Caught Up In You. Roni Loren
skill set to my brother.” His focus drifted to the hand she was using to finger comb her hair, his gaze tracking her movements with open appreciation. “I like your hair down. I never get to see it that way.”
“Thank you.” She clasped her hands in her lap, the memory of how he’d looked at her in the training room coming back to her. Even before she’d gotten over the surprise of seeing him standing there, her body had gone hot and needy at his blatant perusal of her form. Never had she had that kind of reaction to such a clearly dominant assessment. The rush of it had nearly knocked her on her ass.
But she couldn’t let herself get distracted by the bone-deep attraction he always roused in her. This was dangerous territory. The suggested deal was way too reminiscent of how her mother first started her “career.” Rich men making seemingly harmless offers. A night on the town, a few pretty things to wear, and a wad of cash to help a girl with her tough situation. What was expected in return was easy, right? Especially if the guy was good looking and charming anyway. Her mother had stepped into the trap of that fairy tale facade, and the sharp-toothed demons waiting on the other side had devoured her and spit her out, leaving her irreparably broken.
And though Kelsey didn’t want to believe that this was the type of arrangement Wyatt was suggesting, she needed to ask the question. She cleared her throat. “What exactly would you be expecting for the money?”
“Precisely what I said.”
She lifted her gaze to him. “But we’d be staying in the same room.”
“Of course,” he answered, looking a bit exasperated. “I thought that was clear.”
She shifted on the couch, the answer stinging and anger welling. “So you think because I let men pay me to beat them, that I’d just take a check to fuck someone, too?”
For a second, he looked as if she’d thrown ice water in his face, then he grimaced. “Kelsey, no. Do you honestly think I’d expect sex in return for money?”
She shrugged, her heart still beating too fast. “You wouldn’t be the first guy in my life to make that offer.”
Or the tenth.
When she’d stripped at the club, the offers had come nightly. Luckily, even in her haziest days of drug addiction, she hadn’t taken anyone up on it. But she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she’d stayed with boyfriends much longer than she would’ve because they’d funded her habit. She bet if Wyatt knew all of that he wouldn’t be sitting here wanting to parade her around his clients. He wouldn’t want to be seen with her anywhere.
He dragged a hand through his hair, appearing to be truly pained that she’d ever been propositioned in that way, and met her gaze. “Look, I’m not good at lying. So I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I don’t want you. That I haven’t thought about you in exactly the position I found you in tonight. That sharing a room with you and not touching you isn’t going to be a challenge. But nothing has changed since the day I didn’t kiss you in the car. I’m not going to pretend to offer something I don’t have to give just to get you in bed.”
The stark honesty startled her, hitting some unfamiliar spot inside her. She wasn’t used to guys straight-shooting with her. All her life, the men she attracted were the smooth-talkers, the snake charmers, the guys with the wink-and-a-smile promises. This man wasn’t feeding her a line. If she took this money and stayed with him, he’d keep his hands off her no matter how much he wanted to do otherwise. She knew it without a shade of doubt.
But the question was, would she survive it? She hadn’t slept with anyone in almost a year and for the last few months, the man sitting across from her had been playing the lead role in her fantasies. Fantasies that had scared her, had made her want things she hadn’t been able to do with anyone else. Things she’d been dreading doing tonight with Colby …
“Thank you for being honest with me. And I know I can take you at your word,” she said, her voice steady as resolve began building in her, crystalizing.
“You absolutely can,” he assured, some of the darkness and tension lifting from his face, hope replacing it. “So you’ll do it?”
Twenty-five grand would solve her most pressing issue with the snap of her fingers. She’d be able to move and get on her feet, find another job. One magical sweep of the money wand and it’d be done. Someone else fixing her problems for her again. The carrot danced in front of her at the end of that stick. And it looked mighty delicious.
But before she could reach out and take a bite, she thought back to her session yesterday with Hawk, the way she’d felt when he’d dropped that fifty-dollar bill on the table. Did she want to be bought by yet another man? Hired help? The little spark of pleasure she got when she was around Wyatt would be twisted and tainted once money got dumped into the mix. And that spark was the only pure thing in her life at the moment.
A menacing voice whispered in her head. You’re going to trust this guy, you stupid girl? You’ll be all alone with him. He could hurt you, Kelsey. It could be a trap like last time. Why else would someone like him want trash like you?
She swiped her damp palms on her pants and mentally gave Davis Ackerman’s ghost and his ugly whispers the finger. “I’m not taking your money, Wyatt.”
His mouth went slack. “What? If it’s about sharing a room, I can get a suite with a sofa sleeper—”
She shook her head and held up a palm, halting him. “You may be able to survive sharing a room for all that time. But I won’t.”
He clamped his mouth shut, his brows quirking upward.
“I’m not exactly in the market for a relationship either, you know. I’m not searching for some guy from the castle on top of the hill to come save me from my poor, peasant life. Up until that asshole dragged me into the alley, I was pretty damn happy with where I was. And now I’m just pissed that I have to turn everything upside down because of him.”
“I wasn’t trying to imply that—”
“I’m not done,” she said, shifting her feet back to the floor and leaning forward. “What I need is a job that pays more so that I can get away from this current mess and get back on track with my plans. And what I have to have in order to get that job is for a dom to put me through a month of sub training.”
He scowled. “With that fucking lumberjack.”
She smirked. Colby would love that nickname. “Maybe. Or maybe you and I could do an even exchange.”
“An exchange?” he asked, his tone growing wary.
“I’ll go with you to your retreat and be the best pretend girlfriend a guy could have.” Before she could think too hard on it and chicken out, she slid off the chair and onto the floor, her knees hitting the cool wood and her heart trying to pound right out of her chest. “And you knock the dust off your dominance and put me through my paces for the first week or so of this. After that, you can decide if you want to finish my training or send me back to Colby for the rest.”
He made some noise in the back of his throat, and she couldn’t tell if it was a pleased sound or a horrified one. “Kelsey, I don’t … I haven’t since college.”
She sensed fear there, resistance, but it was underscored by the pure need that flared in his irises. And that alone sent more heat through her than anything she’d experienced in years. “Were you any good, Mr. Austin?”
He closed his eyes, rubbing his brow bone, as if looking at her wasn’t allowing him to think properly. “I mentored under the best. He told me I was a natural.”
She didn’t doubt it. The man reeked of power and control. And she had a feeling Wyatt Austin didn’t do anything unless he could master it completely. “Why did you stop?”
His eyes snapped open at that, a veil sliding down between them, his whole demeanor going distant. “Things got too … intense. Kelsey, I don’t