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"Of what?"
"Of what I’m going to do when I catch you."
"C-catch me?" I shiver.Why are my knees knocking against each other?I lock my fingers together to stop them from trembling. "Why would you catch me?"
"Because you’re going to run."
"Run?"
"Run." He bares his teeth.
I gulp. The fine hairs on the back of my neck rise. Everything inside me warns me this isn’t a game. It’s not. So, what is it he’s playing at?
"Wh-why should I run?" I croak.
"Because, if you don’t try to make the token effort to get away, you’re going to hate yourself." He tilts his head, and the gesture is so animalistic, so predatory, every cell in my body goes on alert.
"H-hate myself?"Stop stuttering, you scaredy cat. He’s only a man.Only a hot, sexy, larger-than-life man, who you’ve crushed on half your life and avoided for the other half. Only your brother’s best friend, who you had the hots for before you realized he was all wrong for you. Before you did the one thing that ensured he’ll never forgive you.
"Not as much as I hate you, of course. But enough of that—"
He cuts the air with his hand. "Fly, little Sparrow. If I catch you, I might clip your wings, and what would you do then?"
"Peck your eyes out with my beak?" I challenge.
He blinks, then chuckles. "You have some fight left in you. Good."
Oh, god, why does that feel so ominous? So threatening? So ridiculously hot?I swallow, then square my shoulders. "I think you should…leave."
"I think you should run, before I turn you over my knee and spank you." He lowers his head and peers into my eyes. "Go."
3
Cade
"This is stupid." She laughs. The sound is nervous, and she must hear it, too, for she sobers. "Isn’t it?"
"You tell me, Sparrow. You threw water on my face—"
"Because you were being a jerk."
"—and now you have to pay. Fair is fair." I shrug out of my jacket. Without taking my gaze off of her, I loosen my cufflinks and pocket them, then begin to roll up the sleeves of my long-sleeved shirt. Fucking suits, I hate them. But I hate the sound of a lost opportunity more.
I needed to put on my game face, when I was off-field, and impress my potential investors into parting with money. Of course, the Seven are no fools. And Sinclair Sterling is the most cut-throat of them all. But he saw the potential in my plan. He, Michael Sovrano, and JJ Kane listened to my plan and agreed on the spot to put in the seed capital I need. Not that I don’t have my own money, but one lesson I learned a long time ago is that I only ever take a punt with someone else’s money, and never my own. A belief that’s served me well. One I'm not going to veer from. Especially not, when it comes to raising funds for my ventures.
I have power, have enough fame, thanks to my status as a leading sports figure. But what I really crave is the means to hold sway over people’s minds—in other words, use entertainment to influence. I’m no fool. I’ve been playing for England since I turned nineteen. I’ll be thirty in three years. If I’m lucky, I can continue playing for another decade, but my body will never recover as quickly as I did in my early twenties.
I need to leverage my reputation and my ability to hold sway over people’s opinions to launch companies that can double, even triple, my investment. Hence, my decision to pursue an entertainment company, as well as a tech startup, for an idea that will be ground-breaking. Sure, there's an element of risk in both, but if I can’t stomach that much, then I don’t deserve to make any money. I finish rolling up both sleeves, then look up at her.
"Giving in then?" I take a step forward. She yelps, then scampers to the side. I move forward, and she races around the breakfast counter. She runs toward the door, and I let her. Just because I can. Because I prefer to play with my prey before I capture them. Nothing like the aromatic scent of fear to make the chase more exciting.
She darts out of the kitchen, and I follow her. She races into the hallway and into the bedroom. In half the time it took her to get there, I’m in the room, past the bed, and headed toward the ensuite bathroom, which she’s stepped into. Before she can shut the door, I plant my foot in the crack, preventing her from closing it. She stumbles back, and I shove the door open, then plant my hands on both sides of the frame.
"Ready for your punishment?"
She swallows. "You’re crazy."
"But you knew that already." I smirk.
