Arrogant Bastard - Julie Capulet Page 0,22

our first headline act. If the deal goes ahead, that is.”

“No,” Luna says.

Josie gives her a shocked are-you-crazy glare.

“Josie could consider that offer for forty-nine percent,” Luna continues. “And we’d need to discuss how involved you’d be in the business.”

I meet Luna’s green gaze levelly. She’s fucking heart-breaking. Even sweaty and pink-faced from her work-out she’s stunningly pretty. It’s weirdly painful and hypnotic to look at her. “As I said, the fifty-one percent is non-negotiable.” I anticipated Luna’s hesitation. And I want this deal air tight. It’s not about the money, which I have so much of at this point I can easily afford to pay whatever it takes. So I play my next card. “But you’re right, maybe I’ve bid too low. Let’s make it six hundred thousand for Josie’s fifty-one percent. As far as my involvement goes, I’m planning on spending the next month in Key West.” Am I? Yes. I am. I need to get my fill, and this time it’s going to take longer than one night. That body. That face. Call me a deviant, I don’t care. I want her. She’s lit some kind of fucking bonfire in me that wants to be fed. “After that, I’ll be going back to Chicago.”

I have a fleeting thought that maybe … Luna will want to come with me.

What the fuck are you thinking, you asshole? You don’t sleep with women more than once, remember? You’ll have moved on by the end of the weekend. What are you even doing right now?

“Did you say … six hundred thousand dollars?” Josie murmurs. She has tears in her eyes, with relief, maybe.

Luna, however, has daggers shooting out of hers. “Why do you even want to buy into this business? That’s a crazy offer. I don’t trust you, Mr. –”

“Gage.” I try and barely succeed in holding back a wolfish grin—because I’m experienced enough to know when an offer is going to be accepted, even if it takes a little coercion—which I realize isn’t helping. She doesn’t trust me. And so she shouldn’t. “This could be a very profitable business. And I can help you take it there. Once it’s been refurbished and we’ve realized its full potential, I’ll go home to Chicago and you can be rid of me but still get the use of all my money.”

“You decided all this when you 'overheard’ our conversation yesterday?” Using air quotes with her fingers. The sprinkling of freckles across Luna’s nose gives me an odd craving. The color of her mouth infuses me with an unfamiliarly fanatical kind of lust that makes my heart lurch hotly.

Like it was when she was holding it in her hands.

But I somehow keep my cool, aside from one rock-hard detail. “Yes. As I said, I can see the potential. I’m an investor. I’m always on the lookout for businesses that are being underutilized.”

“Underutilized?” Luna says the word like I’ve insulted her. She pulls up one of the chairs and sits. I can smell her lightly perfumed scent, of flowers and fantasies I want to live inside. Just like I imagined, but far, far better because she’s real and sitting here right next to me. “What kind of investor are you?” As she bites gently on her plump bottom lip, my hard-on throbs painfully.

Fucking hell.

This is bad.

Very, very bad. “A successful one. My father taught me and my brothers when we were young, so I’ve had a lot of practice. I’ve bought and sold dozens of businesses. I know a diamond in the rough when I see one.”

Luna tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Even her ears are perfect. I’ll gently take the soft flesh of her earlobe between my teeth. I’ll lick and kiss her neck before thrusting my tongue into her luscious mouth.

Christ.

Her eyes narrow. “What’s your motive, Mr. McCabe?”

“My motive? There’s no motive, aside from making money, which I think we could, if we make the much-needed upgrades.”

“The answer is still no.” If looks could kill I’d be a bloody pulp on the floor right now.

Why is it that one woman I’ve really wanted—not just because I feel like getting laid but because she’s … Luna—doesn’t want anything to do with me? Is this some kind of twisted karmic retribution coming back to bite me in the ass after years of not giving a fuck about anything or anyone?

Strange things always happen to me around this time of year. My parents’ memories rev into high gear and mess with the usual