Page 117 of Charming Deception

And now my cock is hard.

You’re playing with fire. Stop.

“Is that a threat?”

“Absolutely not. We’re getting to know one another, remember?”

“Are we? So, we’re listing off our favorite kinks now? You go first.”

Shit. She’s a spitfire underneath all the sweetness.

My cock is pulsing and I need to defuse this bomb before I grab her by the neck and slam my mouth down on hers just so I can feel her nails scratching down my body.

“We’re not talking about kinks.” My voice is flooded with heat and lust that I really need to tamp down. “I was simply asking if you like your man to take control when you’re using your smart mouth. Is it foreplay for you? Are you trying to dominate him? Or are you looking for a fight?”

“What if it’s none of the above?”

“I assure you, it is.”

She stares at me, lips parted, her chest moving as she breathes, heavily. I’m not even sure if she’s more angry or turned on.

You don’t want to know. Move on.

“I don’t want to upset you before dinner.” Especially when I can’t fix it with my mouth between your legs. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“You’re playing games with me.”

“I don’t play games with women. Every relationship has a balance of power, and we’ll find ours.”

She’s still staring at me, floored, like she’s trying to decide if she wants to slap me or suck me off first. “Yes. I suppose we will.”

I look away, out the window, breaking the spell. “My family, however, are another matter. They love to play games.”

She doesn’t seem to know how to take that, or the rapid shifts in conversation.

“Well… my brother plays games, literally, for a living. I can handle players.” There’s fire on her words yet, and I wonder if she means me, and/or my family.

Still, it feels only right to warn her.

“Your brother’s never played for stakes like these.”

“Like what?”

“Like billions.” I meet her eyes again. “We’re under a lot of pressure, a lot of scrutiny from our business partners since Grandad’s passing. The ones who had a long personal relationship with Granddad, especially. Our future success, or failure, will be heavily affected by the completion of current projects, ones left unfinished by Granddad. Like the Vance Bayshore resort.”

“I see. That is a lot of pressure. I mean, I can only imagine.”

“Then you can imagine that we’re highly scandal averse, right now more than ever. Hence the engagement scenario. As Graysen predicted, I’m sure love and commitment will play much better with our business partners than a wild bachelor lifestyle. Especially an exaggerated one.” I pause, giving her a chance to sass me on that point again.

Her eyes pinch a fraction like she’s considering it, but she doesn’t.

Good girl.

“So, enter my lovely new fiancée. Sweet, well-mannered, and down-to-earth. Not famous, but the sister of a famous hockey player who happens to be my best friend. It’s the kind of thing the press and the public will eat up. As will my family, if we serve it up to them just right.”

“And ‘just right’ would be…?”

“To follow my lead. I know how to talk to my siblings.”

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