“No, I live for the game. The question you have to ask yourself this very moment is—are you ready to play again?”
Her eyes narrow. “I’m up for a second round.”
I grab her hair and violently jerk her head back. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
I blink in surprise when she slaps me across the face.
“Bravo. One point for Cin.” I swing her around, sliding my arm over her slender neck.
I lead her to the row of colorful dresses. “Which do you prefer to wear? I’m partial to the blue one.”
“I don’t want to wear a damn dress.”
“I rarely see you in one, so today you’re wearing a dress whether you like it or not.”
Not happy with my response, she reaches up, grabs two fistfuls of my hair, and yanks me forward.
I apply more pressure to her throat. “Be a good girl and let go.”
She accepts defeat and drops her arms to her sides after a few minutes of struggling to gain freedom.
“Which one, sweetheart? We really do have to get going,” I say sweetly, as if we’re a normal couple heading out to Sunday brunch with friends.
“The purple,” she grits out.
I pull the blue dress from the hanger. “You can wear the purple one tomorrow. Are you going to dress yourself, or will I have to do it?”
“I’ll do it,” she snaps.
I dangle the dress in front of her. “Here you go.”
She snatches it from my grasp. “You can let me go now.”
“Victory is mine,” I say, heading towards the bedroom. Before clearing the doorway, I glance over my shoulder. “And, Cin?”
“What?” Her eyes shoot daggers at me.
“No panties.” I wink at her, just to piss her off more. “How about round three later if you’re feeling lucky?”
She picks up a shoe from the rack housing dozens of pairs and throws it at me. I quickly dart out of the closet. When Cin starts to get under my skin, stirring emotions best left dormant, I tip the scale, upsetting the balance and pulling us further from the peace we could have together. I want to trust her again, but my pride stops me.
What an eventful morning. My head has yet to stop spinning from the unexpected turn of events. Art bought me a fucking house. My reservations evaporated once he pointed out the benefits for Sebastian. For the first time he’ll have his own bedroom, and God knows I’m beyond thrilled at the prospect of privacy. After leaving the house, we went to a business meeting at the headquarters of a construction company. Art plopped a laptop in front of me and instructed me to take minutes. I tried my best to be thorough, but the notes are terrible. Being an assistant is obviously not my forte. It wasn’t hard to decipher I didn’t belong among the attendees. To make matters worse I couldn’t stop squirming because of my sore ass. The pain along with sticky thighs was a reminder of our fucking an hour before, making it difficult to concentrate. The meeting was long and boring, but it was interesting to learn Art plans to build a few more Falcon locations in Florida. The executives put on a good show, driving home the pros of Art selecting their company for the upcoming projects. Thankfully, after several excruciating hours, the meeting finally ended. Art gave me a few action items to complete as we left the building.
Now we’re at a fancy Japanese restaurant. I’m out of my element here too, having never eaten this type of food, so Art decided for me. He ordered the food in Japanese, so I have no idea what’s in store. He tried to coerce me into trying caviar, but I vehemently refused.
“Woman, stop fidgeting,” Art barks from across the table.
“I’m certainly not doing it for my own enjoyment,” I snap.
“Using that tone of voice with me will get you another spanking.”
“Jackass,” I mumble under my breath.
“What’s that?”
“Oh nothing,” I say, fluttering my eyelashes and rubbing my chin with my middle finger.
He notices my gesture. “Cute.”
