Page 19 of Sugar Baby Mine

“How do you want to do this?” he asks, head tilted. “Per meeting? Weekly? How much do you want to be paid, Emme?”

Ugh, all that I ate is threatening to make a reappearance. My eyes close tight for a moment—maybe a tad too long because when I open them there’s a furrow in his brow. “Weekly is fine. Six hundred works.”

“That’s all you want?”

I don’twantany of it. It’s all I really need to take care of my half of the rent so I can use what I make at my job for everything else. “Yep.”

Ben opens his wallet and pulls out the money, holding it out across the table like it’s nothing. Six hundred-dollar bills, crisp and new.

I blink.

“Take it,” he prompts. “For this week.”

It takes everything in me to reach out and accept the money. My fingers don’t have to brush his, but I let them as I collect the bills. I try hard to ignore the way it feels to touch him, but it resonates like a bone-deep hum in the base of my spine. The bills wrinkle as I fold them three times over to stuff them in my purse.

“It’s already Friday. Do you want to see me again this weekend?” I ask.

“How about Sunday?”

“That’s fine. But you know I do have a job, right?”

“Background check, remember?’

He’s too smug about that. My suspicions about him being a secret mafia mob boss grow the tiniest bit.

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes. “I usually work Monday through Thursday, either ten to six or twelve to eight. If there’s a weekend wedding my manager needs my help with, I’ll sub it out for another day.”

“I can work around your schedule.”

“Thought you said anytime, anywhere?”

Ben breathes out slowly, not even caring that Jacob has come back with his credit card and is in the midst of setting it down on the table when he says, “It’s like you’re asking for me to spank you right now.”

Jacob edges away from the table with a muttered, “Have a fun evening,” under his breath. I hope Ben tips him well for what he’s had to endure tonight.

“We haven’t even really discussed if that’s something I want or like yet.”

“Isn’t it? I can adjust to your preferences if you’re into the morevanilla route.”

“I’m all for BDSM if that stands for bad decisions and spending money—it’s what got me here in the first place.” Beyond my penchant for the aforementioned, I do know I have specific tastes. “But obviously you can tell I’m a brat—”

He snorts, not taking his eyes off of me as he tucks his card back into his wallet. “Obviously.”

I throw up my hand, my middle finger raised. His eyes narrow the littlest bit, highlighting the crinkles in the corners, and he just looks so edible. It takes a lot of effort to reel my thoughts back to what I was saying. It’s a miracle in and of itself that I can manage it at all when his tongue swipes out to wet his bottom lip. “—just like I can tell you’re not quite a dom, but are dominant in the bedroom.”

His gaze doesn’t waver from my face as he leans back in his chair, though he gives a small nod. They drop briefly to his phone as he pulls it out and taps on the screen a few times. “I’m sending you a link that’ll give me a little better idea on what you like in the bedroom. Read it and send it back to me tomorrow.”

“Read what?” I say innocently.

He looks beyond exasperated with me now, and I almost grin.

“Fine, I guess it’ll give me something to do tomorrow.”

I finish my second glass of water and push it toward the center of the table and reach for my purse again. I check the balance in my bank account quickly and try not to cringe visibly.

“Do you want a ride home?”

I glance up, hating the way my heart leaps in my chest. “I’m not so sure that would be a good idea.”

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