she wondered if she’d come again, just from those words. Although, it was a reminder that this wasn’t the first time they’d been together. She didn’t want to think about that. She had to keep up the role and not slip. Because she wanted this. She wanted Grant, and she couldn’t do it as Chloe. Hell, Grant wouldn’t want her as Chloe. Chloe was quiet and meek, introverted and nerdy. She let everyone down, and he’d be no exception once he realized she wasn’t the fun, sexually liberated girl he thought she was.
No, the role was all she could afford to give him.
She straightened her skirt and looked up at him through her lashes. “So, was this payment sufficient?”
He blinked, like he needed a minute to figure out what she was referring to. He smiled then, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, it’s sufficient.”
She reached for the doorknob and turned it. “Great, it won’t happen again, then, sir.”
He jerked a thumb toward the door. “I was, uh, going to stay and have a drink or two, if—”
She shook her head, cutting him off. No. No. That wasn’t what this was. It wasn’t a date or a chat. This was sex. Dirty, incredibly fulfilling sex, and that’s where it would stay. She needed to get home before she turned into a pumpkin…or rather, Chloe. With glasses, gaucho pants, and a worn T-shirt that said, Talk Nerdy to Me.
“I need to get home,” she said, hoping he didn’t push it.
Something flitted across his face, and then he reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could leave the closet. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, pressing it into her hand.
She curled her fingers around it.
He cleared his throat and scratched his head, one of the first times she saw him unsure. “Then, uh, yeah. Be sure it doesn’t happen again.”
She nodded and slipped out of the door, not looking back once as she left the club.
Chapter Seven
Chloe twisted her fingers together, cursing her brother under her breath as she stood in front of a high school.
A high school.
She loved classes and books and projects. School-supply shopping was like Christmas. But the rest of school…the socializing, the social structure, the—she shuddered—school dances, were not enjoyable. The opposite of enjoyable, actually, not unlike how she imagined it would feel if her intestines were pulled out through her belly button.
She needed to stop watching horror movies.
Conway Ridge High School was okay-looking, she guessed, as far as high schools went. The front walk had some sort of artsy sculpture that looked like a giant paper clip and the brick entrance seemed fairly modern.
Ethan had asked her to participate in a career day. Why, she wasn’t sure, because obviously the social skills this took weren’t her forte. He said the school routinely sent out letters asking professionals in the area to help. He’d turned them down for years now and felt guilty about it. But apparently not guilty enough for him to do this. Oh no, he’d sent her like a sacrificial lamb.
Samantha would have been amazing at this. She knew how to act in front of people, how to be a role model. Chloe, on the other hand, not so much. She couldn’t even be the person she needed to be for her family; how was she going to be that person for some teenager?
Well, there was nothing for it now. The only problem was that her mind was still two days behind her body, back in Saturday night when she’d been screwed against a door in a back room at the club. Even now, just thinking about it warmed her belly. How the hell was she supposed to get through today? Around kids and students when all she could think about was Grant’s tongue and hands and cock?
She needed a cold shower.
Instead, she took a deep breath, pushing the memories aside and focusing on the present, and tried to think mature, responsible thoughts. As she walked to the front door, the click of her heels echoed off the brick of the building. She’d worn the same pair of nude-colored heels she’d worn to dinner with her brother and Grant, along with a tan skirt with a pale pink sweater. Her makeup was even done, which she thought she should get an award for. Sari wore makeup, but Chloe? Not so much.
She pressed a button, and once she announced her name and her purpose, she was buzzed inside.