Taken by You (Taken by You Book One) (10 page)

I got out of the car and walked across the street at the light to get to the café. Before walking in, I took out my phone to both check the time and see if I had any notifications, especially from Blake. I still had about twenty-five or so minutes until he was due to arrive, and no notifications from him or anybody else. He had said he made reservations, but as I walked into the place, I didn’t think that you really could make any.

It was already a little busy, and it seemed to be a seat-yourself type of place. There was no hostess and the busboys and waiters were running all over the place to serve the hungry executives who were packed into the space like sardines.

I walked up to the front where it said “order here,” not knowing if I was even in the right place. The sign and menu said Café Bellagio, but surely Blake couldn’t be talking about this place. I even took out my phone again and went to our messages to double-check, and sure enough, this was the place and address he had given me.

“
May I take your order?” a man behind the counter asked as he played with one of the plastic numbers they gave after you ordered.

“
Yes, I’m here meeting somebody. He said there was a reservation for us, but I don’t see anyone like a hostess or seater,” I said.

“
What’s your name?” the man asked.

“
Penelope Wells,” I replied.

“
Ms. Wells, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Raymond and Mr. Hunter is one of our most valued customers, so any friend to him is a friend to us. There’s a table over there reserved for you both. You’re welcome to sit there until Mr. Hunter arrives. I’ll have somebody bring you some coffee and something to munch on,” Raymond said.

I squeezed between the crowds and made my way over to the table, which had a gold metal “reserved” sign on it. I caught a few glimpses of people looking at me as I walked over and sat down. I wondered if they wondered why there was a reserved table and better yet, who the girl sitting at it was. I knew I always wondered that myself when I saw the same thing at my old dishwashing job. After all, you must be pretty important to get your own metal sign.

True to his word, Raymond sent over a busboy with a cappuccino and some biscotti, which appeared to have some chocolate glaze on top. I took one out and bit into it as a trail of crumbs fell down into my lap. I brushed them off before looking back up and out the window that I was situated against.

I drilled through about five of the biscotti before I saw Blake pass by the glass window and open the door. I felt a rush of nerves overcome me as I saw him again in the flesh. I had lost track of the time as I watched the hordes of people walking by outside in every type of outfit imaginable. People-watching was one of my favorite hobbies.

Blake waved at Raymond, who quickly ran to the back, leaving his customers at the counter waiting without explanation.

“
It’s good to see you, Penelope,” Blake said as he approached the table.

I stood up, not knowing if I should hug him, kiss him, or shake his hand. He leaned in for a hug, albeit a quick one, and I obliged, catching the scent of his woodsy body wash whilst it tickled against my nose hairs and made me feel like I was going to sneeze for a quick second.

“
It’s good to see you, Blake,” I said, before we both sat down.

He was wearing one of his signature suits—the kind that were tight-fitting and very obviously not from a rack. These things were custom-made in every sense of the word, and he was even sporting a handkerchief in his pocket, which I hadn’t seen before.

“
So, I bet you’re wondering why I asked you here today,” Blake said.

Raymond came up beside us with a platter of coffees and snacks. Blake smiled, shaking Raymond’s hand, as the two exchanged quick pleasantries before Raymond ran back to his station to calm the unruly old woman who he’d ditched to get us our things.

“
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit curious,” I said.

“
Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about things. It’s been a little complicated with the whole, you know, sleeping together thing,” he said, ending his sentence with a whisper.

“
How so?” I asked.

“
Well, with the internship and everything. I don’t want you to think that our having sex would sway me one way or the other. If it did, and it was found out, it could mean bad things for both of us. It’s just not fair to the other candidates, you know?” he asked, taking a sip of his espresso.

“
Oh, so I didn’t get the internship?” I asked, feeling a knot in my stomach.

“
I didn’t say that,” Blake said, as he set down his cup and picked up a cucumber sandwich.

“
I got it?” I asked, perking up a little.

“
I didn’t say that either,” Blake replied.

“
I think I’m going to need a little more clarification, then,” I said in a confused tone.

“
Well, I said I could take care of some problems, didn’t I?” he asked.

“
Yeah, you said that last night. Having this internship and the subsequent salary it would pay would take care of
a lot
of problems,” I said.

“
What if I had another way? A better way,” he said, before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“
What other way is there? The internship is
the
way,” I said.

“
What if your money problems and school problems could be taken care of without the internship?” he asked.

I looked at him with confusion as I tried to process what he was saying. Was he going to write me a check or something? I didn’t understand. Wouldn’t it be better for me to just have the internship so he could get something out of giving me the money?

“
Well, that would be nice and all, but that’s not exactly feasible. You make money by working for it,” I said.

“
What if I paid your expenses and made sure you were taken care of? Would that be something you’d be interested in?” Blake asked.

My foot shook incessantly underneath the table as I tried to understand him. Was I dreaming all this? Was he just going to pay my bills? It couldn’t be that easy, especially with a man like him.

“
In exchange for what, exactly?” I asked.

“
You
,” he said, as he looked me directly in the eye.

“
Me
?” I asked, in shock.

He continued to eat his cucumber sandwich, all the while looking at me and not answering. I had to admit it was a nice proposal and all. What girl doesn’t want free money? I could definitely focus on my grades and everything, and taking the extra classes the internship was going to replace wouldn’t even be a problem because I wouldn’t have to get a part-time job to pay the bills.

“
So, you’re just going to give me money? Was I that good the other night?” I asked.

Blake chuckled a little, and I saw some of the first emotion I had ever seen out of him. That was either a good thing or a
very
bad thing.

“
You were great, but I’m not going to just
give
you money, Penelope. The world doesn’t work like that,” he said.

“
Then what?” I asked.

“
You’ll be, well, my company, if you know what I mean. You’ll escort me to parties and events, you’ll make me look good, and you’ll satisfy my needs when I have them—and I have them often, Penelope. In exchange for all that, I’ll make sure your bills are paid and you’re pampered whenever you feel you need it,” Blake said.

“
So I’d be your hooker?” I asked, with my eyebrows furled.

“
Oh no, Penelope! Don’t think of it like that. I’m not paying you for sex. I’m paying you for your company and time. Don’t you think you’re worth it?” he asked.

Morally, I felt like he wanted me to be his personal prostitute. On the other hand, it would free up my time and allow me to do whatever I wanted and keep my grades up. I guessed the term wasn’t really “prostitute” for this kind of thing. What did they call it? Oh yeah, sugar baby or something like that. I did remember seeing a year ago about that software billionaire Roman Parker who married the woman he was doing this exact thing with. Yeah, her name was Natalie or something. The word got out, probably an inside slip, and instead of backing away, they owned it and showed the world how much they loved each other. What if that happened to me? What if Blake married me over this one day? Get it together, Penny. One step at a time.

“
What exactly would you take care of for me?” I asked, wanting to probe him a little further.

“
Anything you need. You’ll have a direct line to me and I’ll take care of it all. Just say the word,” he said.

“
And this will be what, a secret? What happens if we’re at a party or something and you have to introduce me? What am I?” I asked.

“
Yes, it will be a secret from the general public. I suppose we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there,” he said.

“
This is just all so overwhelming, you know? I came in here today hoping to score that internship, and now you’re springing this on me. It’s not that I don’t like it or am saying no or anything, but it’s just a lot,” I said.

“
I could understand what you’re thinking right now. I didn’t come in here thinking you’d even give me an answer today,” Blake said.

I looked out the window before taking a sip of my cappuccino. I hoped the caffeine would calm my mind and get rid of the headache that was starting to set in. My heart was racing, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the coffee or the thought of being some upper-class paid hooker. Well, I guess all hookers were paid, but I’d be
really
paid.

“
How long will this go on for?” I asked.

“
As long as the two of us see fit,” he replied.

“
So it could end at any time by either party? Just like that?” I asked.

“
Just like that. I feel that both of us are taking a risk in this, not just you,” he said.

“
I have one more question,” I said.

He looked at me, waiting for the question, as I thought of how to phrase it. I didn’t want to accuse him of anything, and I definitely didn’t want to turn him away, but I felt as if it were something I needed to know before I went forward.

“
Have you ever done this before?” I asked.

“
No,” he sharply replied.

“
Then okay, I think we should give it a try,” I said.

“
Really? That fast?” he asked.

“
Yeah, why not? But you have to take me out on dates and all that. I’m not going to just put out,” I whispered.

“
Deal,” he said with a smirk.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Penelope

A few days had passed since Blake and I sealed our little arrangement and made it official. Well, it wasn’t official as in dating, but I guessed it was as close as I was going to get to dating a man like him.

I had to admit that I didn’t enter into this for all the right reasons, if there was such a thing as right reasons in a situation like this. I could tell that the internship either wasn’t up to him, which I didn’t know how it couldn’t be, or he wasn’t going to give it to me and was offering me something else that would take care of some problems I had. With barely any money left in my account and my federal student loan being sucked up by tuition and transportation, how else was I going to pay my bills and get what I needed?

I saw this as an opportunity for myself to be liberated from the slum of a life I was living. Sure, I had a nice apartment, but that was only because of Nicolette and her job. Hell, we didn’t even share the rent halfway. She paid almost seventy percent of it and in exchange I did pretty much all the cleaning. I wasn’t going to use Blake for material possessions unless he insisted on them, at least. I wasn’t
that
vain. I was just going to get food in my stomach, heat on my body, maybe a couple new shirts, and a lot of good sex that would do my soul good. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

When Nicolette got home the other night, after my lunch with Blake, she immediately pounced on me and wanted to know what he wanted. She was so excited for us to be working at the same place she could barely stand it, and I had a hard time telling her I wasn’t going to be working there at all. When she asked what he wanted and why he wanted to see me, I knew I couldn’t tell her the truth. Blake agreed that we’d keep it a secret, and even though Nicolette was my roommate and best friend, I just couldn’t afford to ruin something before it ever really even started. She had a rather big mouth and I knew she could slip it to somebody at the office, and then not only would Blake dump my ass faster than I could blink, but she could lose her job and then we wouldn’t be able to afford this place any longer. There was too much at stake.