Page 23 of Negotiating Tactics

“No. Great for me,” I said.

She smiled, this time unleashing the full wattage and almost blowing me away with her radiance. “And why would my relationship—or lack thereof—be great for you?”

“Well, I’m ruthless, but I’d hate to move in on another man’s territory. Though I would,” I said.

“I’m not territory,” she responded.

“Perhaps, but if you had someone, things might get too messy. That’s not my thing,” I said.

She shifted in the chair, her expression serious, her mind engaged, though I could see skepticism and hints of confusion in her expression. “And what is your thing, Noah?”

“Beautiful women,” I said.

“What does that have to do with me?” she asked, her face twisted in a frown.

I chuckled. “Well, you’re a beautiful woman, and I think you could use my attention.”

“I’ll ignore the first part of that sentence,” she said.

“And the second?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “‘Use my attention.’ That sounds an awful lot like charity, and I think I’ve made my feelings clear on that.”

“No, it’s not charity. In fact, it would be a great privilege for me,” I responded.

She shifted, though I couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or interest.

“What would be a great privilege?” she asked.

If I wasn’t mistaken—and I wasn’t—I heard a hitch in her breath, one that had me ready to sweep the plates off the table and fuck her right there.

“We’ve dropped the subtlety, haven’t we, Alex?” I asked, reminding myself to be patient.

“I guess so,” she responded, though she looked surprised that the words came out of her mouth.

“In that case, it would be my great privilege to fuck you more thoroughly and completely than you’ve ever been fucked in your life.”

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t respond, so I took the opportunity to continue.

“I can tell you need it, and you need an escape,” I said. “I can give you that. I can take your mind off everything except my fingers, my tongue, and my cock making you come so many times you lose count.”

By the time I finished, my voice was a low rasp, and my cock was painfully hard.

Alex laughed, the sound nervous but her eyes intrigued. And I didn’t miss the frantic thud of her heartbeat at the base of her neck.

“You think highly of yourself,” she said on a shaky breath.

I nodded slowly, not breaking her gaze. “I do, but not without reason.”

She laughed again, and I could see the wheels in that big brain of hers pick up speed. She was looking for an excuse to turn me down. I could see that clearly, just like I could see that she didn’t want to.

“What’s your number?” I asked, genuinely curious and even more wanting to keep Alex here with me now and not in her head thinking of ways to keep her distance.

Her eyes widened in confusion. “What number?”

“Alex, you’re smart girl. You can keep up. How many times has someone made you come in one night?”

She looked away, her body stiff, defensive.

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