Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
I kiss her again, truly kiss her. Tasting her lips, sucking on them.
She is sweet… so fucking sweet it makes me feel lightheaded. I slide my tongue against hers, and her tongue begins a delicate and sensual dance with mine. I can feel my excitement building, so I keep going, hooking her tongue and pulling it into my mouth, sucking hard, taking what I want.
She pulls away suddenly, gasping for air, her eyes enormous, her pupils dilated.
I straighten my jacket. I didn’t expect the chemistry between us to last even a month, but I can confirm now that I might have been wrong. Something about her is different...
Her hand closes around my wrist. “I’m ready now.”
I shake my head. “Not here.”
“What’s the deal? What will be expected of me?”
“Available whenever I need you. Attend social functions with me. Leave the country at a moment’s notice.”
“For one month?”
I nod.
“Okay. We have a deal.”
"Good. A contract will be sent to you. You can discuss whatever you need to with my lawyer or request clarifications."
"So you pay off his debts… and still buy the house?"
"Where has all your shame gone?" I mock.
She has the grace to look shamefaced.
"I never go back on my word. Yes, I will buy the house, but all your father’s debts will be only covered if the deeds for the house, car, and business are transferred to your name.”
She frowns. “Why is that a stipulation?”
“You have one chance to make sure he never loses the roof over his head again. I’d take it if I were you.”
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“And if you truly impress me, I may even throw in the two hundred and fifty thousand your father lost to me. You have an hour to consider my proposal," I tell her.
"What?" she asks, eyes widening. "Why can’t the contract start tomorrow."
"Lara," I say firmly, "if you’re not in my bed tonight, with your legs spread wide, giving me everything I want, this offer is dead. I want what I want when I want it, and I do not tolerate delays."
"Understood," she says tightly.
Chapter Twenty
LARA
Finally, I understand. I am going to have to sleep with him.
Not just because my father is probably out there contemplating suicide, or everybody at the agency including me will be out of a job by the morning if I don’t say yes, but because I really, really want to. I can pretend to him and everyone else that I’m doing it for altruistic reasons, but I can’t cheat myself. I know I’m doing it because I desperately want to.
The kiss was good.
In fact, good is a wild understatement. The kiss blew my freaking socks off. It’s the way I’d imagined how two bald eagles locking talons and performing their death spiral courtship must feel as the dare devils cartwheel at full speed towards the ground.
My head is still spinning.
I wanted him from the first moment I looked up and met his emerald eyes, but as Leila said, the only thing holding me back was my pride. His approach had been supercilious, callous, and arrogant. No wine, no flowers, no chocolates… That is not the way I prefer to transact with a man, but all that was before that kiss.
I have something he wants, he has something I want and if he is also willing to get my father out of the terrible mess he has got himself into, why not? This is a solution to all of our problems.
Thankfully, I believe this fire in my gut will burn out fast and since the basis of our relationship is purely physical it will then fizzle out without too much fuss. On his part he has so many women to choose from I am pretty certain this is a thing that will probably not even last a full month.
“So…” I say, “I have to make my decision within the hour.”
“Yes,” he replies. “Let me know your address and someone will come to pick you up.”
My heart nearly stops at his haughty tone, but it’s impossible to argue with him further because he turns and shuts the door behind him. It must have been pure adrenaline that kept me standing, but now that it’s just me in this filthy room, all my bravado and strength vanishes. All the strength completely leaves my legs and I stumble towards a chair and sit down.
Am I really going to do this? I ask myself, somewhat in shock. At that moment it all seemed reasonable, but now, in the silence of my own thoughts, it sounds insane. He is insane. We are both insane. I know my dad will be coming in like a rampaging bull soon, so I compose myself as best as I can.
There is a knock on the door. My heart jumps and I press my hand against my chest and watch as the door is pushed open, and my dad lurches in. He looks huge and blurry. There is a pitiful sadness in his eyes. Not at all like a bull. And just like that, what I had agreed to do, makes sense again. It will all be worth it if I can save my dad and get him back on the right path.