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“No. I already sent her home. She’s had a long day. And she’s expecting. She needs her rest.” There’s a determination and grit in her voice as she speaks. I admire her tenacity. But I don’t like her using it on me. Making my damn palm itchy to spank. “Look, I really, really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Your sister too. I can never repay you for your kindness, your bravery. I’ll always be grateful to you. Seriously. But… I’m going to go. Thank you for your help.”
She spins with the grace of a ballerina, heading toward the door.
It takes everything in me to not grab her bruised arm, physically stopping her from leaving this room.
“Stop.” I add the next word as an afterthought, hoping it’ll help. “Please.”
It works. She turns back to me. “Look. I saved you. You saved me. We’re even now. It’s been a crazy couple of days, and we’ll be forever linked in some weird way, but I have to go.”
“And where is it that you think you’re going?”
“To sleep in my car—” Her eyes go wide as she drops her words. I watch it sink in as she realizes what she’s just confessed to me.
No fucking way. “You’ve been sleeping in your car?”
She knows I’m going to go absolutely savage over this news.
Not wanting to disappoint, I pace the floor, tearing my left hand through my hair, my right arm sore as hell, hence the whiskey I’ve been sipping on.
“You think you’re going to leave here, to sleep in your fuck—” Swearing at her isn’t going to get me anywhere. “Car? With that asshole on the loose? You really think you’re safer in your car. Alone. That monster is going to track you down. How scary can I be? I have fucking cookies here.” Not sure where that came from, but I go with it. “Are you kidding me right now? Cookies.”
She holds a hand out to stop me. “Calm down. I know what I’m doing.”
“No, you don’t.” I rake my hand through my hair again so I don’t grab her. “It’s the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard.”
Her hands go to her hips. I know that stance. It’s what Ashely does when she means business. Her pretty eyes lose their sparkle, going icy. “Do. Not. Call me dumb.”
“Fuck.” I shake my head. “This is going all wrong.”
I’m so frustrated. I have no idea how to communicate with her, other than by using force. Which is the last thing she needs after what she’s been through.
I take a deep breath, starting over. “I’m not calling you dumb. I would never do that. I just don’t like your plan.”
I feel her backing toward the door as she speaks. “You don’t have to like it. You just have to accept it.”
I can’t. I tried. But I can’t.
The words spew from me like lava from a volcano. Hot. Rushing. Unstoppable. “I’m telling you if you so much as try to step one foot out that front door I’m going to have you over my knee with those sweatpants down so fast, your head will be spinning while I spank your ass. And my good hand might be out of commission tonight, but I promise you I can spank your ass every bit as hard with my left one.”
I don’t miss the sharp intake of breath, the shine of curious fear that lights her gaze, the deepening flush riding up in her cheeks.
I know instantly.
She’s one of us.
I felt it when I first grabbed her ass, how she melted further into me, sighing into my kiss, but now, with this reaction, she’s confirmed it. She’s a walking, talking Bachman Beauty, ready to be spoiled, spanked, and sexed by the very best New York has to offer.
Her words are breathy as she backs away from me. “Don’t you dare.”
Do I dare?
Hell yes, I dare.
I step forward, closing the gap between us. Our lips are mere inches apart. She stares at me, her eyes glossy with desire.
“You like that, don’t you? When I tell you how it’s going to be. When I keep you safe even if it means your ass pays the price. You thought you were going for a man in charge, one who would dominate you, but you picked the wrong man. You need one that not only knows how to take control, but one who knows how to take care of you, too. To treat you like the amazing woman that you are.” I step back, taking in her response. “Too much for a first date?”
“S’not a date.” She looks at the floor, examining her bubblegum-pink toenail polish. She can’t meet my eye.
