“You have great hands, and I’ve heard of these types of modeling jobs but never really paid attention to the models.”
She pulled her hand back and he licked his lip and looked ahead as he drove.
“It must have been boring to have to stay there and watch,” she said as he made a turn off the highway.
“I thought it was going to suck, until I saw you, that is.”
“Why is that?”
He gave her a sideways expression. “Honey, you looked incredible in everything you put on, but especially that last number. How much was that lingerie with the jewels worth?”
“A lot. It was actually very weird. I was never told what I would be wearing or doing, or what to expect. I’m certain if Mr. Lenotz told me about the lingerie I would have declined.”
“So you went in there not knowing what to expect?”
“Pretty much,” she replied.
“Were you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what could have happened if Lenotz or any of those men there had actually been after you? Haven’t you ever heard of human trafficking?” he asked, raising his voice.
She felt stupid. He made her feel like a child despite the fact that every ounce of the man was incredibly attractive and made every womanly part of her aroused and on alert.
She looked out the window. He would be coming up to the Galleria shopping center soon. She would make him stop there. She was embarrassed. Yet, he didn’t know she was poor. That she was scrounging to make ends meet, that she lost her studio because she couldn’t pay the rent, that she barely had enough to pay the electric bills, her phone bill, and miscellaneous things. At least she had the money from today’s job and whatever the bonus was that Mulgoff gave her and she would be making a lot of money on Friday when she did the other event. Never mind the possibilities of what could happen with the paintings she planned to give Mulgoff.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice,” Rylan said to her.
She didn’t look at him. She kept her hands on her lap, her fingers laced together.
“It’s okay. I guess none of those negative things crossed my mind. I met him. He seemed nice, offered me this job for the day, not the night, and this lady knew who he was and carried on about his designs and his reputation. I also focused on fifty dollars an hour.”
“He should have paid you more. Everything you put on sold the fastest,” he said, sounding kind of snappy.
“It’s gorgeous jewelry and one of a kind. The customers who were there didn’t even bat an eye at the prices. I’ve never been around people like that before.”
“You mean filthy rich?” he asked.
She was quiet a moment. “I guess, just around people who could just spend money like that. Like a regular person would buy a cup of coffee or a newspaper for a couple of dollars. Instead those people were spending thousands of dollars without a blink of the eye. I don’t think I could ever do that even if I ever was well off like that.”
“Money changes people,” Rylan replied.
“It doesn’t have to change them for the worse. It can change them for the better. There are a lot of people that donate their time and their money to worthy causes.”
“Is that what you would do if you had a lot of money?” he asked, slowing down at the light before the Galleria.
“I’ve never had a lot of money so I wouldn’t know where to begin. You can drop me off in the parking lot and I’ll walk the rest of the way so you can head home,” she said and reached down for her bag.
He placed his hand on her knee.
“No, you’re not walking, I’ll drop you at your place.”
“It’s kind of bad with parking and I wouldn’t want your fancy car to get banged up.”
“It’s a car, and will be fine,” he added.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, it’s three more blocks on the right. The sign is kind of hard to see with the overgrown bushes but it says Sunset Gardens.”
“Is that an apartment building?” he asked.
“Condos, actually. I moved last year from a studio apartment that had a great view.”
“Why did you move?”
“Rent increased too much. There it is on the right.”