Page 11 of Caught Stealing Your Heart
“I already don’t like where this is going, Banks. You can’t even answer my questions, but you want to offer me something.”
He leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees, grabbing a piece of cheese and popping it in his mouth. “I’m giving you Banks right now, Leilani, but Boss needs you.”
“What do you mean?”
“What would you say to us having a business relationship?”
“Excuse me?” His question caught me completely off-guard. It was the last thing I expected him to say. “What kind of business relationship?”
“One where you’re mine, and I’m yours. One where you help me improve my image as Boss, and I help you reach a broader audience for your art.”
While I couldn’t believe his audacity, I was intrigued. “And where did this come from?”
“First, it’s obvious I find you attractive as hell and so do other men. That’s not the reason, but I thought I’d throw that out there. Tell me. What did you think about our live the other day? How were your numbers compared to before?”
“Much higher than normal, but, of course, it was because of you.”
“Exactly. Not to sound cocky, but I have the following you need. I also have resources you could use. You… you have you for me.”
I swirled my wine around in the glass, taking in all he was saying. “Go on.”
“What I mean by that is, I need all these rumors about me being a player and sleeping around with different women to go away. I need my image to be settled. The way the viewers were eating us up the other day showed me you’re the perfect person to do so with. I mean, let’s be real. We’ll look good as hell together.”
“What will all this entail, Banks? I mean, how am I supposed to help your image with a fake relationship if you’re still going to be sleeping around with other women?”
The wrinkles in his forehead and the scrunch of his nose showed he was offended by my question. “What makes you think I’d do that? What sense does that make?”
I hunched my shoulders. “You’re a man, Banks. An attractive, talented, and wealthy man. I know women throw themselves at you all the time. I know that type of attention can be hard to ignore. Am I supposed to believe you’re going to miss out on sex for a fake relationship?”
Banks scooted closer to me. The softness of the back of his finger rubbing up and down my arm immediately caused goosebumps to bubble on my skin. My first reaction was to return the gesture, and my finger traced the baseball tattooed on his chest. That one touch led my hands to going over both his arms. He allowed me to, holding his arms out for me to see.
“Your tattoos are sketched perfectly, Banks. I love that they all have a meaning to them.”
“They do. I always told myself if I get something permanent on my body, it had to mean something, but I’m going to need you to stop touching me like this. I already told you I’m attracted to you, Leilani. Your hands are too soft, and your touch was sensual. It’ll be easy for me to go without fuckin’ some random woman throwing themselves at me while we do what we do, but it won’t be easy not to want you if you do shit like this.”
I heard him, loud and clear, but my hands lingered. The seat of my panties was soaked from his admission. Sexual tension was thick between us. I hadn’t had sex since Brandon and I slipped up a few months ago. I promised myself I wouldn’t have sex with anyone else I wasn’t entitled to, so I removed my hands and picked up my wine.
Banks smirked. “Thank you.”
“That was more for me than it was for you,” I admitted. “If we do this, how long will it be for? Don’t we need a contract or something?”
“Can you handle six months? I think that’ll be plenty of time for us both, and yes. A contract will be written up with stipulations we mutually agree on. So, what do you say?”
The words sounded crazy leaving my mouth, but it was effortless.
“Let’s do it.”
The contract had been signed,and it was time for Leilani and me to make our first appearance as a couple. My lawyer thought I was crazy for what I was doing, but something told me it would work. Not only for me, but for Leilani too. I wouldn’t be the only person benefitting from our deal.
In the contract, we both agreed not to see other people during our contracted time along with ensuring we kept everything up on social media as well. Leilani would receive access to all my resources by the third month. We changed the year to six months and had the option to prolong it if needed, if wanted. Everything was set in stone just in time for us to step out together at my game.
We also agreed only two people each would know about our agreement. Outside of one another, we needed people to confide in. Of course, Leilani chose her sister and her cousin while I chose Forest and Paisley.
Since I had to be at my game early, I sent Leilani a car to pick her up. She kept expressing how nervous she was about it all. Honestly, so was I. It was new to us both, and while I wanted to make sure my image was restored, I was more so nervous about actually falling for her.
“What’s on your mind, Boss? You’ve been quieter than usual, and that’s not like you.” Forest called me out as we got dressed to go warm up.
I sat down on the bench and sighed. I looked around the locker room to make sure no one was within earshot of us before speaking. “I gotta tell you something.”
