Playing With Fire

Reckless

Volume 1: Playing with Fire

Ella Price

This
book is a work of fiction, and does not represent real events. Characters,
names, places, and incidents are works of the authors imagination and do not depict
any real event, or person living or dead.

Copyright
© 2013 by Ella Price

All
rights reserved

No
part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form.

First
Edition: November 2013

Cover by AEPBOOKCOVERS.COM

I
looked at my roommate with my mouth open. She had to be crazy.

“Come
on Thea, this is a great opportunity,” she said rolling her big brown eyes at
me like I was being unreasonable.

“I
am not being a hooker,” I squeaked. I hadn’t even had sex with a guy I liked I
wasn’t about to have sex with someone I didn’t know for money. I grew up in the
mess and there was no way I wanted to go back to it.

She
rolled her eyes. “High priced call girl and you don’t have to have sex with
anybody. You can just be an escort. You will make one to two grand a date and
you can get two dates a weekend. That is a ton of money and you need it,” she
said firmly.

I
sighed, I did need it. I was pretty close to broke right now. I had to make
rent and I had to get a job that would allow me to continue college. I had a
big class load and I was in my fourth year of college. I would graduate soon
with a degree in English. If I took the job I would be able to start working on
my school loans as well. “What would I have to do?” I asked entertaining the
idea.

“Go
on a date get everything paid for let him kiss you, cop a feel and that is it,”
she said like it was simple.

“I
guess I could try it, that doesn’t sound so bad,” I said quietly.

“Great
get ready you can come with me and meet Charlotte she is our supervisor,” she
said sounding giddy as she stood up.

“You
mean pimp?” I asked.

She
rolled her eyes. “No, Julian Quinn is our pimp. Charlotte reports to him if we do
anything wrong. If you end up seeing him you might as well consider yourself
fired.”

I
looked at her curiously. “Are you an escort or …” I trailed off blushing.

Naomi
smiled, “I’m
the or
part, but everyone is different. I
like it” she said happily.

“I
couldn’t do that,” I said nervously.

She
smiled. “You would be a rich woman. You are one of the most beautiful women I
have ever seen. If I were you I would have said screw school. I would be making
my way with my body and face,” she said and grinned.

I
blushed. “Whatever,” I muttered and blushed at the compliment. I was a
beautiful woman. I was tall and curvy. I had pale perfect skin and light green
eyes. My hair was thick, black curls that fell to the middle of my back. I
loved to dance and exercise so my abs were tone and my belly was flat and
perfect. I had a delicate face with sharp features that made me look like a
model.

“You’re
pretty,” I said quietly. Naomi was mixed. Her mother was white and her father
African American. She had Latte skin and bouncy black hair and brown eyes.

“I
am pretty; I am not gorgeous,” she said rolling her eyes.

“Whatever,”
I said standing and gathering my stuff. I was wearing tight jeans and a V-neck
sweater that fit my form well. I had boots that made me taller. I put my earrings
and necklace on and grabbed my purse and phone.

Naomi
and I headed for her car. I was nervous the entire ride as Naomi talked about
all the money to be made. She pulled into a huge office building downtown. It
was after six at night on a Friday so many of the people were home for the
weekend.

 She
parked and looked at me. “Let me do the talking, don’t let Charlotte push you
into agreeing to anything you aren’t comfortable with. She is going to see you
and see money just stand your ground.”

I
nodded nervously, I really didn’t think I was that pretty but Naomi seemed to.
We got out and rode the elevator to the top floor. We stepped out into a posh
waiting room. There were other women sitting around and they all looked up when
we entered. Some of them greeted Naomi but most gave me the once over and gave
me dirty looks.

An
older woman stood up looking me over quickly as she hurried over. She had a
neat blond bob and a sharp suit. She put a huge grin on for us. “Naomi dear who
is this?” she asked seeming overly interested.

“This
is my best friend and roommate Thea. She was interested in a job but as an
escort only. Thea this is Charlotte,” Naomi said smiling.

Charlotte’s
smile faltered a little. I could tell she wanted me to be more and there was no
way. “Oh well that’s wonderful, you look like you will be popular. Come with
me.”

I
followed her to a back office. I left Naomi and she mouthed for me to be strong
and I smiled.

I
followed Charlotte into an office and she waved for me to sit at the chair across
from her desk. She pulled out forms and smiled at me. “Naomi did explain that
you make more money as the full package did she not?” she asked watching me.

I
nodded. “I know I will not make as much, but it is all I am willing to do,” I
said firmly.

She
pursed her lips in annoyance. “Very well if you change your mind let us know.
Now first what is your first and last name?”

“Athena
Blake,” I said smoothly.

“I
assume you are in college?” she asked as she took notes.

I
nodded. “Yes mam.”

“Do
you speak any languages other than English?”

“Yes,
I speak fluent French, Italian, Spanish, and German. I know some Russian and
Mandarin but I am not fluent yet,” I said naming the languages I knew. I was
proud of the fact that I knew them. It had taken me a lot of time to learn them
all well, but I enjoyed them.

She
raised her eyebrows, but did not speak as she wrote. “Any other skills such as
dancing?” “Yes I can dance.” I in fact loved to dance. It was one of my
pastimes.

“We
are not talking about shaking your booty Miss Blake” she said firmly.

I
smiled. “I can do that as well as ballroom, tango, and really any other form.”
I could do really any dance. I tried every one possible.

“Exotic?”
she asked now intrigued.

“Yes,
that as well put I prefer not to,” I said not wanting to give her ay ideas. I
won several armature exotic dancing competitions and I even got job offers, but
I refused. It was really funny considering now I was planning on being an
escort.

She
sighed deflated and wrote it down. “You aren’t giving me much to work with Miss
Blake. Quinn normally will not hire a woman that refuses to go further than a
date,” she muttered.

“I
have limitations to what I will do and if they do not align with the job I
understand,” I said refusing to give in.

She
looked perturbed that she wasn’t able to sway me. I wasn’t going to bend I
didn’t want anyone seeing me naked or having sex with me because they paid. I
knew how the sex industry worked and I didn’t want any part of it.

“Let
me get your measurements and weight. This will all be turned in to Quinn and he
will decide,” she said smoothly.

I
nodded and she went through all the steps. Weight, height, eye color, and hair
color. She was finishing up when she looked at me. “Why would you come here and
not just model or something?”

I
shrugged. “I have a big class load and Naomi said I didn’t have to take a lot
of dates.”

She
nodded. “Good point, come on I will turn this in you can wait in the waiting
room. If he wants to see you I will bring you back,” she said and I followed
her out.

She
left me in the waiting room with Naomi. There were only a few girls left in the
room.

“He’s
been denying girls left and right tonight,” Naomi said as she watched a girl
leave in tears.

“Have
you met him?” I asked curious about him.

She
blushed and nodded. “He’s not nice just answer his questions and be polite,”
she said nervously.

Her
reaction was a little odd. I wanted to question her more but Charlotte’s voice
interrupted me. “Miss Blake,” she called.

I
glanced at Naomi then got up and followed Charlotte. She led me to a huge door.
“Wait here,” she said and knocked.

A
male voice told her to enter and she did. I stood outside the door waiting
nervously. I couldn’t hear what was being said. After a few minutes she came
back out. Her cheeks were bright red which surprised me. She didn’t seem like
the type of person to scare easy.

“You
may go in he wants to meet you,” she said and held the door.

I
walked into the office. It was huge and dimly lit. Quinn was sitting at a desk
looking over paperwork. He was gorgeous. He was probably in his mid-thirties
maybe older. He had thick golden blond curls that fell around his face. He
looked like he was tall and broad, but he was sitting so it was hard to tell. His
skin was perfectly tanned and he looked toned under his blue button up. I
couldn’t see his eyes because of how he was sitting. He didn’t look up at me
either. “Sit down I will be with you in a moment,” he said firmly.

“I
would rather stand,” I said trying to sound confident. Something about the
place made me uneasy.

I
had his attention now. His eyes snapped up to my face and his expression
suggested I had said the wrong thing. He looked a little surprised and his eyes
flicked over my body before he spoke. “If you intend to work for me you will do
as you are told,” he growled.

Instead
of fighting I sighed and sat down as he watched me. He sat up and leaned back
in his chair like he was interested now. “You want to be an escort?”

“Yes,
the kind that just goes out on dates and that is it,” I said calmly. He made me
nervous. He had blues eyes, dark blue eyes and the way he watched me made my
stomach twist.

“I
do not need that kind,” he said firmly.

“Well
then I am sorry I wasted your time, if Charlotte had said so I would have never
continued the interview,” I said and went to stand.

He
raised his hand indicating for me to stay seated. “Why will you not budge,
there is so much more money to be made as an actual call girl,” he said
watching me.

His
expression was blank and his eyes dark and questioning. I felt more like I was
being interrogated. “I am only interested in working as an escort, I should not
have to give my reasoning,” I said starting to get annoyed.

“You
are over qualified to be just an escort,” he growled.

I
narrowed my eyes. “Escort or nothing,” I countered meeting his tone. Obviously
he wanted me to work for him or he wouldn’t have wasted his time talking to me.

He
leaned back and steepled his fingers. He looked amused instead of annoyed now. “I
have to say Miss Blake I haven’t encountered a girl as difficult as you. My
girls trust me to know what they will be good at and where they will be most
useful. They do not question me.”

He
sounded sure of himself and arrogant. I looked at him for a second then burst
out in a fit of giggles. He raised his eyebrows looking like he wasn’t sure
whether he wanted to be amused or annoyed. “What is so funny Miss Blake?”

I
smiled. “You actually expect me to trust you when I don’t even know you, and
you are a pimp.”

I
prefer Souteneur not pimp,” he growled.

I
rolled my eyes. “Great let’s put a fancy spin on it,” I said amused.

He
grinned. “Miss Blake, I can make you an incredible amount of money if you would
be willing to use your body.”

I
leaned forward. “I don’t want an incredible amount of money. I want enough to
pay my rent and I would also like to still look at myself in the mirror,” I
said smoothly.

He
watched me for a moment. “Very well, I will hire you as an escort only. Your
first date will be with me as training for tomorrow evening. It will be a club
setting and you will act as if I am your date. Here is a list of stores you may
shop at and an advance so you can buy clothes. There is also a necklace you are
to wear when you are out,” he said handing me an envelope. “I will send a
driver who will also act as your guard for the night to pick you up around
seven. That is all,” he said dismissing me.

I
got up and left immediately. I had no intention of staying and making small
talk. He was an ass.

Naomi
grinned when she saw I had the envelope. “I will show you my favorite place to
go. We will get you a killer dress.”

“I
would rather not spend anything. I have a dress that will work for clubbing. I have
this feeling I am not going to last long. Quinn didn’t seem to like me,” I said
quietly.

“He
doesn’t like anybody and you will be fine, you have to promise we will go
shopping,” she pouted.

I
smiled. “I promise if this works out we will go shopping.”

I
listened to her chatter as the elevator descended. I kept thinking about Quinn
and how arrogant he was. Even though he was arrogant he was still hot. “So did
they say whether they had a date for you?” Naomi asked as we walked toward the
car.

I
shrugged. “I have to go with Quinn tomorrow night for training or something.”

She
looked a little confused. “Huh that’s odd he must have changed that normally
newbies go with Brandon for the first night.”