The Mistress Mistake (6 page)

Tilting her head in acknowledgement of
everything he'd just spelled out to her, she pulled her phone from
her bag and prepared to key in his number.

****

Jessica boarded the bus that would take her
back to Richardson and sat down with a sigh. Her skin was clammy
and she couldn't control the fine trembling of her limbs. She
recognized the symptoms as mild shock. She had seven hundred
dollars in her purse and she already felt dirty. The fact that she
was actually going to go through with this was ringing like alarm
bells in her head.

She reminded herself that her reward at the
end of everything would be her bachelor's degree. The consolation
prize in the meantime was definitely Connor. He was articulate,
intelligent, and incredibly handsome. He also seethed sexual heat
and he couldn't keep his eyes away from her. She'd never been the
recipient of such looks before. If she could just remember those
things about him and stop her crazy brain from analyzing him
further. But she couldn't. Because he was also intense, imposing .
. . almost menacing.

She was smart enough to know that she'd need
to figure out the best way to handle him, and quickly. The only
idea she had for the moment was also the simplest. She would
acquiesce to him, remain meek at all times and hope he took what he
wanted quickly and left her to go about her business. She wanted no
confrontation with him, no dispute at all. She'd sensed his
underlying aggression, and frankly, she wanted no part of it. He
had a commanding, assertive attitude that she had no desire to
contest whatsoever.

The only problem was, she'd never really
learned how to do meek. How fast could one possibly learn it?

****

She was exactly what he was looking for. If
Connor could have placed his order for a woman directly and
requested all the attributes he wanted, she'd have checked them off
perfectly, one by one.

First and foremost, he'd bet his entire
investment portfolio on the fact that this was the first time she'd
entered into a relationship like this. She'd told him so herself,
but more than that, he believed her. It pleased him immensely that
she wasn't seasoned to what she was about to do.

She had no objectionable piercings, no ink,
and if she was telling the truth which he'd know for damn sure very
soon, there was no drug use. She didn't seem to be contaminated in
any way that he could see. She was clean.

She was young enough for him to mold her
until she knew what to expect from their arrangement, and to learn
how to please him. He'd treat her well, and he had no doubt she'd
be smart enough to realize she needed to conform to what he wanted.
Yes, she'd be resilient that way, because she was intelligent. No
question about that. She'd made the dean's list. That salient point
had come across whether she'd meant for it to slip out or not. And
once again, he believed her. Son of a bitch,
he'd
never even
made the dean's list. He'd come damn close once or twice, but had
never seen his name on that exalted list.

When she'd told him which university she
attended, that had momentarily thrown him for a loop. The school
wasn't one of the largest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and he
hadn't expected that answer. He wasn't pleased. It suddenly made
her seem more human, more of a real person with a personality and
life that he could envision when that was the last thing he wanted.
In his mind, he could see her walking on campus, going to the
student union, visiting the bookstore, and with a coil of heat in
his gut, he could clearly picture her sun-tanning at the Phase
Eight swimming pool.

No, he didn't care for the parallel, but
there wasn't anything he could do about it and he wasn't going to
dwell on it. Everything else about her was too incredibly
perfect.

She wasn't entering into this lightly, and
that was another point in her favor. She wasn't vain or spoiled,
and she had a legitimate reason for why she was willing to
virtually sell her body to him. And as an added bonus to him, she
didn't appear to be sexually loose. She'd made her demands of a
one-on-one relationship with him. She wouldn't be shared, she
wouldn't agree to a ménage, not that he'd ever entertained the
idea; he wasn't into that shit. Rather than hurt her chances with
him, those concerns of hers only cemented to him that she was the
type of person he could make this work with.

He knew himself; he knew he had to be able to
at least have some respect for a woman to make this work. If he had
no respect, one or two fucks would be all she was worth to him.

But that wasn't the case here. Oh, no, on the
contrary. He'd had a hard-on since the moment she'd walked into the
restaurant. And the more she'd talked, the things he'd learned
about her and from what she had verbalized about herself, the
attraction he felt for her kept growing stronger.

Yeah, he'd have no problem fucking her over
and over again.

And now all he had to do was set the ball in
motion for it to happen.

****

The next morning, Jessica rode the rail to a
large, private clinic where she was put through the ringer. The
first stop had been to the lab where they'd taken the samples for
her hair analysis. They explained that there was a rush being put
on the results, and the expected turn around would be less than
forty-eight hours.

She had blood work done, and a well-woman
check as well.

The female doctor looked her over and
pronounced her fit as she jotted something down in her notebook.
"So, you want the Depo-Provera shot?"

"Yes."

"First time on birth control, I take it?"

Jessica had been uncomfortable in her own
skin since she'd first walked into the clinic and now all she
wanted was to get out of there.

"Yes." Even as she answered, her mind raced
with the question of why the doctor would assume such a thing. She
didn't think it was just because of her relative youth, and when
she latched onto the probable answer, she squirmed in her seat and
almost died from embarrassment. The doctor had given her a thorough
examination. Jessica stayed silent as she gripped her hands
together in her lap.

"Okay, sweetie. I'll send the nurse in with
the shot. Make sure you take one of my cards in case you have a
reaction. Chances are you won't, but it has my number and the
number of my associates if I can't be reached. And you don't need
to make another appointment in ninety days. Just show up for the
shot, and the nurse will fit you in. You won't need another exam
for twelve months. Any questions?"

"No--yes. When will it take effect?"

"Because of the timing of your cycle,
probably now, but give it twenty-four hours. You're aware the shots
could make your periods cease altogether?"

"No, I wasn't, but thanks."

"No problem. Good luck." The doctor gave her
a smile and another long look as if Jessica were an anomaly or
something, and then walked from the room, shutting the door behind
her.

****

When Connor came to the third apartment
building, he knew he'd finally found the right place for Jessica.
He knew this area of town like the back of his hand, so it wasn't
hard for him to choose several complexes he wanted to see. This one
was located behind a manned gate, with a twenty-four hour security
guard on duty who allowed only residents and proven guests in and
out. There were only two furnished units available, and he declined
the larger of the two because it was near the back and close to an
open parking area that wasn't lit up enough for his taste. The
ground floor unit he chose was smaller, but it had the added safety
feature of being near the complex office and it was nicer, as it
had a small courtyard that overlooked the swimming pool. The safer
location pleased him, and he imagined Jessica would appreciate the
pool area since summer was about to begin and she didn't have a car
readily available to take her anywhere.

He put a down payment on it and asked if
they'd hold it for one day. The management agreed, and the very
next afternoon when he received a positive report on her health
screening, he went back and signed the lease.

That evening he called Jessica and told her
she needed to be ready to move the next day.

****

Jessica sat on the sidewalk with nine boxes,
two suitcases, and five purses exploding at the seams.

Her nerves were stressed to the max. Allison
had left the day before and had promised to text her when she
arrived at her house five hours to the north. She hadn't
remembered, but Jessica had sent a text and Allison had responded
that she'd made it okay. Jessica didn't blame Allison for
forgetting; she imagined she was busy catching up with her parents
and little sister. She resolved to get over the pinch of jealousy
she felt at the other girl's home life. It wasn't as if Jessica
didn't want Allison to have a family, after all, most everyone else
did.

It was only Jessica who didn't.

And that sucked, but she'd live through it.
It wasn't as if her own mother were dead, she was just incarcerated
for the next twenty or so years. And who the hell even knew who her
father was?

Her mom didn't. Or she'd lied about it and
never shared the information.

Jessica hung her head between her legs and
picked at a loose thread on her tennis shoe while waited for
him
to show up.

"Jess."

At the sound of her name, she lifted her head
and saw another Geo student carrying a big box to the parking lot.
"Hey, Anthony."

He stalled in his tracks to speak to her. She
knew him fairly well, mostly on the surface, but they'd had several
classes together and even studied together a couple of times.

"You need a ride?"

"No, thanks, I'm waiting on someone."

He frowned a moment. "I don't remember where
you said you're from."

She smiled. "I don't think you've ever asked.
I'm from Odessa."

"Is that where you're headed? To your
family?"

"Nah. My mom's away for the summer. I'm
staying in the area with a family friend."

"That's cool."

"Are you headed home?"

"Yeah. I'm so damn tired. I was up half the
night partying and then packing. For once I'm glad my parents only
live an hour away. Don't forget you promised to go to the summer
mixer with me."

A small slice of
something
slid down
her spine. She had forgotten, but now she was certainly remembering
the conversation from ten days ago or so. "I'm just your back-up in
case you can't find a date, right?" Connor had told her quite
succinctly that she couldn't have a boyfriend, dates, or anything
platonic that could be misconstrued.

Adding to her worry was a big, grey Cadillac
Escalade pulling around the corner that looked as if it was going
to be him. Now she just wanted to get rid of Anthony quickly so she
didn't have to deal with an introduction or anything like that.

"Yeah, just my back-up. I'll text you when it
gets close, but it's toward the end of summer."

"Okay, let me know. I'm pretty sure it won't
be a problem."
She was pretty sure it would be a problem.
She'd never been good at letting anybody down for any reason.
Hence, the predicament she was now in.

He must have heard a wavering in her tone.
"You're pretty sure? You promised."

She stood up and prepared to start moving
boxes. "I'll do my best. Just text me, okay?"

"Okay. Have a good summer." He moved closer
to her and hefted the box he carried to one hip while he grabbed
her and pulled her into a one-armed bear hug. "If you get bored,
call me and we can hang-out, I'm not that far away."

"Okay, thanks." She gave him a quick hug back
and watched him cross the street toward the parking lot just as the
Escalade pulled up beside her.

Lifting the first box, she didn't wait for
Connor to get out, she just moved to the rear of the vehicle where
the top was already opening remotely.
Oh yes, luxury at its
finest.
She shoved the box in and went for the second just as
Connor came around to help her.

Their gazes collided and then glanced off
again as they didn't speak but made short work of getting her
things loaded. It took less than five minutes and then he was
walking around and opening the passenger door for her.

Somewhat stunned at the gentlemanly gesture,
she scrambled up into the seat as he stood holding the door and
waited.

When he was seated beside her and they'd been
travelling down the parkway for a few miles, he took his eyes from
the road and turned his head and studied her momentarily. "Who was
the pretty boy?"

The question caught her off guard. She
assumed he'd seen the swift embrace, but as it had happened some
fifteen minutes before, she didn't think he'd ask about it now. A
tiny trace of anxiety disturbed her as she realized she needed to
stick to the truth and face this now rather than later, even though
it was the last thing she wanted to do. "Anthony?"

"Does he mean something to you?"

"He's a just a friend. We were just saying
goodbye. You know, for the summer. But--"

"But, what?"

"He's in a frat, and I told him a couple of
weeks ago that I'd go with him to the summer mixer if he couldn't
find another date."

"No."

Even though she'd expected that answer, it
still shocked her completely that his voice would be so hard, so
adamant. "But I agreed before I met you and we're only friends. And
it's going to be during the day, at a water park, with a million
people around and tons of other couples." Jessica struggled to
sound
meek
; she attempted to keep her voice even, without
inflection.

They pulled up to a red light and as he
braked he looked over at her and spoke in a smooth, controlled
voice. "The answer is no. Unless you want me to take you back and
put all your boxes in his vehicle, and he can pay for your tuition
and put a roof over your head."