I clenched my hands around the steering wheel, making the rubber crack a little. I was a mess. I had been a mess ever since I started working here. Something just kept feeling all wrong and I didn’t like it.

I took a deep breath and leaned further back into the leather seat of the company car. I wished there were pills for this that didn’t make me so sleepy. But they made me nauseous and tired, so I didn’t take them.

The door opened to the passenger side and Dion sat down in the seat next to me.

“Hey, thanks for doing this.”

“You don’t have to thank me. Just doing my job.” I shrugged and swung out from the club and into the street.

“It was still nice of you to say yes.” He shrugged too and leaned against the window, looking out at the city flying past us. “Do you have the address?”

“Yeah. I get them on my phone.” I pointed to the phone sitting on the dashboard, showing me the route.

“Smart. Do you come up with me or…?”

“I can if you want.”

“I’d like that. I don’t like going to people’s houses without a friend.”

“I’ll stay close then. I can also check every twenty minutes, to make sure you’re okay. Or,” I hesitated and looked through my pockets. I found what I was looking for and handed it to Dion. “Press that button every twenty minutes. It sends a text to my phone, telling me you’re okay. If you miss the time limit, I’ll come into the room.”

Dion looked down at it and pressed the button. My phone beeped and he looked up at the screen before stuffing the little device into his pocket.

“High tech.”

I nodded and shifted gear. I kept my hand on the gear stick as I slowed down and stopped for a red light.

“So, what do you do for fun?” he asked without looking at me.

“I read.”

“Read what?”

“Fiction mostly.”

“Dirty romances?”

I glanced over at him, finding him smirking at me. I snorted and shook my head.

“No. Thrillers.”

“Hey, don’t snort at romances. Especially the erotic ones. They’re hot.” He winked at me and I shook my head again.

“I’m surrounded by sex all the time during work hours. Sometimes it’s nice to just not… Think about it.”

“Is that so?” His voice sounded a little odd and it made me glance at him again. He was looking very intently at me. “So, you never indulge?”

“In what?”

“The merchandise.”

“It’s not allowed. It’d be compromising my objectivity.”

Dion groaned but then stopped and leaned towards me. “So, you’re saying you’ve wanted to?”
I swallowed hard and that’s when my phone decided to bail me out. It dinged loudly and announced we had made it to our destination. I more or less bolted out of the car, almost leaving my phone behind. Dion was a lot slower but very gracefully stepped out of the car, smoothing his hair behind his horns and ears.

I motioned him to follow me inside the hotel. I had gotten all the details and knew exactly where to get the key and where to find the room. After picking up the key card in the reception, we stepped into the elevator.

“I’ll be in charge of getting the money,” I instructed. “I’ll wait in the living room of the suite and I’ll hold on to the money for you. We get the money before you do anything.”

Dion just nodded, distracted by looking at his phone.

“You listening?”

“Yeppers. I heard you. This isn’t my first time.”

“It’s your first time with me. Remember to press the button every twenty minutes.”

“Yeah, okay.”
The elevator doors opened, and I led the way to the suite. I opened the door and found the patron waiting for us in the little living room.

His eyes widened at the sight of me and then he looked a little relieved when Dion stepped out from behind me.

“I’m here as a courtesy,” I explained. “The payment?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s over there.” The patron pointed to the dresser and I picked up the envelope, quickly counting the money. I gave Dion a nod and he smiled at the patron. His shoulders relaxed and it was like his entire body changed posture.

“Hey, let’s move to the bedroom,” he said, his voice thick. He held his hand out to the patron and he hurried to get up from the sofa, following Dion to the bedroom.

I settled on the sofa instead, hunkering down for the next four hours with my book. It was hard to concentrate after a while though. Loud moaning sounds were coming from the bedroom and they were definitely coming from Dion.

At one point it just started sounding ridiculous. I couldn’t help but chuckle at some especially crude words uttered. How in the hell was he able to say all that with a straight face? I’d be laughing my ass off.

My phone beeped. All good in there.

I returned to my book and got a little swept up in it. It wasn’t until my phone beeped again, I realised how much time had passed. I really needed to pay better attention.

The door to the bedroom opened and the patron came out. He closed the last button on his shirt, offered me a nod and then left the suite. Which was odd. The guy had at least 3 hours left. I rose from the sofa and stopped in the door to the bedroom, knocking on the frame of it.

“Everything alright?”

“Sure, come on in.” Dion was on the bed, watching TV. He looked up and smiled at me. “I tired out the old guy. Wanna hang out here for the rest of the night? I don’t have any other appointments.”

“How about we get out of here instead? Get some food?”

Dion perked up and smiled. He nodded very enthusiastically and jumped out of the bed, grabbing his jacket from a chair. He hurried after me out of the room and down to the car again.

“Where would you like to eat?” he asked, seemingly unable to sit still in the seat.

It was quite adorable.

“I know this one place. It’s quite good.”

“I’ll trust your judgement, big guy. Someone like you has got to know where you get good food in this town.”

I chuckled but didn’t reply to that. I knew my food, for sure.