Page 121 of Spark

I sighed in annoyance, reached down to pick up Camaro, and headed back inside and up to my room. I hated not knowing what was going on. It made my hair stand on end when more and more circumstances were taken out of my control. Darren probably wanted to surprise me again, but he should know by now that I fucking hated his surprises.

When I got up to my bedroom, I placed Camaro in her bed next to mine and looked to find a very tight white mid-thigh length dress with a sweetheart neckline and bustier. A pair of strappy white heels was on the floor to match. Where the fuck was I going dressed like this?

I quickly changed into the dress and heels, fixed my makeup, and brushed my tousled hair. I put on some of the new diamond jewelry Darren had bought me for Christmas and sprayed some light perfume before pacing the room for the next several minutes, my heart racing with anxiety.

Where were we going? Why were we going? Who was going to be there? What would we be doing? The questions rolled in my mind like waves crashing against the inner walls of my head, searching for an answer. The last time I had been out of the house, I knew where we were going and why we were going, but having this suddenly dropped on me made me nervous. I didn’t like not knowing shit.

A few moments later, Clive opened the door unannounced. “Miss Jaden,” he said, but then his eyes scanned over me, noticing my appearance and quickly approving. “Mr. Davis is downstairs waiting for you.”

I nodded, grabbed my accenting gold clutch containing my nude lipstick and some mints, and headed out the door, unsure that I would even need any of that shit. Darren was waiting in the foyer, talking on his phone and slowly pacing back and forth in a light gray suit and white shirt with the top buttons undone. No tie. The clicking of my heels on the stairs announced my arrival, causing Darren’s eyes to immediately find mine. With each step I took, those dark blues of his ate me up inch by inch, clearly approving.

“Yeah, we’ll see you when we get there,” he said into the phone and hung up.

“Where are we going?” I asked, trying not to sound too snarky.

Darren released a heavy breath through his nose as his eyes continued to travel over my body. His hands lifted to rub down my bare arms, creating goose bumps in their wake, but I welcomed the warmth and gentleness of his touch.

“You’ll see when we get there,” he said softly. “Right now, I just want to enjoy the sight of you in white.”

I blanched. I knew what kind of white he was referring to, and I didn’t want to think about that white ever, even though it was beyond the scope of my control.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said and took my hand in his to pull me out the door and into the pretty idling Ferrari in the driveway. Clive and Owen got into another black BMW behind ours while Darren ushered me into the passenger seat of the Ferrari. It was the sleekest shit I had ever seen. Red racing seats hugged my ass perfectly, and the comfortable design made it feel like a damn recliner. Getting to work on this beast was definitely a highlight of the week, especially when I got to impress Darren by proving that I knew my way around an engine.

I buckled my seat belt as Darren got into the driver’s seat and buckled himself in. He glanced at me quickly before putting the car in gear and taking off down the circle drive to the gate. Once we were on the open road, Darren really took off, obviously enjoying the capability of his car, especially since the tune-up. I couldn’t help but smile as we zoomed in and out of the traffic lanes, hugging the curves of the road and allowing the roar of the engine to vibrate through my skin.

“You’re smiling,” Darren commented with a smug grin.

Dammit.

“Would you like to know how to recreate it?”

“Do tell,” he said, his eyes never leaving the road.

“What are the chances you’d ever let me drive this?”

He scoffed, as if the idea was ridiculous, but then he glanced at me with a hint of curious amusement behind his eyes.

“Slim to none,” he finally answered.

I anticipated that.

“What if we played a game?” I asked, attempting to alleviate the stress of the impending evening. I had no idea where we were going, and I didn’t like that. I liked it even less that Darren was purposefully keeping it a mystery.

“A game, huh,” he reiterated, his eyes becoming serious.

“If I correctly guess where we’re going in ten questions or less, someday soon, within the next month, you have to let me drive this car.”

Darren chuckled, as if I had no chance of succeeding.

“And if you lose?”

I shrugged. “Then I don’t get to drive.” Duh.

Darren shook his head. “No. You’re asking me to sacrifice something for your benefit should you win. If I win, you will have to sacrifice something for my benefit as well. Not only will you have to sacrifice for your loss, but your winning guess must also include the reason for our attendance to this affair as well. Those are my terms if you want to play.”

Motherfucker… this was my game!

He spoke his words as if he were reciting a verbal contract, which I suppose in a way he was. He was a businessman, after all, and I could already see him turning the terms against me like the shark he was. It made me feel like I was losing already, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have the backbone to play.

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