Page 125 of Resist

“You don’t need to spoil me. I’m not with you for your money, Ryker.”

“I wouldn’t be here right now if I thought you were.” I suddenly need her alone. I want to show her that the life she wants no part of—my life—isn’t all that bad. Not every rich man is her uncle. Not every wealthy person uses others. “I was planning on going away to my house in the Hamptons this weekend,” I lie. Anything to get her there. “Go with me.”

“But I have to work.” I can hear the reluctance in her voice. Can hear the fear that she’ll feel out of place.

“Vaughn.” It’s the closest I get to pleading. “It’ll be just you and me. Privacy. The beach. A big bed.”

Her lips turn up in the softest of smiles. “I’ll see if I can get someone to switch shifts with me.”

“There’s my girl,” I murmur and bring her closer so I can show her my appreciation. “God, I want you.”

“What is it you want?” The sound in her voice would make me come in an instant if I were a teenager. Throaty. Sexy. Devastating.

“Oh, I get to make requests?” I remember the feel of her lips closing around my dick. The suction of her mouth. The sight of my come squirting all over her tits.

She leans forward and slides her tongue up the column of my neck, her boobs brushing against my chest, until the heat of her breath is at my ear. “Whatever you ask for, it’s yours.”

And goddamn if that’s not enough to make a man have fantasies for a lifetime.

“Anything?” I murmur as my fingers reach out and start unclasping that bra she just put back on.

“All you have to do is ask.”

Oh, I’m going to be asking, all right.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Vaughn

“That was fun, but I still don’t want you to go.”

“I know, Luce.” I pull her against me and hold on to her, knowing full well her feelings are hurt that Ryker and I are leaving without her. “But we had fun today, right?” I squat down and place her face in my hands so we’re eye to eye.

“Yeah,” she murmurs, and the straightening of her posture tells me that Ryker finally found a parking spot and is coming up behind me to say goodbye himself.

If she didn’t have a crush on him before, she most definitely has one on him now.

“Hey, speed demon. Next time, I promise you, I’m going to win,” Ryker says, trying to distract and divert after seeing how upset she was earlier from feeling left out of our trip.

“No, you’re not. I’m Lightning Lucy!” she says and lifts her arms in the air, so damn proud of the nickname Ryker gave her when he let her beat him in a footrace.

“You won’t even let me win once?” he asks as he sits on the bench beside me.

“Nope. You have to earn it,” Lucy says with a laugh but grabs his hand without thought. She looks at Ryker and then me. “Do you really have to go now?”

“Actually, you’re the one who has to go. Your music class is about to start,” I explain, knowing how much she loves her music and hoping it will make the goodbye a little easier.

Her sigh is heavy, and as much as it breaks my heart, I think of how awesome Ryker has been today. My only condition to heading to the Hamptons with him was that I had to spend a few hours with Lucy before we left.

Little did I know he was going to make it a jam-packed few hours. Relay races and ice-cream cones and blowing bubbles before going to feed the ducks.

“I promise you we won’t have any fun,” I say to Lucy, my “hang loose” sign pressed against my thigh. Her eyes flicker there for the briefest of moments before a soft nod of her head, and a smile I know she doesn’t feel ghosts her lips.

“And I promise I won’t miss you,” she says as her own hand mimics mine when she rests it against her thigh.

“And I promise when we get back, we’re going to take you to Disney on Ice,” Ryker says, eyes darting back and forth between the two of us. And then the minute he notices our two hands, he shoves his hand out onto his thigh in the “hang loose” symbol too.

Lucy giggles, and I welcome the sound because it’s so much better than the hurt in her eyes. “He doesn’t know, does he?” she asks me.