Page 42 of Ravaged For You

“Is there anything else?” I ask her.

She pauses, biting her lip again. She doesn’t know, but it’s very adorable when she does that. “You must remain honorable,” she says finally.

I snort. “Honorable? What era are we living in, the Age of Chivalry?”

“This is a job for me, nothing more,” she replies, deadly serious. “And it should be the same for you. This is about restoring your reputation. This is about this contract and nothing else. Once this is all done, then it’s done. We’re back to being strangers, okay? This is just a job.”

“Gotcha. No need to repeat yourself.”

“So, are you fully agreed?” she asks.

“Yep.”

Maddie nods. “I’ll do it then,” she says. “This is utterly insane, but I will be your fake girlfriend, Axel Stoll. Where do I sign?”

“One last thing,” I growl. “One last condition of mine. I do not beg. I do not grovel. I do not get on my knees for anyone. You got that?”

Maddie looks at me. “I got it. Now let me sign the damn thing.”

20

AXEL

I stop Maddie by the door before she leaves Lucas’ condo. After we agreed to everything in the fake relationship and signed the appropriate papers, she immediately got up and announced she was going to head back to the motel and pack.

But I’m not done with her yet.

No girl walks out on me until I’m finished with her.

I take her by the hand as she reaches the front door, forcing her to stop and turn back at me. She’s got a glint in her eye. A hardness that makes me momentarily pause.

“What do you want now?” she asks me in a sharp whisper.

“I better get to know the girl I’m dating,” I reply back.

“You really want to do this now? In here, of all places?”

“Yes.”

She shrugs and lets go of my hand. “What do you want to know?”

Time to play.

“Well, we better understand things about each other only a couple would know in order to avoid suspicion. Trust me, those tabloid journalists are like vultures. They will descend on you the minute you show weakness. The whole fake relationship façade has got to work for any of this to be believable, and that means we’ve got to be able to pretend we’ve been on enough dates that we intimately know the other person. Are you ready for the onslaught to come?”

“Do I have a choice?” she asks me.

“Not really. You’ve signed up for this now. It’s too late.”

“Yeah,” she replies. “I already think I’m crazy for putting my name on the dotted line.”

“You’re doing this for the money, aren’t you?” I ask her. “That’s what you need, right?”

“Yep.”

“And you’re only doing it for the money?”

Maddie blinks. “What do you mean?”