Broken

CHAPTER TWELVE: Love Decides

"Before I fall asleep, I always picture what it would feel like to fall asleep in your arms."

Anonymous

He came the next Tuesday. I was running late that day and was in the shower when he arrived. I heard Candy yelling from the bottom of the steps that I had a customer waiting for me. "Candy, tell him to get another girl," I yelled back in exasperation.

Candy hollered, "Gal, I said that already. He said he didn't care what you were wearing; he wants you. You better go before Ken finds out you were late and you said no to a customer."

It was a cardinal sin to turn down a customer and his money in the club. I sighed and pulled on my oriental silk robe. I went down the stairs in my bare feet with no makeup on.

Evan stood before me in a white linen shirt and dark slacks. I felt a wave of shock go through me. I was so sure he would never come back that seeing him froze me for a moment.

I promised myself I would forget everything that happened between us but I didn't. I couldn't stop thinking about his mouth on me. In my bed at night, my fingers went into my panties and I came thinking of him. It had been strange to think of a man the way I thought of him. It was as if I had been abducted by an alien for a couple of hours. I was released unharmed but profoundly changed. I felt my body rise in temperature. I knew I was blushing furiously.

I realized how much taller than me he was when I wasn't wearing stripper heels. He was gorgeous, and I was a mess. I felt caught off guard and defenseless.

"I am sorry; I'm running late today."

Evan leaned into me and said, "You're beautiful this way." I was dubious about this statement but I saw he wasn't kidding.

He leaned even closer to whisper in my ear, "You smell delicious."

I could smell him, too, and that reminded me of his hands, the way he had touched me. I felt my n*****s harden beneath my robe. I couldn't hide them and he noticed.

He took my hand and placed a box in it. It was silver and blue with a white ribbon. It was a Tiffany box. I stared at him for a moment, unsure if I was hallucinating. Evan said with a note of excitement, "Please, open it. I'll get us some coffee while you get ready."

I untied the bow and opened the box. Inside was a platinum and gold Tiffany watch. Diamonds surrounded the face. I was dumbfounded. It was beautiful and made my heart leap into my throat. "It's lovely. Thank you," was all I could push past the lump in my esophagus. It was the understatement of the century. His green eyes seemed to glint with happiness. He knew that I loved it.

He came behind me to take the box from my hands. With his arms still around me, he clasped the watch around my wrist. "You said you lost your watch the other night. I saw this and knew I had to buy it for you." Evan spoke softly in my ear.

He was so close to me that I had to fight my instinct to lay my head back on his shoulder. I wanted him to kiss me. I closed my eyes for a second. I had to be dreaming. I opened them again, but Evan was still there.

The time on the watch had been set. Evan whispered in my ear, "One hour, Paige. I will be back in one hour. Will you see me?"

I nodded and replied, "Yes. One hour. I'll be ready." The other girls were staring at us with open interest. I hurried him out and ran toward the dressing room.

Candy followed close behind me. She shouted in her southern drawl, "Paige, who is that man?"

I sprinted into the dressing room, but she was close on my heels. I started applying my makeup and responded, "A customer I had last Friday night. I think he's got a crush on me." I couldn't tell Candy about what happened. It embarrassed me to the bottom of my neatly polished toes.

She looked pointedly at the watch and lifted an eyebrow. "Ya think? Gal, I figured I was going to have a heart attack when I saw him. That man is hot! Oh, and what the hell is he doing buying you a Tiffany watch?" she demanded in an almost accusatory tone.

Candy was southern all the way to her neon-painted toenails. Her bleached blonde hair stuck straight up from the roots. Even my best 1988 hairdo couldn't reach those heights. She started stripping when her piece of s**t boyfriend left her after she had given birth to their baby girl. She knew how things worked in strip clubs. A man bringing expensive gifts was usually up to no good, in her opinion. They would be expecting something in return.

"I think he wants to marry me."

This answer made Candy laugh and go back to doing her hair. I was as nonchalant as I knew how to be. It was a siren song for strippers if a customer started bringing expensive gifts. Every girl there would be after him or frankly, his money.

I refused to take the bait when the other girls stepped in to admire the watch. "It's probably a knockoff anyway," I said with a disappointed sigh. The Swiss movement of the second hand told me that this was no knockoff. This explanation seemed to make the girls happy and they left me in peace to finish my makeup.

I dressed in my expensive lingerie and my most modest outfit. I wore the dress that I only used for the men that wanted me to dominate them. It was a black, full-length dress with a high mandarin collar. I called it the "Yes, Mistress" dress. The Tiffany watch sparkled on my wrist. I would have to guard it and myself.

Candy saw the dress I was wearing and laughed uproariously, choking out, "Are you going to spank that man?"

The thought made me laugh, too. "No, but I need a suit of armor on around him. He puts me off balance."

Candy stopped laughing and said with a serious tone, "Be careful. Dating customers will never end well." Candy wasn't dumb; she knew something was happening.

Evan returned with coffee and donuts for all the girls. They loved him immediately, even Candy. His hypnotizing voice worked its magic on me again. All he did was offer me coffee, and my whole body went soft. He bought two hours from me and I took him to the Moonlight Room.

I put on the soundtrack to Indecent Proposal, and The Pretenders played "I'm Not in Love." Evan pulled me into his arms before I could utter a word and kissed me. My resolve to ensure that he observed my "no touching" rule melted in his mouth. He pushed me against the wall while we kissed and his hands worked urgently to unbutton my dress. My knees weakened as I felt his mouth kiss the curve of my neck and my modest dress fall open for him.

He slipped my dress off me and guided me to the sofa. He covered my half-naked body with his and nearly tore the fabric of my bra to take a n****e into his mouth. I felt his hard c**k pressing into my open thighs through our clothes. I rubbed myself against him and felt his body seeking mine. His breath was fast and I felt his desire like a fire blazing over me.

My alarm bells went off, but they were too f*****g late again. This had to stop. We had to stop. "God, no ... Please don't. I can't do this," I cried out softly.

Evan paused, his breath heavy over my n****e as he said, "Please don't ask me to stop, Paige. I want you so badly that all I can think about is you. I wake thinking about you and go to bed thinking about you. I need you."

I dragged in a deep breath. I wanted him, too, and it was frightening. I didn't know him but all I wanted was for him to make love to me.

I said firmly, "This is insane. We don't even know each other."

Evan corrected, "That's not true. I know you love F. Scott Fitzgerald. You have a tiny mole on your right breast, you live alone, and you must have read every Jane Austen book ten times. You are intelligent, a romantic, and you don't belong here."

I remembered my books that lined the shelves. Evan had been paying attention to the details. "You love art and history. You smell like honey-spiced rum. I came twice the night we met, smelling you on me."

I breathed in sharply at his words. He had touched himself as I had. He saw the truth in my eyes. He brought his mouth back to my n****e, sucking and gently tugging it at it. Any thought of protesting fled. I opened my legs further and could feel him pressing hard between them. My desire for him was unbearable.

He pulled my panties off and devoured me. His tongue pushed me to the edge and when his magic fingers slid inside me, I climaxed with a cry. He put a hand over my mouth to quiet me and continued to lap as my body quivered.

Evan kissed me, his mouth tasting like me. I felt my desire for him increase again and it was overwhelming. I felt my heart beating wildly and I pressed against him. He took his mouth from mine and said, "Come to dinner with me tonight. Please."

I wanted him so badly I couldn't think straight. I panted out, "Yes." I was still trembling from my orgasm.

He kissed my skin as he slid my panties back on. I felt lost the moment I knew he was leaving me. He closed my dress and refastened my buttons. He pulled me to him until I could feel the thickness of his hard c**k pressed against me. He kissed me and his mouth made love to mine again. I felt helpless with a desire I couldn't control. I whimpered into his mouth with my need for him.

"I have to go now. I will pick you up at seven. Where do you live?" Evan asked.

Panic set in me. I couldn't let him come to my apartment. Few people had ever been there except my sister. He was a customer and I never invited customers to my home, except for Clark. Clark was allowed because he owned the building.

"I will meet you at the corner store."

He raised an eyebrow but agreed.