Page 98 of Give Me Love

“What other way is there?”

I sigh and look down. This isn’t how I wanted this to go. “I’d like you to run it.”

She shakes her head. “Do you have any idea how this all sounds? This is crazy.”

“Who cares,” I say. “It’s no one’s fucking business.”

“I care.” She points to herself and walks over to her vanity to grab a hair tie. She throws her hair up, leaving a wet mark on her shirt. Leaning against the vanity, she crosses her ankles and bites her bottom lip. I watch her closely, trying to figure out what she’s thinking as her eyes go to the floor. I seriously didn’t think this would go this way. “Let me buy you out,” she says.

I move my head back. No way.

“I have half of the money already. Let me pay you the rest in payments.”

“No,” I say, standing.

She huffs and crosses her arms. “Come on, Bryce. I’ve wanted that place for years now. And because of the sick fuck who raised me, I couldn’t get a loan or else we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

“Who?” I ask.

She blanches. “What?”

“The sick fuck who raised you. Who the hell is that?”

She pushes away from the vanity and walks over to her bed to sit down. “My stepdad. He stole my social security number when I was eighteen. Got a whole bunch of credit cards and didn’t pay the bill, so my credit is screwed.”

I feel my eyes narrow and my blood start to boil. “And why is he a sick fuck?”

“He just was.”

“You don’t call your stepdad that for no reason. Tell me.”

“I’m not talking about that.”

I rub my chin and tilt my head as I look at her. How is this going to work? She stares back at me, clearly not backing down. She’s not saying shit. One of us is going to have to give in here. Eventually.

“So, what do you say?” she asks. “Are you going to let me buy you out?”

I shake my head and exhale. “I think you’re missing the point here. I bought the place because it was a good business deal.”

“I’ll pay you more than what you paid. So, you’ll make money.”

How am I supposed to tell her I like the idea of owning where she works? It keeps her close to me. If she owns it, then there are no ties.

I watch as she stands up and walks close to me. My eyes move down her body, but I stay still. She gives me a look I’ve never seen before, and it goes straight to my cock. I jump slightly when her arms snake around my waist and she tilts her head back to gaze up at me.

What the fuck is she doing?

Her gray eyes shine bright, wearing down my willpower. “Pretty, please,” she hardly whispers.

What the hell is this? I feel her fingertips lightly rub my shirt. Her close proximity and innocent act make me forget why I’d deny her anything, and before I can think straight, I hear myself say, “Okay.”

I’ve never paid attention to anyone’s smile before, but hers knocks the air from my lungs. Moving back, she stretches her arm out. I already miss her touch. “Let’s shake on it.”

I smirk. “I’ll get a contract written up, but I don’t want to shake your hand.”

Her face falls.

“I wanna kiss you.” I grab her arm and pull her to me, catching her lips lift just before mine touch hers.

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