Page 18 of Wildest Desire

“I wanted to talk about the new additions to the contract,” he says, pulling his chair in toward the table. “I made a few changes. Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything over the top.” He slides it over to me.

Over the top? He’s already done that, so nothing else he does is going to shock me now.

Looking through the papers, I see all the changes we already agreed on: I'll be presented to everyone as his girlfriend. I'll spend five out of seven days with him.

I look up when I read this. “You will have something scheduled that requires my presence five out of seven days?” I wonder what his game is, because this is beginning to look like it’s more than trying to get me into his bed.

“No, I won’t. I don’t have anything for a few months, but I still want you here for company.”

I look back at the papers and mentally roll my eyes. Yeah, right. He must think I’m an idiot if he thinks I believe he only wants my company. “What if you're working?” I ask before taking a sip of my wine.

“You will be here when I get back.” He stops for a moment like he's trying to read my mind for what I'm about to ask. What about my life? Is the question I want to ask.

“You can do whatever it is you normally do, and I'll message you when I leave work. I expect you to be here when I arrive.”

“Fine.” I look back at the papers. Yes, that came out bitter, but I don’t care. This is senseless, and I’m still beating myself up for agreeing to this from the start. He didn’t change anything else until the last page. There it is in black and white, the one thing I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do. ‘Every Wednesday is dinner with my family, which you will attend’. I begin to panic. Closing the file, I reach for the wine and drink it all in one go.

My eyes meet Ethan’s, and I force a smile. I know he’s going to ask the one question I won’t answer. “Can I have some more wine, please?”

“Yes. Sign the papers.” Ethan places a pen on top of the file, then walks away. I don’t look to see where he goes. I just stare at the pen begging it to self-combust. “Here.” Ethan places a glass of wine on the table, then takes his seat in front of me. “Is everything okay?”

I watch him as he leans back in his chair. “Yes, everything’s fine. Nothing’s wrong,” I tell him. I can’t tell him my worries about family, but I can see he’s not buying it either. Quickly grabbing the pen, I sign the papers and then push them back to him. “So, what meeting is this evening?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

“There isn’t one. I wanted you here to talk about this. You can stay for dinner, read about my family, then we can watch a movie.”

Swallowing a mouthful of food, I drink my wine. “I’m not really dressed for a cozy day in.” I look down at my dress then back up at him. He’s got that devilish smile on his face again.

“I can always take the dress off for you,” he says as he pushes his plate away. Ethan leans forward with his elbows on the table. “Feed me some food.”

Please! Taking some food on my fork, I slowly bring it closer to his mouth. Our eyes connect the closer I get to him. Ethan begins to open his mouth.

I lick my lips slowly, then turn the fork, bringing it to my lips. “Mmmm, so good,” I say, licking my lips again. If he wants to play games, then I’m more than happy to play along.

Picking up the file on his family, I walk over to the sofa to start reading. I can feel Ethan behind me, and it’s taking all my willpower not to react to him being there. He walks around to the front of the couch and kneels in front of me. He moves his hand down my leg without touching me, and it’s erotic as hell. He stops at my shoe, takes it off, then does the same to the other leg.

“I want you to be comfortable here.” He moves closer to me with his face only inches away from mine, almost as if he's going to kiss me.

I bet he’s a good kisser. He’s bossy and demanding, and I bet his kiss is the same. Oh, my God. Am I saying I like it when he’s being an overbearing jerk to me?

I quickly move away from him, then look back down at the file. “Ethan, your mom owns the cinnamon and pretzel place?” I sit close to him. “I love that place. I order cinnamon buns from there every day!” The excitement in my voice is almost squeaky. “Can you ask her how she makes the sweet pretzels?” I look at him, still kneeling in front of me with a huge smile on his face.

“Every day? What do you eat from there?” Ethan places his hand on my bare thigh.

“I order a few things, but the lemon cake is the best, I think. Oh, and the white chocolate cookies, and the salty treats… those are amazing.”

He looks me up and down. “Where does it all go?”

I put my legs up on the couch with Ethan’s hand still on my thigh. “I run,” I tell him. Why does his hand on my leg feel so nice? I cannot start liking him. I need to remember he’s an asshat and treats me like shit. Moving away from him, I continue to read the file, and he turns his attention to his phone.

I place the file on the table before standing up. “Would you like some tea or coffee?” He’s working on his laptop, and without looking up, he nods.

I walk off toward the kitchen. I’m not sure which he likes but I’m making myself a coffee, so that's what he will get as well. He looks like a coffee person. Walking back, I grab a bag of chips. You have your sweet-toothed people, and then the ones who prefer salty snacks. I’m a salty person. Give me some chips, and I'll finish the pack without even stopping. I have a jar in my kitchen filled with pretzels or chips. I go through them so much that I have to fill the jar back up at least twice-a-week.

Placing the coffee on the table, I take my bag of chips and walk over to the DVDs.

“Do you have much more work to do?” I ask as I stands on my tiptoes to look at the ones on the top shelves. “Do you have something in mind? I’m more than happy to stop for you.” I don’t bother turning around to look at him. I know what he has on his mind.

“Maybe we can go out for a bit. Otherwise, we'll be stuck indoors all day.” I continue to look at the DVDs, unsure what the best angle is to work him yet. Normally, I get a vibe from a client right away, but him, I get nothing. Putting some chips in my mouth, I turn around.

---