No Strings Attached (The Escort #1) (17 page)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jagger

Holy Fuck.

I didn’t think anything could shock me anymore, but ten minutes in that house and that theory went to shit. That Beth bitch picked me up in Hartford Christmas Eve morning, claiming she wanted to bring someone to her family’s holiday party so they stopped asking her when she was going to get married. I didn’t remember her at all from the reunion. She seemed a little off, but it was a pretty solid story until she drove for so long that I thought I was being kidnapped. How someone could hate Leah enough to pull a stunt like this was beyond me.

I’d braced myself for the worst. Leah didn’t have to support me with this. She could’ve turned her back on me in an effort to save face. But instead I was standing in front of a house in the middle of God knows where, kissing Leah. Just what we both wanted. The last two weeks of her begging me to come to her for Christmas had been absolute torture. Little did I know I was in for the best present of my life.

I pressed her hot body against mine and the chill melted away, our lips dancing together in perfect time. A combination of sweetness, desperation, and emotions I’d always been afraid to explore. Now was the time. That bitch thought I was a piece of trash and Leah proved her wrong. No one had ever done that for me. My God, this woman was amazing.

“Hi.” Leah smiled against my lips. “I can’t believe that just happened.”

“You were incredible in there.” I stole a quick peck. “You’re so fucking strong.”

“If you weren’t holding me up, I’d be flat on my face right now. My whole body is shaking.” Leah exhaled, then looked back at the house. “Raven and my parents heard that whole thing. I’m not ashamed of you, Jagger, but I don’t know how I’m going to deal with that.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Ma!” Raven came running out of the house. The drama had started as soon as I walked in and I hadn’t seen her. She’d probably been hiding in a nest somewhere. Smart girl. “I didn’t know Jagger was spending Christmas with us.”

“It was a surprise,” Leah said, and I tried not to laugh. “Where are your grandparents?”

“They’re coming.”

An older couple rambled out of the house, with Beth on their tails. She pushed past them, marching up to me. “What do you think you’re doing? Get back in the house.”

“Hell no—“

I cut Leah off, gripping her arms to keep her from strangling the bitch. “No. We’re done. Unlock the car so I can get my bag,” I said through gritted teeth. Staying calm was almost impossible.

“No? Are you kidding me?” Beth’s jaw dropped. “I paid for you until tomorrow, and you’ll do what I say!” She stomped her foot.

Leah squirmed. If I let go of her she’d clock this lunatic. As satisfying as it would be to watch, I wasn’t going to let her do anything she regretted. “I don’t give a shit what you paid for. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I’ll have you fired.” Beth leaned into me and Leah. She wasn’t crazy or stupid enough to try anything physical. “I’ll sue you, and I’ll own you for real.”

“Good luck with that.” I didn’t break my glare. “Give me my bag, Beth.”

“I’m sure Leah’s
fans
will love to know about her
hooker
.” She stormed off. “I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.”

I turned back to Leah. “Likewise.”

Leah put her head against my shoulder. “Please God, don’t let her go public with this,” she murmured. Her head snapped up, eyes wide. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“Leah, you have no shoes on.” Her mother came up between us, Leah’s boots in her hand. “What in God’s name just happened in there?”

“Yeah, what the hell was that? I thought we were here to see Judy, not her asshole son,” Leah’s dad grumbled. I was going to like this guy. “That shithead’s ruined enough of my Christmases.” He realized his daughter was holding on to a man he didn’t know, and I knew that look all too well. He wrinkled his nose. “Who the hell are you?”

“He’s very handsome,” her mother added.

“This is my friend, Jagger,” Leah sighed. “And he can hear you, Ma.”

“It was a compliment.” Leah’s mom pushed her boots at her. “Is he coming back to the house with us?”

Leah looked back at me. I nodded. “Yeah, he is.”

“A little warning would’ve been nice.” No kidding. “Put your shoes on and let’s go.”

“So that’s my parents.” Leah held on to me with one hand while she hopped into her boots.

“Here!” Beth threw my suitcase at us, missing Leah by an inch. “Get off the property before I call the police!”

“Beth, I say this with nothing but warm holiday wishes,” Leah practically growled. “I hope you rot in hell.”

Beth squawked all the way back in the house about how we were perfect for each other and a bunch of other nonsense. At least she got one thing right.

It didn’t take long to get back to Leah’s parents’ house. McMansions gave way to more sensible houses, and we all piled out of the car in front of a split level ranch dripping in blinking Christmas lights.

Leah and I lagged behind Raven and her parents. “Dad goes overboard every year. When we were little, he said he did it for me and Lisa. He’s got a mouth like a truck driver, but he’s really a big softy,” Leah said quietly, pulling my arm back when she stopped. “I think we should just get it over with and talk to my mom before she has a chance to ask too many questions. I’ll let her explain it to my dad.”

“You know best.” I sure as hell couldn’t get my parents to buy into my job. If Leah had a plan, I was on board.

“Go get the movies,” Leah told Raven when we walked in the house. “We’ll be out in a minute. Ma, come help us get food ready.”

Her mother followed us into the kitchen. She started unwrapping plates of food and Leah got to work too, pulling popcorn out of the cabinet. I leaned against the counter, yet to relax after the ambush. “I want to talk to you about what happened at Rich’s house,” Leah said. “I hate even calling it that. I picked out the damn place.”

Nothing about that house reminded me of Leah at all. Too Stepford Wife. When she said she’d changed she hadn’t been kidding. “Okay,” her mom said slowly. “I wish the two of you for once could stop fighting. Raven picks up on that stuff.”

“I know, but this isn’t about me and Rich. It’s about me and Jagger.” Leah sighed. I stopped breathing. “It doesn’t really matter anymore, but after that shit show, people are going to ask you questions. So I want to tell you the truth. I did hire Jagger to come to the reunion with me. I called an agency and arranged for him to be my date.”

Leah’s mother didn’t say anything right away. She looked from me to Leah, the wheels spinning in her head. “Like a dating service?”

“Kinda.”

“What’s the big deal? Isn’t that how everyone meets now? Through those dating sites on the internet? Your cousin Anne is getting married to a guy she met through one of those sites.”

“It’s not exactly like that,” Leah clarified, giving the popcorn pot a shake on the stove. She’d never make the bagged crap. “It was just a date, not necessarily anything else. But we wound up hitting it off, and…”

“Leah.” Her mother cut her off. “Are you happy?”

She looked back at me, unable to contain her smile. I melted like the butter her mother just pulled out of the microwave. “Very.”

Leah’s mom came over to me, squinting to size me up. I was actually nervous about passing inspection since I wasn’t sure if she’d grasped the concept of what Leah was trying to tell her. My mother cried when I told her what I did for a living. Of course, I explained it to her as
I fuck women for money
instead of her finding me making out with a client in the front yard.

Leah was so much more than a client. She was my soul.

Leah’s mom was a tiny, older version of her. It was fucking amazing to get to see what Leah had been like in Raven, and how she’d turn out in her mom. It was one hell of a ride. “I’m glad you’re spending Christmas with us, Jagger.” She tapped her hand against mine. It was only a matter of time before she figured out how Leah really met me, and I wanted to make sure I was on her good side when it happened. “I’m going to go make up the couch—“

“Ma! It’s not necessary.” Leah laughed. “He can stay in Lisa’s room with me.”

Her mother waved her hand. “No, he cannot. Your father would have another heart attack. I’m making up the couch.”

“Thirty-eight years old, divorced, just told my mother I hired an escort, and she insists that he sleeps on the couch,” Leah laughed as she handed me the bowl of popcorn. “So if you ever find yourself wondering why I’m a hot mess, remember this night.”

I’d remember this night forever. I picked up a piece of popcorn and dropped it in Leah’s mouth. “Not going to happen. I think you’re perfect.”

Chapter Thirty

Leah

“
The Coast Is Clear
.” I nudged Jagger awake. We’d stayed up until the early hours of the morning with Raven watching movies. Besides the nightmare that brought us together tonight, Christmas Eve was everything I could’ve asked for. I could snuggle under a blanket on the floor with Jagger’s arms around me and Raven resting her pillow against my legs every night for the rest of my life.

“What are you doing down here?” Jagger mumbled, his eyes barely open.

“You, hopefully.” I peeled the blanket away from him. He had on a T-shirt and sweatpants, probably his gym clothes. Jagger wasn’t a pajama wearing kind of guy. If I’d known he was going to be here, I would’ve bought him some, even if it was just so I could rip the plaid flannel off of him five minutes later.

He chuckled, still sleepy, then stretched. His eyes were a little more open now. To make sure I got his attention, I pulled my top over my head. “Leah,” he exclaimed. I put my finger over my lips, but he moved it away. “Santa Claus is going to be here any minute and he’s going to catch you being naughty.”

I straddled him, putting my hand over his crotch. Some parts of him were much more awake than others. “Santa’s a dirty old man and you know it.”

Jagger pulled me down into a long, hot kiss. His hands fell to my breasts, thumbs rubbing my nipples. He knew just how to send me into overdrive. I moaned into his mouth and he pulled away from me. “We can’t do it like this,” he whispered, his eyes darting to the staircase. “You on top. We’ll never be able to keep quiet.”

“You’re afraid my parents will catch us.” I gave him a wicked smile. “They sleep like the dead. They’ll be up at the crack of dawn, but until then, we’re safe.”

“I’m not so sure your dad doesn’t have firearms somewhere in this house. He wouldn’t hesitate to shoot me in the balls.” Jagger’s gaze shifted from the staircase to me. He smiled, but his eyes were still big. “Seriously, Leah. You don’t know what it means to me that your parents accepted me into their home, on Christmas, after what happened tonight. My own parents couldn’t do that for me. I don’t want to fuck this up.”

“They’re good people, and they know good people when they see them.” I sat up, my hands pressed against his chest. “They want me to be happy.” I leaned back into him, my lips moving against his neck as I added, “Whatever that takes.”

Jagger slid out from underneath me, meeting my lips in another kiss as he sat up. “That’s what I want, too.”

“This is my favorite night of the year,” I said. “There’s something so peaceful about it. Nobody has anywhere to go and the whole purpose is to enjoy the time with the people you love.”

“My dad worked a lot of holidays. So even when I was a kid, Christmas was weird for us.” Jagger stared at the tree, a million miles away. One strand had started to blink, and the reflection pulsed on his skin. “We’d have to fit it in between his shifts. It always felt like an inconvenience.”

“Not here.” I kneeled on the floor. The tree dwarfed the room, with presents overflowing from below. Pine needles tickled my bare back as I held out my hand to Jagger, who slid off the couch to join me. Kissing was just part of the conversation, his lips melted against mine. I pulled the T-shirt over his head and it gave me an opportunity to finish my thought before my brain stopped thinking coherently. “My aunt and cousins come over with their boys, my mom will feed you until you think you’re going to puke, my dad will spend the day in front of the TV swearing at the game, and we’ll probably see Raven for a total of fifteen minutes.”

“I was hoping that she’d show me that game she’s been coding,” he said, hooking his fingers into my pajama bottoms. I eased up to make his job easier. “It sounds like it’s cool, I want to see it in action.”

“She’d love that.” I leaned in to kiss him. Raven had declared she wasn’t going to her father’s house for Christmas. That would set the next world war into action, but for now I wanted to enjoy the peace. “Just make sure it isn’t tentacle porn, okay?”

He laughed. “The only porn that’s happening in the house is about to take place right here.”

“That’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.” I laughed, pushing him down to the floor, but Jagger was stronger than me, flipping me over and pinning me down on the rug. “You’re such a sweet talker.”

“That’s something I’ve never been accused of before.” Jagger wedged his knee between my thighs, then leaned back to take off his sweatpants. He crawled back over me. “I didn’t think you were into that sort of thing.”

Jagger took my nipple into his mouth, his tongue massaging the hard peak. I grabbed handfuls of his hair, pressing my lips together to keep from moaning. He gave me a little reprieve, his fingers replacing his tongue, his lips moving up to suck the pulsing spot on my neck. “I think we should try it.” I struggled to speak. “It’s Christmas, after all.”

He picked up his head, his hair tickling my neck. “There’s a first time for everything.” Before I had a chance to say anything else, Jagger met my lips in the softest kiss. Slow and deep, it said everything we didn’t have to. If all he ever did was kiss me, I’d be a happy woman.

Don’t get me wrong. I liked the other stuff, too. A lot.

Jagger picked his head up, brushing my hair away from my face, our eyes locked. “You might be on to something with this.” His fingers traced the line of my collarbone, his touch light enough to draw goosebumps from my skin. The movement lulled me into a trance and I jumped when he repeated the same movement in the crease between my breasts. I wriggled under his fingers, willing him to actually touch one of them. He was fixed on the movement of his fingers, but he smiled as he avoided colliding with either boob.

“Tease.”

“I’m a sure bet.” He lowered his lips to my nipple. Finally. “For you.”

“Shut up and keep doing what you’re doing,” I moaned.

Jagger laughed, his head falling on my stomach. “Do you know how many times I meant to do this? Go slow and be sweet, and every single time you make me lose control.” He trapped me in place by my arms. “This time, I’m going to go through with it.”

He placed a line of kisses down the center of my belly, his lips coming to rest just above my slit. Letting go of my arms, he laced his fingers in mine, squeezing them as his mouth started to move. Jagger’s kisses were the same no matter where they landed on my body. He did exactly as he pleased for as long as he wanted. That’s what made them so good. His tongue found my clit, circling slowly, pressing the spots that drove me absolutely wild. My hips circled, dancing in time with his tongue. I was floating away, dizzy from the sensation when the first waves of climax rolled through my body. Jagger rode my orgasm, his hands in mine, lips working my body to a frenzy before riding the wave back down to earth with me.

I was still trying to catch my breath when he brushed his thumb over my mouth. I tried to catch it, but he was one step ahead of me at this angle. And I was complete jelly after that orgasm. There was so much I wanted to say to him, and Jagger knew that. His lips closed over my mouth one more time; he had something to tell me, too. It threatened to get lost in translation when he entered me slowly, filling me completely. That’s what he did, in all aspects of my life. He made the emptiness go away.

I dug my fingernails into his ass. The long, slow strokes were completely different that I was used to with him. Jagger had finally let the last of his walls come down. He felt so good inside of me, touching every part of my body the same way he kissed me. Because he wanted to, and for no other reason than to make both of us happy. In the back of my mind, I realized he wasn’t wearing a condom.

But I was on birth control, and even more than that, I trusted him. He wouldn’t hurt me.

Jagger’s shaft swelled and he groaned. I held on to him. “Stay with me.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, squeezing his eyes shut. I kissed him as he came inside of me. We’d melted into one another until we were one breath, one heartbeat.

We stayed like that, in the middle of the living room floor, for a long time.

“Thank you for what you did for me at the party, Leah,” Jagger finally said. His head was still on my chest, and the vibration of his words against my skin made my heart flutter. “Nobody has ever stood by me when it comes to this. Every single person has walked away from me because of it. I can’t even explain what that means to me, but I’m going to make it up to you. Everything you give to me, I want to give back to you, and maybe I can make you can understand what you mean to me.”

“That sounds an awful lot like how I describe love.” I thought my heart was going to burst. Mentioning the L word was scary, but we’d been dancing around it for a while. At least I had. “Everything I said was true. Not that it matters what those assholes think of me, or you, or anyone. But I wanted them to think about something long and hard. They think they’re better than everyone. That’s why they pulled that little stunt tonight. Because they felt the need to keep me in my place. You owed me absolutely nothing, and you understand me in a way that my own husband never did. I never understood how bad things were until they were good. And for that, I’ll give you all that I have.”

“I don’t know if I even still have a job after tonight.” Jagger sighed, his fingers curling around mine once more.

“Me neither.” I shook my head. “Is that what you want?”

He didn’t answer right away. “I want you. I want the gallery. But to have all that, I need this job. There’s nothing else I can do that will bring in this kind of money.”

“You know, every one of your suggestions so far on the show has worked. I can’t get the producers to go for my ideas, but when I throw your stuff out there, they love it.” He’d said no once, but it was worth another try.

And I knew Beth would have no problem going to the network with the details of my relationship after her plan had backfired. She’d want the last word. I was going to have to confront it before she had a chance to set the tone.

“Whatever I do, it’s got to come from me. I’ve taken the easy way out my whole life.” He picked his head up. The tree lights twinkled in his eyes, but he still looked sad. “Can you live with that?”

“I don’t see it that way at all. You’ve given up everything.” I wasn’t answering his question. He deserved an answer. “I don’t know if I can live with it. I don’t want to share you with anyone.”

“You’re not.” There was a certainty to those words that I actually believed. “It’s just my body. My heart is always with you.”

I took a deep breath. “All along I’ve said to myself I won’t ask you to quit your job. That it wouldn’t be fair of me to expect that from you. And it’s still not. But the things you to do me with that body, I don’t think you’re capable of lying.”

“That’s because you bring out a part of me that my clients don’t see. It’s not the same. It’s all you.” He sighed. “I want you. I don’t deserve you, but I can’t live without you. You’re home to me. For so long all I’ve wanted to do is go home.” He bowed his head. “I’m not perfect. I’m not sure I even know how to do this, but I’m always going to try, Leah. No matter what I do, I’m always going to give you everything I can.”

“That’s more than anyone else has ever done for me.” And for that, I was willing to try. No, we weren’t perfect. But we were honest and real and it made it so much better.

“I want that gallery,” he said quietly, sitting up and putting his clothes back on.

My pajamas were tangled in the blankets. I got dressed, then smoothed the blanket over us. “You’ll get it. You deserve this.”

Jagger titled his head in confusion when I lay back down, pulling his pillow off the couch. “What are you doing? Aren’t you going back upstairs?”

“Nope.”

“But your parents—“

I pulled him down by his arm. He settled in, his face close enough to mine that I could steal a kiss anytime I wanted it. “We’re together. I want everyone to know it.”

He sighed, holding me tight, like if he let go he’d lose me. Not a chance. I had exactly what I’d wanted. Jagger said all he wanted to do to was go home, and I made that place exist for him. I had no idea what was going to happen when we woke up, but for a little while longer it was my favorite night of the year, and I had everything I’d ever wanted.