The Baby Bargain

Chapter 23: Harker

"Harker, good to see you." Katie, one of the waitresses at La Petite Mort Club, stopped next to him at the bar. "Is that blood on your shirt?"

"It's nothing. Sit." He pushed out a chair. "Keep me company."

"You know I can't. I have tables and customers to wait on."

"Quit and spend the night with me." He was half joking. He liked her. She was cute with short, reddish-brown hair. She reminded him of a pixie.

"No can do. Then I'd have to do that for all my favorite customers and I'm not quite ready to hang up my tray"—she waved her cocktail tray—"for a bracelet." The one thing that identified a Pleasure Associate from everyone else at the Club.

"Good. You shouldn't." He'd happily fuck her if she were a Pleasure Associate but a woman like her didn't fuck for fun. She was a marrying kind of gal and he already had a wife. He should've picked Katie. She wouldn't have laughed him out of his wedding bed.

"Oh, now you're hurting my feelings," she teased.

"Trust me, I'll be your best client if you ever switch jobs."

"Oh Harker, you'd tire of me in no time just like you do every one of your subs." She put her hand on her chest. "And I don't want to be left heartbroken and horny."

"I should pay you to talk to a woman I know." He laughed. This was what he'd needed. Someone to appreciate him as a man.

"Oh, poor baby. Is that why you're drinking alone tonight? Your new conquest isn't interested."

"You could say that."

"My money is on you. If you want her, you'll win her over and if you don't, then it's her loss."

It soothed his pride until Alison's laughing face flashed through his mind. It was time to change the subject. He didn't need to get more depressed. "Have you finished those classes yet? I may have a clerical position opening soon."

"No. I quit. I had to pick up some extra shifts. My sister is living with me. Parents kicked her out. She's pregnant."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

Katie shrugged. "I had to let her stay with me. She's family."

His family hadn't felt that way. "When you finish college, let me know. I'll find an opening for you and I'll pay you well." Loyalty and honesty were commodities that were worth every penny.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. I hope to start classes again as soon as my sister finds a job." She smiled warmly at him, her eyes darting over his shoulder. "I gotta go. Customers are waiting."

"Hold on." He pulled out his wallet and handed her several hundred dollars.

"What's this for? I didn't even bring you a drink."

"It'll help with your bills."

"I can't take this. If I'd waited on you maybe but—"

"I insist." He squeezed her hand. "You made me laugh on the shittiest day of my life. That's worth at least this much."

"Thank you." Her eyes filled with tears.

"Thank you."

"I think your night is about to get better." She kissed his cheek and then hurried off to wait on her customers.

"Hello, Harker." A warm, throaty voice that he hadn't heard in a long time whispered in his ear as a small hand ran across his shoulder, nails scraping slightly and making his balls tighten.

"Dahlia." He turned. His night was definitely looking up.

"Is that blood?" She ran her finger across his shirt.

"Yeah. It's nothing." He didn't want to talk about the blood, his wife or his wedding. "What brings you back to the states?"

"Boredom mainly." She sat next to him, crossing her long legs.

He hadn't seen her in almost two years, but she looked as beautiful as ever with her black hair and even darker eyes. She'd been his sub for over a year. She'd had to move for business, and they'd parted as friends.

"I find that hard to believe. You make your own fun." His eyes dropped to her breasts which were displayed nicely in her low-cut pale green dress.

"It's true but I'm also here on business." She waved over the bartender. "Vodka on the rocks."

"On me."

"Thank you." She touched his arm. "I'd hoped to see you here and thought we could have some fun while I'm in town." Her knee bumped his as her fingers traced along his sleeve. "I missed you, Harker. The men in France have wonderful accents but"—she frowned slightly—"they don't punish me like I want."

His dick was hard and ready to play and why shouldn't he? His marriage wasn't real, and his bride didn't even think of him as a man.

"Do you want to go to a playroom?" Her hand rested on his thigh, her fingers tracing lightly over his cock. She touched his face with her other hand. "You look tired. I bet you're working too hard again. You need to have some fun."

"You're right. I do." He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm.

"Then let's go play." She leaned closer and kissed him. Her lips were soft and her taste familiar but strange after so long.

Her tongue slipped into his mouth as her hand squeezed his dick. He groaned, tangling his fingers in her hair and holding her still for his kiss. It'd been too long since he'd fucked. He'd been working a lot and spending too many nights deciding if Alison were the right woman to have his child. Then, even when he'd had spare time to come to the Club, he hadn't found anyone who'd interested him but now Dahlia was back.

He broke the kiss and stood, taking her hand and leading her toward the playrooms. He'd be damned if he was going to be celibate on his wedding night.