Never breaking his stare, he murmured, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He heard the slight catch of her breath. Noticed the erratic beat of her pulse at the base of her neck. From nerves? Desire? The hardening of his body telegraphed which one it voted for.
Step back. Remember the plan. Stick to the plan.
But he stayed.Playing with sin-wrapped-in-bronzed-skin fire.
“No?” she breathed, the corner of her mouth lifting in a sardonic smile. “Is this the part where I just blindly trust what you say because my lying eyes and lil’ ol’ brain can’t possibly grasp the intricacies involved here?” She scoffed, jerking her head back, and he released her. “Please. I’m patted on the head and patronized every day, so forgiveme if I call bullshit.”
She turned away from him, and he ground his teeth together, his fingers curling into his palms to battle the urge to grab her and bring her back against him. She didn’t understand. This wasn’t about Madison; it was about another woman—his sister. And that bastard who’d abused her heart and shattered her mental state.
An eye for an eye. A sister for a sister.
But he couldn’t admit any of that to her. Not when she would no doubt run back and tell Trevor everything.
“You’re forgetting I know the secret about your job. And I don’t mean that joke of a title at RemingtonNeal. I would be a fool to underestimate you, Shay.”
She pivoted and something flashed in her hazel eyes, but before he could decipher it, she briefly closed them and pinched thebridge of her nose.
“Can we just get this over with?” she asked, weariness coating her voice. “Tell me what you need from me so you won’t burn my brother’s world to the ground.”
“Like I told you at the restaurant. You and I will pretend to be a couple. A real couple, Shay. Which means convincing everyone that we’re hopelessly in love.” He couldn’t prevent the bitter smile from curvinghis mouth. “I read that you took several drama classes in college. Time to dust off those old skills and bring them out of retirement. I’ll require you to attend several events and dinners with me, and the same for you. The first time you try to twist out of this arrangement, it’s off, and your brother’s dirty dealings become public.”
This time he clearly interpreted the emotion turning hergaze more green than brown. Anger. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain. But I won’t carry this lie on indefinitely. You have a time limit of six months. That’s all I’ll agree to.”
Six months would be more than enough time to carry out all he had planned. “Fine.”
“And at the conclusion, you promise to destroy the report and all copies of it.”
He nodded again, althoughhe had no intention of doing that. Only a fool would reveal his hand. Did he feel a twinge of guilt for deceiving her? Yes, it didn’t sit well. But he’d meant what he’d told his mother. His number one goal was to prevent Trevor from ever hurting another woman as he’d hurt Olivia. This arrangement with Shay was only one part of his plan.
“Okay, then.” Shay inhaled a breath and tilted her chinup at a haughty angle, every inch the socialite. “One more thing. I’m not a whore. We might have to pretend affection for each other, but I won’t have sex with you.”
Irritation flashed inside him, and he took a step toward her before he drew to an abrupt halt. “I can promise you that when I take a woman to my bed, she wants to be there. I don’t give a damn about love, because there’s somethingmuch more honest—fucking. There are no lies when a woman is coming for me, and I don’t want one in my bed who doesn’t want to be there. If she can’t give me the truth of her pleasure, then I don’t want her under me. And any man who’s satisfied with just getting a woman between the sheets, without giving a damn about her desire to be there, isn’t a man.”
Silence plummeted into the room, andthat sense of déjà vu hit him again. He’d said something similar to Camille weeks ago when she’d accused him of using his position of power to screw her. He shook his head. He had to stop thinking about her. He couldn’t afford to show any weakness or distraction around Shay.
“But you need to understand one thing, Shay, and come to terms with it.” He moved forward again, lowering his head sotheir mouths were inches apart. So close he glimpsed the golden striations in her eyes and inhaled the heady scent of Scotch on her breath. “I’m not the other men you might have had dancing to your tune. For the next six months, you’re mine. And while you might not be in my bed,” he murmured, brushing the back of his finger over a sculpted cheekbone, “you’ll act like you are. Which means you’llpretend to desire my touch, my hands on you. You’ll behave as if you crave what I, and only I, can give you. Pleasure. Passion. A hunger so deep you don’t know how you ever existed without me to take care of it for you. So, moonbeam, even if you loathe me, those beautiful eyes better convince everyone that I’m yours. Andyou’re mine.”
She wrenched away from him, stumbling backward, her pantingaudible testimony to the arousal that stained her cheeks and glinted in her eyes.
Fuck.
Need gripped his stomach, grinding and squeezing like a vise. He’d overplayed his hand. His aim had been to teach her a lesson, and he’d ended up the student with his knuckles rapped.
“Don’t call me that,” she ordered hoarsely. He frowned, at first not grasping what she meant. Then it hit him. Moonbeam.
Where had that come from? Why had he called herthatname?
“Pet names, like we’re something we’re clearly not, aren’t part of this, either.” She tugged her shoulders back, and that delicate but stubborn chin went up again. “And for the record. I belong tome. Not my brother. Not RemingtonNeal. And definitelynot you.”
Shay spun around. Snatching up her coat, which he’d laid over theback of the foyer chair when they’d entered the penthouse, she strode out of his home.
He stood there, staring at the closed door, and a small smile played on his lips.
Whether she realized it or not, she’d just issued a challenge.
Accepted.
And he more than looked forward to winning.
