Desire (Desire, Book 1) - By Missy Johnson Page 0,35

for Neri?

On a deeper level, I think part of me still felt responsible for what happened with her father. It was my fault he was in jail, and while I didn’t regret what I did for a second, for a long time I felt like Neri blamed me. Even though all along it was her I was trying to protect. I knew in my mind that raising the money for her camp wouldn’t change anything, but that didn’t stop the illogical side of me from thinking it was a great idea.

“You can’t do that Kait. You’ll drive yourself insane.” Emily leaned against the desk, her legs crossed, and arms resting on the desk. “You’re putting this job in the same basket as donating a kidney or something. I’m doing this because frankly, I like sex and I don’t have a problem with getting paid for it. The moment you start to feel like you have to do it, it becomes a problem in itself.”

What Emily said made sense, but it didn’t make that feeling inside me any less threatening.

“I gotta go, Kait.” She ripped off the edge of the notepad that sat next to the phone and jotted down a number. “Call me. We will catch up out of here.” I took the number gratefully, putting it in my pocket. I liked Emily.

The night went pretty quickly, I found that the more I knew the ropes and got into a routine, the more relaxed I felt. Some of the guys would come in up to four times a week. One man, Donald, was in every week, and every week was with the same girl, Stella.

He had been seeing her for close to four years.

Four years!

Not only was that costing him an absolute fortune, but sex every single night with the same person? You don’t even get that with marriage! The pace of the shift kept my mind mostly off Devon, though he still crept into my thoughts.

The way our interaction had gone earlier, I might as well be paid for sex. The door beeped, indicating someone was coming in. I checked the booking page. No bookings for now. Grabbing the folder, I quickly flicked through it and marked the pages of the girls who were available.

I put on a smile and looked up, right into the eyes of my English professor.

Chapter Sixteen

“Kaitlin?” Professor Garland stood before me in his usual suit and tie, with an expression that could only be described as gaping.

“Hi.” It was all I could manage. Well, this was embarrassing. I could officially add ‘working in a brothel’ to the list of places I didn’t want to run into my lit professor. The only saving grace was that he seemed to be more embarrassed than I was.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know…I don’t usually come here.” He flushed awkwardly. I smiled, glancing away, anywhere but at his face. I spied the wedding ring on his finger. Great. So he was a cheater too.

“Look, Prof-“

“Please, call me Charlie.” He cut in, running his hand through his short curly hair.

“Charlie,” I corrected. “It’s none of my business why you’re here, just as it’s none of your business why I’m here.” I handed him the folio. “I’ve marked the pages of the girls who are available. Have a think, then let me know and I will process the payment.” He looked at the folder I’d handed him uncertainly. Eventually, he nodded. I smiled, returning to my desk.

Safely behind the confines of my desk, I could finally panic.

Holy shit! My professor?

This was totally and utterly mortifying. Could I get kicked out of college for working in a brothel? I didn’t think so, but it still worried me.

I spied on Charlie as he sat on the sofa flicking through the folio. He was about forty or so, his short curly hair ended just above the collar of his crisp white shirt. He was definitely attractive, in that older man, authority figure kind of way.

He flicked through the folio as though he was flicking through a menu. He had quickly overcome his shock of seeing me, and had reverted back to the cool, confident quiet man who attracted the attention of many students on campus.

It surprised me that he was here, ready to pay for sex. Regardless of the fact that he was married, I was sure he could’ve easily gotten it for free off one of his many student admirers.

“Kaitlin?”

I jumped in shock. I’d been so lost in my thoughts I hadn’t noticed