“So you say.”

“It’s true. But if I meet someone, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Nervous?” Ashley asked as we sat in the back of the limo.

“I don’t know. Should I be?”

“I can’t answer that for you.”

“I’m always nervous when I’m not familiar with the clients. But I’ll be fine. I’m a professional.”

She laughs, “I’m sure you are.”

“Are you nervous?”

“I’ve fucked these people before,” she answers, bluntly.

“You’ve never fucked me.”

“I guess you’re right. Well, I don’t know, Spencer. Should I be?” she smiles, then turns and stares out the tinted window.

“I can’t answer that for you.”

“I’m excited to see you in action. It’s always interesting to see why it is a girl gets chosen for the house.”

“And that’s all?”

“What else do you want me to say?”

“Never mind.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I said never mind.”

“Ok, calm down. Are you always…wound so tight?”

“No, I’ve just been really stressed lately.”

“Well let it go. It’s going to be a long night. Trust me.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.”

Ashley reaches for my hand, sending those familiar chills through my body, “I know I’m probably not the one you want to confide in or whatever but I can try to be…you know, a friend.”

“I’m ok,” I reply, pulling my hand away, “I really am.”

“Alright.”

Conversation wasn’t as easy to come by after that. It’s not that I didn’t want to talk to Ashley. It wasn’t even a lack of things to say. I simply couldn’t trust myself around her for long periods of time. I had this strange tendency to actually say what was on my mind, and contrary to popular belief honesty is not always the best policy.

But every few minutes she would turn and stare at me, her beauty radiant even in my peripheral. And maybe that was all there was to it. Maybe I was simply feeling a physical attraction. It had been a really long time since I had separated my sex life from work and maybe I was just growing used to the idea of attraction again.