Page 83 of My Forbidden Boss

Take what he offers you freely in return.

It sounds easy, but it’s the hardest thing in the world. Life has taught me not to trust. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to take that chance.

Chapter 30

Adeline

Murmured male voices from somewhere within the apartment make me uncomfortable enough to remove myself from the warmth and protection of the bed while Mom takes a shower. No sense putting off the inevitable.

I wrap a robe over my oversized T and shorts, cinch it about my waist and shuffle dead-girl-walking along the hall and into the living area. David sits in a white overstuffed armchair. He’s leaning forward, elbows on his knees. Intense. There’s another large man in the chair next to him. I take no notice of who it might be because David’s head swivels as I step into the doorway. I come up short when he spears me with his radioactive gaze and the center of my chest blooms.

Heart pounding, skin stretched over hot coals, I stare back at him. He’s dressed in jeans and a thin, long-sleeved T rolled to his elbows that shows off the dips and ridges of his chest. I can do nothing but take in this vision. Nothing else exists but him and the fire in his gaze as he stands and moves towards me. Heat seeking missile latched onto its target.

“Adeline.” His voice is cocaine. Everything about him is addictive. My eyelids flutter as he approaches. My stomach rolls, turns to liquid, and pools deep in my abdomen. His fingers skim my outer arm, ghosting me. I shiver and my mind switches into a movie reel of x-rated images of all the ways he touched me, using those fingers to pleasure my body.

“Adeline?”

I blink back to the moment and I know I’ve missed time. “Yes?”

David gestures to the form still seated. “Do you remember Tristan?”

He’s David’s friend who came into the office several times. I’d catch him watching me through the windows that divided David’s office from my work area, although not in a creepy way. More in a trying-to-work-something-out way. I remember my voice and my manners. “Yes. How are you? I’m Adeline.”

A smile shows off perfect white teeth, shining because of his tan. His curly blonde hair is a little long and brushes his collar. “I know you are. I’m pleased to meet you.”

“Tristan is helping me work out how we’re going to set Bourke up,” David says. His voice is soft, as though he’s trying to apologize for the only reason I’m here.

I ignore eyes that see too much and brush my hands over my thighs, feeling underdressed. David takes my elbow, steers me towards the sofa, guides me down and helps me sit. He leans towards me and his lips brush my ear. I shiver as his hot breath caresses my neck. “Don’t be nervous. I love the way you look.”

He stands as feathered wings scatter through my torso. “I’ll order breakfast for you.”

“Oh no. You don’t have to,” I say.

Tristan folds his legs and flicks his hand. “Let him. He hired a chef for while you’re here.”

I gape at David, who sends Tristan a disgruntled glare. I slide to the edge of the sofa, ready to scramble back to the safety of my room. “I can’t let you…”

“Margaret can put together anything your mother would like,” David says.

“Don’t use my mother against me,” I say. He already has, because I’m here. I add more bricks to my wall as the inner foundations quake.

“I wouldn’t dream of such a thing. It’s convenient. You’re both here so I can take over your father’s company,” David says.

That’s right. I need to remember. This is a transaction. That’s all. I’m here for Mom so she can get her owed child support. This will be life changing for her.

A few more days and I can leave.

These few days are going to be torture.

Take what he offers you freely in return.

And if I took that chance and stayed? Everyone will see at me and think David is my ticket to a better life. How could they not? Because deep down I’m the same pov-girl I always was.

No one can see past the scars of poverty.

David isn’t blind, and one day that’s all he’ll see of me.

It doesn’t matter he said he loves me. That was only in the heat of the moment. His way of getting ahead in business. I’m a means to an end for him. That’s all. Period.

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