But now he thought he couldorderme to take time off, like I was a child he could ground from work?
Now wasn’t the time to slow down and lose momentum. Other deals were ripe for the picking, and the last thing I was going to do right now was tag along on my brother’s little yacht trip.
I just needed to rest my eyes for a few hours before the Tokyo call.
Too exhausted to even activate the blackout shades on my windows, I kicked off my shoes and slid out of my suit jacket before sliding onto the bed.
I’d change the old man’s mind tomorrow.
discretion
. . .
Ellie
Ellie’s Guide to Professional Cuddling, Tip #2: Discretion is key.
Life as a professional cuddler wasn’t always glamorous.
Sure, the money was nice. If I weren’t drowning in credit card debt with a cat who racked up vet bills, I’d even be making a decent living.
And my Cuddler profile on the app had a sparkly gold crown icon after I was voted Cuddler-of-the-Month five months in a row—which I was ridiculously proud of.
Not to mention, cuddling was awesome.
But plenty of logistics made working an app-based gig tricky. Scheduling. Transportation. Growing your client base. Security concerns.
And dealing with doormen who strived to see you fail.
It didn’t help that some clients treated the Sunshine Cuddle Services app like a dating service. Others thought we were a thinly veiled front for sex workers—and, boy, were they disappointed when my clothes stayed on. Luckily, my boss hadsystems in place to weed out any shady characters looking to abuse the app—including murderers.
Most days, those systems kept us cuddlers safe from any harm.
Today wasn’t one of those days.
I needed to reevaluate my strategy.
Physically getting past Hughes hadn’t worked. All I had to show for it was a sore nose after running into that stone-faced man’s solid arm.
Bribery had failed me, too.
I was running out of options.
…Maybe a distraction would work?
I eyed the gold trim on the fancy glass doors Hughes guarded. “Is that real gold?”
He didn’t even pretend to look. “Miss, I must ask youagainto leave. We don’t allow loitering at the entrance.”
“I’m not loitering.” My grip on my duffle bag tightened, and I huffed. “I’m just trying to enter.”
Hughes let an older couple inside with a pleasant smile, which dropped when he turned back to me. “Have you gotten ahold of your client yet?”
I pulled my phone out of my duffle for the twentieth time, but the only notification was for an upcoming yarn sale at my favorite craft supplies store. Nothing from the Sunshine Cuddle Services app.
My lips twisted. Clients were rarely responsive unless they needed something. “He’s not answering.”
Hughes held up a finger to silence me, before touching the same finger to his ear. “I’ve got it under control. No need to involve Frank.”