Page 40 of Seductive Scoundrel

I shrug. “Maybe. But you won’t stay away from me.”

She pauses to consider. “No, I suppose you’re right. But I have some rules of my own.”

My lips twitch because, damn, part of me likes her challenging me. A lot. “I imagined.”

We’ve reached the Bethesda Fountain with its Angel of the Waters statue, which I barely notice. But Mia stops to look at it, her eyes cataloging every detail while Wally waits patiently at her side. I try to imagine seeing New York City from the eyes of a small-town girl who is probably overwhelmed with navigating her new life and hasn’t made many friends yet.

For as long as she’s mine, I’ll spoil her and give her the best in this city.

“I’ll be your fuck buddy,” Mia says. I wince because that’s not exactly how I’d put it. “But I’m not going to be a number.”

“I won’t be fucking anyone else,” I confirm. “You’re not my girlfriend, and to be perfectly honest with you, that’s not going to change. But you’re not my fuck buddy either. I like spending time with you even when we’re not naked. That isn’t usually the case.”

And it’s true. Gwynne knows all the rules of etiquette and decorum for high-profile events while following all my rules in bed. But we didn’t hang out other than in those two specific capacities. I had nothing to say to her and didn’t care to hear what she had to say either.

Yet here I am on a walk with Mia and a dog I didn’t believe existed when I should be home working. I’m going to be behind when the workweek officially starts tomorrow, and yet I don’t care.

Alarm bells should be going off, but apparently, I have mental earmuffs.

“I want to see you once a week,” Mia says.

“I can’t promise that. My schedule is insane.”

“Then I can’t promise you’ll get my pussy whenever you want it.”

I bark out a laugh. “All right then. We’ll make once a week happen. Anything else?”

“Each time I see you, I get to ask you one question that you have to answer. And you can ask me one back. I don’t usually fuck guys I barely know, and it makes me feel better about this whole arrangement.”

I shouldn’t be surprised since she wanted to know a secret after we had dinner together. But I start to protest anyway before she cuts in with a quick head shake. “I don’t have any illusions about what this is, Dean. I don’t want a boyfriend anyway. As I said, I’m moving soon and you’re just going to help me pass the time.”

I smirk. “Happy to help.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends and get to know each other.”

“Fine. That’s fair. I’m guessing you have a burning question.”

She smiles. “When is the last time you felt out of control?”

I start to tell her that I never do because I don’t allow it, but immediately realize that isn’t the case. And with an expiry date on this pseudo-relationship, it’s safe enough, to be honest. “When I first met you.”

Mia looks surprised by the admission and, to be honest, I am too. “At the party?” She looks hesitant and I can’t understand why.

I shake my head. “I don’t even count that night because I couldn’t see your face and you barely talked to me. I meant at Masa when I truly saw you for the first time.”

“Why me anyway?” she asks. “You could have anyone.”

She’s right about that, but she’s also become my singular focus, and I’m not sure that I can even articulate why other than she makes it hard to breathe. It’s more than being beautiful. She makes me feel things I never have before in places I didn’t even realize I had.

But there’s no way in hell I can tell her any of that. “That’s two questions. You’ll have to save it for next weekend. It’s my turn. Why do you want to move away?”

Mia’s hand immediately goes to Wally as though trying to absorb some of his calmness. “I don’t fit in here. But I can’t go back to Kansas because I don’t fit in there either. I just…I want a fresh start and to find a place where I can make my way and that…I want it to feel like home. New York and Kansas don’t.”

New York has been the backdrop of my life for so long that I can’t imagine living anywhere else permanently. Even though I spent my college years in Boston, I was born and raised in this city, and it’s where I built my empire. There’s no way I’ll ever leave for the simple convenience factor alone.

I learned a long time ago that home isn’t a place. I’ve always been comfortable in my skin and my position in the world no matter where I’ve been located. But there’s something about Mia that is very on edge, and I’m debating on engaging Gordon to find out exactly why she left Kansas. But I should wait for her to tell me herself.

“How do you know Mike anyway?” I ask as we continue walking through the park. “You met him when you moved here?”

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