Page 12 of Desperate Needs

No, it was his wife and son. The fact he had something to look forward to at the end of the day.

Look at the party I just left.

Inside were couples, men I would never have suspected of even having hearts, standing arm and arm with their wives and children around them, smiling and congratulating their newest addition.

If men like that could have personal lives, why couldn’t I?

And if I could have that, too, then why not have her?

Dangerous thoughts.

But Clementine wasn’t just beautiful in the way that made my heart race. Oh, she had all the right parts from the top of her wild mane of sexy red hair down her curvy wonderland of a body, to her toes, which she had painted every second Thursday at the same salon.

And yet, she had something more going for her, too.

A spark.

An air of mystery.

A maturity despite her years.

There was this kind of quiet confidence that surrounded her, drawing someone like me in.

Like a moth to a flame.

It wasn’t just her looks, though those were enough to stop anyone in their tracks. No, it was the way she carried herself. How she seemed to know exactly what she wanted and how to get it.

Truth was, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her for a whole damn year. Every night I went to bed with her face stamped inside my head the second I closed my eyelids.

No, there’d been no other women.

How could there be when she occupied every corner of my brain?

At first, this whole thing was just a passing thought.

A fleeting idea.

Delusions of grandeur some had said, and maybe they were right. Maybe it was. But this was my path now, and I wasn’t getting off it.

Use the beauty to conquer the beast that was her father’s firm.

That was my strategy. But the more I’d watched her, the more my idea started to change.

It was strange, this feeling deep inside me. But like a seed being watered, it took root.

The moments our paths crossed, the glances we exchanged—it was all a part of the grand plan to get her attracted, get her interested.

Devious? Maybe.

But what was a little dirty fun between two consenting adults?

Tonight was the night. Even if she didn’t know it yet. I’d make sure she had a damn good time. And I swore to myself to protect her from the truth.

The decked out ballroom buzzed with the sound of conversation and reveling all around me, but all I could focus on was her.

All I saw was Clementine.

She’d been standing by the wall, a glass of champagne in hand when the toasts were made and congratulations shouted to the happy parents.

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