Black Jack (Advantage Play #5) - Kelsie Rae Page 0,25

There’s an underlying edge that makes me feel like I’ve been backed into a corner. Like no matter how I answer this question, I’ll still be screwed.

“Do you want us to touch?” I return with the same indifference, forcing myself to hold her gaze when I really want to take in every inch of skin she has on display. I mean, if she’s offering….

That familiar coy smile flutters just beneath the surface as she toys with the hem of her short dress. “Men like to touch me.” Her upper thighs play peekaboo like a damn peep show.

“I’m sure they do,” I growl in response.

“Would you like to touch me?”

I clear my throat, then tear my gaze away from her silky skin and glance back at her almond shaped eyes. My gut clenches. She’s played this game before. Like it’s a bartering chip or a ploy to get something she wants.

Hell, I’ve seen it in the interrogation room firsthand. Dangle the carrot, then make them jump through a hoop or two with the promise of reaching said carrot.

The question is…what the hell does she want from me that she doesn’t already have?

And just like that, the spell breaks.

“What do you want from me, Bianca?” I sigh.

Her jaw drops. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you.”

“Excuse me?” she returns, just as lost as she was a moment ago.

“You know you’re gorgeous. You know I want to touch you. What I want to know is what you want.”

“I want you to take me home.”

I motion to the darkness encompassing us as we fly down the road. “We’re going home.”

“And I want you to let me suck you off.”

My head snaps to my right, convinced I’ve heard her wrong. “What?”

“For dinner. I figured I should probably thank you for it.”

“You don’t need to thank me. It was my way of apologizing,” I remind her.

This girl has lost her freaking mind. How did we just go from discussing our monogamous relationship to her sucking me off?

“And maybe you did such a good job apologizing that I feel the need to suck your cock,” she offers with a coy smile.

There’s that damn carrot again. My dick throbs at the prospect, but I shift in my seat and pull up an image of the septic system I had to clean out a couple years ago. It staves off the onset of the imminent blue balls that I know I’ll be sporting in a few more minutes if we keep this conversation going.

Scratching my jaw, I replay our conversation, then ask, “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Pretend you’re a thing to be used and that I’m a sick bastard who’s willing to take advantage of it.”

The cab of the car is almost silent other than the rumble of the engine as Bianca sits paralyzed beside me. Apparently, she doesn’t like being called out for whatever game she’s playing. I just wish I could understand why.

She takes a deep breath. “I don’t––”

“You do. You’ve done it multiple times, Bianca. And every time you do, your eyes dim, and the real you disappears into thin air. Is it some screwed-up defense mechanism? Is that it?”

“How dare––”

“Why do you keep offering sex when it’s clear the idea of going through with it disgusts you?”

Lips pinched, a very rigid Bianca shrugs one shoulder. “Who says it disgusts me?”

I twirl my finger a few inches from her face. “This. You. I’m not an idiot, Bianca, so stop treating me like one.”

“You might not be an idiot, but you’re still a man.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you only want one thing from me, and I’d rather use that to my advantage than wait for you to chew me up and spit me out like a used piece of gum.”

“That’s funny. From what I’ve heard, you’ve already been chewed up and spit out more times than I can count. Why not add one more time to your list?”

Regret pools in my stomach as soon as the shitty comment slips out of me.

Shiiit. We’ve been down this road before, but keeping myself in check when she’s an expert at pushing my buttons is starting to feel impossible.

I pull into the parking spot, then turn off the ignition. “Listen, Bianca––”

The passenger door slams before I have a chance to apologize. She marches to the front of our building, nods to the doorman, then disappears from sight. With my chin to my chest, I turn the car back on and shove it into reverse.

Seems I have