Page 22 of Let Me Say It Again

I tilted my head back and forth and chuckled. “It’s definitely plausible.”

“Oh, Jade,” Red said, reaching into his pocket and tossing me a navy-blue velvet box. “For you.”

Staring at it in my hands, I wondered if it contained what I thought it did—the magnificent engagement ring that would fit my delicate finger. With a flip of the lid, I had all the confirmation I needed and slipped it on my ring finger. “Romantic.”

“This is business.”

Snagging my clutch off the kitchen counter, I rolled my lips to check and make sure my lip gloss was still glossy.

“Don’t think this conversation about us being exclusive is over,” he said, surprising me.

This again.I waved a hand in the air, trying to signal to him that it was all poppycock. And if it wasn’t, then I wasn’t listening anyway. It was my life. I could sleep with whoever I damn well pleased.

When I said nothing, he ground his teeth. “I’m as serious as a heart attack, Jade.”

I angled my head. “Tell me how you see this going then. We don’t even know how long this will last. That man needs to invest in your company, and men are known to pussyfoot around. Not that I intend on being your fake anything for too long, but I entered into this with my eyes wide open, so. . .” I let my words trail off as I shrugged.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “If someone catches wind of us sleeping with other people, it’ll come out. Trust me. And this whole thing will come down faster than a house of cards.”

I crossed my arms. “Got any ideas how to make this work? Because this was your idea in the first place, so I’m listening.”

He opened the door and gestured for me to go out first. “Alistair is waiting for us.”

“Oooh, fancy. I’ve never been in a chauffeur-driven car before.” I began walking out, but paused to look back at him. “You still never answered my question, though.”

“I think the answer is pretty obvious, don’t you?”

I stared at him with a blank expression, blinking. “What’s obvious?”

“You have two options, but something tells me you’re not going to like the first one.”

“Spit. It. Out.”

He placed his tongue in his cheek before getting on with it. “We can handle things ourselves.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re right. The first option sucks. My vibrators are great, and my fingers get the job done in a jiffy, but nothing beats the real thing.”

It was like he couldn’t help but break out in a grin, the corners of his lips turned all the way up. “Then there’s the second option, which is that we use each other to get what we need.”

I nearly choked on my own saliva. Red wanted us to use each other sexually? Was he out of his mind? I mean, it was quite possible, but come the fuck on and not literally. “I’m beginning to think you don’t have any good ideas.”

He was still grinning. “I’m sensing you think that is a good idea, but you just don’t want to admit it aloud.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re full of yourself.”

“You could be full of me, if you’d let yourself.”

It was an appealing offer, that much I’d admit. Although, not to him, so instead I walked out. We wouldn’t want to be any later to our engagement party, would we?

Chapter Nine

Jade

I couldn’t takepeople anymore. There were only so many introductions and niceties a girl could take for one evening. The twenty-something-year-old on the arm of the middle-aged man was just too much for me and put me right over the edge. Not because I had an issue with an age gap, because I didn’t—older men were hot—but because it was so incredibly obvious she was only with him for his money.

The real issue, though, was that I just didn’t feel like I belonged here. At a country club in Staten Island. Surrounded by rich people who were dripping in more diamonds and gemstones than I’d even know what to do with. Where gold wasn’t a metal, but a decor statement. Where the food and liquor were not just fancy, but unpronounceable.

There were cloth napkins folded into swans, for crying out loud. What ever happened to a napkin just being a napkin? You know the thing you wiped your food-covered lips on?

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