Page 5 of Dancing With Temptation

Unlike the night before, she thought as her face blanched. Hopefully, she wouldn’t find herself with even more problems as a result of that night. She’d taken her birth control pill, so hopefully, that would protect her from pregnancy, at least.

“You mean I have to use condoms?” He asked with a nod. “I have no problem with that. Or with agreeing to whatever terms you set.”

“Don’t be so quick to give in, Lincoln. This is a negotiation. I’ll be asking for more than you’re paying me now, for instance. You have to be sure you’re getting your money’s worth out of the deal.” She smiled at him, knowing he’d agree to whatever she demanded. He wouldn’t have asked her to teach him anything if he hadn’t wanted her as more than his PA.

So long as their relationship remained secured in a contract, she’d give him everything he wanted and more. Maybe life would return to normal after the contract ended, which reminded her. “How long do you want me for?”

“I, what?” He was confused again, his brows together.

“How long do you want the contract to last? A month? A few months? A year?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about that, really.” His gaze became distant, as if he was considering how long it would take to get her out of his system.

“Alright, how about I print out one of my generic contracts and you can look it over, see what you want to change before we go any further? There’s a printer in your office. I’ll just send one from my cloud to the printer and you can look it over.” She held up her phone and he nodded.

“That sounds good.” He breathed a sigh of relief that she heard, even if he tried to hide it behind his hand as she left the room.

There was a bounce to her step as she walked into his office to retrieve the papers she’d already sent to the printer. This might not be a good idea, but she needed work. Work that wouldn’t have her out in the public eye and was…private. Privacy was paramount in arrangements like this, by nature. Although the contract would not be notarized, she would be able to use it if problems arose later, not that she thought Lincoln would become problematic, but still. The protection was there if she needed it because she’d learned long ago not to always trust people. People broke your heart and bled you dry if you let them.

A contract with Lincoln would be a solution to her money problems and her need to be out of the limelight while Nathan was on the run, hiding from people that were after him and her too, if the things Wendy had said meant anything.

Wendy had brought her car over earlier, along with her bike, worried the whole time that she’d been followed. She was nearly in tears by the time Roxie poured her into a cab and assured her everything would be alright. Roxie wouldn’t let her friend worry that she’d led those fucking thugs to Roxie’s door.

The security fence around the place and the presence of another human being might protect her while she was with Lincoln, but she still had to be careful, she decided as she walked back into the kitchen. But first, he had to be aware of exactly what was going on. She was the one that sighed this time, sitting across from him with the papers in her right hand.

“Before I give you these papers, do you understand that Nathan is still out there, that he’s threatening me, and that there are men after him that might just be after me as well?” Her left eyebrow lifted but he only smiled back at her.

“I know that, Roxie. I, uh, I had a guy watching your place last night. That’s how I knew you were in trouble.” He confessed, reminding her that she’d meant to ask him that very question.

“Oh, right. Well, that brings me to question two. Do you understand that Nathan or those other people might also be after you because of me?” She didn’t hesitate to ask.

“Of course.” He answered quickly with a nod of his head. “I know what I’m getting into, Roxie. I’m not a complete innocent in all things.”

“Alright. Have a read of this then. Keep in mind, it’s generic, you can add or take away whatever you like. I’ll have a read over what you propose later, and then we’ll go from there.” She handed him a pen from her bag and stood up. “I packed everything into my car before I came over, in case Nathan or the goons followed Wendy to my place. I didn’t want anything else of mine being destroyed. I’m going to grab a couple of bags to leave here if that’s alright with you? I know they’ll be safe here.”

“That’s fine.” He mumbled, his eyes on the papers, his finger tapping the pen against his lips as he read. At least he was taking it seriously, she thought as she left the room and headed out the back door. The day was warm already, but the breeze off the ocean was nice.

Roxie stood on the porch looking out beyond the security fence. She could just see over the top of it and spotted waves crashing against the shore. Not a bad place to hide out, even if she had to teach the man inside how to use a room he’d asked her to create. It might be fun, it usually was, and at least she kind of liked Lincoln. Even if he’d teased her mercilessly when they were kids.

That was a million years and a hundred lifetimes ago, or so it felt. He wasn’t the same boy he’d been back then, and she certainly wasn’t the same girl. She could treat this as nothing more than it was; a business arrangement. Which reminded her, he had a man keeping an eye on her last night. That meant she’d get security as well as money out of the arrangement. She dismissed the small alarm she felt over knowing he’d had security watching her all this time. That’s how Lincoln operated, keeping people around him safe. And, if he proved a worthy student, she might get some good sex out of it as well. Not a bad arrangement at all, really.

3

Lincoln

“I don’t understand what this is, Roxie.” Lincoln put the papers down on his kitchen table and stared at her in the morning sunlight.

The purple hadn’t washed out of her hair yet, he noticed, when the sunlight turned the strands into amethyst slivers. He liked it, even if it was unconventional for most of the women he’d spent time with in the past. But it was just another thing to like about her.

Her wry smile shouldn’t be infectious, but still, he smiled back as he looked at her.

“Then I’ll explain it to you.” She took the collection of papers from the table and started on page one. “Here we name ourselves, the length of the contract, and what terms are acceptable for breaking the contract.”

“Such as?” He asked blandly, trying to sound as nonchalant as she did.

“Do you mean the acceptable conditions for breaking the contract early?” She shrugged and glanced up at him to catch his nod before looking back down at the papers. “You don’t like the way I teach, for example. Or you find someone you want to be faithful to, or you just get bored with the whole thing. I will be paid in full, however, no matter the conditions. Once you sign this, you owe me the full payment.”

“Alright.” He agreed with a nod of his head. Money was no object for him. He’d pay her whatever she asked. “What else?”