“Over my dead and squawking body will I let you pay.”
“Here are your phones,” Helix says, sounding nervous. He should be. Shots have been fired, our voices are raised, we’re engaging in the stare down of a lifetime, and with one wrong move, this powder keg of a date will explode. “I’ll just set them down here.” He slowly places the phones on the table, careful not to disrupt anything, and then cautiously backs away.
Smart, smart man.
“Fine.” I let go of the check but reach into my purse to pull out a few twenties. I set them on the table. “There, paid my half.”
“Pick that fucking money up right now. You’re not paying.”
“Why not? I can afford it. Your brother pays me pretty well.”
“This isn’t a money thing.”
“Then what is it?” I counter. “A pride thing?”
“Yeah, I always pay for a goddamn meal when I take someone out on a date.”
“Well, you didn’t take me out on a date, as this was an unfortunate coincidence. This was a loathsome, mind-numbingly pitiful tryst. Trust me, if this was a real date, it would not have gone like this.”
“If this was a real date, I would’ve bent you over this table and spanked your ass for the way you’ve spoken to me.”
My eyes widen. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” He picks up my twenties and stuffs them into his pocket before pulling out two, one-hundred-dollar bills and dropping them on the table. There’s no way dinner cost that much. Not even close.
Always trying to show off. Ugh, pretentious prick.
Everyone, please offer JP applause: he has money, good for him. Clearly, he wants to make a show of it.
But back to what he said. “That’s outrageous behavior. No one spanks women these days.”
He stands from the table and buttons his suit jacket. “Clearly you haven’t been with the right men.”
He walks over to me and holds out his hand to help me up from my chair. I smack his hand away and stand myself.
“I’ve been with perfect gentlemen, thank you very much.”
“And there’s your problem,” JP says, leaning in. “A perfect gentleman isn’t going to make you come the way I can.”
He’s so close I can practically feel the heat coming off his body. It warms me and simmers at the base of my stomach, causing a flash of heat to pulse through my body for a mere second, reminding me of that initial attraction on the day I met him. But just as fast as it arrives, it flits away.
“Don’t flatter yourself, JP.” I start to walk past him, but once again, just like in the conference room, he pauses me with a hand on my hip. He leans in close to my ear.
“I don’t need to flatter myself when it’s facts. If you were in my bed, you’d forget your name, your cunt would be begging for my cock, and your voice would be hoarse from crying outmyname repeatedly.”
I hate to admit it, but I can see it.
I can feel it.
What it would be like in his bed, him hovering over me.
He’s demanding.
Controlling.
Doesn’t let up until every last inch of my body has nothing left to give.
Even whispered, there’s demand in his voice and, I can feel how it would be.
