Page 35 of King of Temptation

“You think I’m smart?” It was a silly thing to focus on, but that one sentence had settled in her chest, a warmth that spread through her very veins.

Brody blinked, as if he was as caught off guard by his words as she was. “Of course I think you’re smart. It’s part of what makes you a fucking menace.”

“How so?”

“Because you’re smart enough to make trouble, without realizing the full repercussions of what you’re doing. Which makes you a menace. And a fucking dangerous one at that.”

Brody

* * *

He managed to pay the check without any more surprise cheesecakes being added and with his arm locked around his little menace, he guided her outside to the parking lot. “Where did you park?”

“Over there.” She pointed to their left. “The blue sedan.”

Frowning, he looked over at what was clearly a rental. “Where’s your car?”

Pink tinged her cheeks, but she jerked her chin up in pure defiance. “None of your business.”

“All right.” He kept his tone breezy, unthreatening. “You can keep your secrets for now.”

Daddy will get them out of you, one way or another.

Goddammit. Not helpful.

“Damn right I can.” She was still trying for defiant, but only managed to hit pouty.

God, he was a sucker for a sulky babygirl. Especially ones who got all grumpy when they were in trouble the way she currently was.

Doing his best to ignore the ache of his painfully hard cock, he guided her through the parking lot. They reached the car she’d pointed him toward, and when she tried to walk toward the driver’s side, he nudged her the opposite direction. “Absolutely not. Daddy always drives.”

Fuck. He shouldn’t have said that. Had no business calling himself Daddy with what he had planned for her.

“Really?” Some of her brattiness returned as she paused beside the passenger door and cocked a brow. “Because I was under the impression you preferred to be driven around everywhere.”

It was true that when he was on family business he normally had a driver, though he didn’t actually prefer it that way. As Killian said, it was all about keeping up appearances.

But that wasn’t anything she could know. Unless she was either taking a wild stab in the dark or she’d been watching him more closely than he’d realized. “And how, exactly, would you know that, menace?”

She smirked, and he had to physically fight the temptation to kiss that bratty smile right off her face. “I told you. I make it my job to know things.”

His palm physically itched with the desire to spank her. To bend her over the hood of her car, pull down her deliciously tight jeans and turn her ass red without giving a fuck who might see them. “Give me your keys.”

“It’s unlocked.”

Temper sparked in his chest, and he had to force himself to breathe through it. “It’s a damn good thing for your ass that you aren’t actually my babygirl,” he grumbled as he leaned forward to pull on the handle.

Unfortunately, the move caused him to loosen his hold on her. An opportunity she seized by spinning away and taking off on foot.

It was kind of adorable, really, that she thought she could outrun him.

Shaking his head, he jogged after her, catching up with her before she even hit the sidewalk. He let out a loud laugh as he swung her around, so hopefully anyone close enough to hear would mistake her shrieks for excitement rather than fear.

“That was embarrassing for you, menace,” he growled in her ear as he hooked an arm beneath her legs, cradling her against his chest. “You should really be training harder if you want to outrun a man like me.”

“You didn’t give me time to get up to full speed!” Bottom lip pushed out, she let out an annoyed huff. “It just takes me a minute to warm up.”

“Uh-huh.”