as many times as I wanted. He’d worship me, beg for me, and never once think he could outmaneuver me like he thought he was doing now.
“You don’t know a thing about me, Noah, and I doubt you have the patience or stamina to figure me out.”
“All I need is one night. Let me take you out, prove I’m better than the rest.”
“So persistent.”
“Always, especially when I see something I want.”
No mention of what I might want. God, he was selfish. Yet, I humored him anyway. “And what is it you want?”
He lifted a brow. “Are we being honest?”
I held his stare, unflinching. “Why not?”
“Fine. I want to strip you naked and lick every gorgeous curve of your body. I want to hold you by your hair as you swallow my cock. And when your shoulders tense and your eyes water, I want you to look up at me with that determined look I see now, and I want you to show me you can handle every last inch of me. I want to fuck your tits, your cunt, and your tight little asshole. I want to make it so good for you, there’s never a doubt in your mind that I’m the best you’ll ever have. And then, I want to sleep with you, naked and soft, worn out from everything I did to you, everything you begged me to do. Then we’ll wake up and do it all over again until my skin smells like yours and you’re wearing a rosy glow of whisker burn, come, and me.”
Keeping my expression blank, I glanced toward the elevator as if the political correctness police were going to storm the hall at any second after that little speech. My breath shook as it filled my lungs. No one had ever said anything so graphic and arrogant to me. I wanted to smile at his boldness, then punish him.
It was not only improbable, it was also the exact opposite of what I liked, so why the hell was I breathing so fast? He was rattling me.
This game had to end. I moved my mouth to speak, but my voice had dried up. Clearing my throat, I straightened my shoulders and looked him directly in the eye, whittling all my excuses down to the sharpest point.
It was time he understood how impossible his fantasies were. “Poor Noah. You can’t afford me.”
His brow furrowed. “Afford you?”
His glance took another perusal of my attire, and he cocked his head as if something occurred to him. I endured his inspection, awaiting and dreading the moment the light bulb flickered on. As a private person, my career choices had always been personal. After my mother’s latest episode, I hardly felt like shouting my profession details from the rooftops.
His posture relaxed, and his hands burrowed back in his pockets, a knowing smirk now teasing his lips. “I think you underestimate the size of my … bank account.”
An unexpected ache formed in my chest. On some level, he comprehended my confession when I’d hoped his first response would be disbelief or denial. But he seemed to understand what I’d admitted and hadn’t batted an eye.
His acceptance that I came with a rather large price tag withered something inside of me. My confidence staggered and my pride flinched. His cocky assumption that he would have me—no matter the price—released an unpredicted pain in my chest I wasn’t prepared to process. He didn’t realize some things were not for sale, but damn the assumption in his eyes for hurting me so.
I guess I looked like a whore to him. It shouldn’t matter how he saw me. Hiding my disappointment, I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced my emotions out of the way.
Keep it light… “I’m pretty sure your account is much smaller than what I’m used to.” If he wanted to treat me like an object, I’d treat him like the chauvinist dickhead I believed him to be.
He arched a brow. “Name your price.”
Why did this keep backfiring on me? Time to be firm. “You’ll never be my client.”
“Is that what you call them?”
I shrugged, trying to situate my indifference and gracefully escape the conversation in one piece. But something was off, and I had about as much grace as Cinderella’s sisters trying to casually slip into a glass slipper.
Irritated that he’d knocked me off balance so easily, my words became terse. “It’s business. And I’m the one with the final say. Now, if you’ll get out of my