Jack shook his head. “Right, it was a ridiculous question anyway.”
“Because I’m not going to sleep with him?” I hazarded, smirking and making my tone flirtatious.
Jack gave me a slow once over that had me shivering with heat. “Trust me, I don’t worry about that.”
Of course he didn’t. He knew that he had me—hook line and sinker—in the bedroom. I wasn’t going to give him up to be with some boring guy who probably wanted me to be on top so I could do all the work.
We reached the underground garage that went under the office building and each headed for our vehicles. “I can drive you to my hotel,” Jack said casually.
That had my heart racing. It meant that he didn’t care if we showed up to work together, which meant he didn’t care about propriety anymore. Which also meant I was probably about to step in the shit.
“Sure thing.”
The drive over was quiet. I wasn’t sure what to say. How to investigate without showing my nerves.
What about the Westons, though? Jack had been after something with them. I doubted they noticed, but while Jack was good at controlling his facial expressions (unlike David), his leg against mine had betrayed his nerves.
“So what was dinner really about?” I asked him. He liked when I was bold and challenged him? Fine, then I’d do that. And hopefully I could get him to slip up and provide some real information.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t like it when I play dumb, so give me the same courtesy,” I replied. “You were after something with your line of questioning tonight. I think David suspects something. His father doesn’t, he was too busy hating you.”
Jack chuckled at that last part, then sobered up. “You tell me. What do you think I might be after?”
I considered this. Jack wasn’t really the man’s name. He was Bryce, or whoever. That meant I couldn’t think of his motives as Jack Lawton, inquiring about his uncle.
On the other hand, why would he pretend to be Jack if he didn’t want people to talk to him as if he really was the man he pretended to be? Was there something that he could only figure out by posing as Jack? Unless he was really putting in the work to adopt the ruse of the hermit philosophy professor, he didn’t seem eager to wrestle full control of the company and be a despot about it. He wasn’t spoiling himself, spending money like water, or immediately finding ways to seize power from others and assert himself.
If this man really wanted to use Jack’s identity to become wealthy and powerful, then he was either wildly smart enough to play the game slowly and fake it with everyone around him, risking that he might actually be edged out when he acted too humble and too unsure—or he actually didn’t care about being CEO and was after something else.
“Weston’s been on the board longer than anyone else,” I noted. “He practically helped fund the company since he gave it funding that Lawton desperately needed. And David had been over to Lawton’s house a lot over the last few years. You… want to see if they know something about your uncle that nobody else knows or will tell you.”
He parked us in the hotel parking lot and looked around, then nodded to himself, as if satisfied. “And what about you, Leigh? What are you trying to get out of this?”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and stared at him for a long moment, confused. My heart beat loudly in my chest, echoing in my ears. Did he know? “I’m trying to get paid,” I replied blandly.
Jack looked over at me as he released his seatbelt, too, but didn’t open his door to get out. His eyes glittered dangerously, and I felt myself getting wet. I was in the presence of a predator, only a few heartbeats away from him, but God if it didn’t turn me on.
“Is that really all?” Jack asked, turning fully towards me. His hand landed on my thigh, pushing my skirt up.
We were alone in the parking garage. And unlike the hotel room, with people above and below us and on either side in their own rooms, if I screamed, it was unlikely anyone would hear me.
This was why he’d wanted us in the same car. To trap me. Had dinner been a trap, too? Had he really not cared about David Weston and his father and only wanted to fool me? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was frozen as his hand slowly crept up my thigh.
“I wondered if you’d like this,” Jack murmured.
No, not Jack. That wasn’t his name. Bryce?
“Like what,” I breathed. His hand pushed between my legs and I whimpered, instinctively parting my thighs for him. “Master?” I hazarded. I didn’t know what else to call him, and it might win him over.
His fingers pushed aside my panties so that they could stroke through my slick pussy. “You’re so wet.” He sounded impressed. “I knew it. I thought you liked a bit of danger. You liked it when I turned the tables on you the other night, didn’t you? When you realized just what I was?”
“And what are you,” I demanded, even as he leaned closer and slid two fingers deep inside of me. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. “W-what are you doing…”
“I’m getting answers. At first I thought I’d do it the old-fashioned way but I happen to like you, Leigh. And I happen to like fucking you.” Jack curled his fingers, dragging them against a sensitive spot inside me, and I moaned. “So why don’t you do yourself a favor and tell me the truth. You’re a smart girl. You know that I know something. So why don’t you give it up?”
“You—you give yours up,” I demanded, even as my body clenched in pleasure. Oh, God, it felt so good, he felt so good… “I know you’re not who you say you are, Bryce.”