When she reaches me, I slide my hands across the small of her back. She feels small and petite, her soft, warm body molded to my hands.
The first time I touched her, when I ran my thumb across her skin, the intense, primal need to have her took root. Something deep inside me began to chant, mine, mine, MINE. It’s growing more insistent with every second I’m in her presence.
“Are you saying what I think you are?”
“You’re being polite, Fabien,” she whispers. “And let’s be honest. If you pay me as much as you say you will, I have no need to work here anymore. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“So then… we would no longer be boss and employee, would we?”
I shake my head.
“There are few things I have to offer you. I save every penny I’ve earned. You know I’m not asking for commitment. But you’re offering me such a large sum of money, it only makes sense I offer you what I can give you in exchange. What I’m… well, what I’m good at.”
I cup her jaw. My voice is husky when I whisper, “Maybe we should see if we have chemistry first.”
“Chemistry,” she repeats with a slight nod.
I nod. “Chemistry.”
I guide her onto my lap so she straddles me.
The anticipation’s unbearable. My gaze falls to the inviting curve of her neck. Her luscious lips, gently parted. I move my hand from her jaw to her neck. I thread my fingers in her hair and guide her close to me.
“Good thing I brushed my teeth when I woke up,” she whispers.
“Same.” I flash her a smile and sweep my lips across hers so gently it’s only a whisper. I want to savor the anticipation. My eagerness and hers.
Our eyes lock as our breathing synchronizes. I draw her nearer, one hand on her neck and the other on the small of her back, pressing her closer. I can feel the rapid thud of her pulse. She shivers, the gentlest of tremors, and her eyes flutter closed.
I whisper in her hair, “Veux-tu m’époser?”
“Monsieur,” she responds with a breathy laugh, clearly amused. “You want to kiss me so badly you’d propose already?”
She thinks I’m joking. I’ll let her think that for now.
I sigh, as if dejected. “Je peux t’embrasser?”
“Yes, of course, we can start with a kiss.”
I love the way she relaxes into me. The way her hand on my arm sends a warm shiver over my skin. The way her lips part when they meet mine.
I want to crush her to me, feast on her, but I make myself tame my need. My lips touch hers like a whisper. I sink into the velvet warmth of her.
Her eager response sings through my veins.
I don’t want her to suspect me. I don’t want her to know that soon, I’ll offer her way more than her wages. I’ll pay her so much money, she’ll never have to work here again because she’s mine now, and I’ll have to kill any man who touches her after me.
So I pull back far too soon. I relish the little parting sigh she gives and hold it close to me as a reminder that she wants this. Wants me.
“So?” I ask.
There’s a faint glint of humor mixed with shock in her eyes.
“We have a deal.”
CHAPTER SIX
Nicolette
Two million dollars.
So what if he’s as dangerous as they say?
So what if he is obsessive or whatever? He’s willing to pay me that much money for one weekend.
A little voice in my head that warns me not to do stupid shit whispers there’s a catch, but he’s already said there isn’t. And after what I’ve been through and what I’ve done, I’ve gotten really good at silencing that little voice. Instead, I use the voice of logic and reason to convince myself this is going to work.
So what if maybe I looked up his net worth when I took a quick bathroom break? Suffice it to say, Fabien Gerard isn’t going to miss that money. Hell, I’m here for it. Caviar, champagne, a home in Paris I can go to for the weekend?
Too good to be true.
My mother always said, as the saying goes, if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. But don’t I deserve something to go my way for once?
I know that if my own voice of reason doesn’t win out, the other girls will have something to say about this, so it seems the proper course of action under these circumstances is to maybe avoid talking to the girls.
So I take the roundabout way to get to my room. I grab my phone to shoot a quick text to my sister, when I notice two little notifications. Disappointment settles in my belly when I see neither of them are from him.
Gwen:
Hey, how are you today?
Cosette:
Hey, I went up to your room to check on you but you weren’t here. Where are you? You okay?