Her bottom lip disappears between her teeth for a moment.
“What’s the job and the pay?”
“It pays fifty thousand dollars.” It’s not enough, but it will put a dent in the bills that I saw. The rest I’ll take care of later.
“Fifty thousand dollars?” Looking at me with those wide, cynical eyes of hers she stakes a step toward me. “What’s the job? I assume it’s a full-time position?”
“It pays fifty thousand dollars for one night.”
Her expression goes blank, but she recovers quickly and anger flashes in her eyes.
“What for?”
I hand her the invitation. “I need a date.”
She reads over the details of the charity event while muttering to herself under her breath. It’s barely audible but I’m pretty damn sure she called me a few names. I decide to let it go. Later, when she understands all the rules, I’ll punish her for it.
“You want to pay me fifty thousand dollars to go to a charity function? Are you completely insane? I’m not taking your money.” She thrusts the invitation back at me, but I slide my hands into my pocket.
“You need the money, and I need a date.”
What I needed was a way to get money into her account without her fighting me tooth and nail about it.
“So, you figured you’d pay me a crazy amount of money to hang off your arm? No. I’m not buying into that. Moving debt from one place to another doesn’t actually get rid of the debt.”
“What debt? It’s a payment, Vivienne.” I turn on my heel and make my way to my desk. “It’s one night with me. You’ll get out of a lot of that debt you’re buried under. We both get what we want.”
“I understand why I would do this, but you haven’t given me any sort of reason as why you want me to be there? Why not make this offer to any of the girls downstairs? I’m sure some of them that work in the cages every night would love to help you out.”
“I don’t want them. I want you.”
“Do you understand how crazy that sounds? Ivan, we barely know each other. There’s no reason why you would want me over the other girls.”
I ball my hands into fists and press them into my desk. My knuckles crack with the pressure.
“Because I do.”
“You only want me because you can’t have me.” She stomps to my desk and throws the invitation down.
“If only that were true.” I lower my voice.
Wanting this woman has given me nothing but sleepless nights, if I could squash this fucking desire to possess her, I would.
“And what would this night entail?” She folds her arms over her chest. Heat blooms over her cheeks.
“They’re usually pretty boring. There’s dinner, some longwinded speeches, and dancing.”
“And it would be just for the night? For the dinner?” She chews on the inside of her lip.
With slow steps, to keep her from bolting from the room, I make my way to her.
“For the night, Vivienne.”
Her wide eyes meet mine, and even the makeup painted on her face can’t hide the blush sweeping over her cheeks.
“Ivan, I don’t…I mean…seriously?”
“Nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen. But yes, for the night.” There’s a single strand of hair stuck in the lipstick of her bottom lip, so I pull it free.
