Page 125 of Vexatious Queen

Ren stalked toward me, her eyes fixed on my face, and my heart raced out of control in my chest. Why did it always feel like she could reach into my chest and touch all the parts of me that I’d purposely kept hidden? My body was practically vibrating by the time she reached me and took my hands.

“Does that make you happy?”

“What?”

“Does turning down the opportunity make you happy?”

My eyebrows drew together, and a bubble of anger rose.

“What kind of question is that? Of course it doesn’t. I want to go. I worked hard for that spot.”

“Then don’t give it up.”

She squeezed my hands, her eyes filled with love, but all it did was make me angrier.

“Did you not hear what I just said to you? I⁠—”

“I heard you, Nash. You have spent your whole life trying to stay alive. Planning to take over Collier Enterprises and the council to stop the abuse your father inflicted. Doing everything you could to be a great leader. But in doing so, you forgot about yourself and your needs. And don’t say that doing me does something for you,” she said, rolling her eyes and making me smirk.

Ren linked our fingers and dragged me over to the table, practically shoving me into a seat. She opened the envelope and pulled out the intense workout schedule before sitting on my lap.

“We can make this work because it is important to you. There are six of us in this relationship. You are not alone. You told me to lean on all of you. Well, the same goes for you and the other guys. We are a team, and we back each other up.”

“It’s not that simple. I can’t push my responsibilities onto anyone else. I need to hold myself to a higher standard.”

“No, what you need is to let us help you, and that includes my father.”

“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s already done so much for me.”

“Okay…why don’t we make a deal?”

I narrowed my eyes, hoping that my skepticism was evident.

“What kind of deal?”

She picked up the schedule and turned on my lap, so she was straddling me. If she was trying to distract me, she had gotten her wish. Gripping her ass, I pulled her closer.

“You were saying?”

“Do you trust me?”

“You know I do,” I said, and couldn’t stop myself from kissing her neck.

Ren tilted her head, giving me more room.

“Okay, then here is the deal. You’re going to call Coach Richards, apologize for the delay in responding, and accept your place on the team. Then you will start going to training and start thinking about what you want outside of running Collier Enterprises.”

My lips stilled.

“This isn’t sounding like much of a deal, more like an order.”

“I suppose it kind of is. But in the meantime, I will be in charge of your schedule. We will move what needs to be moved and delegate where we can. I need a project like this right now, and I happen to know all the players. On top of that…”

Ren wrapped her arms around me and softly kissed a line up the side of my throat to my ear.

“I’ll stay in here with you, one extra night a month,” she whispered, and that was it.

I would’ve agreed to anything she wanted. But that didn’t mean the negotiation was over.