Page 19 of The Bargain

Yeah, there was no way I was letting this man go.

“Say yes because you’re attracted to me.”

That at least got the horror to disappear. “Whatever. Who isn’t attracted to you?” he muttered as he glared. “I don’t understand why you want this.”

Talking wouldn’t settle this.

I took two strides to close the distance between us. He didn’t have a chance to retreat. I wrapped one arm around his waistwhile I cupped his cheek with my other hand, tilting his face up toward me. He gasped as my mouth descended onto his in a blistering kiss. It was hard and brutal, all take and no give. Mentally, I prepared myself for him to push me away. Maybe even kick me square in the balls.

For a couple of heartbeats, he was frozen, his body stiff and unyielding. A shudder ran through him like the great cracking of a glacier before it fell into the ocean. In the next instant, he was wrapping his arms behind my neck, pressing even closer as he returned the kiss with the same heat and desperate need. My tongue plunged into his mouth, tangling with his as I tasted his sweetness. He moaned, and I was lost.

I started blindly walking, pushing him back until he hit something with a dullthud. My gaze flicked up enough to see he was pinned against the door. Perfect.

Byron seemed to think so as well, because he leaned on it while tightening his arms, pulling me in even closer. The arm I had on his waist slipped lower and my wandering hand located what felt like the most perfect ass in all the world. I groaned into his mouth as I lifted him higher. Wave after wave of melting heat blazed through me, while all his soft whimpers and growls reduced my self-control to dust.

And those gray sweat pants. Thank God and whoever invented gray sweat pants, because I could now feel his hard cock pressed right into my hip. I wanted to bend Byron over and fuck him so hard. I wanted to fuck him pinned to the door. Then on his hands and knees in the middle of this tiny apartment. Then I wanted him to ride me on his futon. After we covered every inch of this place, I wanted to take him home with me and fuck him in every room of my mansion. Never had I wanted anyone as badly as I wanted him.

Which was why it was so painful to end that damn kiss.

I dragged my mouth away from his, kissing up his jaw to feather one last light kiss to his temple. “That’s why I want this. I want to kiss you and fuck you. But I also want to spend time with you, to date you and discover all the things that make you happy, like strawberries and good books. I want to know if we can be happy together.”

Yes, I’d kind of immediately broken my own rule about not pressuring him with physical intimacy, but I didn’t want him believing the differences between us were insurmountable. There were plenty of things that were so right, starting with the heat I just knew was bubbling under the surface.

“Fuck.” Byron dropped his forehead to rest on my shoulder, his chest heaving as he sucked in great gulps of air. “That’s not fair. There is no blood in my brain right now. I can’t…I can’t think.”

“Think about it for the rest of today, and give me an answer on Monday.”

He nodded against me before lifting his head up. “Okay. Tomorrow.”

I dove in for one last kiss, just in case I never had a chance to do it again. I didn’t know if he had the same thought, but Byron was right there, lighting me up like he wanted to drive me insane. The man had a wicked tongue and knew how to use it. I kept the kiss short because I was nearing my breaking point.

When I stepped away, a tiny sound left him, and I almost cracked. He stared at me with the hungriest eyes I’d ever seen. There was no way he could deny it—the heat and hunger were right there for us to see. The question was whether all the other pieces of who we were could fit together.

With a lopsided grin, I reached down and adjusted myself, trying to find a comfortable position now that he had me painfully hard. Byron snorted and pulled on his shirt as hestepped away from the door. The attempt to hide the erection tenting his sweats failed miserably.

“Tomorrow,” I gritted out as I slipped out the door.

This was going to be the longest twenty-four hours of my life.

7

BYRON GRAHAM

I had never been sohappy to be at work in all my life.

The office represented a predictable routine, even when Sebastian was in one of his unpredictable moods and wanted to shake things up. My morning began with coffee and emails. By the time I finished my coffee, Kaylan would be arriving. He would bring some pleasant chitchat and an eagerness to dive into the day that matched my own.

As soon as we had our schedule worked out, Sebastian would arrive. At that point, I’d give him a rundown of his first meetings of the day, calls that needed to be made, and reports that needed his attention. From there, he would either roll with things or completely blow all our plans out of the water.

Routine was what I needed after spending Sunday alternating between denial and panic. Of course, that didn’t include the time I’d needed to jerk off because my insane boss had left me with such a state of blue balls that I couldn’t remember my goddamn name.

So yeah, Sunday was jerking off, panic, anger, temptation, more jerking off, followed by more panic.

What was I supposed to say to him?

Putting aside the fact that it was billboard-on-the-side-of-the-road obvious that I was attracted to him, could I really date him? Even though he’d said it was okay that I accept the bargain simply for the money, wouldn’t that always be in the back of his mind? Would he ever believe me if I professed to care for him?

Who would turn down that kind of life-changing money? I might have integrity, but I wasn’t stupid. It wasn’t just a better life for me, but it would improve things for Ronnie and my mom. The money I would have been spending on Ronnie could be used to get my mom better help. She could finally break free of her alcoholism and live a happier life. Maybe even get a new job or at least volunteer. Something that made her happier than sitting around the house doing nothing other than watching TV and getting drunk.

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