Page 30 of False Pretenses

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s go. I will drive you.”

“You mean your chauffeur.”

“I don’t understand the resentment you feel about my station in life, Alyssa. I swindled no one. I don’t own sweatshops. I work damn hard for what I have, probably more than the average man.”

“I’m not resentful. Just forget it. I’m going for another drink.” She headed to the bar, but he followed.

“Where are your clothes?”

His words brought her dress and shoes to mind, and she leaned on the bar and called to the man behind it. “Hey, can I have my stuff now, please?”

He approached with an excited grin spreading over his face. His gaze lowered to her breasts, which were smashed a little on the counter. “I get off in half an hour. How about I give them to you then?”

Nathan crowded her from behind and dropped a threatening hand on the bar. “She’ll have them now, and neither of us cares when you’re off work.”

The man paled. “Mr. Corde, of course, sir.”

Alyssa groaned. “Does everyone know you and kiss your ass?”

Nathan’s lips tightened into a straight line. “Not everyone.”

“I know you’re not talking about me, because if you are, you should get it by now. I’m never kissing your ass.” She grabbed her dress and shoes and turned on her heel to stalk away. He caught up with her and directed her to the hotel. Now that she had left the beach, dressed the way she was, she couldn’t wait to get out from under the bright lights.

They strode through to the front entrance where his car waited. Nathan didn’t wait for his driver to open the door. He wrenched it wide, and she shuffled inside the dark interior. The snide remarks from her side and the cold parries from his continued on the road home.

“So what? I’m supposed to put up with any kind of treatment just because I’m pretending to be your girlfriend?”

“No one said you did, Alyssa. If you would just calm down…”

She managed to scramble into her dress, and she felt his eyes on her the entire time. Goodness knows she wasn’t trying to entice the insufferable man when she wiggled to get the material to lie properly over her breasts. For some reason it felt tighter. “Calm down? It’s not like you’re paying me to do this, Nathan.”

“Money, you bring that up a lot.”

“You’re counting. And no, it’s not about money. It’s about respect.”

He growled in frustration. She rolled her eyes at him. When the car pulled to a stop, she jumped out and ran up to the front door. Aziz opened it before she got there, and she muttered her thanks before continuing up to the bedroom she shared with Nathan. He burned her up with that superior attitude. He didn’t see where he was wrong, or his uppity friends. Well, he could kiss her ass. She would ask for another bedroom too, because it was for damn sure she wouldn’t spend the night in the same bed with him.

Hearing him coming up the stairs, she slammed the door and headed toward the bathroom, chuckling under her breath. The move was childish, but at the moment, she didn’t care. She turned on the hot spray and stripped her dress and bikini off. The bathroom door crashed against the wall, and she jumped, covering her breasts with one arm and cupping her pussy with the other hand.

“Get out, Nathan!”

His gaze full of rage swept her from head to foot, and if possible, it darkened. Her mouth went dry, and behind her arm, her nipples pebbled. To her annoyance, her pussy moistened just having him look at her.

“We were not finished with our discussion.”

“Discussion? That’s what you call it? Why don’t you go have a discussion with Natasha? I’m sure she’d enjoy it. Me, I’m already bored silly.”

He advanced into the spacious room. At her apartment, she would have been trapped. Here, she could run around like a mad idiot and maybe avoid him. Well, that would be if Nathan didn’t have the speed and grace of a damn animal. She spun on her heel, about to jet, but he crossed the space between them and grabbed her arm. A sudden crouch to the floor surprised him enough for her to get free, but when she stood and took a step, he was on her once again. She stumbled and had to uncover her breasts to keep from slamming into the wall. Nathan had no mercy. He followed and pinned her there. How the hell did I end up like this? She drew in a deep breath and was glad he couldn’t see her face at that moment. To be butt naked, pissed, and facing the wall and him so close behind was not a good thing.

“Why would I want Natasha,” he demanded, “when I can have this?” His fingertips skimmed the back of her thigh up to her ass, and he squeezed. She shut her eyes and swallowed hard.

“I-I’m not going to be your mistress. What we did before…” Damn it, she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t flat out tell him no.

He released her arm and thumped the wall beside her head with a heavy hand. Even while he wanted her, the anger hadn’t lessened. “You will not deny you want this, Alyssa.”

She scowled over her shoulder at him. If she tried to move, her ass would brush his leg, or worse, she’d confirm he had a hard-on, and something told her there was no coming back from that knowledge. “If you’re not going to get out, then move so I can take a shower. You’re wasting water.”

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