“Yeah, all right, she’s really fucking hot.” Better, Dominic.
“You two would make quite the pair. It looks like you’re in fantastic shape, if you don’t mind me saying. Do you work out, play sports?”
Good. Regan used the code to communicate that he was attractive when she dropped the sports mention.
“No sports. I’m more into lifting. So, how does this work?”
She paused. “You haven’t been to the club before?”
“No.” Dominic took a step closer. “I almost didn’t come in. This place didn’t look like I expected it to.”
It wasn’t all that much of a lie, and I appreciated the detail. He was doing a decent job of selling it.
“Well, I’m glad you did. Is that beautiful Jaguar out front yours?”
“Sure is.”
I could hear the fucking smile in his voice, and it was insanely difficult not to jolt against the restraints or call him out. Oh, he was going to get it when these straps were off.
“Nice,” she said. “Fifty thousand.”
He gave a sharp noise of surprise. “Are you asking if my car was fifty thousand dollars, or is that the price—”
“It’s for her.”
Holy shit, what the fuck was Regan doing?
“That’s . . . too much.” He stumbled over the words, as if he wasn’t sure what was going on. Yeah, me too.
“You’re saying you don’t think she’s worth that?”
A frustrated sigh slipped out. He’d told me long ago the negotiations made him queasy. He didn’t like assigning a dollar value to me. This was supposed to be fun. Pretend. Her question made it a little too real.
“I’m saying . . . I’d feel more comfortable paying five.”
Her heels clicked as she glided closer to him. “I understand.” Her warm hand rested lightly on my ankle. The indication that she thought he was willing to pay a lot more, which he had agreed to once.
Her hand squeezed, prompting me to respond. I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, she’s not willing to accept the offer. Would you like to try again? How about sixty thousand?”
“What? That’s more.”
I couldn’t understand what her game was, and broke the rule about staying quiet. I tried not to hiss it at her. “What are you doing?”
“Joseph told me to try to get as much out of the client as I could.” Her direct voice was stunning. “I believe this man would pay every last cent he had for you.” Oh my God. “Am I wrong?”
The question seemed to be for Dominic. He sighed. “Nope.”
“You’re her boyfriend?” she asked.
“Fiancé.”
“Fuck,” I said, squirming against the straps. “What tipped you off?”
“Lots of things. He didn’t look at your tattoo, which is interesting, so that made me think he’d already seen it. There’s no security on the premises, which says Joseph trusts this man with you.” She paused. “Also, I could tell he lied about the car. Even if I couldn’t, it was too much coincidence. I saw the Jaguar logo on your keyring as you were going through your purse upstairs.”
A feminine hand was on my wrists, tugging at the Velcro.