Page 68 of Temporary Vows

Jesus Christ, listen to me.

Fucking hell. How the hell did I get to this point?

And Elodie? Fuck, what can of worms did I open by making my offer? It was a terrible idea, but I still did it anyway. And I want her to say yes. Not for her. For me.

The debt makes her the best pick for me. When you’re indebted to someone, they own you. Outside of that, Elodie Harper and I have an unspoken understanding. I don’t even know what it is specifically, but she gets me. She gets me enough to know if she accepts my offer, our lives won’t be the bed of roses she imagined for herself.

And that’s why she might say no. If I were a good person, I’d tell her to do just that. Better to owe the devil than belong to him.

"I crossed off Kaylee," Levi says, his voice cutting into my thoughts. He taps his pen against the notebook and leans forward to stare at me. "She’s too quiet for you. Let’s face it; you'd eat her alive. Unless you think you may change for therightwoman."

Motherfucker.

“Are you even listening?” Levi raises his voice.

I cut him a hard stare. “Do I look like I’m listening?”

“No.”

I speed up when we reach the highway, and I try to figure out how I’m going to get rid of him. I could pull off on the next exit and leave him standing in the dark on the side of the road.

I did that before while we were vacationing in the Caribbean. He’d pissed me off so badly I knew I’d kick the crap out of him if I stayed around him any longer. While it was satisfying to teach his ass a lesson, the backlash that followed from our father hadn’t been worth it.

If I were to do that now with Dad so mad at me, I wouldn’t hear the end of it.

"You seemed to like the Fontaine girl. I thought she had potential." Levi keeps his gaze on me. "She had a great ass and a perfect pair of tits. Perfect for you. But I suppose things are different now.”

“What makes you think that?” Better to play his game.

“Elodie Harper."

My jaw tightens. Here we go. “What about her?”

“Oh, please. I don’t think we have to go over the obvious. My question is, why don’t you ask her?”

Way ahead of you, little brother.But I’m still not telling him.

“Ask her what?” I feign innocence with a believable sigh.

“You know what. Okay, so I think she’s far too…” He winces like he’s trying to find better words, something different from the truth.

“Too good for me,” I offer, keeping my expression blank.

“Yes. But I mean good as ingood.”

“I know what you mean. And you’re right.”

“So, what do you think?” He sits straighter, reminding me of an Irish wolfhound.

“I think… you need to stop asking me shit you know damn well I’m not going to answer.”

He hisses at me and shakes his head. “You’re a real hardass, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told, lil bro. So I’ve been told.” I grin, and he holds up his notebook, flipping the page again.

“Vanessa Nell; she’s another good one.” He starts reading her credentials. It’s clear he thinks he’s going to rile me up, but it won’t work tonight.

As soon as he starts speaking, my mind goes right back to Elodie. Trees blur past us as I take the exit toward the estate.