She smiles, seemingly both at my halfhearted attempt at a joke and with fondness. “I’m so happy for you.”
“These deals? They’ll cement my place in the family I never dreamed I’d have—at least that’s how I feel. That’s why it’s so important to me.” In fact, I want it so badly I can taste it.
“When I asked you for a loan, I had no idea. I would never want to take that from you.” Then her expression turns contrite. “Oh, but you’ve put off all that because I dragged you into my mess, haven’t you? I’m so sorry.”
“I could have said no.”
She shakes her head. “Parker was determined to be a thorn in your side. I’m sure it made sense to deal with the problem before taking your next step.”
Doesn’t she grasp that it’s not about “the problem” anymore? It’s about her. Or does she not want to see that?
I should have known something was wrong when Hadley wanted my ring more than my heart. Am I falling into the same black hole again?
The rest of our ride home is silent. I have time to stew about the shit that’s going to hit the fan once I drop the Riley bomb.
Back at my place, I help her into the house and follow her to my bedroom. Since I have to be at the office in seven hours, I should go to bed. But I can’t procrastinate anymore. How do I say this?
In the shadows, she turns to me, looking anxious. “It’s late. You should probably sleep.”
Her voice says she wishes I wouldn’t. “What do you need?”
After I listen, I’ll tell her what has to be said and let the chips fall…
She looks down at her wringing hands, then back up at me. “I-I want to touch you. Are you too tired?”
My pulse and my hope leap. She wants me. That means something, right?
Yeah, she likes orgasms.
“For sex? Princess, I’d have to be dead not to want you.”
“No. You made me a promise earlier.”
“I did?” What the fuck am I forgetting? “Oh, to make you scream. Come here. I’m always happy to do that.”
Then I’ll tell her. Maybe another wrenching orgasm will soften her…
“No. I mean the something else you promised me.” She drops to her knees at my feet, looking up at me with beseeching eyes. Then she reaches for my fly. “You said anytime I want. Anywhere I want.”
Holy. Shit. Fire ignites my blood and razes through my veins. I swallow down need. There is nothing I want more than her mouth on my cock.
And until I give her the truth, there’s nothing I deserve less.
I grab her wrists before she lowers my zipper and I lose the will to be honest. “We should talk first.”
She scrambles to her feet, straightening her skirt as if smoothing down her incredibly short hem a half inch will somehow shield her from my rejection. “It’s fine. Never mind.”
“If you think for one second that I’d rather talk before you blow me, you’re wrong.”
“Then why did you stop me?”
I fucking wish I didn’t have to say this. I’d prefer a goddamn enema. “Tonight, at the club, Riley was in the crowd. I didn’t see him until you were seconds from climax.”
Her dark eyes flare wide. “And he watched me…”
Come? “Yeah. It was too late to stop.”
Panicked, she presses a hand to her chest like it will prevent her from hyperventilating. “He saw everything? You’re sure?”
I nod. “It’s why I carried you out. I worried if you caught a glimpse of him—”
“I couldn’t have held it together.”
Because she still has feelings for him—exactly as I fucking feared. But I shove down my frustration and spit out the rest. “He followed us out. After you disappeared into the ladies’ room, he and I exchanged words.”
She looks even more horrified. “What did he say?”
I draw the line at admitting he wants her back. My responsibility is conveying that he was a witness. I won’t be his messenger. “He wasn’t happy I treated you like, in his words, a whore.” I grit my teeth. “Don’t worry. I corrected him.”
She pales. “He said that?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, my gosh.” Her eyes fill with tears before she bolts.
“Corinne…” I lunge, managing to catch her arm in my grasp.
“Don’t! I-I can’t. It’s humiliating.” She twists free, running to my bathroom and slamming the door before locking it behind her.
Her first sob is a stab to my heart.
I growl out a curse and tear off my tie, flinging it across the room. Next, I toe off my shoes and kick them to a dark corner.
Of course she still has feelings for the bastard. I should have fucking known someone like her would go for the “nice” guy who behaves like a gentleman, who hasn’t slept with the entire cheerleading team his senior year merely to see if he could, and who would never get her off in public to give her brother a metaphorical middle finger.