Page 24 of The Love Wager

I put my hand up. “I don’t care about that.”

Liar!

“Oh, you don’t?” she flicks her eyes downward to my dick, which is painfully hard behind my jeans. I cover it with two hands.

“Leave him out of this!”

She laughs. “What are you, five?”

“No! I can’t help my bodily response to you for some ungodly reason. You’re like a… a witch!”

She crosses her arms over her chest, only pressing her perfect tits higher. I swallow, trying to look anywhere but at them. I swear they get bigger to taunt me.

“And I can?! Look at you!”

“Oh, please.” I scoff.

“Look, this started as a bet. I’ll admit that much. My business could use a cash infusion, and I thought it would pass the week and add some fun, but the things I feel, the kiss, that,” she points to the couch, “they were real, are real… fuck!” She scrubs her hands over her face.

“I want in,” I tell her, and she deadpans at me.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. In the bar, why I was so unruly, I got turned down for help with an extra mortgage I took out on the bar to help Nick, and I’m going to lose it if I don’t get out of this fucking rut. We both need the money, and we clearly have enough of an attraction to fake it, so I want in.”

She straightens, blood rushing out of her face.

“We split the money and go our separate ways afterward. Easy peasy.”

“Easy peasy?!” she repeats.

Even while her lips and her tone say she’s pissed; her eyes are calculating. Even if this goes nowhere, we can help one another get a leg up where we’re struggling.

“If we’re both in on it, what could go wrong?” I shrug.

NINE

Indie

My body’s on edge from the whiplash he’s managed in the last two minutes. He wants in? To split the pot and go our separate ways. Leaving was in my plan all along, but now I’ll be ten thousand poorer. However, that’s still ten thousand richer than I currently am. If I disagree, it all disappears anyway. If I blow him off, he won’t look my way the rest of the week.

What’s the harm in working together? The offer’s already on the table. Taylor doesn’t need to know. Plus, she’ll be off enjoying newlywed bliss on the other side of the world. It’s not like she’ll check my bank statement to see what I spent the money on.

Brooks stands tall in front of me, arms now at his sides, no longer covering his bulging member. None of this interruption has calmed my pulsing clit, and I’m regretting not packing my vibrator.

“I have two conditions,” I say, dropping my tone and moving closer to him.

“Name ‘em,” he answers with a chin lift.

“Taylor can’t know,” I say sternly, staring him down. My feet close the distance between us. “And you have to finish what you started.” I smirk up at him, my hands landing against his hard chest. I think I’ve confused him because he doesn’t respond.

Fuck it.

I don’t need a man to make the first move. Crashing into him, I shove his firm body into the fridge, knocking magnets to the floor. I loop my arms around his neck, pushing my lips firmly against his.

He finally gets it.

My feet leave the ground, and he coaxes my legs around his waist.

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