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So why should this be any different?

She tosses a smile over her shoulder then goes to her suitcase, pulls out her clothes, gathers her toiletries, and starts for the door. But before she goes out , she pauses, glances back at me again, and I see her smile has faded. “Are you⁠—?”

Her lips press together, the words cutting off, and she shakes her head again.

“What is it?”

“Are you sure you’re good with me going first?”

“Yeah, baby.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” she says.

“Take your time,” I tell her. “The less Ambrose together time we have, the better.”

“Right,” she whispers. “Less chance of third-degree burns.”

I chuckle.

She reaches for the handle.

“But that’s not what you were going to say, princess.”

A pause. Then, “It doesn’t matter.”

I toss the blankets back and stand. “I’m thinking it does. Is this about the deal we made?” I ask softly. “I know it was a dick move to demand you do the job yourself, know that I’m even a bigger dick than I previously thought since you were in a tight spot and I took advantage of that.”

“No,” she says as I move toward her. “I could have said no. You were pushy, yes. But you also made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“Like a mob boss,” I joke.

“Not quite.” But she’s smiling as she adds, “Like a typical annoying hockey player. I needed the money, otherwise I was going to have to make some sacrifices. I named a price that made it worth my while and then your ego made it very worth my while.”

I step closer, settling one hand on her hip, the other on the door.

She’s not wrong.

I could have had her for a mill.

But considering all I’ve learned about her, I’m glad my Asshole Ambrose energy had me giving her two.

“What sacrifices would you have had to make?” I ask, slipping my hand under her tank top and tracing my fingertips lightly over her skin, back and forth, back and forth.

“What?”

“You said you would have had to make sacrifices.”

A nod. “Yeah.”

“So what would they have been?”

She stiffens, ever so slightly, and I can almost feel the frost forming beneath my fingertips as a thin layer of her armor reforms. “I told you my landlord at Blue Line doubled my rent. That sucks, but I could make it work, even though it would have been tight.”

“That answers the why. But not what you would have had to give up.”

Her eyes slide away and she’s quiet for a heartbeat too long. “It’s getting late, Ace. I need to go shower.”

I tighten my hand on her hip, hold her in place. “What would you have had to sacrifice, baby?”