“Mindy have you considered hiring a professional?” Amber asked her.

“What do you mean?” Mindy asked.

“Hiring a guy from an escort service.”

“You’re kidding right?” Mindy asked.

“No. My friend Michelle hired a male escort for her sister she was a virgin. The guy was really good.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I could pay someone to have sex with me.” Mindy replied with a frown.

“I did and believe me it was worth every penny.” Amber told her.

“What? You paid for sex? That is just wrong.” Matt told her.

“I was lonely.” She replied with a shrug.

“Why the hell didn’t you call me? You could have gotten it for free.” Matt said .

“I can’t believe you paid for sex. I don’t think I could have sex with a complete stranger. I’ll stick with Todd.” Mindy said.

“You’ll regret it. Sex with a teenage boy is quick and clumsy. They have no control and are only interested in getting off. I’ve been their, I lost my virginity in high school it sucked. It hurt like hell and I got nothing out of the experience. If you want to gain experience you need to be with someone who knows what their doing. This guy is an expert at pleasing women, and he’ll make sure you’re protected. His whole focus will be on making you feel good.” Amber advised.

“How much does he charge?” Mindy asked mulling over the idea.

“Five hundred dollars.” Amber answered causing Doug to choke.

“Christ I should have went into prostitution.” Doug said.

“Paying for sex is illegal.” Matt reminded them.

“And dangerous.” Colby put in. He glared at Amber. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Do I have to sleep with him? What if I chicken out?” Mindy asked thoughtfully.

“It’s up to you. He won’t do anything you don’t want. You set the pace.” Amber assured her.

“Have either of you heard of Aids?” Doug asked. “Not to mention the number of sexual diseases you can catch.”

“This is a professional escort service all of their employees have been fully screened.” She answered

“Do you have his number?” Mindy asked still mulling it over.

“I have their card. I’ll give it to you.” Amber promised.

“I don’t think so.” Colby said.

“It’s not up to you. It’s my body.” Mindy told him.

“She’s only sixteen. The escort service won’t accept her anyways.” Matt put in aware that Colby was about to blow.

“They don’t check your I.D.” Amber said.

“Maybe I’ll give it a try.” Mindy told her.

“Over my dead body.” Colby told her.

Mindy ignored him and concentrated on Amber. She searched her memories wanting to see if the escort guy was as good as she claimed.

“You slept with Matt?” Mindy said out loud as she encountered the memory. She was shocked to her core. Amber had slept with Matt on several occasions.

“What? How did you find out?” Amber replied in surprise.

“Crap.” Mindy muttered picking up her phone. “Hi Grandma. I have caller I.D. I’m feeling much better.” Mindy said rubbing her temples; her head was beginning to throb. “Playing cards with my friends. Everybody say hello to my Grandma.” She told them handing the phone around.

“This is getting creepy. The phone never rang. How did she know someone was calling.” Doug muttered after passing the phone to Colby.

“I can’t believe you told her!” Amber said glaring at Matt.

“I didn’t tell her.” Matt replied innocently.

“I can’t believe you guys slept together! Jeff will freak when hears about this.” Doug commented with a frown.

“Then how did she find out?” Amber demanded.

“Hell if I know. Unless Colby told her.” Matt replied looking at Colby who was frowning at Mindy.

“I didn’t tell her.” Colby answered rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’d like a private word with you.” Amber told Matt rising from her chair.

“If you use one of the bedrooms, try to stay out of bed.” Doug teased earning a glare from Matt and Amber.

“It’s for you, it’s the hospital.” Mindy said handing Colby’s cordless phone to Doug.

“What?” Doug nearly jumped out of his seat when the phone started to ring. “Hello…This is Doug Morgan.”

“Grandma, I’ve gotta go. My head is starting to hurt. I need to lie down.” Mindy said getting up from her chair. “Don’t worry, Doug’s here. I love you too.” She said as she walked into the living room. Hanging up the phone she laid down on the sofa.

“Okay! How the hell did you know that was the hospital?” Doug demanded coming into the living room.

“Lucky guess.” Mindy replied rubbing her temples. “Colby can you get my Tylenol.” She asked.

“I’ve gotta go to the hospital. One of my patients is doing poorly.” Doug said running his hand through his hair. “Lucky guess my ass! I’m sick of this weird shit! First you and now her, knock it off!” He told them heading toward the door.

“I’m leaving too, here’s the number for the escort service.” Amber said. Her face was red from yelling at Matt. She followed Doug out.
“Thanks a lot.” Matt muttered coming into the room.

“Sorry.” Mindy said from the sofa. She stared at the card Amber had given her.

“What the hell is going on around here? Since when is she psychic?” Matt demanded. Getting his ass chewed off by Amber had not been pleasant. She was convinced he had bragged to Colby about her.

“I’m not.” She replied still rubbing her temples.

“Really? How did you know your phone was going to ring before it did?” Matt asked.

“I don’t know.” She muttered. “I just did.”

“Great! Two psychic’s under one roof!” Matt muttered heading for the door. “I’ll see you later.”

“So much for the card game.” Mindy said.

“That wasn’t very smart.” Colby replied sitting down beside her. He gently rubbed her temples taking the pain away.

“I didn’t mean to blurt that out. It just took me by surprise.” She answered. The pain was beginning to fade.

“You shouldn’t have been nosing through her thoughts.” He told her.

“I couldn’t help it.” She muttered.

“We only pick up surface thoughts. It takes a lot more concentration and energy to delve deeper, which is why you have a headache. You invaded her privacy deliberately.”

“I was curious.” She replied with a shrug. “You do it to me all the time. I don’t have any private thoughts from you.” She said sitting up.

“That’s different.” He replied.

“How?”
“You can read me as well.” He said.

“I didn’t used to be able to do that.” She pointed out with a frown.

“But you’ve always been able to block me when your defenses were up.” He told her. “Reading someone’s mind is an invasion of privacy. Remember that the next time you push yourself into someone’s mind. Why did you do it?”

“I wanted to get to her thoughts on you.” Mindy admitted.

“Did you get what you wanted?”

“Yes. It hurt.’ She commented rising from the sofa.

“Where are you going?” Colby asked her getting up as well.

“To my car, I’ll pick my stuff up tomorrow.” She answered heading toward the garage.

“I don’t think so.” Colby said grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. He took the card she was holding away from her.

“You can’t keep me here.” She said. “Give it back.” She said indicating the card.

“I don’t think so. We need to talk.”

“Here we go again.” She said rolling her eyes.

“Sit down.”

“I prefer to stand.” She replied crossing her arms. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Our relationship.” He answered with a frown.

“We don’t have one.” She stated firmly.

“How can you say that when you’ve spent the last six nights in my bed with me?” He asked.

“We slept together, big deal. It’s not like you’re the first guy I’ve slept with.” She said with a shrug.

“You’ve slept with Todd.” It was a statement. He knew full well the answer. He had been able to read her while she was hurt and her defenses down.

“You know I have.” She told him. “Sleeping with someone is no big deal.”

“We’ve done a lot more then just sleep together.” He pointed out.

“What about the lake?” He reminded.

“That was a mistake.” She said calmly. She refused to think about the lake and what had transpired there.

“How can you say that?” He asked in surprise.

“It was all one big lie.” She told him facing him squarely.

“No it wasn’t. Yes, I had sex with Teri on the beach I admit that. It was a mistake, and it will never happen again. But everything I said to you that night on your boat was true. I love you, I always have. And I did break it off with Teri, just like I said I would.” He told her quietly.

“And Amber?” She asked quietly.

“I only slept with her once. She was upset over her break up with Jeff. I went over to her place to comfort her. One thing led to another and we ended up in bed.” He answered reluctantly. It was Amber that was keeping them apart he knew. “It was only one night, and I told Amber that it couldn’t go any farther then that. I didn’t say anything to you about it because I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“How many times you were with her doesn’t matter? You cheated on me three time that I know of.” Mindy said.

“Where do you get three?” He asked with a frown.

“Let’s see how about the day you skipped classes to go over to Teri’s after fooling around with me on the couch.” She answered. “Did you think I wouldn’t figure out where you were?”

“Technically I wasn’t cheating on you; we weren’t dating when all these incidents occurred.” He told her calmly.

“I don’t believe you! God you’re just like Jeff and Matt!” She cried before heading to the door. “Let me go!” She cried when he grabbed her arm to stop her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” He told her quickly.

“I think it was pretty clear what you meant.” She said struggling to get free.

“It’s not like you haven’t cheated on me.” He told her refusing to let her go.

“I never cheated on you.” She told him.

“Really? I haven’t been with anyone else since we spent that night together out on the lake. And we both know you’ve been with several guys since then.” He told her finally releasing her arm.

“That doesn’t count. I did that because you cheated on me.” She said crossing her arms again.

“I haven’t been with another woman since the night we spent together on the lake.” He replied.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” She asked.

“Merge your thought with mine.” He said softly holding out his hand to her.

“No.” She replied shaking her head.

“Why? You’ll see that I’m telling you the truth.” He said with a frown.

“So? It wouldn’t matter if you were. I can’t trust you.” She said with a frown.

“Yes you can. I’ve been faithful to you, even though you’ve been running around with other guys.” He answered her reaching out to lift her chin so that she was looking into his eyes.

“I didn’t have sex with any of them.” She stated.

“I know.” He said quietly. “We’re meant to be together.” He leaned down to kiss her.

“No were not.” She replied pushing him away. If he kissed her it would be all over and she knew it. Clearly Colby was not going to give up.

“Why are you fighting me?” He asked.

“I want to believe you; I want to be with you more then anything else.” She finally admitted.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“My career.” She said simply. It was time to lay it all out on the table she decided.

“I don’t understand.” He said.

“I can’t wait for you.” She told him quietly.