Could I leave what I did here and not take the emotions and feeling home with me? And if things with Devon were to go anywhere, how would he react?

No, I didn't need to think about that one, I knew the answer to that. Devon struck me as the possessive type. Somehow I didn't think he'd be okay with me doing what I was considering doing.

"I can't tell you what to do." Emily said after a moment. "But for me, the money was worth it. I don't feel guilty, or wrong about doing it. I see it as a job, and that's it."

"How does your boyfriend feel about it?" I didn't want to overstep the boundaries of our friendship, but I was curious.

"He doesn't love me doing it, but we are not that serious yet. I said to him until he is ready to commit only to me, it's no different to me picking up guys in a club." She grinned. I laughed at her tone. At the very least, it was a great way to get an engagement ring.

"And if he does commit only to you?" I raised my eyebrows, smiling.

"Then I will stop." Emily shrugged, as it was as simple as that. I admired her ability to have that att.i.tude. "Are you thinking of...?" Her voice trailed off.

"Honestly, I don't know. All I can think of right now is Neri, and her not getting into Medicine. If I can somehow help her achieve that, then I almost feel guilty for not perusing that."

Gosh that sounded f.u.c.ked up. Is that really how I felt?

That somehow I'd be a bad sister if I didn't do this 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 s.e.x 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 s.e.x 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 s.e.x. 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 embarra.s.sing. 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 embarra.s.sed 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 s.h.i.t! 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 s.e.x. 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 him approach the desk.

"Sorry to scare you." He chuckled, handing me back the folio clearly not sorry he had startled me.

"Sorry, I was miles away." My beating heart began to return to its normal pace.

"All the girls are lovely, but I was wondering. Are you available?" My mouth hung open.

Me? Did he just ask if I was available?

After flicking through a million pictures of some of the s.e.xiest women on the planet (or at least in Seattle), he wanted me?

I blushed, my face heating up. "I'm not...I don't...I'm just a receptionist. Sorry." I added.

Part of me was flattered that he had chosen me, but I could never do that...could I? Sure, I was considering it, to come up with the money for Neri, but with my professor? That was way, way too awkward.

"I'd be happy to pay extra. If you were interested. The usual rate you said is $495?" I nodded dumbly, no words coming to my mouth. "Would you be interested if I offered a grand?"

I was glad I was sitting down, because had I been standing I'm sure I would've collapsed. My eyes grew wide as I stared at him in shock.

"A thousand dollars?" I repeated, still stunned. It came out more like a screech. A high pitched screech. A smile spread across Charlie's face as he realized he might have convinced me. "I can't." I said, shaking my head. "I'm not even..."

My words trailed off. A grand was a lot of cash. A lot of cash to say no to. The fact was, as awkward as it might be, it meant half the number of times to raise the ten grand. I wasn't stupid. I wasn't trying to rationalize why I was doing this over every other girl's reasons, nor was I trying to justify it. It was just this was something I wanted to do for the least amount of time possible.

Ten times. Ten times instead of twenty.

That was a lot of incentive. Not only that, Charlie was nice, good looking, and I was attracted to him. What if the guy wasn't? I took a deep breath. I needed to do this before I changed my mind.

"Hold on." I grabbed the phone and called Emily. She answered on the second ring.

"Hi Kait. Everything okay?"

"Sure, can you come to the office for a moment?" My voice shook, I was sure Emily sensed danger, especially when she appeared less than a minute later, slightly out of breath.

"Everything okay?" She asked again. I nodded, embarra.s.sed she'd thought I was in trouble.

"Everything's fine." I a.s.sured her, nudging to the lobby. Her face lit up when she saw Charlie sitting on the couch.

"Who's he? I haven't seen him around." She glanced at him again, her nose scrunched up in concentration. "He's kind of cute, actually."

"That," I began, "Is my lit professor." Emily's eyes grew wide.

"No!" Her hand threw up to cover her mouth to hide her smile. "How embarra.s.sing!" She squealed softly, as she tried to hold back her giggles. "I swear I'd transfer. That would just be too much."

"What's too much is he wants to pay a whole entire grand to sleep with me." I mumbled softly, so only she could hear.

Emily's mouth dropped open. Several seconds pa.s.sed before she found words.

"A whole grand? I mean, even after Mauve takes her ten percent, that's a huge amount of money." I hadn't considered Mauve's cut. Oh well, twelve times was still better than twenty four.

Emily's big brown eyes stared at me in antic.i.p.ation, "What are you going to do?"

I took a deep breath, swallowing my fears, "I'm going to do it."

I rapped lightly on Mauve's office door.

"Kait," She smiled, looking pleased to see me, "Come on in." She glanced at me over the rim of her reading gla.s.ses, "You're not quitting are you?"

I laughed, "No, I'm not quitting. Quite the opposite, actually." Mauve raised her eyebrows. I'd thought that might grab her attention. "I was wondering, if I can...Well, there is this thing..." I trailed off, realizing I had no idea how to word this.

There should be a manual on how to ask for a promotion in the s.e.x industry, because essentially, that's what I was doing.

"Are you asking what I think you're trying to ask?" Mauve smiled widely, not bothering to hide her delight. I nodded, hoping we were on the same page, "Of course! I'd be delighted for you to join the girls."

"There's only one thing, Mauve," I hesitated. Was I really in the position to be placing conditions and restrictions on my working conditions?

"Yes?'

"I am only doing this to get the money together for my sister's education. Once I've reached that, I want to stop."

"Fine." Mauve agreed quickly. I eyed her suspiciously. I got the feeling she didn't think I'd be stopping once I'd reached my goal. Oh well, I would be happy to prove her wrong.

"The other thing, I want to limit uh, this, to one person. If that's okay." I caught Mauves frown and hurried to continue, "There is a man in the lobby. My lit professor. He wants me, and he's willing to pay a grand for me." Mauve's eyes widened and her smile reappeared. I sighed with relief.

"Really Kait? That's fantastic. I don't think anyone has ever offered double for a girl. There must be something special about you." I blushed. What could he possibly see that was so special about me?

"So it's okay then?"

"Yes, it's fine." Mauve began, "But I will need a copy of an STD report done within the last three months before I can let you start."

I bit my lip. I'd been antic.i.p.ating this, and even though I knew it would seem completely weird to her, I reached into my purse and pulled out the test results I'd had done after my last one night stand. Even though I always used protection, I was a very cautious person.

Mauve looked at the results, and back to me. She shook her head, smiling.

"Either you've thought about this for a while, or your one very prepared girl." She laughed. I blushed as Mauve stood up and ushered me out the door. "Don't keep the poor man waiting!"

I entered the lobby, both Emily and Charlie looked up at me. If I hadn't been feeling so d.a.m.n nervous about what was about to happen, I would've laughed. Emily was beaming like a proud parent, and Charlie was eyeing me like he couldn't wait to get me alone. I smiled at him.

"Follow me." I clenched my fists so he wouldn't notice my shaking hands. I could feel his eyes all over me as I led him down the hallway. Every step, I felt him watching me.

Once inside the room, I turned to him. What the f.u.c.k was I supposed to do now? I had no idea how this whole thing worked. Was I supposed to make the first move? Or was he? He struck me as the type of person who liked to be in control. I smiled at him shyly, tilting my head slightly I bit my lip. Hunger appeared in his eyes.

Good play, Kait. Obviously the inexperienced schoolgirl was the way to go here.

"I'm not very good at this." I confessed, giggling.

Charlie reached out for my hand, and led me over to the bed. I sat down, him sitting next to me.

He gently touched my cheek, his soft grey eyes staring into my own. I wondered if he could feel my nerves. I felt like a virgin on prom night who'd drunk too much spiked punch. He unb.u.t.toned my shirt, taking his time with each one. Eventually, my shirt was undone and my skin exposed. I eased the shirt off, it's weightless silk falling to the ground at my feet.

"Is this okay?" He murmured, not waiting for an answer, or maybe not expecting one. I turned my head slightly. The way he looked at me made me feel so s.e.xy. There was something so erotic about this whole scenario. I felt as though I was watching a scene from a movie.

I slid the bra off my shoulders, letting it fall away. His hands slowly made their way around the front of my ribcage. I shivered as his fingers traced over by b.r.e.a.s.t.s, circling my nipples. I let out a small gasp. Pulling away slightly, I shifted to face him on the bed.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, feeling completely green. Why was this so much different from any other time I'd had s.e.x? Charlie looked amused. Again, the l.u.s.t in his eyes was obvious. He loved my inexperience. He loved that I felt intimidated around him.

"For starters, I'd like you to relax." He raised an eyebrow, "You're a beautiful girl, Kaitlin. I've noticed you in my cla.s.s. I've watched you." His finger ran down the outside of my forearm, sending shivers running down my spine. There was something like two hundred people in my lit cla.s.s, and he'd been watching me?

Ara was in that cla.s.s. She was the true definition of beautiful. I was, at best, mildly attractive. Something about him watching me creeped me out yet, at the same time, aroused me. What the h.e.l.l was that about?

I rolled off the bed, and positioned myself between his legs. Something he had said had hit a chord. I looked him in the eye as I unb.u.t.toned his pants. He arched an eyebrow as he watched me. As I unzipped his fly, he stood, allowing me to gently tug down his pants and underwear. He kicked them aside as I slowly unb.u.t.toned his shirt.

His chest was smooth, and muscular, not at all what I had been expecting. Out of the suit and tie I saw him in every day, he looked younger. He smiled down at me.

I was going to do this.

I pushed his knees apart, resting my arms on his legs. A smile rolled across his lips as the reality of what I was about to do hit him. He was already hard, but as my tongue wrapped around his length he quickly became even harder. I reached up, releasing my hair from its band sending a cascade of curls tumbling around my shoulders.

"Oh yes, Kaitlin, you are so beautiful." He gasped, running a hand through my hair.

I glanced up at him and smiled suggestively, my tongue running innocently along my lips. His hand gripped my hair, as he guided himself down my throat. He eyed me as I let my tongue ride the length of his hardness. He was big, so I struggled to take him all in, my mouth curving around his girth.

"G.o.d, Kaitlin." He grunted, his grip on my hair tightening. He now had both hands on either side of my head, grinding his hips into my face. I gripped his waist to steady myself as his o.r.g.a.s.m began to climax.