Page 43 of King of Temptation

I’ve got Leo’s full attention now and his features have gone black. “If I say you’re not—” His voice is loud, but I ignore it. Men have scared me before, but not Leo. This is the man who gets down on his knees to give me pleasure. He washes me in the shower, and he makes me smoothies. He does not intimidate me.

“One more word in that tone and I’m not staying tonight.” My arms cross over my chest.

His eyes widen as he takes a deep breath. I see him deflate and I silently marvel that I have that kind of power over him. “It’s not safe there, baby, and I’d worry about you all the time if you stayed there.”

Kendall and Chandra are watching and listening with rapt attention, and I know that they both caught the baby in that sentence.

But Leo is not looking at them at all, as he hooks my waist and pulls me close. “You can have one of the units in our building. There are several finished apartments that are empty. And I know you like the six-headed showers.”

I shake my head, appreciating his suggestion far more than his dictate. “You know I can’t afford a building like that.” But my stomach is now pressed to his and both his arms are around me as my hands grasp his biceps.

“I’m not charging you. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Oh my God,” Kendall whispers. “I change my mind. I want to live with Kim.”

“No,” Leo answers for me, before he starts pulling me down the hall toward the front door. But I dig my heels, slamming on the breaks. I don’t want to live with Kendall, but the problem with accepting Leo’s charity is that he’s now dictating who I room with. “I need to finish my hair.”

“Finish it at the club.”

“I’m not going out like this,” I point at the one straight section with a bunch of curls around the rest of my head. “And I’ll live where I want and with whom I choose.” Then I push out of his arms.

“Kim,” he says on a sigh, his fit of temper now gone. “It’s just good sense to take me up on the offer.”

“It’s good safety,” I correct. “But letting you tell me what to do might not be sensible.”

He stares at me as I march back down the hall to the bathroom. “I can find my own way to work.”

“No, I’ll wait.” And then he looks back at Kendall and Chandra with his lip curled like he hates the idea of having to make conversation with them. But I kind of marvel because I think I might have won this round, and I can’t believe Leo would accede any of this to me.

Just before I close the bathroom door, I call out. “Kendall wants an interview.” Privately, I know she won’t be able to follow all Leo’s rules and she’ll likely be fired as quickly as she’s hired.

But this isn’t about Kendall. It’s about Leo. I really like having him in my life but I’m not going to start letting him boss me around.

At least not in my own apartment.

That’s the problem with sleeping with your boss. I wince as I close the bathroom door and start on my hair again.

It’s the problem with never having a guy stick. Not even your own father. I don’t trust any man with power over my life. So maybe Bobby was right about the daddy issues…

I know Leo and I are moving deeper into that grey area where the rules are unclear, but I can’t seem to stop myself, and I’m not sure I want to.

When I come out of the bathroom, Leo is sitting on the couch staring daggers at Kendall and Chandra.

I sigh as I heave my bag up on my shoulder. “Ready.”

He rises from the cushion, not saying a word as he comes to stand at my side. I nip at my lip as I look back at Kendall and Chandra.

Chandra gives me a wave as she winces while Kendall pushes up from her seat. “If you change your mind about the interview…”

Leo says nothing as he takes the bag from my shoulder. We walk out into the hall and down to his waiting car. I cannot believe he parked that car on my street, but I don’t say anything, knowing I’m the one who made him leave it there for close to an hour.

It’s not until he’s slid into the driver’s seat and starts the car that he speaks, “You are not rejecting my offer to come live in my building.”

“You are not my boyfriend.”

The words are out of my mouth before I can take them back. He slips on some aviator sunglasses—they look hot as hell, but do little to hide his glare. “What does that have to do with anything?”

My lips part. “You tried to tell me where I was living and who I could live with.”

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