“I don’t care where we eat,” she responded, ignoring the reference to his wildly inappropriate threats.
“What kind of food do you like? Give me something to work with, kitten.”
“Do I look like the kind of woman who’s at all picky about food?”
Stopping beside an older, black SUV, Austin moved his grip to her arm and spun her to face him. There was no mistaking the anger in his expression, and her bottom clenched as if it were anticipating the spanking he kept promising her.
“That sounds dangerously like putting yourself down, Katherine.”
“I suppose,” she managed past the sudden tightness closing off her airway.
“I’ve got half a mind to skip dinner altogether, take you to my place, and make good on my promise to turn that gorgeous ass of yours red.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Regret flashed in his eyes, and he loosened his hold on her arm. “You’re right. Not until you agree to it. But once you do, baby, that ass is all mine.”
Chapter 3
Katherine
“Why on earth would I agree to that?”
The corners of his lips curved up. “For starters, because it turns you on.”
“It absolutely does not.” The heat she could feel rising to her cheeks belied her words, and she prayed he couldn’t see her blush. Austin Barrick was proving to be the worst kind of temptation, all wrapped up in a sexy, funny, irresistible package.
“Liar,” he shot back good-naturedly. “Just think about it. For now, where do you want to go for dinner?”
“Wherever you’d like to eat is fine with me.” Another lie. She’d been looking forward to the juicy burger she’d promised herself to celebrate landing Austin Barrick as a client. Not that she would ever, in a million years, tell him that. His ego was already more than big enough.
Again, he raised an eyebrow at her, and something inside of her trembled at the implicit threat. “Is that ‘wherever’ as in, you really don’t care? Or is that ‘wherever’ as in you have something specific in mind and you’re going to make me play the guessing game until I figure out where that specific place is?”
She might not have been a supermodel, but Katherine Callahan had been on her fair share of dates. And not a single one of the men she’d been with had ever called her out like that, not even after months of dating.
It was embarrassing. And also hot as sin.
“Probably the second one,” she admitted sheepishly.
“Then I’d prefer for you to save us both the time and just tell me what you want. I told you that you could choose, and I meant it. Now, where would you like to go for dinner, Katherine?”
Her tongue seemed to swell to twice its usual size and she could feel the blush covering her entire body. Why was it so hard to just admit what she wanted? At work, she had no problem demanding what she needed to get the job done, but out here, in the dating world, it felt damn near impossible to just tell a man she wanted a freaking cheeseburger.
“Whatever you want is fine,” she repeated, trying to ignore the people trickling out of the building, sending curious glances their way.
The half-smile on his lips moved into a smirk. “Whatever I want. You’re sure about that?”
“Um, yes.” But something in the way he’d asked the question made her think they weren’t talking about dinner anymore.
“What I want, kitten, is you. You, under me, screaming my name.” He took a step forward and she backed up straight into the side of his SUV. Leaning in, he caged her in with his hands on either side of her head. “You, tied to my bed, so I can teach you how I feel about lying and self-deprecating comments. You, limp and boneless, after I make you come so many times you forget your own name. And maybe some Chinese takeout once we’ve gone a couple rounds.”
Her heartbeat roared in her ears and for a terrifying moment, she worried she might pass out right there in the parking lot. “Burgers,” she blurted out.
“There.” A bright, triumphant grin split his face. “Was that so hard?”
She shoved at his chest, but he barely moved. “Are you going to stand here and gloat or take me to dinner, Mr. Barrick?”
Still grinning, he opened the passenger door and helped her into the SUV. She had about five seconds to take a couple deep breaths and get her wildly beating heart under control while he walked around to the driver’s side.