Chapter 1

"I want you to get under my husbands skin. I need him to fall in love with you, and be able to let you take care of him. Then, you need to marry him, and take care of him forever after."

I had heard many things in my life as an escort girl, but this was a first. I had never had a wife telling me that she wanted her husband to fall in love with me. I must have looked very suspicious of her because she was quick to fill in some details.

"I'm dying. I want to hire you to become John's next wife. You will need to be faithful to him and him alone. You will need to be his wife, confidant, lover, friend and most of all, convince him that you love him and that he loves you. It isn't going to be a walk in the park either. I know because I know my husband very well."

"Ma'am, I don't think you have the right person. You need..."

"I need someone in a hurry, and beggars can't be too choosy now can they? Look, I only have six months to a year left, if that. John, without me, will waste away and die. If he doesn't kill himself first."

"What makes you think that your husband will waste away and die or commit suicide? Lots of husbands have lost wives before, and they've not done either of those things."

"I told you. I know my husband. Without someone to guide him and be a sounding board, he will make bad or flat out wrong decisions, and suffer for them in the doing. We have three adult children, and even though they are adults now, they still need someone too. John will need to be there for our kids and soon to be grandkids. I also know that John is the type of man that needs someone in his life, sharing the day to day things with him."

"I don't know. I've never done a permanent gig like this before. How am I supposed to get John to fall for me? Especially since I'm an escort girl and don't know him at all? Besides that, how do you intend to pay me for this? You want me to basically indenture myself to your husband for the rest of my life. How or why would I want to do that?"

"I have an insurance policy that has ran its life and now has a cash value in excess of a million dollars. I have made arrangements to have it signed over to whoever is married to John, my husband when that time comes. You will have to stay married to him for one year to collect it. I hope that you will fall in love with him like I did, and want to stay with him in the end."

"A million dollars? You're willing to hand over a million dollars to have me marry your husband, and be his wife for one year? So, I really will be giving up my freedom to be a slave then."

"Okay, you're right about that. I know that I'm asking you to sell yourself into servitude of sorts. It wouldn't be that bad, honest. First of all, John is a wonderful provider, loving and caring. Gentle at making love, but he can be a wild at times if the feelings are running that way. He would love you fully and honestly. You'd have to do the same for him. You won't ever have to work again, and actually, you probably won't have to work very hard at keeping him in love with you once he has fallen for you."

"Let me get this straight. You're offering me a life insurance policy proceeds for over one millions dollars, and to earn that I have to get your husband to fall in love with me, marry him and be his wife? Are you insane? Are you taking some kind of hallucinogenic drugs or something lady?"

"I know, it sounds crazy. I want you to know that I love my husband very, very much though. I also know that he will need someone. I can't leave this earth knowing that he won't have anyone there for him, and I know that if he doesn't have anyone by the time I'm buried... well, I don't want to meet him on the other side in a month or two. He still has a full and rich life ahead of him, and I mean to see that he lives it, one way or another. If you're not interested in my deal, then say so, and I'll continue on my search. I need to know within a day or two though, as my time is short and if you don't take my deal I will need every moment I have left to find someone for my husband."

"You're asking me to give up my lifestyle for your husband. I'm not so sure that would be a good deal."

"I am sure it's a good deal. You will be way ahead in the scheme of things. Look, how many men can you say have ever loved you for who you are?"

"I don't think that is any of your..."

"None, have they? Here's your chance to have and hold a man who is an excellent lover, a great provider, and an all around wonderful person. You're even going to make a million dollars for the pleasure of having him too."

She had tears in her eyes. As they began to slip down her cheek I realized that she truly loved and cared for John. I had never seen such love or devotion for a spouse ever in my life. Most men never earned such respect or love ever in their lives. I was sorely tempted to take her offer. A million dollars and all I had to do is get her husband to fall in love with me, marry me, and spend at least one year acting like I loved him in return. After that, if I wanted, I could split. I was not so sure that I wanted to go there though.

"My life is pretty great right now. I have all the sex I want or need, lots of different men for companionship, and I don't have to share my bed at night if I don't feel like it."

"You have nobody to love you, or take care of you when you're sick. You are alone most of the time, and not sharing your life with anyone. You have sex, but no love to back it up. It is an empty life. I'm offering you a fuller and richer life than you can probably imagine."

She had me there. I had often thought that there should be more to life. I had many a time, gone to bed alone, wanting, wishing that I had someone sharing that bed with me. Someone that understood me and loved me. I could feel my resolve to not get into this crazy scheme weakening.

"What's to stop me from walking after six months or nine months? What actual guarantee do you have that I'll ever even try to live up to the bargain?"

"I have none. I do know however, that if you open your heart just a little bit, John could fall in love with you and be happy. I'd rather see him happy than dead, and I'd rather he had some happiness for even just a year than not. I'm betting that you will fall in love with him too though."

"I'll need to think about it for a day or two. As for me falling in love... I don't do that. It's against my nature."

"I can only give you twenty-four hours. After that if you haven't signed on, I will have to search for someone else. You will fall in love with him... it will happen. At least I hope you do. Your nature is like any other humans, you want and need love. I think you will both benefit from a relationship."

"You're real serious about this aren't you?"

"I love my husband. I would do anything in the world... in the universe for him."

"I guess it couldn't be all that bad after all. I mean, I'd have one man to lean on. I'll call you later with my decision... okay?"

"Remember, you only have until eight o'clock tomorrow morning, then I'm searching for someone else. I don't have the time I need to do this right, and I need it done before I am too sick to work out all the details."

I left her sitting in the restaurant where we had agreed to meet. I went home and called into my service center to let them know I had completed my 'date'. Susan, my main contact could tell that something was bothering me.

"Sam, what's up? You sound like the whole worlds on your shoulders."

"Customer made me an offer. One that I'm having a hard time refusing. The only problem is that it will require at least one year of my life. The rewards at the end though... I'd probably never have to work again."

"Hmmm... sounds like you're thinking about taking them up on it. What kind of offer is it anyway? Maybe if you don't take it I will."

"I can't say at the moment, and if I take them up on it, I can't have this known around. Best if I keep it to myself for now. Suffice it to say there's over a million dollars in it for me if I do it."

"Damn girl... do it. DO IT! I wouldn't even have to think about that. A million dollars is a lot of zero's honey. Like I said if you don't do it, hook me up with them. I'd do it in an instant."

Susan was a nice lady. She had been taking care of eight other ladies and me for over six years, and doing a great job of it. We gave her a cut of our take at the end of a date, and she in turn, made other dates for us. It was a lucrative job for Susan and me too. She wasn't the marrying type though I knew that. She'd never go for this offer not even for a million dollars.

That night I sat at home, not having taken any dates. I wanted to keep my mind clear to think about this offer. I was seriously re-thinking my earlier dislike of it, and wondering if I couldn't work this out. At the very least it would require one year of my life, acting as if I loved a man. He would probably not fall for me in any case, so in that event it wouldn't work and my time to that point would have been wasted.

I was sitting on several hundred thousand dollars in investments, and I had a good bank account, so the time wouldn't kill me. It would dip into my savings though. I hated giving up even one cent since I had set a goal and lately I could see that goal in reach. This job would put me way over that goal, and set me up for life if it all worked out.

On the other hand, how was I to know that 'John' would be all that Becky had said about him? Wives, I had learned, often see their husbands as perfect and wonderful, why else would they have married them in the first place?

It did appear that Becky loved John very much though. I could see it in her eyes when she made the offer. It was killing her to give him up, but she knew she was dying anyway, and she was worried about him without her. I wasn't real sure how she'd get us together yet, or how we'd pull it all off.

I was thinking like I had accepted the offer already. I guess deep down I wanted to. Maybe Becky had been right. Maybe I was lonely and empty. At least I'd have a man loving me. How wrong or bad could that be? I decided to accept Becky's offer, and try to get her husband to fall for me.

It was partially the challenge of conquest. I had always loved a challenge, and this would be one of the biggest of my life. I thought I could pull it off, and I hoped that Becky could hold up to her part of the bargain. I could see where she was going to be having a painful time giving up John.

When I called her up the next morning she was excited. This whole thing was bothering me now. She was acting all happy that I'd accepted her offer, yet I knew that it had to have been digging into her heart deep. After all, she had just arranged for another woman to steal her husband away from her. Okay, maybe not steal, but at least, she was giving him up to me.