Page 34 of His Hawaiian Heart
There had been, but it was no longer relevant as far as I was concerned. But, she didn’t need to know that. “You never asked,” I said instead.
Her gaze flicked over me, to the car, then back to me. “Oh, goodie, I do love games. If I can guess your name in the first try, what do I get as a prize?”
I wasn’t some mark who’d never been goaded into playing games only to find out the deck had been stacked. But I’d learned how to avoid a shell game. “Did anyone else tell you?” I asked.
“Nope, that would be unfair. And I might like to play dirty games, but I would never take advantage of anyone.”
Well, she pretty much had me at “dirty games” soooo, what choice did I have but to say, “How about you choose whatever prize you’d like?”
That smile alone had me wanting to lay the world at her boot-clad feet, but when she stepped closer and ran her fingernails up my chest, I knew that whatever name she came up with, I’d gladly claim as my own.
“I’ll do you one better,” she said, her fingers now playing with a button on my shirt. “You’re not a chauffeur, and you’re not employed by my friend, Harriett. In fact, I’m betting the only person you willingly drive around is that same friend who is your grannie?—”
“Grammy,” I corrected automatically.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Blackwell.”
I dropped an arm around her and yanked her closer. “The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Laughlin.” My other hand moved behind her with the intention of wrapping my fingers around her neck to hold her as I kissed her, but instead of the smooth fabric of her dress or the silkiness of her skin, my hand encountered canvas. “Strange choice of accessories, babygirl, but I don’t think you’ll be needing this.”
“That depends,” she said, giving a slight wiggle that had my cock twitch.
“On?”
“Well, I won the game so I’ll be choosing my prize in a bit. But I do believe in sharing the bounty, so it’s your turn to choose.”
“Between?”
She pulled back further and shrugged her backpack off only to hand it to me, not by the strap but by plopping the bag against my chest and stating, “Hold, please.”
“Certainly.”
She unzipped the largest portion of the bag and said, “Oh, and close your eyes.”
Remembering her earlier disclosure, I said, “Is this where you pull out a pair of handcuffs and slap them on me?”
“Now, Samuel, I’m surprised. I’d think you’d have realized by now that isn’t the role I prefer to play.” She smiled and added, “That’s not to say I don’t appreciate a good pair of cuffs, though if expected to wear them too long, I would prefer they have a bit of padding.”
“Duly noted,” I said and meant exactly that.
“Thanks, now, close your eyes.”
I had to chuckle. “For someone who prefers the role of submissive, you are sounding quite a bit bossy.”
“Just add that to my tally. For now, would you please just trust me and close your eyes!”
I didn’t answer. Didn’t tell her that doing so was a far harder task than simply trusting her. I just shut my eyes.
“Thank you. Don’t open them until I say, okay?”
“Okay.”
Other than feeling her rummaging in the backpack, I heard nothing to clue me in on what she was doing. I didn’t know how long I stood there, but it was long enough to have a far better appreciation of how a sub felt after I’d pulled a blindfold over her eyes. Another bout of rummaging in the pack was followedby the sound of the zipper being pulled closed. After that, I felt nothing, heard nothing.
Trust me.
Asking so much yet having no clue of what that was costing me. The last woman I’d truly trusted had been Candace. I’d known something was up the night Kekoa sat me down and informed me that not only was Candace lying to me about committing to what I’d believed to be an exclusive relationship, she’d been bragging to other women that she’d be making a lot of changes once she had my ring on her finger. It was time for the filthy cows to go away and multi-million dollar homes to go up. When I’d asked her about why she’d lied to me, she’d told me Kekoa was the liar which was all I’d needed to hear. I’d walked away without a backward glance, and though she attempted to ruin my reputation on the island, I had never been a man ashamed of how I lived my life and merely continued doing so. Eventually, the rumors stopped, but I’d sworn never to be so blind again. Yet, for the first time since that trust had been shattered by Candace, I was willing to pay whatever price was required to prove to Samantha that she could trust me to trust her.
“Okay, you can open your eyes.”
