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Olivia's head recoiled, offended. They stared at each other for several heartbeats and reality sunk in when she realized this wasn't in fact a joke. He was dead serious. She huffed out a breath, not realizing she'd been holding it until her lungs burned.
Oh my God...
“Why me… can’t you have anyone you want?” she said, her voice quivering as the weight of the situation settled heavily on her. Seeing her slight distress, he reached forward and fluttered his thumb across her cheek. His brow furrowed as she stared rather seriously into her eyes.
His heart squeezed.
“I’m a fucked-up person Olivia, as evidenced by the contract in your hand. That day you let me in from the rain you saved my life, and you didn’t even know it. I wasn’t there by chance, I was trying to wreck, praying for someone to hit me in the darkness out in that storm,” Colin stopped, seeing Olivia’s shocked expression. “But then I saw you through the window at the diner, and something about you called to me."
He paused and they stared into each other's eyes for a heartbeat before he smiled at her gently and resumed speaking.
"I stood there watching you for a while when you were closing that night. And your determination fueled me. I want you, Olivia,” he whispered her name rather reverently and her eyes bored into his. Her own deep-seated pain recognizing his in his eyes, knowing he was telling the truth.
Trauma understood trauma.
“You were trying to kill yourself?” she was barely even able to make the words escape her mouth.
Her heart pounded painfully, and she felt her skin break out and her belly flipped a nauseating somersault making her sway slightly in her seat. She tried to hid her fingers trembling, her mind raced, trying to figure this charismatic man out.
Looking down, Olivia felt her heart breaking for him. She’d never had anyone tell her they wanted to kill themselves before and it was jarring.
“Why?” she felt her hand slide forward towards him, before pulling back nervously. Not sure how she felt about comforting this obviously complicated stranger.
Colin tilted his head again as his eyes stayed trained on hers, a deep exhale left him as if he was disappointed in her reaction. Like he craved for her to touch him and she was denying him.
Olivia tensed, feeling his breath brush her fingers with their close proximity. She flexed her fingers, waiting for a response.
“I want you to know that I am in therapy every single week without fail, and I see a psychiatrist for treatment as well. That was my first ever attempt in twenty-three years, but I had a horrible trigger that day and could not pull myself out of a panic attack. I cannot talk about the why right now. Just know, you won’t have to worry about that,” he reassured her, his fingers tapped rhythmically on his leg.
Olivia followed the movement, seeing it was more of a soothing reflex than agitated gesture.
Olivia nodded; not quite sure she believed him. “Um…because no offense but I don’t think I could mentally handle walking in on a… on a…” her eyes met his before looking away hastily. She wet her lips, changing tactics. “It takes an awful lot to sh-shock me, Colin,” she said quietly, holding the contract to her chest, and meeting his gaze. “I’d have to do these th-hings, with y-you. To get the terms of the contract? No, this is too… convenient to be true,” she refrained from saying good.
Some of the stuff described in there wasn’t good at all. She blinked away from him in embarrassment, flushing a deep red as she thought about the acts listed on page three of the contract and swallowed hard.
“And page three… I don’t think I like page three,” her voice was unsteady, her eyes couldn’t meet his any longer. Her fingers shook as nerves began to once again get the better of her.
“It’s non-negotiable. If you don’t agree to page three, then everything else is moot,” he said quietly, tilting his head. “Page three won’t be happening for several months. We’ll have to work our way up to that. So your body won’t go into shock right away. We will need a lot of trust between the both of us to navigate that act. And I promise to make the pleasure outweigh the pain,” he suppressed a groan, fighting the lightheaded feeling of his blood draining from his head down to his cock.
Olivia’s eyes were wide as she finally met his and she stared silently.
Colin nodded solemnly. Page three of the contract was pretty intense, even by his standards.
“But… what about the board binding? And the use of electricity?”
Colin shook his head no. Refusing to repeat himself.
Swallowing the rest of his drink, he cleared his throat quietly, leaned forward, and held her gaze once again. Something clicked in her head and her eyes narrowed as her eyes flicked to his once more.
“Wait a fucking minute…” she said tightly, she shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her eyes flashed dangerously at him. “Are you doing this because you think I’m a prostitute? Because of my phone call the other night?”
Again, Colin shook his head no, eyes still calm and steady on hers. Olivia's eyes narrowed at him even more, and she could hear her breaths coming faster as her face reddened further. She tightened her lips when she heard a low rumble emit from his chest.
“Take the offer, Olivia,” Colin’s eyes turned hard once more, losing their softness at the threat of her refusal.
“Why are you doing this? This is insane. It’s certifiable!” she said softly, turning away from the document and placing confused green eyes on his.
“Because sometimes the difference between those who are successful, and those who aren’t is only opportunity. They just need someone to give them a chance,” he said quietly, turning his brown eyes onto hers. “But my chances come with a hefty cost, I’m afraid.”
