Page 28 of Nothing to Win

Her lips curled as her hips squirmed.

“I’ve never had a man talk to me the way you do.”

“You said this relationship was going to be different,” he said.“Now you’re naked, what was your question?”

Good thing he was keeping track, she’d forgotten he owed her one.

“What do you want from me?”

One breath.Another.

The beat of her heart echoed in her ears.

“Not the same thing I wanted when we made our deal,” he said.“Are you working tomorrow?”

He’d just referred to her volunteering as work.Her family mocked it, or they ignored it.They didn’t like to acknowledge it existed.Brogan… referring to it as… he’d respected it, respected her, in a way her relatives never had.

“Yes,” she said.“And Shanna is going to introduce me to her PI at lunch, I want to make sure he’s for real.”

The ease of his lazier tone lessened.“You believe he isn’t?”

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to share her concerns.Don’t forget Brogan Spurn is a tenacious guy.One way or another, if he wanted to, he’d get answers.For better or worse, she’d opened her mouth, backtracking wasn’t an option with a guy like this.

“I was supposed to meet him with Shanna today, but Jenna called me away.I’m sure it’s nothing.Shanna’s just so desperate to find Jarrod that she’s not thinking straight.The PI took all her money; I didn’t think he’d do that at the first meeting.We don’t know what kind of guy he is yet.”

“All her money?”

“All your money,” she said.“Sorry.”

Had she pissed him off?

He inhaled.“Jenna will put someone on it.”

“Someone on… you’re going to help your brother?”

“Half-brother and I don’t give a damn about him.”

His words were sure though a complete contradiction.

“So who do you give a damn about?”

“My money,” he said.

Right.Yes.His financial stake.If the PI didn’t do his job and Shanna kept giving him money, Brogan would be the only one taxed.

“I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“Jenna will follow up with the investigator,” he said, losing the last of his ease in favor of returning to his usual detached self.“Get some sleep, Gia.We may be up late tomorrow.”

“I—”

The phone line died before she could say anything else.Hmm, well, she gave him points for trying.For a man who never talked on the phone with women, he’d given it a shot with her.

She returned the phone to the nightstand and covered herself with the duvet.She could put her nightdress on again, but Brogan’s quid… He’d never know if she went against his wishes, but as she wriggled in the warmth of her sheets, she smiled.Being Brogan’s girlfriend wasn’t so bad after all.

NINE

FOR FRIDAY’S EVENT, her mother picked out a floor-length body-con ball gown for her.Black, strapless, contrasting the diamonds mother released to daughter.Studs and a choker, simple, but enough to reveal her mother wanted to impress someone.