Hot Pink Heels (The Street Series) (5 page)

“Because it’s
his
!” Amanda practically shouted at Jackson. For the second time in a matter of moments, Jackson wore a stunned expression.

“Are you—“ he started.

“Sure?” She sneered, finishing his question. “Yeah, I’m sure, because Billy’s the only one who doesn’t use condoms.” Amanda almost looked embarrassed as she said this, but she held her back ramrod straight, refusing to look away from his gaze.

“Listen, I’m tired, my head hurts, and I just need to get back,” Amanda said, lowering her hands to her sides in defeat. “Just give me the money for a cab and I’ll
get out of your hair.”

“What about the baby, and Billy?” Jack
son asked.

“I’ll take my chances
,” said Amanda. “I’ve been taking care of myself for two years and besides, the white knight routine is so yesterday.”

“Amanda, I know this sounds strange, b
ecause I just met you yesterday and our careers are in separate hemispheres, but I really do want to help you,” Jackson pleaded.

“Then give me the money to get out of wherever this is and back to my job,” she said, a bit more carefully.

“Fine. Wait here,” he said, resigned. He went back inside and she could hear voices, but she couldn’t make out the words. He was back a moment later, his wallet in one hand and her small trash bag in the other.

“I’ll drive you back,” Jack
son said. Amanda started to protest, but he held up one hand in warning, passing the bag to her, and when she realized how close he was to losing it, she obediently closed her mouth.

She nodded
and then headed toward the car, where Jackson opened the door and waited for her to snap the seatbelt in place before rounding the car and sliding in beside her.

He opened his wallet and handed Amanda a stack of crisp
money, which she quickly realized were all hundred-dollar bills. Her eyes widened, and she looked up at Jackson, who was doing his best to ignore her as he backed out of the driveway. “Jackson, you know I can’t take this, this is fifteen hundred dollars! I’m pretty sure pastors don’t make enough money for you to just be throwing it at hookers!”

“
It’s fine,” Jackson shrugged. “I’ve been saving it for a rainy day. Just give it to Billy so he’ll leave you alone for today at least.” Jackson felt no need to mention the rainy day he’d been saving for was an engagement ring for Clarissa. Especially when he’d had twice that amount of money saved for six months and had yet to shop for one. He’d dissect that little tidbit later when he was alone.

Jackson
was silent on the ride back into L.A., and Amanda just sat there, staring at the money now clenched in her fist.

It was like winning the lottery for her to have that much money in her hands at one time. It would be more than enough for the abortion and w
ith what she already had sewn into a hole in her mattress at home, she could even get out and move up to a different job, maybe even the escort service located a few streets away.

It’s no diffe
rent from what you’re doing now
.
Sure it is
, she argued. The pay was better, she could dress in pretty clothes instead of just trampy ones and it was much more anonymous, almost guaranteeing her no more beatings from Billy.

“Can I ask you a question?” Amanda jumped when Jack
son broke the silence just a few minutes from Vermont Avenue.

“Sure,” she said, still staring at the cash. Raising her head, her eyes locked onto his gorgeous
steely eyes. Her heart tripped at his nearness, which Amanda found unforgiveable. She looked away.

“Obviously I don’t know much about your profession, but I thought it
was not normal for your…” he trailed off.

“Pimp
?” She supplied for him, smiling slightly.

“Y
eah,” he said slowly. “Anyway, I thought he normally didn’t sleep with his girls. I mean, is that something that happens regularly?”

“Well,” Amanda snorted derisively, “He did tell you I’m his favorite, right? The first time it happened, I wasn’t one of his ‘girls’ yet. I was…flattered that he wanted me that way, but I didn’t know what he was leading up to until it was…” She stopped, not wanting Jack
son to know all this about her for some reason.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, it’s just that it didn’t seem like the norm,” Jack
son said, reaching over as if to pat her on the leg before remembering it was bare skin almost all the way up. Her skirt was riding high again, and he jerked his hand away as if he’d been burned.

Amanda couldn’t help the feline smile that moved across her face, kicking in the instincts that brought in such good tips from all her clients. After all, he
was
pretty yummy-looking and she could fantasize about what his body looked like under his neat attire.

“What’s the matter, Jack?” Her voice lilted as she half turned in her seat, resulting in the skirt moving obscenely high. “It’s okay to look, you know. After all,
your God gave me what you see, and you
did
pay for the
w-h-o-l-e
package,” she said, twisting even more so he could see straight up her pathetic excuse for a skirt.

Jack
son kept his eyes on the road, but she noticed his knuckles whitening on the steering wheel. Satisfaction had Amanda brazenly moving closer, wanting to push him, letting her fingers roam to the back of his neck while she moved her chest tantalizingly close to brush his arm.

“Amanda, for
the love of—quit!” Jackson yanked the wheel, pulling up to the curb just one street over from her stop. “I may be a pastor, but I’m still a man! You’ve got to stop,” he said, banding her wrists with his hand as he gently, but firmly pushed her back into her seat, which put him slightly off balance over the stick shift.

Amanda knew this game. Hard-to-get was one of her clients’ favorite games, although usually they wanted her to play that role.
It’s fun to be on this end of the role playing
. She might just make it to the silver screen yet!

She took advantage of
Jackson’s precarious position as he was leaning over her, his face mere inches away. Those smoky eyes were so close, and she wondered how he would taste. Shifting upward, she claimed his lips with her own, and her world exploded.

Gasping, Jackson let go of her arms and moved back to his side of the car just as Amanda was about to deepen the kiss. They stared at each other in silence, Amanda’s fingertips moving to her mouth in surprise.

Whoa, boy! You’v
e got to watch this one—dang it! She’s quite a handful!
Jackson contemplated her thoughtfully, bringing his breathing back under control. Ok, despite the less-than-conservative clothing and her chosen profession, she
was
an attractive girl, but Jackson had no business kissing her. A hooker. A pregnant hooker, who'd just tried to force herself on him. He could see how she could make money at this, because she was very good at what she did, what with those soft lips and long dark hair, not to mention that scandalous skirt—
What are you doing?

You aren’t suppose to be thinking about her that way, looking at her like that—and for Pete’s sake,
wanting
to touch her again!
Jackson attempted to steel himself again, staring straight ahead.
God, please forgive me, I’m really trying to behave here, but she is making it hard to see the way out of this one.

“What’s the matter, Jack? Afte
r all, you did pay for me, you might as well enjoy me a bit,” she laughed enticingly, although her insides were quaking. She’d been what she considered a “professional” at this job for over a year and had
never
reacted quite like that to a man’s kiss.

Of course, he hadn’t actually kissed her back, she reminded herself, but that simple act of their lips touching had sent fireworks off in the back of her mind and there was no other way to put it—she’d been rocked off her pretty pink heels!

Amanda plastered a sneering smile on her face to hide the strange sensation before turning toward him again. “Are you afraid your
wife
will find out?” She let out another husky laugh designed to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Apparently, she’d hit her mark, because as she watched Jackson, all color drained from his face.

Sucker punch right to the gut
. So why did she feel like
she
was the one who’d been punched? It was true, he really
was
married, and the disgust welled up in her throat again.

Jack
son found himself unable to swallow and he could barely breathe.
I haven’t even given a single thought to Clarissa since sometime yesterday
.
She’s probably furious with me for not checking in with her! Nah
,
if there’s one thing I know about Clarissa, it’s her forgiving spirit and calm demeanor.

Her
very
calm demeanor. Sometimes
too
calm—he wanted some sort of
spark
, I mean, was that wrong?
Get a hold of yourself, Jack. This has gone too far already.
He rubbed his face with his hands and combed one hand roughly through his neatly groomed hair.

Jackson took a deep breath and faced Amanda again. “I gave you the money because I wanted to help you, not because I wanted
sexual favors from you,” he said calmly. “It’s yours to do with as you please, although I find it very sad to think about you using it to end a life.”

“End a life?” Amanda asked, curious.

“Yes, someone who has no choice in this matter,” he said, nodding toward her still-flat stomach, which was entirely too enticing. He looked away, but not before seeing her eyes go flat.

“Like I had the choice every
time Billy forced his way into my room and raped me?” Amanda gritted out, biting off the words like they were tough as nails to say. “Just let me out here,” she sighed, and hopped out of the car.

“Amanda, don’t just walk away, please…” Jack
son’s voice trailed off, but before she could completely cross the street, she felt herself being spun around. “Please,” he said. “I really do
care
about what happens to you.” He took her hand, pressing a small white card into her palm on top of the bills she still clutched. “If you need anything, just call.”

Shrugging out of his light grasp, Amanda turned and started
click clacking her way down the street, the cool autumn air raising goose bumps on her bare legs and arms.

“And for what it’s worth, I’m
not
married,” Jackson shouted across the street. He wasn’t sure why he felt like he had to let her know that, but it just flew out of his mouth.

Without turning around, Amanda flipped him off, but she cracked a small smile at his words.
She stuffed the bills into the tiny pocket in her skirt, but she could still feel Jackson’s gaze boring holes into her back. The saucy step came back, all for his benefit, both to prove to him that she was fine and to remind him of what he’d just turned down.

As she rounded the corner of North Vermont, she saw Billy waiting outside at her normal spot. The street and sidewalks were clear at this time of the day, and there was actually less chance of being heard on the street if Billy should decide to punish her for her tardiness.

Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Amanda crossed the street and headed toward Billy, his money already in her hand. “There’s six hundred,” she said, slapping the money into his open palm. She started to breeze by, tossing her hair back in a way that said, “Don’t mess with me.”

Billy laughed and stopped her cold with a si
mple phrase. “Where’s the rest?”

Amanda turned toward him, knowing this exchange would result in either a beating or another unpleasant physical encounter like the one that had gotten her pregnant in the first place. “Billy, you know I gotta eat,” she started
, throwing desperation into her voice. “I only kept a hundred, but you know I gotta eat.”

“Screw that
, bitch, and you know I will if you don’t give me the other $100 for my trouble with you,” he leaned closer, his rancid breath nearly making her gag. “You’ve been packing on some extra weight lately anyway, you don’t need to eat! You think I don’t notice when my girls start getting fat asses?”

Quickly, she pulled out another
bill, managing to conceal the rest of the thick stack in her skirt, but she knew if he was in one of his moods, he’d still take her back to her apartment and tear her place apart with a couple of his slimy “friends.”

“That’s my girl,” Billy said, grabbing her butt as she walked away. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard his next words. “Be back down here tonight.
You look like you can work just fine.”

She nodded as she walked off, acknowledging his demand while a smile threatened to escape her lips. When she was in her apartment, Amanda closed the door and flipped the flimsy lock before spreading the remaining money out on the unmade bed. She found the hole
in the mattress and ripped it open, pulling out the wad of cash she’d squirreled away for the past six months.