The Proposition by Elizabeth Hayley

Author:Elizabeth Hayley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Swerve

Chapter Twenty-One

After their talk, things were easier between them. More natural. But while Ryan was able to relax into Ben’s company, there was a still a general feeling of isolation Ryan couldn’t shake. It wasn’t that Ben tried to dissuade her from going out, but rather that she didn’t really have anywhere to go. She didn’t have another job to go to and the few friends she did have would’ve asked questions she couldn’t answer. Well, all except one. Which is why, over breakfast one morning, Ryan found herself blurting out, “Can I have a friend over?”

Ben’s eyes narrowed slightly as he set his spoon down into his bowl. “That makes me feel weird.”

Ryan’s face twisted in confusion. “What does?”

“You asked that like you were a teenager asking your father for permission.”

Smirking at him, Ryan replied, “And that makes you feel weird? You have a daddy kink I didn’t know about?”

“Why would I feel weird about it if I had a kink like that?”

Ryan took a bite of her bagel. “Solid point. Though you did seemed to like it when I called you sugar daddy.”

“I guess if you take my being horrified as me liking it, then sure.”

She shrugged before putting down her bagel and then rubbing her hands together to dislodge any crumbs. “Still, it’s your place so I do need permission. Especially since it could violate our arrangement.”

Ben’s head jerked up. “What do you mean?”

“Well, the person I’d invite over is my roommate Camille. She knows about our . . . thing.”

“Thing?”

“You said I could tell someone vaguely what was going on, and she’s that person. But if I invite her over here, she’s going to figure out who you are. Though it will help me get her off my back because she’s been asking for me to give her your address in case I turned up in the Delaware River.”

Ben raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not saying that I’m worried about that. But put yourself in her shoes. She doesn’t have a lot of concrete information to work with if something were to happen to me other than an anonymous famous guy is paying me to pretend I’m his girlfriend.”

“Why’d you even tell her that much?” Ben didn’t sound angry, but his face didn’t give much away.

“Because it had been a long, weird night and I needed to tell someone. I couldn’t have known that I’d end up living with you.”

Ben sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I need to be really careful about protecting my identity. People can’t know about you being an escort. If word ever got out—”

“Your friends know,” she interrupted. The words sounded defensive, but she couldn’t help it. Hearing him call her an escort stung her for reasons she couldn’t explain. It was what she was. Or at least what she was supposed to be. It shouldn’t make a knot form in her chest to hear Ben say the words.

“Yeah, but they’re my friends who I know I can trust with my secret.” Ben leaned forward, pushed his plate back, and put his arms on the table.

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