Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
I realize I’m not breathing, but it’s his fault. He took all the air out of the room when he entered and barely left any for me. No fair.
He clears his throat, the polite veneer quickly vanishing, and I suddenly feel as if I’ve done something wrong. Have I? I suppose coming into his presence unbidden may qualify as unacceptable. Perhaps I was supposed to wait for a summons.
I brace myself, but he pauses, leaning casually against the side of an armchair. His voice drops an octave in warning. I haven’t replied to him yet. Oops.
“Who are you?” His tone is accusatory, as if he only talks when necessary, and it’s my fault I made him do it.
“Violet.” I blink in surprise at myself. No one unnerves me. Why does he? With a deep breath, I stand taller and remember who I am. I square my shoulders and steady my voice. “Violet Price.”
He doesn’t respond. Normal people would say something forced but polite, like, “Pleased to meet you, Miss Price.” But it seems he’s already used up all his politeness for today.
“And?” His gaze no longer polite, his eyes scour the length of my body, lingering at the show of cleavage at my chest, moving quickly down my bare legs, then back to my face. He doesn’t even pretend he didn’t sneer at the dust on my shoes or my worn bag, or even bother to hide the fact that he just undressed me with his eyes, like it’s his right because I’m standing on his property.
I should be offended. I should be angry that he just… stares like that. But I’m not. Instead, the deep, dark recesses of my mind beckon with a whisper.
God, what a man like him could do to a woman like me.
What I could do to bring him to his knees.
I don’t like sex and never have, and yet…
Something tells me, he’d teach me how to enjoy it.
My cheeks feel hot. I clear my throat. It’s time for me to take back control of this situation.
“Are you Mr. Cain Master?”
He nods, one brief jerk of his head. “I am.” The sound of his voice feels like a liquid, sensual caress that skates across my naked skin, gently barbed with a prickle of heat.
I take in a deep breath. If he can skip the formalities, I can, too.
“Last night, my car was hit by someone I believe works with you. He totaled my car.”
No show of surprise or reaction. No apology. He knows, then.
“Right,” he says with a bored sigh. “You’ll be fully compensated for any damages to your car or medical bills.” He pushes off the side of the armchair and turns away from me. “Please leave your contact information before you leave.”
I’m… dismissed?
He’s given me the small amount of time he’s reserved for interruptions, and now he has to go do manly, important, adult things.
How dare he?
“While I thank you for that, Mr. Master, covering damages caused by the guilty party is a given, and certainly not worth my time in coming to see you. Clearly, you’re a man who values his time, so I won’t waste it. That’s not why I’m here.”
He turns back to me, that fiery anger stoked in the depth of his eyes again with a warning I should heed. But there’s something else I see that keeps my feet locked in place, holding me back from sprinting right out that door and leaving the way I came before he skins me alive.
He’s curious.
Danger, my mind warns me. The man probably has enough room right here on this property to bury my body, and no one would ever even know.
Yeah, my mind went there, but after reading what I have about him, I can’t help it.
His voice is a low rumble that borders on a drawl, challenging me.
“Then why are you here, Miss Price?”
The better question is, why does the way he says my name, drawing each syllable out like it’s an act of foreplay, make liquid heat pool at my core? My skin shouldn’t feel this tight. My breath shouldn’t be this ragged.
“I looked you up when I got home. It started because I wanted more information about the man who hit my car, and what I found out about him led me straight to you.”
Is that a glimmer of amusement in his eyes? No… it leaves so quickly, I wonder if I imagined it.
I clear my throat. I have his attention, so it’s time I stop circling around him. It’s time I go in for the kill. “And you’re the man who could help me.”
As he turns more fully to me, I watch the way his muscles bunch with tension. He raises his brows, a physical admission that I’ve interested him. When he crosses his arms over his chest, I realize he has muscles in places I didn’t know even had them.