He met her gaze without dissembling, sure and confident. Unapologetic.
His cool attitude fostered the same in her plus understanding. Her family…
She gave a curt nod and applied her attention to what was essentially a legal document between lovers. If she signed, she was agreeing to become his lover for— “One month?” she queried. “Why a month? We’re talking a weekend.”
“I don’t think two days will be enough.”
Her stomach did a little shimmy—excitement or fear. Laura wasn’t certain. “We could amend and initial the agreement.”
“I’d prefer to leave it as is. You might start to act crazy once this weekend is over and say I initialed the agreement afterward. I don’t want to give you reasons to dispute this contract at a later date.”
“I thought men were the ones who enjoyed uncomplicated.”
“A month is the perfect length of time to explore each other. I’m kind of bossy. I’d want you to submit to my every whim.”
Wait. “I’m not a submissive.”
His gaze speared into her, hard and compelling. “Why don’t we explore the possibilities and see? Aren’t you curious about how good we’d be together?”
The wretched man had an answer for everything. “So you’re saying you want me for a month?”
“I want to do things properly.”
Laura resisted her urge to roll her eyes—a difficult assignment. None of what had happened today was appropriate. Propositioning a man—the enemy—certainly wasn’t proper or dignified. Heck, it didn’t even rate as smart. But something in him called and goaded her to the shocking. “How do we continue this contract after the weekend is over?”
Maybe sheshouldlet him act the instructor. She might learn something.
“You could do a trial period as my new admin person. I’ll give you a basic wage. We can spend some of our nights together.”
She thought about it, nodded. His offer of a job was the deciding factor. “If the job works out, you’ll keep me on? You wouldn’t fire me after our month ends?”
“I’ll judge you solely on your merits. If you’re as good as you say, you won’t have any problems. What about your family? What would they think of you working for the enemy?”
“I can deal with my family.” If she told herself that enough she might come to believe. She lowered her eyes to read the document again. It seemed fair, straightforward. “Do you have a pen?”
For an instant, she thought she saw surprise flicker across his face, but it was gone so swiftly she decided she’d imagined the emotion. He stood, grabbed a pen off the kitchen counter and returned to her side.
She took it, stared at the blank space mocking her before signing her name with a flourish. She offered the pen to him and watched him sign in bold strokes.
Let the games begin.
