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“This is amazing,” I say as the waiter pours Jovan a glass of wine. When the waiter holds the bottle out to me, I shake my head. “No, thank you.”
“Not much of a drinker?” Jovan asks as the waiter leaves the room.
“Like I said, shitty childhood influenced the person I am now.”
“So, you never drink?”
I shrug. “I didn’t say that. I just agreed that I’m not much of a drinker. Every now and then I’ll have a glass of wine, but that’s about it.”
“Alright, so, why were you in that house?”
I eat some more of the crab dip, stalling for time. When he arches an eyebrow and starts spinning the band again, I know he is getting impatient.
I can’t decide if I’m happy that I’m pushing his buttons just as much as he is pushing mine. He needs to understand he doesn’t control me, even if I do need his money.
Besides, riling him up is part of my fun.
There’s something about seeing him lose even an inch of control that sends a wave of lust rolling through my body. I want to see him that out of control with me pinned against the wall as he drives into me.
“Whatever is going through your head right now makes me think that you are up to no good,” Jovan says, his voice soft and sultry as he leans across the table.
“I thought you said I couldn’t play with the big boys?” I smile sweetly at him and sit forward, my face inches from his. “Wouldn’t that mean that I’m only up to good?”
“Stop dodging the question, Hadley. What were you doing in that house?”
I arch an eyebrow at the frustration in his tone. “Why does it matter to you? You seem to be very interested in that house.”
He exhales hard, his hand curling into a fist before relaxing. “Do I need to remind you that the five hundred dollars is contingent on you cooperating with me?”
I swallow hard and bite my tongue as the waiter comes back into the room with our food. I don’t bother to touch my burger as I stare at Jovan, considering how much I should tell him.
If he digs deep enough or asks Carlos about me, he is going to have the entire story. It’s better that I tell him what I want him to know than allowing him to rummage through my life.
“I used to live there before my parents died,” I say, not volunteering the reason why I visit the house. I don’t need him to know that I miss the house where my life was ruined over and over again.
“Alright, so you used to live there. That still doesn’t tell me why you would be going to a burned and abandoned house after work.”
I shrug and pick up my burger, picking a big bite as I try to think of a reason that he won’t see through immediately.
“I went there because I was thinking about finally burning it to the ground.”
He sighs and breaks one of the crab legs in front of him before dipping it into the hot honey butter. Jovan sucks the meat from the leg, clearly waiting for me to elaborate. When I don’t, his eyes narrow.
“Hadley, you’re not playing the game properly. Normal people like you don’t wake up one morning with a desire to burn things to the ground.”
“To be fair, I had just finished work. That means that I had already been up for the whole day. That’s plenty of time to consider arson.”
Surprisingly, he laughs as I take another big bite of my burger. Jovan shakes his head and eats another crab leg before wiping his fingers on the napkin. When he crosses his arms, it feels like my stomach drops out of my body.
It feels like he can see through me. Sitting across from him and seeing that stern look on his face makes me think that he already knows everything he could ever need to know about me.
Though I know it’s not true, it makes me uncomfortable.
“Fine, you don’t want to tell me more about your childhood than that. I can accept that for now.”
“Can you?”
He shrugs. “Tell me why you’re willing to do all this for money. You’re bending to my whims but you’ve clearly got a backbone. I think you might be one of the most stubborn people that I have ever met.”
