Beau was exact with his attention as always. At that moment, he addressed Johnny. “Are you sure you want to be here for this?”
Although reclined in his seat, tension emanated from Johnny. Lola had refused to sit down without him, but first she’d made Johnny promise not to let things get to the level they had last time they’d all been in the same room. “Just get started,” Johnny said.
Beau tapped the end of his pen once on the slim folder in front of him. “All right. Half the money will be deposited into your account by five o’clock the night of the arrangement. The other half will come once Lola has held up her end of the bargain.”
Beau’s formality made Lola’s stomach uneasy, but she was grateful for it. She didn’t think she could handle anything less tactful. “Exactly what does my end entail?”
“From sunset that night to sunrise the following morning, I own you.”
Lola schooled her expression. Inside, her heart was going a mile a minute. If anyone could own a woman, it would be the man sitting in front of her. “You own me,” she repeated. “Meaning what?”
Beau put his elbows on the table and played with his pen, twisting the cap. “You’re mine to do with what I please, excluding physical harm,” he said. “I want to be very clear—I have no intentions of making you physically uncomfortable or of hurting you in any way. This is meant to be a pleasant experience for us both.”
Lola was tempted to give Johnny a reassuring look when he shifted in his seat, but she kept her eyes on Beau as if he were a snake that might strike at any time. “Everything else is fair game?” she asked with an unnaturally straight back.
“Aside from anything that puts you at risk, the arrangement ensures that you give me whatever I ask for.”
“Not whatever,” Johnny said. “There have to be some limits.” He looked over at Lola. “There are some things she won’t do.”
“Johnny,” she said under her breath. She refused to go into specifics in a cold, stark conference room with her boyfriend and the man she was about to sleep with sitting across from each other. Johnny was right—she had limits. But she could handle Beau once they were alone.
“We’ve already covered the limits,” Beau said. “To everything else, there’s only one answer.”
“Yes,” Lola said.
Beau nodded once, looking pleased. “Exactly. Just like that.”
“How can we trust you won’t hurt her?” Johnny asked. His voice was already raised, bordering on aggressive. “Your word doesn’t mean dick.”
Beau switched back to Johnny and remained calm. “You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m well known in the business world. I have family members, investors, employees. If anyone’s taking a risk, it’s me.” He pulled a sheet from the folder under his hands and slid it across to Lola. “For that reason, I’ll need you both to sign a non-disclosure agreement. There’s a clause that if either of us strays from the agreement—including what I just said about physical harm—the NDA is null and void. That’s why you can trust me. I’ve worked long and hard to get where I am. I can’t afford to have my name attached to a scandal. My reputation is on the line.”
“Then why do this at all?” Lola asked. “Aren’t there more discreet ways of buying sex?”
Beau became even more focused on her. He set down his pen. “I’m not buying sex, Lola. I’m buying you. I’d like us to be one hundred percent clear on that. Are we?”
Lola found herself unable to meet his eyes for the first time. Being referred to as an object didn’t have the effect she thought it would. Instead of anger, she became acutely aware of the heat between her legs. He could have anyone. He wanted her.
“Are we?” Beau persisted. “If we’re not on the same page about that, I need to know now.”
She kept her eyes lowered as she looked to the side. Johnny’s head was turned away from her out the window.
“I understand,” Lola said.
“Eyes up,” Beau said.
Lola swallowed at his curt command. Her gaze traveled over the table’s surface, up Beau’s crisp, white shirt and its open collar, past his smooth-shaven jaw to his eyes. They were greener than ever with the window’s gray backdrop. “You’re buying me,” she said to him.
“Thank you.” His expression relaxed. “But of course there will be sex. For that reason, I’ll need you to get tested and bring the results with you the evening of our arrangement.”
Johnny snapped back to attention. “Come on, man.”
“That’s non-negotiable. I’ll do the same for you. Without that, there’s no deal.”
“It’s fine,” Lola said. “I’ll get the tests.”
“You have an appointment with my doctor after this,” he said. “Are you on birth control?”
Lola took her purse from the floor and set it on the table. She dug inside for her packet.
“I don’t need to see it.” He held up another piece of paper. “Because while I’d prefer we not have to deal with it at all, this signature absolves me of any responsibility should you get pregnant.”
Lola’s mouth instantly tingled. It was worse than being treated like an object. Things had happened so fast, she hadn’t considered the possibility of pregnancy. Her mind flitted over the past few weeks. She’d been diligent about taking the pill. She leaned over the table and slid the paper toward her.
Johnny sat perfectly still. “I wouldn’t worry about the responsibility,” he said. “She gets pregnant and I’ll kill you. Problem solved.”
Lola stared at the paper in front of her, which was only one page, concise and to the point.
“Then we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Beau said. “But I still need Lola to sign it. My lawyers would have heart attacks if they knew I was doing this without them. I prefer not to involve anyone other than us. We can if you’d like, though.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Lola couldn’t think too hard about what she was signing or she might lose her nerve.
“If you don’t deliver your end of the deal,” Beau continued, “I’ll be forced to come up with ways of righting the situation. I don’t want to resort to that, but I haven’t gotten this far in business without doing things I don’t like.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t thought this through,” Lola said.
Beau smiled reassuringly. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just squinted at her. “Are you all right?”
Her body had undergone about a hundred different reactions in the last twenty minutes, from shame to arousal to indignation. Was she all right? She couldn’t be sure, but she wasn’t Beau’s responsibility. No matter how much he paid, she would never be his to hold and comfort and reassure. She raised her chin a little. “I’m fine.”