Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Maybe she needed a hint of bad boy in her good man.
“David, I’m not going to start a relationship with you.”
He couldn’t help but grin because she couldn’t even say the words in a firm tone of voice. They’d come out shaky. Like he’d offered her something she wanted but knew she couldn’t have. “I understand. You’ve made yourself clear. You can’t have a relationship with me because of my jet-set lifestyle. I wish you could have seen my town house with its stunning views of the parking lot. When the wind is right, you can smell the fried chicken from the fast-food restaurant down the block. And you should meet my purebred cat. When I say Hamilton’s a purebred I mean he is one hundred percent grump. I didn’t even pay for my cat. He walked in one day and now he won’t leave. Like my brother.”
Her expression softened. “It’s not about money. I work with your brother. I work with a bunch of your family members, and that could make things awkward. I don’t need more awkward in my life.”
“And after this, you won’t have to see me again.” It was precisely why she was willing to sleep with him.
She frowned, and her arms crossed over her chest. “I didn’t say that. I’m sure I will, but we’ll both go in knowing that it isn’t forever, so we’ll be okay with each other. You don’t seem like a man who would get angry with a woman because things didn’t work out.”
“Is that what your fiancé did?”
“Not at all,” she said with a sad smile. “Our breakup was one of the easiest things I’ve ever been through. We were logical and practical and we’re still friends.”
“And that’s why you’re not married to him.” She was one of those people who thought logic could dictate the selection of a partner. Maybe in the work world it did. She was likely paired up with someone who was perfect on paper, and she thought that was how she should do it in her romantic life, too. “There’s not a lot that’s logical about love and passion.”
She took a step back. “Maybe this was a mistake. I was only trying to make things easy on both of us.”
He knew he could lose her if he pushed too hard, but he had to make a few things plain. “It’s definitely a mistake if all you want is a quick lay to prove I’m not really the man for you because I am, and I think you know it.”
She pointed his way. “I knew it. I knew there was an arrogant jerk behind all that nice-guy charm.”
There was always a jerk down deep. The key to being a good man was knowing how to resist the temptation to let the jerk roam free. “If I’m arrogant because I know I’ll be good for you, then so be it. You want to play it this way, then let’s go. Eddie doesn’t know I’m bringing a woman with me. I couldn’t get in touch with him before we left. Communication on the island can be hard. So that leaves us with some options. I’m telling him you’re my new girlfriend and we’ll stay together in one room. Every single night you’ll come to bed and we’ll play.”
Her jaw dropped, and she stood there for a moment. “Play?”
Oh, she hadn’t thought he was kinky. That was a surprise. Since he’d started training at The Club, he’d learned pretty much everyone had a kink of some kind. She’d thought she could ride the vanilla boy a few times and walk away with the full knowledge he couldn’t give her what she needed. “Yes, play, baby. As in I’ll tie you up and have you any way I want you, and you’ll beg me to do it again the next night.”
“You’re a Dom?” The question came out with what felt like equal parts horror and intrigue. “You don’t go to Sanctum.”
“Sanctum isn’t the only club in town.” And thank god for that.
She blinked a couple of times as though allowing herself to absorb the shock of what he’d said. “I wasn’t…I wasn’t thinking that we would have that kind of relationship. I was thinking we would just have sex.”
“So you don’t like D/s sex?” David asked.
She seemed to think about that for a moment. “Uhm, I do. I’ve been going to Sanctum for a couple of years. Ever since I started working at MT. I wasn’t expecting to have it with you.”
“Because I’m not the guy for you?” It was a theme with her.
“I guess I didn’t think you would be into it,” she explained. “You seem so…”
He could help her out. “Staid? Buttoned up? Intellectual?”
Her eyes flared as though she’d finally figured out how to deal with him. “What makes you think I’m a sub? Maybe I’m a top, too.”