Page 27 of Twisted Lies

“He knows where your goat is tied,” I reply.

“My goat?” he asks.

“My mom says that,” I explain, “They can’t get your goat unless they know where it’s tied.” I glare sharply as Justin smirks. “If you say that’s quaint, I’ll kick your balls.”

He winks. “Quit talking dirty to me, sweetie.”

I laugh as he locks the books up. “I have copies of the pages on my phone. I back up everything. We can sit down, and I’ll show you.”

The private room is uncomfortable, as if I’m trespassing, and I wander back out into the warehouse and look up at the catwalk. “The white couch is gone.” I point to a black couch in its place.

“Bryce switched out all the furniture. Everything is in the dumpster out back,” replies Justin, “Pierce had some girl blow him on the old couch.”

I cringe. “So, what makes him think it won’t happen again?”

“Because Bryce purchased dark leather and told Grinder to hire someone to keep it clean.”

“Bryce doesn’t like Pierce either,” I tell him, climbing into the empty ring, and he follows.

“Nor Wyatt.” He watches me for a reaction, but I only stare back.

“So, why do you guys hang together?” I ask.

Justin pushes me tight against the ropes while staring into my eyes. “I have to teach you a lot more besides bookkeeping.”

I slip out from under his grasp and run toward the other side of the ring. He follows me as I slip underneath the ropes and head for the catwalk. We climb up, and I toss myself onto the new leather couch. It’s sleek chocolate brown with big arms and so soft. I could slide in between the seats and get lost like loose change.

“This is nice,” I moan, closing my eyes.

He sits beside me. “You want to mess it up?”

I bite my lip. Temptation is lowering my defenses as I look into his deep brown eyes. My hand trails down the front of his jacket, and I feel the hard planes underneath the soft fabric.

“It could be our little secret,” he whispers, his lips hovering over mine. “Our way of getting even.”

“Could you draw me first?” I ask sweetly, “I want a picture so I can remember the moment.”

Justin lifts himself off me. “I have to get some paper. Would it be presumptuous to bring back a condom?”

I tilt an eyebrow. “Is that how you chat up a girl?”

“Only the entitled ones,” he replies.

I lift my nose in the air. “It would be going too far, sir, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try something else. Did I do that right?” I ask him, winking, “Did that turn you on?”

He leans down and kisses my cheek softly. “Willingness is a big turn-on to me.”

Justin hurries down the steps, and I walk over to the rail, watching him as he pulls his keys out of his pocket. “Hey!” I shout out. I pull my sweater over my head. “Hurry up.”

He stares at me as if he’ll never get tired of seeing me strip. He unlocks that door and disappears as I walk back over to Bryce’s clean and precious couch. Maybe I’m going too fast. Even at Monarch, I’d make a guy wait longer than a month. But Justin’s drawings hooked me. I’ve never seen myself the way he sees me. Someone worth pleasing and impressing with kind words and hungry kisses. But should that be enough? His footsteps move quickly up the steps, and Justin reappears with a hardcover book and the tequila.

I smile. “You’re going to draw me in one of the books.”

He nods. “I’m going to draw two pictures—one for you to keep and another for Bryce to find.”

I smile, delighted with his scheme. “How should I pose?”

“Ever hear of Helmut Newton?”

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