Page 40 of Miss Typed

Her eyes went big, and her face turned pink. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“No, you shouldn’t.”

“But you paid forty thousand.”

“Actually, it was one hundred thousand. You get forty percent.”

Her mouth fell open. “No, no. You weren’t supposed to. This wasn’t supposed to have happened.” She held a fist to her chest, and started to breathe rapidly.

I took her by the shoulders, recognizing her panic and regretting I’d blurted out the real amount. “Breathe in and out. Slowly.”

Her tear-filled gaze locked on mine, but she did as I directed. Finally, she spoke. “I didn’t want this to be your burden.”

“I bullied you into this choice. Thinking you could be giving up your virginity to someone who might be cruel—it just—” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Considering all the scenarios I’d envisioned over the last twenty-four hours, I hadn’t been able to breathe easy until she’d walked into my hotel room.

“You didn’t make me do this. I decided it was a way for me to get all the money I needed at once. But it shouldn’t have been you.”

Insecurity washed over me. The likelihood of her making this personal wasn’t high, and yet it felt personal. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to sleep with a woman again. Physically, I could. But the idea anyone else could be comfortable with the sight of me missing a leg—when I couldn’t get there yet myself? I couldn’t fathom it. No wonder I’d stayed celibate since the accident.

“I ordered room service, and you can eat and watch TV.” I stepped back from her and walked to the table for two. On it was a fruit and meat platter.

“Aiden. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. You can’t imagine my relief in seeing your face instead of some stranger. But you paid a hundred thousand. I’ve gone from making payments on a forty-thousand-dollar balance to owing someone twice as much.”

“You don’t owe me a dime. Who were you paying?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’ll be paid off on Monday.” She took the opposite seat and popped a grape into her mouth. “I can’t believe you paid so much. My virginity is in no way worth a hundred thousand dollars.”

“There were a dozen men downstairs who’d beg to differ. But I’m not taking your virginity.” It was obvious she had no clue how rich I was. A hundred thousand was a simple wire transfer from an account I seldom touched.

I was still shocked in learning she was a virgin. Sure, I’d always thought she had innocence written all over her, but then there was the way she’d responded on my lap in the club when she’d climaxed on top of me. That hadn’t exactly screamed inexperienced.

“We’re not sleeping together?” The way she asked almost sounded disappointed.

“No. But the rules are specific. We need to stay in the room until morning.”

“No. I need to. You can come and go as you please.”

“I’m not leaving you here alone.” Even if it would be torture to spend the entire night without touching her, I wasn’t taking any chances with her safety.

“What will we do?”

“I can order more food. Or movies. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“You don’t want me?”

I closed my eyes for a brief second, keeping a lid on just how much. “You need your first time to be with someone who will make it special for you.” A man with both legs. A man who had a future he could give her. A man who wasn’t questioning his self-worth on a daily basis.

“I’ll work out a payment plan to reimburse you.”

“You’re not paying me back. I had the money. I would’ve offered it to you before if you’d trusted me enough to tell me why you needed it. But instead I pushed you into this.”

“It wasn’t only about trust. I didn’t want it to become your burden. This was a way for me to get out of debt once and for all and not owe anyone.”

I had a lot more questions, but now wasn’t the time. “Come on. Let’s rent a movie and order up some real food.”

For the first time, she smiled. The effect made me groan internally. It would be a long night.

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