Free Into The Fire (Gorgeous Entourage #1) by E. L. Todd Page A

for trying,
right?”
    “Nope.”
    “So, I’ll pick you up on Saturday at seven?
We’re good?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Sweet,” he said. “I’ll see you then.”
    I didn’t know what possessed me to do it but
I decided to do something reckless and stupid. “Come over for
dinner tonight.”
    “What?” he asked. “Seriously?”
    I wasn’t thinking. I just blurted it out like
an idiot. Why did I even think it at all? But now that I said it, I
couldn’t take it back. “Sure. Why not?”
    “Free food? Hell yeah. Beautiful woman
cooking in slutty lingerie? Fuck yeah.”
    “Whoa…who said anything about slutty
lingerie?”
    “Dammit,” he said into the phone. “I was
hoping you’d just go along with it.”
    “I’m not a whore.”
    “You’re an escort, aren’t you?”
    He did not just go there . Just when I
thought he was sweet and sensitive, he said something to piss me
off. I slammed the phone down and hung up on him. I was too angry
to yell—which meant I was really pissed.
    Shelly looked up from her computer. “That was
abrupt.”
    “He pissed me off.”
    “You just invited him to dinner. What could
he have possibly said?”
    “You don’t want to know.”
    The phone rang and we both stared at it.
    Shelly shrugged awkwardly. “I have to get
that…”
    I wish I could pull the cord from the
wall.
    “Beautiful Entourage,” she said when she
answered. “Yeah, she’s right here…” She looked to me for
direction.
    “Tell him I’m busy and not to call back,” I
ordered.
    “Uh…” Shelly repeated everything into the
phone. “Okay.” She hung up.
    That went over better than I expected. I
didn’t want to argue with him in the office while Shelly listened
to every word we said.
    “For what it’s worth, he did seem sorry.”
    I was particularly sensitive when it came to
this subject. I wasn’t a call girl or a prostitute. I was an
actress more than anything else. I told him how ashamed I was for
stripping, so he knew perfectly well this was difficult for me to
deal with.
    Instead of dwelling on it, I decided to go
through my paperwork and wait around for any phone calls I might
receive. I had a few clients to juggle and I never knew when they
might need me.
    ***
    “Alessandra!” Ash burst through the door,
sweaty and out of breath. His eyes landed on Shelly and he
immediately marched to her with a mission in his eyes. “Where is
she? I need to speak to her.”
    “Uh, right here.” I was at the desk right
next to her. I guess he was too upset to really look around.
    “Good.” He dashed to me and forgot about
Shelly altogether. “I’m sorry about what I said. It was a joke. I
swear.”
    I was still too irritated to forgive him.
    “I thought you knew I was joking around. I’m
sorry I took it too far.” Sincerity shined in his eyes, and his
hands formed into fists like he wanted to punch himself in the
chest. “I apologize.” He stared at me with hope written all over
his face. “I apologized,” he repeated.
    “And that automatically means I should
forgive you?” I asked incredulously.
    “Well, I am sorry. So yes, you should forgive
me. Isn’t that how this works?” He pointed at me then himself with
a confused look on his face. “I never apologize for anything unless
I really mean it. You should know that about me.”
    “Awe…” Shelly sighed as she watched us.
    I turned to her. “Do you mind?”
    “Sorry.” She grabbed her purse and walked out
of the office.
    “I take it back, okay?” Ash pressed forward
just the way he did when he insisted on walking me home.
    It was clear his comment wasn’t malicious so
I dropped the attitude. “I forgive you.”
    His shoulders visibly relaxed. “Thank you. I
have a problem when it comes to stuff like this. I say stupid shit
and it gets me in trouble. By the time I realize what I’ve done,
it’s too late.”
    “Just watch it next time.”
    “I will.” He stood in front of my desk and
moved his hands to his pockets. Now that