Page 245 of By His Rule

Of course I am. It’s the right thing to do. I’m not the kind of woman this billionaire needs on his arm. But…

Fuck. I want to be.

My heart thunders harder as I make that admission to myself.

“Yes,” I force out.

The elevator comes to a stop, and the doors open behind us.

He wants to argue; I can see the storm of it building in those deep green depths, but he locks it down.

“Okay,” he finally concedes.

“Okay?” I echo, confused as to why he’s being so cool about this.

“Yeah. Okay. I’m happy to be or do what you want, Lorelei. Will it kill me, not backing you up against the window of our box so the world can see us? Yeah, it fucking will. But I also understand.”

Without giving me a second to think about his words, he spins away, collects my belongings, and walks out of the elevator like nothing just happened.

I take a moment, watching his strong, wide gait as he moves. His Chicago Chiefs jersey shows off his wide, square shoulders and slim waist. And his ass in those jeans…fuck me sideways.

He looks back over his shoulder when he realizes that I’m not following and catches me staring right at his behind.

“Like what you see, Temptress? Let me up to your place later, and you can look as much as you like. Bite it, even.”

“You’re a menace,” I hiss, marching out of the small space, pretending not to consider his suggestion.

“Just the way you like me.”

After placing my bags in the truck, Kian opens the door for me like a gentleman before taking off to collect our passengers.

“I’ll get in the back,” I offer when we pull up into the underground parking lot of King and Tate’s apartment building. “Let King sit here.”

Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around the handle, ready to climb out, but just before I push, something hot and unforgiving lands on my thigh.

“No,” he growls darkly, forcing me to turn back to look at him.

“But—”

“No buts. You do not have to give up your seat for King.”

“I don’t mind. You two can talk then.”

“We can talk later,” he counters.

There’s a fierce expression on his face that I’ve never seen before.

“That is your seat. It is where I want you.”

My eyes bounce between his as confusion wars within me.

Is he just saying that because it’s the right thing to say to get me to agree, or does he really mean it?

“I mean it, Lorelei,” he warns as if he can hear my thoughts. “I don’t care who King is. In my car, in my home, hell, even my office, you do not cower to him.”

“I don’t cower to men, Kian,” I hiss.

“Okay, wrong word. What I’m trying to say is that…” He trails off, and I can’t help wondering if he’s regretting saying anything in the first place. “For once in his life, he’s going to have to get used to not being the most important person in the room.”

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