Page 214 of If Our Hearts Collide

I can see she’s pondering over this little piece of information, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious as to her thoughts on the matter.

“Well, this does make sense.”

She’s going to need to elaborate. Her lack of words is making me uneasy.

“How so?”

“It’s just that I know you like to fuck ’em and forget ’em. And working here would definitely make it easy to have that constant flow of fresh pussy available for your prowess.”

I shake my head at her. Where does she come up with these wild sayings that fly out of her mouth?

“You make it sound predatory, Penny. Most nights, even after working a shift, I stayed celibate.”

“But why?”

“Because I found pleasure in an instructional scene or two and didn’t always need to go further.” I clear my throat. “I also don’t like to complicate things.”

Penny lets out a laugh. “Oh, the irony. Because things are just about to get super complex.”

“This is true.”

Looking back at the venue, Penny watches as clusters of patrons flutter out of the mansion in droves.

“What do you do in there?”

“I mainly work security. You know, monitor scenes and occasionally intervene when necessary.”

“Oh, like I intervened with you and Daphne.”

“No. What you did is called an interruption, and it breaks club rules under almost all circumstances.”

Penny makes a face at me. “Are you working tonight?”

“Only to keep you safe as your personal bodyguard but not here.”

Penny nods, as she absorbs this tidbit of information. I’ve never really shared with others my side jobs I took on after leaving the military. I had some anger to work through, and it was best that I stayed as busy as I could. It helped to keep my head out of the darkness by deliberately walking into it of my own free will.

“I imagine you had a whole buffet of women there to enjoy. You know”—she shrugs and pretends to keep it nonchalant—“on your breaks.”

“You have this vision inside your head that I’m some type of man whore.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Well, just how many women have you been with?” Making a face, she glances away when I don’t immediately answer. “Wow, that many?”

I sigh. “It’s not like I cataloged every single time I fucked someone, Penny. How can I possibly give you a number without you thinking I’m withholding the truth?”

She shrugs, appearing not to know how to move past the unknown. “At least you don’t have any of my ex-boyfriends to worry about. Spoiler alert…there are none.”

“No. But I have a whole list of current ones to keep watch on.”

Penny scoffs. “That’s so far from the truth it’s kind of depressing. No one will even notice if I’m temporarily off the market, as we explore a sex-only arrangement. Once we get our fill of each other or the contract ends—whichever happens first—I doubt a single male specimen will even notice I’m back on the playing field again.”

I unravel her hair band from her ponytail, freeing her locks to cascade around her face like a waterfall made of silk. Her long moan makes me wonder why she tortured herself in the first place.

“Your cluelessness about just how attractive you are is what draws me to you the most. It’s as if you have no idea just how”—I struggle for the right word—“alluringyou are. The fact that you will soon be mine is even more impressive.” Holding her chin, I bend down for a kiss.

“I love when you kiss me like that.”

I can’t help but smile around this girl.

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