Page 14 of The Sadist and the Brat

She was almost on her feet when he said, “What if I can?”

She sat back down. She had to—her knees had turned to water. “What?”

“What if I can?” he repeated. “What would you give me?”

“Give you?” she repeated, confused. “What, like a trophy?”

“I wouldn’t mind a trophy,” he mused, the gleam in his eyes still shining bright. “But I had something else in mind.”

Don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t ask. Fuck it. “What?” she asked.

“If you do the demo—and you have fun—you owe me a real scene.”

“Are you…” He wasn’t. He couldn’t be.“Are you saying we should make abet?”

“Why not?”

There were several very good reasons why not. The fact that none of them immediately came to mind was immaterial. “That’s the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard.”

“Why?”

“Because it is,” she said, and stuck out her chin. “I’m not doing it.”

He shrugged, unperturbed. “All right, then.”

“It’s juvenile,” she told him.

“No question.”

“And irresponsible.”

“Probably,” he agreed.

His tone was so bland she could’ve used it as wallpaper paste, but his eyes were still glinting and his expression was smug.Resting Smug Dick Face.She resolved not to take the bait.

She lasted ten seconds.

“And besides, a bet has to have two parts,” she told him.

“True.”

“So what happens if youdon’tmake it fun?”Jesus, Sadie, stop talking!

“I’ll owe you a favor of your choice.”

That got her attention. “Whatever I want?”

“Within reason,” he allowed. “I’m not moving to Antarctica.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that without possibly crossing the line from sassy to disrespectful, so she ignored it. “I hope you don’t think ‘fun’ equals ‘orgasm’.”

The smile only deepened. “You don’t think orgasms are fun?”

Oh, I am not going there. “You know what I mean.”

“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “I have no intention of getting you off tonight.”

She drummed her fingers on her knee, eyes narrowed. “Is that right?”

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