Page 34 of King of Temptation

A warning? Or a claiming?

Maybe both?

Ugh. She really shouldn’t try to read into it. Not after he’d made it so clear he didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

But the way he’d growled Mine would live rent-free in her head for the rest of her days. Especially when she pulled out her box of toys.

Doing her best to ignore the pulsing between her thighs at the memory, she turned her head to glare at him. “How the hell was I supposed to know you were having a business meeting?”

His eyes darkened. “Do you really think this is a good time to get snippy with me, menace?”

“Since you’re being an unreasonable oaf, yes.”

The hand on the back of her neck tightened and she just managed to stop herself from whimpering. “Explain to me how trying to keep you alive is me being unreasonable.”

“It’s not. But expecting me to magically know you’re meeting with an actual criminal is.”

Another low growl met her ears as he leaned it. “If you’d been staying the fuck away like I told you to, it wouldn’t have mattered who I was having dinner with.”

Okay, well, she didn’t really have a leg to stand on there. “That’s not⁠—”

“It’s entirely the point, little girl. Are you finished?”

Looking down at her mostly empty bowl, she frantically searched for a reason to delay leaving the restaurant. Because even if she didn’t agree she deserved to be spanked, it was pretty clear from his tone that was exactly what was going to happen as soon as he got her home. “I want cheesecake.”

Silence greeted her pronouncement. “Cheesecake.”

“Yes. I’ve heard this place has the best cheesecake. I want some.”

“You’ve had more than enough sweets already today.”

Eyes narrowing, she turned back to him. “And how do you know that?”

One corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk. “I make it my job to know these things,” he said, parroting her earlier words back at her.

Asshole.

“Well, you’re not the boss of me, so I’m getting some damn cheesecake whether you like it or not.”

“Did I hear cheesecake?” Though her smile was looking a good bit more strained than it had been at the beginning of the evening, Bonnie was still doing a decent job at sounding delightfully perky as she bounced up to the table again.

“Yes.” Feeling more than a little sympathetic to the poor waitress, Goldie flashed a bright smile. “With the blueberry compote if you have it.”

“We do! I’ll bring that right out. And for the gentleman…?”

“Nothing for me, thanks. But we’ll be taking that cheesecake to go.”

Poor Bonnie’s smile faltered, and her gaze darted to Goldie who nodded once mostly to save the poor girl some stress. Looking relieved, Bonnie plastered her bright smile right back onto her face. “Sure thing. One slice of cheesecake with blueberry compote to go.”

“And the check when you come back,” Brody added.

With a sharp little nod, Bonnie hurried off, and Goldie once again turned to glare at her pseudo date for the evening. “Do you have to be such an asshole? She’s just doing her job.”

“Trust me, menace, you’ll know when I’m being an asshole.”

“I do know and⁠—”

“No. You don’t.” His voice was tight, but not the way it was when he was annoyed with her. It almost sounded like… regret. “You think you know so many fucking things, when in reality you’ve only scraped the surface. You’re smart, I’ll give you that, but there is so much more to our world than you could ever know.”