about him almost as much as I hate him.
I fold my arms across my chest. “Why was that funny?”
“Because you don’t know my ex. She doesn’t get jealous. She has no reason to. When we were married, I loved her with everything I had. I didn’t notice other women. I wouldn’t let myself. It was her and me against everything.”
“But not now?”
“No. Now I just want this over.”
His voice changes when he says over. It’s dark, deep, and broken. It’s final.
“Messy divorce?”
He doesn’t answer, which means yes.
“What do you want me to do then, if not make her jealous?”
“Anything I tell you.”
My cheeks blush as his cock twitches beneath me, making his words dirtier than they should be. I look away and try to compose myself. I gently blow air out of my pursed lips, and I expect him to make a dirty comment about how we should fuck, he knows it’s what I want.
But when I look at him again, he’s serious. His lips thinned, his cheeks plain, his eyes focused.
“What does anything mean? Can you give me some examples?”
“You will come to my office every day. Your formal title will be my assistant. I will then have you do anything I need. Bring me coffee, retrieve my dry cleaning, attend events with me.”
“Dry cleaning?” I eye his jeans and T-shirt. I doubt he even owns a suit.
He ignores my snarky remark.
“That’s it? I just get your coffee and go to a few events with you, and you will pay me—”
“I’ll pay you $250,000 over the next five months.”
My mouth gapes. I’ve never had that kind of money before. I knew he had money. He said millions.
“I never realized the strip club business was that lucrative,” I say when I get my voice back.
He chuckles and leans in like he’s going to kiss me but stops short. “It’s not.”
I suck in a breath. Never have I been so breathless. I need to go to the hospital when this is finished and get hooked up to some oxygen until I can breathe again.
“I will also guarantee you can continue your nursing degree in the spring.”
My eyes widen. “You can’t guarantee something like that.”
“I can with the donation I will be making to the school.”
Holy shit! He is rich, and he must really want me to work for him if he’s willing to donate money to the college.
“Shouldn’t you be doing that part for free since you’re the reason I got suspended in the first place?” Is what my smart mouth says instead of thanking him.
“No, you ran over my motorcycle. You denied me pain medications. I think if anything, you owe me.”
He’s right, but I’ll never tell him that.
“Why me?”
“You don’t think you are capable of getting me coffee?”
“I can get you coffee, but that is not what this job really entails. It’s not about getting you coffee. It’s about doing what you ask without question. And I’m sure most of the time I will just be getting you coffee, until…”
“Until?”
“Until the real reason you want to hire me. Until you ask me to do something illegal, dangerous, or sexual.”
“I would never ask you to do anything illegal.”
We stare at each other, neither of us blinking. But he would ask me to do something dangerous or sexual?
“Why me?”
“Because you are perfect for the job.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“That’s the only answer I’m giving you.”
“What happened to honesty?”
“I’m being honest. The job pays well, and you will hate me by the end of this, but you will have your life back.”
I frown. I don’t want his honesty anymore. This is a bad idea. The last time I dated a bad boy, it almost destroyed my entire family and me. I know he’s not asking me to date him, but he’s asking for me to be vulnerable, for me to trust him.
I’m not sure I can trust him, not when he isn’t honest with me. His words are the truth, but he’s hiding something. Something he isn’t saying. The real reasons he wants me to work for him. Something to do with his soon to be ex-wife.
“You’re young to have a wife.”
“I’m young to have millions sitting in my bank account too.”
I nod. “You’re not secretly a fifty-year-old man or something?”
“I’m twenty-four.”
I study him. He’s only two years older than I am, but somehow life has taken us on very different paths. I’m broke and about to do anything for money. He’s rich but desperate to get out of a bad situation. Money