“Not the end of discussion,” I argued. “I still have to make money, Xavier. While I can appreciate that a territorial man such as yourself might have a problem with other men spending time with me, it is still my job and what is expected of me.”

“Easy, then. You’re fired. Now you have no excuse to let other men touch you,” he declared, and I thought my head might explode.

“You can’t fire me!” I pulled my foot from his lap and stood up, a little lopsidedly thanks to my lack of shoe. “You’re insane.”

“Fine. You can dance and that’s it. Take it or leave it.” He casually shrugged and then stood up as well, squaring off against me and making me lose my advantage of looking down on him.

“And how am I supposed to save money for Sophie’s future? Huh?” I drilled my finger in his chest to emphasize just how angry he was making me.

“You’ll still make money. Were your tips not good enough before?” He quirked his eyebrow almost as if in a challenge. To what I wasn’t sure. But I was going to go full steam ahead with my rant whether he liked it or not.

“They were fine, but the jobs are what bring in the bread and butter. It’s what will put a nice roof over my daughter’s head and will get me out of this life faster,” I said, not paying attention to the fact I was giving away the whole truth as to why I wanted money.

“You want out?” he asked darkly, his mood plummeting us both into an inferno.

“What?” My voice cracked as his hard expression made me nervous.

“You want out? Fine. There’s the door.”

“You don’t understand—” I tried.

“Then follow my rules, Aurora. I don’t want men touching you. This isn’t an option. Either you do what you’re told or you can walk. I’m not one of these lovesick fools watching you night after night strutting your sexy little ass up on that stage hoping you’ll give me the time of day.”

I was flattered by his description of my ass and the fact that men fell in love with it. It was, however, overshadowed by his threat.

“Don’t threaten me.” I straightened my spine.

“What option are you taking?” He gritted through clenched teeth. He was still obviously angry and I couldn’t quite figure out exactly why. You would think he’d want me out of the life given the fact that he wouldn’t let men touch me, tried to give me a house on the lake and was now sleeping with me.

“I’m staying, but not because you told me I have to. Or because I need the money. I’m staying because I like it here. I like the girls. I like Ghost. And I sometimes like you.”

I snatched my shoe from the couch and stomped as best I could with only one shoe on towards the door. Xavier’s arms wrapped around my middle and pulled my back flush against his chest. His lips lightly kissed my neck and despite myself I melted into him.

“I’ll think of a way for you to make better money while not driving me out of my mind.” At that promise, all the remaining fight left my body and I sagged in his embrace.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

With one last kiss to my neck, he let me go. His hand swatted my ass and then he said, “Get back to work.”

And even though he deserved to be slapped, I found myself laughing.

Then I went back to work, but I did it with a smile.

“Can you come in here?” Trixie asked from where she stood in the doorway to her office. I looked down the hall and saw no one else there. Figuring she meant me, I shrugged and said, “Sure.”

Once inside her office, she shut the door and moved behind her desk. I settled in a chair across from her and waited somewhat patiently to see what she needed.

I had been on my way in for a shift when she stopped me, so I was still in my street clothes with hardly any makeup on. If I was going to start on time, I needed to get the lead out and start gussying myself up.

The last week had been crazy with Sophie starting preschool. Her first day, I’d broken down and cried while saying goodbye to her and then again when I picked her up and she told me how much she loved it. It was then I’d realized my little girl didn’t need me like she used to. The thought was unsettling.

With Sophie in school, I found I had more free time, so I opted to work during the day at The Den. Most girls preferred to be there in the evening when there was a stronger stream of clientele, and since I wasn’t allowed to do anything with the men anyway, I figured this would help out the girls who needed it.

Surprisingly, even with the lighter patronage, my tips were still comparable to what they had been when I’d first started there, so I couldn’t complain. I just hoped Xavier hadn’t forgotten his promise to find something else that would make me money. Maybe I’d see about getting as many Girlfriend Experiences booked as possible. Surely Xavier couldn’t argue with me going on dates with men and a little light petting if any.

“You know how I told you about my daughter?” Trixie asked, her fingers fidgeting with a pen.

“Yes. How is she after her surgery last week?” I felt guilty for not asking sooner. It was like I had Xavier on the brain these days and most everything else didn’t factor.

“Sore, which is to be expected. Her husband travels a lot for work and with a two-year-old running around the house, she needs help.”

“I can imagine,” I mumbled. I was having enough trouble raising Sophie on my own. If I were to get sick, I don’t know what I would do.

“What I’m saying is, I need to spend more time over there helping her out, which means I need someone to step in here to help run things.”

“Okay…” I trailed off, wondering why she was telling me this. I didn’t have to wonder long.

“Xavier thinks you’ll be good at it. I only have three days to get you up to speed, so starting tomorrow when you come in you’ll be working with me.”

“Holy shit,” I breathed. This was more than a Girlfriend Experience. This was completely moving away from flaunting my body in front of strange men to being behind a desk.

He certainly knows how to come through, my mind screamed in delight.

“Don’t let me down,” she warned with a stern look on her face. “This is important to me and I expect you to take it seriously.”

“I won’t,” I said in an eager voice. “Promise.”

“Good. Now go get ready. Whitney called in sick today, so it’s just you and one other girl.”

“Thanks, Trixie. I won’t let you down,” I assured her.

With a quick hug that had the other woman bemused, I left the room and went to get ready thinking that maybe… finally… things were starting to go my way.

And I had Xavier to thank for it.

“Where’d you go?” I called out anxiously to Sophie when I came back from the laundry room and saw she wasn’t in the living room where I’d left her.

When I heard a giggle coming from down the hall, the lump in my throat that had immediately formed when I thought my daughter was missing eased up. Dropping the basket with the folded clothes onto the coffee table, I headed towards her room, stopping dead in my tracks at the picture I saw through the open door.

Xavier was on the floor, his back to the wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him and his feet crossed at the ankles.

Sophie lay perpendicular to his body, her tiny head resting on his massive thigh, her short legs stretched out in front of her a mirror image of Xavier’s.

“You missed the part where the prince kisses the princess,” Sophie informed him.

Xavier’s eyes moved from the book he was holding to her face at the same time he lowered one of his hands to run it over her head in a tender gesture. The expression on his face as he looked at her was like a sucker punch to my gut.