Page 107 of Pretty Little Thing

Talking over coffee… about something other than... well, you know.

Nora Payne just asked me out.

I step off the elevator and make a hard turn toward the accounting block.

This was the whole point, right? To gain Nora’s trust. To earn access to her life and get close enough to… Christ, I don’t even remember anymore.

That’s a lie. I remember exactly why I’m here and it sure as shit isn’t to plug payroll numbers all day.

I lower into my desk and stare at the wall beside my computer monitor.

This is getting too out-of-hand. It was different when it was a possible one-night-stand. It was different when Nora Payne was just another rich bitch from the wealthy district. Just a damn representative of the elite one-percent with enough money to throw at all of her problems — anything Alex and I planned to accomplish included.

I never expected a connection.

I never expected real trust.

I never expected to fall for her.

That’s what this is, isn’t it? That gripping nausea in my gut twenty-four hours a day? That sick feeling that never goes away until I’m in her presence again. Then, I feel like a million fucking bucks. I feel indestructible. All because she looks up at me and says my name.

She’s my sub. I have a responsibility to protect her… inside and outside of the bedroom.

But how long could we possibly last? Not long, that’s for damn sure. She’ll move on and I’ll be left with nothing. That’s the only way this can end.

I have to finish the job I started.

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