Read Online Escorting the Billionaire #1 (The Escort Collection) by Leigh James - Free Book Online Page A

been really wanting to meet you,” she’d said to me. To her credit, she was more than a little drunk.
    To her discredit, she’d rubbed her flat chest up against me while my brother was a stone’s throw away.
    “Really?” I asked. “Why’s that?”
    “’Cause you’re his hot, successful, big brother,” she said. She eyed my crotch.
    I took a huge step back from her. “Really, Evie?” I’d asked, disgusted. Todd had already told me that he was quite taken with her. “I’d thought that someone who went to Smith would have a little more tact.”
    “You should know better,” she said in what she might have thought was a sexy voice. But Evie was bony, and she was dating my earnest little brother. Maybe she’d thought the combination was something that I couldn’t resist, but she’d been dead wrong.
    “Thanks but no thanks, Evie,” I’d said. Todd showed up then. She’d turned her horny eyes on him and probably took him home and fucked his brains out to drown her disappointment. But he’d bought her a five-carat diamond ring a few months later, and as far as I knew, she hadn’t looked back.
    But now Evie was examining Audrey, the girl who’d gotten the larger prize. Audrey smiled at her, pretending not to notice the scrutiny she was under.
    “It’s nice to meet you, Evie,” Audrey said. “Congratulations.”
    “Thank you,” Evie said. She fake-smiled at Audrey, and her collarbones moved up and down when she shrugged. “Congratulations to you, too.”
    Audrey smiled back at her blankly. “For what?”
    “For landing your boyfriend,” Evie said. Her laser-like stare looked as if it was micro-analyzing Audrey’s every pore.
    I might have imagined it, but Todd seemed to shift uncomfortably next to me.
    “He landed me,” Audrey said, grinning back at her. She grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “The lucky bastard.”
    “That’s me,” I said, smiling and shrugging. “The lucky bastard.”
    Evie looked at us suspiciously, and Todd swooped in to rescue Audrey. “What is it that you do, Audrey?” He asked. I did refer to him as my stupid asshole brother, but he was actually a nice guy. He was just stupid and an asshole because he was still marrying Evie, even after I’d told him what had happened.
    “I’m a graduate student in graphic design,” Audrey said.
    “How interesting,” Todd said, still being kind.
    “Not really,” Audrey said. “But with a studio-art undergraduate major, what else are you going to do?” With that, she and Todd started chatting about art, teaching, and Audrey’s fake dead family from New Hampshire. Audrey didn’t miss a beat, and she managed to hold onto my hand and engage Todd all at the same time.
    “She’s something,” Evie said, watching her with a wrinkled brow.
    “Yes, she certainly is,” I said.
----
    “ I give you an A-plus ,” I said ten minutes later. I’d finally inserted myself into the conversation and swiftly killed it. I needed another drink, and I needed to get away from Evie.
    “I see why you don’t like her,” Audrey said when we were finally in a quiet corner of the bar. “But why do you hate her? And your brother…I don’t want to make you mad, but he seemed really nice.”
    My jaw clenched. “Todd is really nice,” I said, motioning to a passing waiter. “That’s the problem.”
    The waiter brought us over more wine, and I took a long swallow. A look of concern crossed Audrey’s face, but fine actress that she was, she buried it quickly. I didn’t bother to tell her that I could handle my liquor just fine. She’d experience that firsthand over the next two weeks.
    “I don’t want Todd to marry Evie. That’s the problem,” I said. “She hit on me the first night I met her. It was right after she started dating Todd. She made it very clear that she was after the richest man who would have her, even if that man was her boyfriend’s brother.”
    “Gross,” Audrey said.
    “Absolutely,” I said. “So the