Scissors & Fruit (Eden's Garden, #3) / Eden's Garden (ePub)

After JC's birthday party Eden and Mark head back to his place for a little relaxation.

Despite her training as a therapist, someone who's used to being in control of the situation, is Eden biting off more than she can chew and getting in over her head?

You be the judge:

*****

I had no idea how I'd gotten myself into this situation. Mark had seemed like such a normal guy when I first met him. It was 2 a.m. and JC's birthday party had finally come to an end, she'd absolutely loved the gift of Sabina that I'd given her.

Afterward, most of the ladies had gone back to Crystal and Anika's duplex for some talk, and I was about to join them when I felt a gentle touch on my elbow and heard Mark's voice ask, "Do you have a little time for me?"

I'd been wanting to session with Mark all evening so I didn't wait to be asked twice.

"I've got all the time in the world," I smiled back, and after a quick drive across town we'd settled in his living room, warming up and getting to know each other.

"So how did someone like you get involved in the Hobby?" he asked, taking a sip of his wine and watching me for my reaction, keeping his eyes locked with mine.

"Someone like me?" I laughed, fighting the urge to allow myself to be intimidated by him. "What, you think I'm too good for this?"

"Touché," he laughed back. "No, what I mean is you're a psychiatrist, right? You counsel people on their addictions all day long, like the lovely Sabina tonight, for example, yet here you are coming back to my place at two in the morning."

"Oh I see, so you're trying to psycho-analyze me, is that it?" I teased him, and when he started to look defensive I added, "OK, you be the doctor and I'll be the patient." I paused to collect my thoughts, bathing my mouth with his wine to savor all of the different flavors, then continued.

"So I guess at some point I started to get bored with my 9-5 day job, even though I like what I do, don't get me wrong. One night over drinks I was talking to a friend who worked for a lady who arranged dinner dates for men who were in town on business, all on the up-and-up. The guys were just looking for company for dinner, nothing more, at least at first."

Mark nodded and waited, figuring there'd be more to the story.

I rolled my eyes to emphasize the words 'at least at first', the continued. "After you have dinner with the same man more than once, he naturally expects more. I mean after all, he's spending a lot of money to have me join him for dinner, and then the cost of the dinner itself. For a guy that I met more than once, I figured it's the least I could do."

He nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good gig. You've got your day job and you're making good money on the side, no doubt," Mark said, gesturing toward my body while still watching my face to see how I'd react to his toying with me. "So what got you into escorting?"

"It was a good gig alright, but the woman who we worked for was taking the life right out of us. For example, I'd be out to dinner with friends, and my phone would go off and she'd expect me to drop whatever it is I was doing. This kept happening time after time so finally we said enough is enough, and just went UTR, you know, 'under the radar'. It's still a good business to be in. Men will always want variety and when they do, I'm there."