Page 74 of Resist

“Maybe that’s because you blackmailed me?” It’s so much easier to fall back on sarcasm than to acknowledge the shift here between us.

“True,” he muses, “so how about the next time you name where and when.”

“What? Why?” My immediate thoughts are out in the form of words before I can hide the fact that the thought unnerves me. And that I just might want that.

“Let’s just say because that’s what I require of you.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“We have a contract, Vaughn.”

“Who’s hiding behind the contract now?” I ask.

“I’m far from hiding. I’m using it without shame, so I’ll say it again. We have a contract, Vaughn.”

“Said contract is for me to attend your events, not for me to pick and choose what we do. Not for a date.” Panic claws at me momentarily. A panic laced with excitement that he wants to see me without rules or ramifications.

That’s what he means by this, right?

“Who said anything about a date? Can’t a man and a woman go out together and have a good time?”

“Not this man and not with this woman.”

His chuckle rumbles through the line, and I know he can read me. I know he knows that I feel a slight flutter in my belly at his proposition.

“It’s your call, Vaughn. Let me know a time and place and what you want to do.”

“Or else?”

“Or else it might be some time before I see you again.”

“What?”

“Good night, Vaughn.”

And he disconnects, leaving me hanging in his biggest power play yet. If I don’t give him what he wants, I don’t get to see him again.

If I give in, then I will.

He’s hedging his bets here that my stubbornness won’t win out and keep me from calling him.

Arrogant son of a bitch.

But there’s a faint smile on my lips as I hold my cell in my hand and shake my head. He can’t be too arrogant, though, since my mind is already trying to think of what I want to do.

I’m not sure how long I stand there reliving the past few weeks and trying to figure out why a man like Ryker—refined, complicated, unexpected—wants anything to do with me, and I jump when the doorbell rings.

My eyes flash to the clock, and I can’t believe I’ve lost that much track of time.

“Auntie?” Lucy calls out to me as she sits up from the couch, groggy but with a smile on her face.

“It’s just Joey coming to pick you up.”

“Can’t I stay? Please?”

“I wish you could. Soon. I promise you I’m doing everything I can to make sure that soon you won’t have to go anywhere.”

She looks at me with a skepticism that breaks my heart as I unlock and open the door.