And then there was Christmas. She wasn’t sure how much Victor understood about Christmas, but her nieces and nephews from her other siblings did. Her brothers and sisters were going to need the gift cards she gave them as presents to make it through the very expensive month of December, too.
“I understand you’re not a prostitute,” Augustine said. “You’ve made that abundantly clear. I am entirely certain you’re not. It shall never cross my mind again.”
“Okay, then,” Dree muttered. “I’m glad we’ve got that settled.”
“But you need money.”
“I’ll figure it out. I’m resourceful. Maybe I’ll get a box and be one of those living statues in a park or something. People just give you money if you stand there and do that.”
“Have you ever done that before?” he asked her.
“That doesn’t matter. Seems like it would be on-the-job training, to be honest. Or maybe I’ll go to a bank and get a loan.”
“Do you have collateral?” he asked.
“No, but I’m good for it.”
“I’ve heard banks don’t have a sense of humor about that,” Augustine said.
Tears were stinging her eyes again as she realized that she had no options. “Or maybe I’ll dance on tables and give blow jobs like my friends in college did when they didn’t have enough money to eat.”
Augustine asked, “What did you do in college when you didn’t have enough money to eat?”
She looked down at her half-eaten croissant. “I didn’t eat.”
He sighed. “You’re driving me insane. I’m trying to help you, and you won’t let me. I’ve never had such a problem giving money away before.”
She chuckled and squeezed her eyes closed to make the tears go back in. “Sorry.”
He took her hand again. “I don’t want you to miss meals in Paris, of all places. I want you to see Paris in all its splendor. It’s your first trip. Let me help you.”
“I don’t need help. I’ll be all right,” she lied.
“I’m going to eat every meal while I’m here. I’m going to eat croissants like this every morning.”
Dree’s stomach growled.
“Let me assuage my guilt at having too much money because I assure you, I do,” he said.
Dree flipped her hand at him. “Other people need it more. Give it to charity.”
“There are too many strings attached if I do it that way. You’re a nice person. You’re giving your sister money, and you were taken advantage of by someone you loved.”
“So? Happens to people every day. I am so naïve. I was practically asking for someone to take advantage of me.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I probably will end up doing something I don’t want to. The world is a terrible place.”
He took both of her hands in his. “What if, just this one time, I paid you to spend four days with me, and you didn’t say no?”
“This is like some sort of an indecent proposal, isn’t it?”
He shrugged. “Call it what you like.”
She pulled her hands away. “I’m not a prostitute, and you just want to feel like Jesus.”
His laugh was dark and sent shivers down her spine, but she wasn’t scared at all. “I assure you, what I want from you would not be Christ-like. I’m going to have to do penance for a year when I’m through with you.”
A wiggle of desire formed in her stomach, and lower, at the thought of what he would do to her that would need confession and penance. She admitted, “I would do that for free.”
“Since you won’t just take my money as some sort of a formal arrangement, then I’m just asking you to stay with me for four days. My friends who I was here with left Paris last night. I’m stuck here for four more days with little to keep me occupied. We’ll check a few things off your bucket list on that napkin. The museums and restaurants, anyway. I’m not finding two other male strangers with whom to share you. That’s my line I will not cross. I’ll buy you anything you want and give you enough money to get back on your feet.”
She retorted, “I’m not a—”
“Yes, yes, I know. You may have mentioned it. If you think I am determined to be like Jesus and hang around people of ill repute, consider yourself a tax collector instead.”
She laughed at that. “Fine, if I’m going to do this, then I’ll do it right. I guess we already know what I am, so let’s haggle over price. How much are you going to pay me?”
He named a sum greater than Dree made in a year as a nurse and far more than Francis had been able to milk her for.
She stared at him with her mouth hanging open. “Are you serious? That’s way too much! I can’t take that! How about half?”
“Your negotiating skills need work,” he said.
“I can’t.”
“No, no. When you negotiate, you should start high and then reduce services when the other person wants a lower price.”
“I wouldn’t dare take even half of that!”
“That’s not quite it. Try again.”
“Not even a quarter or ten percent! There is nothing I could do that would make me worth that!”
His slow smile turned kind again. “I think you’re worth it.”
Then, he looked her up and down and a devilish twinkle lit in his eyes, completely ruining the sweet effect.
He said, “As a matter of fact, if you will do anything I want, anything at all, I’ll double my offer.”
Double
