“Is that so?” I looked to London to elaborate.
“Uh-huh,” my granddaughter continued, volunteering what she knew in her own unique way. “He hurt his mouth and went home. And the nice one that Mommy likes stayed and put on the good wheel for us.”
“Oh, really?” Chippy asked this time, with a sly grin on her lips.
“Just somebody who helped, that’s all,” London replied with an equally sly look adorning her face. This wasn’t like London. Paris, maybe, but definitely not London.
Orlando
21
I left the dealership and dropped Miguel off at his hotel. He was going to catch a flight back to California right after Junior got confirmation that the truck with the Roadster was securely in our people’s hands. I was looking forward to a little peace and quiet now that things were starting to look up. With his beloved car on the way back to him, my father was content, and I was feeling like I finally deserved a little time to myself. I loved my family, but with all the stress lately, living and working with them 24/7 was really starting to grate on my nerves. I’d never been more convinced than right now that buying a private condo was a good move on my part. Even more than the privacy it afforded me, my place allowed me to indulge in something else that I needed—something that was waiting for me on the other side of the door to my condo.
I entered the condo and before I could stop myself, I shouted, “You’re here!” I tried to play it off once those words escaped my mouth, but there was no hiding my excitement. I was breaking my own rule about never seeing the same girl twice, so no doubt Ruby was already feeling pretty full of herself. I didn’t really want to add fuel to that fire, but just seeing her again, I couldn’t help myself. For a while I’d worried that Remy wouldn’t be able to find her and I might never see her again.
“Were you not expecting me?” Ruby rose up off the couch. Her voice was like music to my ears.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I was.” I looked everywhere but at her eyes, as though I had a million things on my mind—and that she wasn’t one of them. She was, though. She had been on my mind plenty since our first encounter. Damn, it was proving to be hard work to maintain my cool around this woman.
“You don’t sound so sure about that.” She began to undo her blouse. With any other escort I would have appreciated that she was ready to get right down to business, but there was something about Ruby’s eyes. They looked empty, like she wasn’t even really in there, and it was almost painful for me to see. Clearly, she had left Remy’s service for a reason. This was not the type of work she wanted to be doing.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Remy and Maria said that you’re paying twice the usual amount and you don’t want me to cook. So, I am preparing myself for what I know you want. Why you asked to see me again. My body.” The melody was gone from her voice, and it kind of scared me how much I missed it.
“I don’t want that, either. At least not that way or right now. Can you put your clothes back on, please?” Anything to bring back the Ruby I’d been thinking about ever since our first meeting.
She shook her head and clutched her unbuttoned blouse to cover her breasts. “I don’t understand.” She sounded agitated, maybe even embarrassed. This was not turning out at all the way I’d hoped.
“You don’t understand what?”
“Why I’m here. Remy and Maria, as well as yourself, made it very clear that you never see the same girl twice.” She quickly buttoned up her blouse. “So why am I here?”
“Well—” The chirping of my cell phone interrupted me. It was probably a good thing, because it gave me a minute to collect my thoughts, so I didn’t slip up and admit to this woman how much I’d been thinking about her.