Dirty by Skye Warren

Author:Skye Warren [Warren, Skye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Adult, Dark
Published: 2015-07-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

We returned to the men, who seemed to have moved on from talk of criminal activity to sports. Some languages were universal as a way of bonding, which meant Luke had said the right things when I’d been gone. Our eyes met as I returned to his side, but I couldn’t get a read on him. His sleazy persona felt like a physical barrier between us. He blended in so well here, almost seamlessly, and an uneasy curiosity rose within me. He seemed more comfortable here than me. I had given him a hard time for knocking my knowledge of this underworld, and yet he’d been casual and cool while I’d had a nervous breakdown in the bathroom. What if he had real experience with this, beyond the occasional undercover sting with the CPD? What if he had been a part of this world once?

As soon as I thought it, I knew it was true. It made too much sense. It explained why I had never been able to see though his stalwart cop facade. It exposed the root cause of his noble quest. He was trying to atone for whatever he had done in his past. Had he slept with prostitutes like me? Apparently, if he had a girl he was looking for. Had he even pimped them out, for real instead of pretend? Guilt was a powerful motivator. Maybe our little game of the boyfriend as pimp was more fatalistic than I’d thought. Except that picture didn’t work for Luke, despite the lock-and-click way he fit in here. His sort of unerring integrity wasn’t born of a single mistake. I couldn’t imagine him being so far gone as to really cause harm to someone he loved.

Far more likely he had been unable to save the girl he loved, instilling in himself a deep and abiding need to save every other one—including me. In the span of seconds, I sketched the fairy tale in my head. He had been lonely and, in a moment of whiskey-induced weakness, called an escort service. The girl had been so beautiful she took his breath away with a knowing touch but an innocent look of hope in her eyes. He was smitten at first sight and swore to rescue her from the life. Except something had gone wrong. Her pimp wouldn’t let her go. These things happened—I should know. And then he lost her…though he never gave up wanting her. He would never give up. I could see it all so clearly, as if it had happened, as if I had been there. I wondered if she thought of Luke still. If she appreciated him and longed for him in return. She must, I thought.

Luke’s body tensed beside me in the booth, snapping my attention back to the present.

“Maybe some other time,” he said.

Todd frowned. “I’ll pay you, of course. I’m not looking for a handout.”

I realized they were talking about me. Specifically, Todd wanted something from me. Sex, of course. Revulsion rolled through me.

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