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“I don’t pay for companionship or sex, Kiera.”
“Then why?”
He furrowed his brows. “Why what?”
“Why me?”
He tilted his head. “You intrigue me,” he replied honestly. “Women typically back away from me. They give me what I want to avoid confrontation. People fear me. You’re different.”
Her chin lifted. “I’ve worked at the Grotto for a year. Men don’t scare me anymore.”
Vincent’s mind flashed to the men who frequented that place—the men who should have terrified her. The heat that built within him came irrationally and without restraint. Kiera in that place sent him to the brink of an edge that he hadn’t tumbled over for a very, very long time, though he couldn’t explain the reason for the shift. The anger.
“They should,” he said simply.
He could see how she examined him shamelessly and knew the interest that burned within her. He may have been older than her, and she certainly noticed the age gap between them, but he seemed to interest her, too.
“You want sex?” she asked bluntly.
“I want many things,” he replied, moving closer to her. His hand rested atop her knee, and he waited for her to flinch or to pull away from him, but she didn’t. She looked at him witha combination of stubborn will and breathless interest. “But sex can be one of them.”
“I don’t sleep with men I just met,” she told him, an adamant will in her voice.
He gently slid his fingers up her thigh until they rested beneath her dress. His hand grew warmer from the heat she exuded, and he wanted to close the entire place down for the chance to feel her and taste her. He stopped right outside her panties.
“And I don’t force women to do things they don’t ask for,” he affirmed. His finger drifted so closely to the place where all the warmth of her originated, but he didn’t touch it. Not yet. “But when you agree, I won’t be as submissive as all your other conquests.”
“None of them were submissive,” she argued, breathless.
“But they couldn’t match you, could they?” He knew he hadn’t misread the situation. And when she didn’t argue, when she slid her body nearer to those fingers, likely wanting to know what they’d do to her, he pulled his hand back and smiled at her. “I’m afraid that this tight white dress isn’t as concealing as the red one would have been, so you’re going to have to wait.”
She breathed heavily beside him and scowled, likely regretting her choice to leave the red dress in favor of this one.
5
She didn’t know what to expect after their dinner. He’d taken her home and left her at the doorstep. Kiera could admit to herself that she’d been a pool of lust beneath his intense gaze. For the first time, she contemplated leaving all her barriers and careful control at the door. She’d push him. There was no doubt that she’d never be broken of her stubbornness, but maybe for him, she could give up the power she’d always craved in the past.
What she hadn’t expected after the date was Vincent’s spontaneous arrival at the Grotto. He stayed the entirety of her shift.
He did it for an entire week.
Kiera had been his server each night, and he sat where he could see her every move. Her other customers—the men in fancy attire who typically ogled and fondled her throughout the night—kept an eye on him and refrained from touching her.
She preferred the tips that came from being touched by sex-driven men, but they all seemed to acknowledge the unspoken claim Vincent had on her. With his tall and brooding stare, she could feel the dangerous appeal of him, and she liked it.She enjoyed being watched by such a powerful, dangerous, and influential man, even if her tips suffered greatly for it.
Everyone in the room felt his presence, and Kiera seemed the only one who didn’t fear it. Shelikedit.
“Another water?” she asked him, coming to his side and allowing her arm to brush his.
Vincent kept his eyes on her as he nodded, and she lifted the glass from the table.
“Are you going to come and sit here every night that I work?” she asked. “Because I imagine you have other duties to attend.”
His eyes flashed with frustration, but he gave a slight smile. It was not genuine, but it was more than he had offered anyone else who approached him during the long nights he had spent there. She’d come to realize that his smile had been reserved for her.
“I have plenty of other duties to attend, but not at your expense.”
She raised a brow as she cradled his drink. “I promise I won’t miss you if you leave and live your life.” She tilted her head. “It’s not like I had a bodyguard for the last year, and I’ve fared pretty well.”
