Page 28 of Eye Candy

“I want to stay up here!” Teddy whined to Greta, even stomping her foot. “I’m the life of the party!”

Rolling her shoulders, she teased she was going to slide the straps off and drop the whole dress. I finally got to my feet.

“All right, Teddy,” Francis said loudly, beckoning one of his staff. “Fun’s over. Max, can you help me please?—”

“No!” Teddy shrieked.

As the staff member Francis cued stepped toward her, she spun on her heel and tried to dart out of his reach.

But her heel twisted in the tablecloth, and she fell.

CHAPTER 13

CHASE

I lunged,but she was too far away and fell too quickly.

Her knees and palms hit the table with a thud, and I was left clutching air.

“Ow,” she said in a small voice.

“Fuck.” Before anyone else could, I put an arm behind her back and the other beneath her thighs to scoop her off the table, clearing the pink-haired tyrant from her own carnage.

She blinked up at me and repeated, “Ow.”

Something tightened in my chest. For the—admittedly short—duration of our acquaintance, this woman had been an unstoppable force. She moved from one thing to the next, never slowing, never faltering. Having her in my arms like this, looking at me with frank gratitude, was satisfying in a way I didn’t want to unpack.

Francis appeared at my shoulder. “Is she OK?”

“She’s fine.” The whirlwind in my arms answered for herself. Noticing her bleeding knee at the same time I did, she clapped her hand over it.

“Take her up to the bar.” Francis indicated to the upper level, which was partially out of sight of the main lounge space, then waved the maître d’ over. “Max, get the first aid things.” To her, he said loudly, “I’m pleased to hear that, Teddy, because after I get your blood out of my tablecloth, I’m going to ban you from Lueur for life, and then I’m going to unban you, just to ban you again. You got that, fun size?”

She giggled. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.” Then she patted me on the head with her free hand and pointed at the bar. “Onward, Daddy Long Legs.”

“Excuse me?”

The outrageous con artist twisted in my arms and shouted over my shoulder to the rest of Greta’s guests, “I said onward, Daddy Long Legs!”

“All right, enough.” I hoisted her higher and walked faster. People were staring at her; at the show she was putting on. All of which was an act. It was act after act with this woman.

“I bet being called Daddy Long Legs scandalizes you,” she said happily as the maître d’ fussed in front of me, clearing items off the bar and procuring medical supplies. “Ooh, blue!” She pointed at a bandage. “I want that one.”

“It doesn’t,” I answered.

The truth was so much worse.

It was obvious this impostor had worked out I was battling an ill-advised attraction to her and was going to use it against me. The best course of action was to tell her I knew she wasn’t Teddy and talk her through her options.

Instead, my thoughts veered down another path.

I imagined leveraging what I knew over her. It was repugnant to blackmail someone, especially if the undertone was sexual—I should be disgusted by that thought, not turned on by it. And I was. Disgusted.

I didn’t want to whisper what I knew in her ear and savor the look of surprise on her face. I would hate to watch her nervously swallow and lick her lips, wondering what I wanted in exchangefor my silence. There was no way I would step closer to her, pressing my thickening dick into her soft body, letting her feel her only option. And I definitely didn’t like the idea of her eyes widening in shock as she realized that the next time she called me Daddy, it wouldn’t be with teasing eyes and laughter in her voice.

It would be as she begged me to let her come.

Heterosexual congress often centered the male experience, so I always made a point of ensuring my partner reached satisfaction first.

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