Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal) - J.C. Reed Page 0,24

think I’d believe you?”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “You trusted me with your virginity, and now I ask that you trust me once more.”

“You compare my virginity to your deception?” I laughed. “Nice try.”

“Please, Laurie.” He looked at me. “We still have a contract. I know you have feelings for me.”

I rolled my eyes. “You should really have been an actor, Chase, or should I call you Kade?”

He gave an exasperated sigh and stood. “I already told you my name’s Chase.”

“No, it isn’t.”

He cocked his head, his tone low and dangerous. “How would you know?”

“Because I do. I’d rather trust my instincts than you.”

“Well, you have your information wrong,” Chase said coolly.

My mouth clamped shut. I eyed him cagily, my thoughts racing.

If Chase was his real name, then that could mean that things might still be the same between us. He was still my husband. We were legally married.

“Look, Laurie. I owe you an explanation,” Chase said, interrupting my disturbing trail of thoughts. “It’s one of the reasons I came here to see you.”

I shook my head as I remembered my resolve. “I’m not interested in your reasons. What matters to me is that you lied to get close to me. That was all I needed to know.”

He frowned and something flashed across his handsome face. “Aren’t you the slightest bit interested?”

“I am. In fact, I’m very curious,” I said. There was no point in denying the obvious. “I’m just not interested in hearing more of your lies. Seeing that you lied once, how can I possibly trust your words again?”

“You have no guarantees. You’ll just have to believe me.”

Nodding, I smiled grimly. “That’s true, but I’m not willing to do that. So stop asking me to meet with you. Because I won’t.” My voice broke and I cleared my throat to get rid of the lump lodged inside. “I won’t get involved with you again.”

“I don’t believe you.”

I laughed, the bitterness creeping into my tone even though I didn’t want him to see just how affected I was. Somewhere at the back of my mind, countless alarm bells went off, and bitterness settled in my chest.

I got up, my thoughts racing, my heart breaking as I spoke the words I had prepared.

“It was just sex, Chase,” I whispered. “We fucked. We had a good time. And then I left. People do it all the time. Get over it. Maybe last night I was ready to repeat the experience with someone else, and the guy just wasn’t that into me.” I shrugged as I stared him down.

His blue eyes turned into icicles. If looks could kill, he’d have me pinned to the ground fighting for my life.

“I know you. You might be a lot of things, but you’re not that.” His voice came low, definite. I had never seen him so angry. Then again, his anger was no match for mine.

What the fuck was ‘a lot of things’ supposed to mean? And why not ‘that?’

How could I fight against his overconfidence when it became a lost battle the moment I let him be my first?

How could I fight with myself when my feelings pushed me to do things my mind didn’t want to?

“You don’t know me at all, Chase,” I reminded him.

“I believe I know you better than anyone else,” he said coldly. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but when we were stuck in that elevator, you told me secrets you’ve never told anyone else.”

My jaw dropped, and then closed again.

My whole being was on fire, twisting, shaking, as I watched him stand.

“Get dressed, Laurie. I’ll pick you up for lunch in an hour.”

An order. Cool. Composed.

Fuck it. He was hot as hell.

I stared at him. “Why do you think I’d ever do what you say?”

“Because you want to get rid of me.” That rendered me silent. “I’ll only leave after telling you why I did what I did. Beside bailing your pretty little ass out of jail, it’s the least I can do for you.”

“I didn’t need your pity. I’d have—”

“Stop being difficult,” he cut me off and wrapped his arms around me, pressing me against him, so close I could barely breathe. “I owe you an explanation, okay? So you’ll get one. And then, only then, I’m going to leave because that’s what you want. Deal?”

I drew a sharp breath, ready for another snarky reply, but no words came out.

His words had affected me in more ways than I cared to admit.

No, scratch that.

His presence pulled at all my