Thank you all so much for your love and encouragement! I absolutely loved reading all your reviews! Please keep them coming! And without further adieu, I present another chapter!

FANTASY MAN

Sesshomaru glanced around the large parking lot of the restaurant. "Where is your car?"

"Didn't take one," Kagome replied. "I don't even own one."

Sesshomaru frowned. "How did you get here then?"

"I took my bike," Kagome responded nonchalant as she pointed toward a pink beat-up contraption near the restaurant's entrance.

Sesshomaru shut his eyes in consternation. "Woman," he muttered with exasperation.

Now he understood what other factors contributed to her earlier tardiness.

"Well how did you get here then?" Kagome asked bristling defensively.

"I took my car." He said, as though it were the silliest question in the world. Sesshomaru pointed a set of keys, pressed a button and a loud chirp came from the far right of the parking lot.

Kagome, curious as to just what it was that the honorable lord drove, walked past him and all the other cars over to where the noise had emanated from. She was taken aback by the glossy, sleek, jet black sports car that stared back at her. She gaped.

Sesshomaru stood by her side. He cocked his head to stare at her. "What is it?" he asked. "Do you not like it?"

"No, not at all," Kagome reassured. "It's just." She turned to look at him. "It's just...so...you."

Sesshomaru cocked his eyebrow. He turned back to regard his car.

He honestly didn't see it.

As for Kagome, she only gawked. The car itself, in a sense, encapsulated Sesshomaru's own character. The car was sleek with sharp features, with an animalistic design with it's yellow and golden headlights, and she imagined that the engine underneath the hood would be powerful. Overall the car screamed fast, powerful and dangerous.

Much like it's owner.

"I'll not allow you to ride that infernal thing at this time of night." Sesshomaru said, walking past her to the car. "I'll take you home."

Kagome hadn't even given her consent when she noticed that the youkai had her bike slung over one shoulder and was already depositing it into the car's trunk space.

What else could she do, given her options?

"Okay," Kagome said simply, as she approached the passenger seat. She opened the door and climbed into the deep purple leather interior.

She was staring at the car's insides in awe, just as Sesshomaru opened the driver's side door and slid into the driver's seat.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," Kagome said as her escort started the car. The engine practically purred as Sesshomaru eased out of the parking lot and onto the street.

"And what might that be?" Sesshomaru asked as they waited at an intersection. "Where is it you live?" he asked.

"On the corner of Second and Thomas," she answered.

Sesshomaru was astonished. Château Girard was a good eight miles away from where she lived. She'd ridden her bike all that way?

This girl was getting curiouser and curiouser.

"Anyway, my question is," Kagome continued as Sesshomaru drove, interrupting his thoughts. "Just how rich are you?"

Sesshomaru's lips quirked. "That is for me to know." It was practically an order for her not to broach further on the subject.

Kagome frowned. "Fair enough," she said shrugging. "Why are you such a popular escort?" She continued. He looked back at her incredulously.

"I mean..!" Kagome blushed furiously, realizing what she had just asked. "Sorry. What I meant was I barely got to listen in on your date tonight, so I have no idea what kind of strategy you use when you're out with these women. So, just what is it you do?"

Sesshomaru sighed.

"Guess I'm going right to the tough question, aren't I?" She asked.

"On the contrary," Sesshomaru replied, "That is an easy question. What is so difficult is deciding the best way of answering it."

Kagome waited.

Finally he spoke.

"What I do, with my business," Sesshomaru began, "is I play to my client's idea of their fantasy man. My job is to provide them a memorable time with the man of their dreams. Sometimes, though very rarely, I am paid to...spend the night with these women."

Kagome was surprised. Sesshomaru was such a handsome man, albeit with such striking features (although admittedly that was what Kagome found so attractive about him), she was so sure he would have more...booty calls.

She wondered why that was.

"It's not an issue of price," Sesshomaru said, answering her question. "It largely varies on the client themselves. I only spend the night if the client is not only stable, but understands that this is only business. Nothing more."

Kagome stared at him. His eyes took on a soft golden glow, standing out in the evening darkness. She didn't know why but for some reason she felt so disappointed at his last comment. There really was no reason to be, she thought. Then she frowned inwardly. So why did she feel that there was then?

"Which building is it?" Sesshomaru asked, startling her out of her reverie as he pulled onto her street.

"That one right there," she said, pointing to a white apartment complex. She was slightly saddened that already their evening was ending.

Sesshomaru said nothing as he pulled into the building's parking lot. Kagome's sadness was not lost on him, and he was surprised to discover that he felt the same way. Despite the utter disaster the evening had been, he found that the drive to Kagome's apartment had been nothing short of pleasant.

The car pulled into a parking space behind the complex, and Sesshomaru shut the car off.

"Well," Kagome said finally, after a bit of silence, undoing her seatbelt. "Thanks for taking me home..."

"Do not thank me yet," Sesshomaru interrupted her, also undoing his seatbelt. "I shall escort you to your door."

"Oh no," she said, "you don't have to do that..."

"Kagome," he said. Kagome blinked in surprise: this was the first time he was addressing her by her name. He turned to look at her, his golden eyes glowing warmly, his face was set in a serious expression. "I am not doing this because I have to: I am doing this because I want to."

This caused Kagome's heart to pound loudly.