Beautiful Disaster Read Online Free Page B

head out to L.A. and after that D.C. and Miami.”
    His travel plans intrigued her. “That sounds like an exciting way to live. What do you do?”
    Carb hesitated. “Since I’m wearing your vomit, I feel like I can tell you the truth.” But then he looked at her, as if still deciding.
    Now Christina was more intrigued. “What? Are you some kind of spy?”
    “No, but it’s a job that requires almost as much discretion.” One beat. “I’m an escort.”
    For a moment, the true meaning didn’t register. But then it did. “So women pay you for…”
    Carb nodded. “And men, too. Mostly men, actually.”
    Christina was stunned. “What’s the difference between an escort and a…”
    Carb filled in the blank that she didn’t want to say out loud. “Prostitute?”
    Christina bit down on her lower lip, nodding guiltily, hoping that she hadn’t offended him.
    “You can’t get me by the hour,” Carb explained. “People pay me for companionship—special evenings out, weekends, vacations. If sex occurs, then it’s the result of two consenting adults making that decision. It doesn’t always happen. One of my regular clients is high up in the Pentagon. That’s why I’m going to D.C. We’ve never even kissed. He just likes to hold my hand while we watch war movies on DVD at his townhouse in Georgetown. Of course, we’re usually just wearing our underwear.”
    Christina laughed.
    Carb laughed, too. “I know. It’s weird. But he’s a sweet guy.”
    “So if you see men and women, then you must be…”
    “Bi, yeah. At the end of the day, I like thin blondes with big tits and dominant jocks along the lines of rugby and lacrosse players. Sexually, I’m all over the map.”
    Christina just stared at him, instantly reminded of her first encounter with Keiko, the Japanese girl who had been so radically honest about being a lesbian. Now Carb was making these bold announcements.
    She wondered if there would ever be a day when she could speak this openly. To Christina, sexuality was still such a private subject. It was why she channeled all of her erotic energy into the creation of Harmony Girl . Dealing with the issue through her art seemed like the safest way to explore it.
    In Christina’s manga , the title character lived in an enchanted forest filled with magical animals, and she communicated with them only through music. The plot focused on a romantic triangle involving Harmony Girl’s love for a dashing prince and her growing feelings for a young female artist named Lychee, who made secret trips from her village to the forest in order to obsessively sketch Harmony Girl’s portrait.
    “I’m serious about my apartment,” Carb was saying. “It’s yours if you want it.”
    Christina massaged her temples with her fingertips, feeling more punishment from the vodka binge coming on, this time in the form of a headache. She gave him a fuzzy look, puzzled by his instant trust and generosity. “But you barely know me.”
    “Well, I’d say we’re fairly intimate. I saved your life, and you threw up on me.”
    She considered the point, smiling. “This is true.”
    “Just think about it. You don’t have to tell me now.”
    A strong yearning to defy Paulina came over Christina. But something held her back. She just wasn’t ready to strike out with such rebellion, and this realization filled her with a deep sense of shame. It was a shame that would prevent her from telling any of her friends where she was going. Salvation Pointe would be her pathetic secret to keep.
    All of a sudden, Christina realized that the music had stopped. She rose up, peering beyond Carb to see that only a few stragglers remained on what had once been Tar Beach, the ultimate rooftop event. It seemed odd. Max’s parties usually lasted all night long. “What happened to everybody?”
    Carb leveled a serious look. “A drug overdose tends to clear the room.”
    Christina blanched.
    “Gorgeous girl,” he went on. “Somebody said she was