Chapter 16 : Carpet Call

*Ava*

“What’s up, Dad? It’s really early,” I said, looking at the clock beside my bed. It was just rolling over to six a.m.

“Are you prostituting yourself to get money for my legal defense?” Joseph Williams demanded without preamble.

I held the phone away and looked at it, pinched myself, and decided I wasn’t dreaming. “Prostituting myself?!”

“You heard me. I saw the pictures of you and that James Kincaid fellow. You were hanging off his arm like … like…” In his anger, my father seemed to have lost his words.

“Like a sugar baby?” I suggested delicately.

“Like an escort!” my father barked.

I winced, both because he was loud and because I didn’t like the comparison he was drawing. “I’m not an escort. Or … well … not THAT kind of escort. I’m just arm candy, Dad. Just arm candy. Sometimes rich guys just need to be seen with a woman on their arm. It’s a business thing,” I said.

“Business,” my father repeated doubtfully.

“Yeah, business. There’s nothing physical or anything