Three Hard Lessons (7 page)

“Do you realize what you did?” I said to him.

“He’s still pretty wacked out on NyQuil,” Evie warned. “Can you please start making sense and tell us what happened?”

“I don’t know what happened. He came in, agreed to thirty thousand and said he wanted to talk–”

“Who?” she asked.

“Dominic,” Logan answered, burying the heel of his hand in an eye to scrub the sleep away. “I told him about the club when we bailed last night.”

Dominic?

Evie’s mouth popped open. Her gaze flitted between Logan and me as she figured part of it out, then settled on Logan. “Why did you tell Dominic about the club?”

“Because he’s lonely as hell over there, and when we had to cancel, I knew he wouldn’t go out by himself.” He turned his attention back to me. “What happened?”

“A lot. Look, I need to talk to him. I need to know he’s all right.”

Suspicion clouded Logan’s face. “Why wouldn’t he be all right?”

I had so much guilt already, I couldn’t bear to see their faces when I told them about Marquis. “It was a really weird night, and I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”

“You’re lying,” Logan said.

Well, well, well.
Usually I was the human bullshit detector. I was unaware Logan was, too.

“He might have gotten hurt when he left.”

“What?” Logan’s tone was angry. “How?”

“I told you, I don’t know. I was upstairs getting fired when it happened. I know he didn’t leave on good terms.”

Logan gave me a dark, demanding look. “Meaning?”

“I was told he got roughed up. Logan, please, can you give me his number, or call him yourself?”

“Well, he didn’t say anything about it when I talked to him a minute ago.” Logan covered his cough and braced a hand on the doorframe to steady himself.

“You talked to him? What did he say?”
That some whore fucked him and ran, and he got beat on by her pimp’s lap dog?

“That he needed my help with something. I take it you two . . .” he searched for the polite way to say it, even though it was unnecessary.

“Fucked? Yeah. He didn’t even negotiate,” I sank down on the couch. What would Dom need Logan’s help with? Dominic, not Dom, I reminded myself.

The couch shifted when Evie sat down beside me. “How did you get fired?”

How was I going to explain any of it? I went with the easiest reason. “I tried to get him out of the deal, and when Joseph refused, I tried to give the money back.” I turned my gaze to Evie’s shocked face. Get ready, sister, here comes a bigger surprise. “I kissed him.”

“Whoa, what?” She knew all about my rule. I didn’t like intimacy. No kissing, snuggling, pet names . . . it wasn’t me. Too bad I felt nothing like myself last night. Or today.

I tucked my face in my hands. I was a wreck.

There was a quick knock on the door, but it creaked open without an invitation, probably because it was his place. I heard a sharp gasp from Evie beside me.

“Your face,” she said.

“It’s okay, Evie, you should see the other guy,” the rough voice replied, deadpan.

Instinct took over. People had to earn the right to call her Evie. With everything going on, this was what I chose to latch on to? I fucking hated it when some stranger used her nickname like they knew her. My hands fell from my annoyed, exhausted face and I shot to my feet. “Her name is Evelyn.”

Dominic dropped the box of donuts he was holding, and the impact with the floor created a mushroom cloud of powdered sugar. He was still in the same suit, looking like he hadn’t slept at all. There was a cut on his bottom lip were Marquis had split it, his left eye puffy.

“Paige.” It came out on a shocked breath. He stood motionless, even as the cloud billowed and dispersed, his wide eyes trapping mine. “How?”

“My name’s not Paige,” my voice was soft, “it’s Payton.”

That got Dominic to move. His head swung to Logan. “Threesome Payton?”

“Yes,” I snapped, annoyed that Logan had opened his big mouth again. What was he, a chick? Did he and Dominic stay up late at night talking about celebrity crushes on the phone? “I’m
threesome
Payton, but most people don’t call me that.”

I'd had sex with every person in this room. I didn’t feel shame about it, but I also didn’t like it being pointed out either.

Since Dominic didn’t move again, Logan picked up the box of donuts and set it on the counter with a thump, then opened his freezer. He dug out a blue gel pouch and offered it to Dominic.

“Yeah, all right,” he said to the offer. He took it and pressed it to his swollen eye, keeping his other on me. No one made a sound, making me aware I was going to have to.

“I tried to get you out of the deal. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what was going to happen. I didn’t think they’d take it out on you.”

He didn’t move, like he was a fucking statue. Evie and Logan remained as well, watching the train wreck. It forced me to continue.

“My manager and I couldn’t come to an agreement. I tried to get him to pay out my percentage so I could give the rest back to you. It’s all fucked up and I left. Or got fired. I wanted to get back to the room, but you’d already paid–”

“Sort of–”

“. . . and they wouldn’t let me in. Then Julius said Marquis had messed you up because of how angry Joseph was with me.”

The blue gel pouch came down off his eye. “I don’t know who any of those people are, but you’ve got your facts wrong, Payton.” He said my name with emphasis, as if trying it out for the first time. “The big guy came in and said it was time to go. I only owed three grand, he said, “
At the lady’s request
.”

I felt sick with relief, if that was even possible. Oh, Joseph. “I don’t understand.”

“Yeah, I didn’t either. So I kept asking about you, where you were, and what happened. He warned me to let it go, but I wasn’t ready to.” He gave a lopsided, sad smile. “I’m stubborn like that.”

“Marquis hit you because you wouldn’t leave?”

“His second punch was more persuasive. I don’t remember the first five minutes of the cab ride.”

“You need to ice that,” Logan reminded him. “It looks like hell.”

Dominic put the pack back on his eye. “Thanks, Mom.” His attention shifted back to me. “Have you been here the whole time? I went back to the club, looking for you.”

I struggled not to let the impact his words had on me show. Instead I stared down at the dusty spot on the floor from the donut explosion. “No, I just got here. My phone got trashed so I came to get your number from Logan.”

“You okay?” Evie whispered to me. I nodded. She grabbed Logan’s hand and tugged him backward. “Let’s get you back in bed, boss, before you pass out.”

Logan didn’t look like he wanted to leave, but she had total command over him, and I didn’t think she had done this for any other reason than to give Dominic and me privacy. The moment the door softly shut behind them, the air between the two of us grew thick and intense.

“Why did you want my number from Logan?” His rough yet gentle voice was fascinating.

“I was worried about what happened to you.”

“I’m okay,” he said. “Was that all?”

I lifted my eyes back to his, refusing to give. “What did you need Logan’s help with?”

A slow smile spread on his lips. At least, on the side of his face that wasn’t hidden under an ice pack. “Finding you. Do you have any idea how crazy it is, you being here? This is technically my place. How did you know I knew him?”

“You were referred by another client, you live overseas. Logan and Evie, our newly engaged friends, canceled on me last night, too.” Meaning even if Logan hadn’t gotten sick, we would have wound up meeting. But, fuck. It would have been so normal. I probably would have fucked him and promptly forgotten him.

Maybe.

I wasn’t quite so sure when he approached now.

“You didn’t answer my question,
Payton
.”

“What question was that,
Dominic
?”

Again the ice pack came down; this time he tossed it on the counter. His expression told me he liked hearing the full name on my lips as much as I liked hearing my name on his. I knew exactly which question he was talking about.

“Was that all you wanted my number for? To check on my well-being?”

Things were different here than they were in the club. I felt less in control on his turf, and now that I knew he was okay, exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me.

“No.” I was usually direct, but my sleepy state made me honest. “I wanted to see you again.” Holy shit, saying that out loud was scary. What was happening to me?

He reached a cautious hand out and set it on my hip. Everything was changing much too fast. The man touching me, his warmth seeping into my cashmere-covered hip, was not a client.

“Are you okay?” His voice was low and soft. “Getting let go from that place . . .”

“It was time. I couldn’t do it anymore.” Not sure if that was what he was really asking. He probably assumed my relationship at the club wasn’t one that would let me walk away easily, even though that was the case. “Don’t know what fuck I’m going to do now, though.”

He grasped my other hip, locking me in his hands. “Sure you do,” he said. “Come home with me.”

There it was, the question I heard from almost every client. And now, this time I actually considered it. Dominic was so close. I felt him buried under my skin and working his way in deeper.

“Aren’t you already home?”

A half-smile curled on his busted lip. “Yeah, but other people currently reside in this domicile. Come back to my hotel room with me. Have you slept since last night?”

“No.”

“Me neither. Let’s sleep together.” He grinned. It looked ridiculous with his developing black eye, and yet sort of sexy, and I found myself giving him a smile.

Fuck, I was in so much trouble.

chapter

SEVEN

Evie answered the bedroom door immediately when I knocked softly. She must have been listening, although it was probably impossible not to.

“You call me later.” This was an order from her to me, although her focus was on the man in the living room.

“You bet your ass, I will,” I said.

Dominic finished cleaning up the mess from the donuts while I put on my coat. “There’s coffee.” I gestured to the extra one in the cardboard tray I’d brought in. “Evie won’t want it, and I think Logan’s already asleep.”

He pulled the cup from the tray. “Can I interest you in a floor donut?”

“I’m good.” No, that wasn’t true. I was tired. “Where’s your hotel?”
Please be close by.

“The Hilton by Millennium Park.”

Thank god. “Let’s go, I’m in the parking garage.”

Dominic climbed into the passenger seat, his eyes roaming over the interior of my new Jaguar. “This is a nice car.”

Hell yeah, it was nice. It was $80,000 nice.

“Thanks.” Too bad I was going to have to sell it. I’d bought it outright, which was part of the reason I had no savings. I shoved the thought away as I pulled out of the parking space.

He was silent at first. When we were stopped at a red, he clicked up the volume on a Black Keys song from the satellite radio. “
Lonely Boy
.” The irony was not lost on me.

“Does it hurt?” I asked. “Your eye?”

“Not really. I took some Advil at four.”

The silence was awkward and annoying, but talking was a scarier prospect.

“Payton what?” he asked abruptly. “What’s your last name?”

I let out a breath. “McCreary. Yours?”

“Ward.”

Dominic Ward; that sounded nice. I frowned. Why did it matter? I was going to go to his hotel room and give him a morning to remember. A longer, better memory to take back to Japan, then I’d move on and figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life.

“Use the valet,” he said when we neared the hotel. “I’ll cover it.”

Great, he’ll validate my parking after the fuck. What was wrong with me? Why was I all snippy and jittery?

“You said you came home for Thanksgiving, but you’re staying at a hotel?” I asked on the elevator ride up.

“My parents live in Milwaukee. I spent the week up there, and came down to hang out with Logan during the weekend.”

I almost asked why he didn’t stay with Logan and Evie, but thought better of it. Dominic would have wanted a place to bring his hookup back to after drinks last night.

“When are you heading back to Japan?”

“Tomorrow.”

I followed him down the hall, calming a bit when he ushered me into his room and flipped the light on. I’d get my confidence and emotions back on the rails once the clothes were off.

Wrong. It was seven in the morning and the sun had begun to rise. I was dressed. And sober. Dominic crossed the short and generic-looking room, and pulled the curtains closed to block out the daylight. I didn’t feel sexy, or in the mood. I stared at the perfectly made king sized bed, wanting to use it solely for its intended purpose. Sleep.