Page 38 of King of Temptation

Jake’s eyes narrow as he cocks his head to the right, assessing me. “Are you pussy whipped?”

Fuck that and fuck him. “I will throw this at you.”

He takes a step back.

Luke starts adding weights to the squat machine. “So you two are messing around but you’re letting her dictate all the terms so that you can finance her future move?”

“That’s right,” I let out a long breath. “The woman is hellishly hard to nail down. Every time I think I understand the rules, she changes them.”

The guys all laugh.

“What’s funny?”

“You’re dating you,” Luke says on a snort.

Maybe I am.

But Roman is the first to recover. “In the name of turning over a new leaf, you ought to tell Mason.”

That would sour any good mood.

Mason is going to be a giant pain in the ass about all of this. Still, they’re right. If I’m going to convince everyone I’m doing the right thing, I have to be upfront and honest. Not always my strength. “I’ll call him today or tomorrow.”

Luke finishes his squats and steps out from the machine. As he walks by, he slaps my shoulder. “Good man. I’ve got to say, Leo, you really have been playing it smart lately.”

I appreciate those words, and though I’m not looking forward to the call with my brother, I am excited to bring a gorgeous redhead breakfast in bed.

And I hope he’s right. I abandoned one plan to hurt Carcetti, because it was too risky instead of just barreling ahead. Maybe this is all growth.

Then again, I don’t have a new plan, and everyone knows Carcetti is about to make a move. Maybe old Leo had it right…

Workout done, I take the stairs two at a time. Stopping in the kitchen of my apartment, I pull out my blender and start mixing up a spinach smoothie. As hard as my workout is, dancing clearly zaps Kim of her energy, and she needs quality food.

She comes out of my room, wearing my T-shirt from the night before, her legs on full display, and I’ve got to be honest…the sight of her in my shirt does some weird shit to my insides.

She’s so sexy and the fact that she’s wrapped in my clothing, my scent, triggers some possessive instinct and has me moving around the island to pull her close.

“Tonight, bring an overnight bag to work.”

“This is why you can’t date your boss,” she murmurs, but she still wraps her arms around my neck with a sleepy smile. “Bossy.”

“Look,” I’m already getting defensive. “We don’t have to have sex, but I like what we did last night and?—”

She squeezes my neck. “Any chance we could finish this discussion while we drink those smoothies you made? I’m starving and they look amazing.”

I grin into her hair and then step away, filling two glasses. Handing one to Kim, I start to sip mine and look over in time to see hers is half gone.

I like a girl with an appetite, so I set mine down, and throw more banana and avocado into the blender.

She finishes one and I refill, pulling out a pan. “You need an egg.”

She doesn’t argue and I watch as Kim drinks the second smoothie and then eats two eggs. Silently, I pull out a grapefruit, slicing it up. Her eyes light up.

I make a note to order more groceries.

“Coffee?” I ask, going over to my espresso machine.

“No thank you. I don’t drink much caffeine anyway and lately it smells funny…” She waves a hand, taking another slice of grapefruit. “This was really good. I can’t afford groceries like this, and I think I actually feel better from eating so healthy, so I really appreciate it, Leo.”

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