, but never really had a chance to investigate. She seemed different. She had no interest in sex for several months before I found out. Either she didn't feel well, or was tired, there was a big list of excuses. I finally gave up trying."

As Simone watched him, she couldn't imagine why a woman would want someone else when they had him at home. Something had to be wrong with him that she was missing.

Had
to.

He drained the glass of wine and filled another.

He needs to loosen up,
she decided
.
Simone stood up, then sat back down, straddling his lap. She massaged the muscles around his neck, working out the knots.

He closed his eyes, letting his head fall back against the leather of the sofa with a sigh.

"Very nice." He reached out cupping her ass and pulled her up tight against him. She could feel him beginning to harden under her.

The muscles of his shoulders and arms were lean and as well-defined as she knew they would be. He felt exceptionally good under her expert hands. She could feel her own arousal inflaming as she continued to touch him. Her hands worked their way to his collar then pulled his tie up over his head, tossing it to the floor beside them.

Her hands began to undo the buttons of his shirt, only to be stopped as his large, strong ones covered hers. He opened his grey eyes and looked into her large blue ones.

"You are not getting out of your answer that easily." His expression was stern, but he wasn't fooling her. All it would take was a hand slipped between them, grasping his cock and the question and answer session would be
long
forgotten.

However, a deal was a deal.

"It's the typical story I suppose. I left home at the age of eighteen; started off working for a sleazy escort company, making substantially less than I make now."
That’s the
understatement of the
century, she thought.

She leaned over to begin kissing the side of his neck. She loved the way his aftershave smelled. Strong and masculine, it suited him perfectly.

He put a hand between them, waving her gently back a couple of inches. "Wait. Wait."

Simone groaned. Ironically enough, he seemed to have more self-restraint than she did.

All that was on her mind was getting that shirt of his off so she could feel his bare flesh.

She looked up at him, her head tilted to the side with a curious look on her face.

"So how did you move up to ten grand a night so quickly?"

She couldn't help but laugh, he was incorrigible.