In the bathroom, Laurie shakily twisted the beautiful turquoise ring Alejandro had given her off her index finger and carefully placed it onto the gold chain gifted to her by Mack, one of her regulars. Setting the clasp around her neck, she watched the ring fall onto her breastbone and nestle itself close to her cleavage.

The ring was beautiful, but she no longer wanted to wear it around her finger. She considered it just a gift from a customer and would treat it as such. She didn’t ...