As he looked down at her, breathing heavily, his eyes full of lust, she couldn’t lie. “Only one. Only you.”
His eyelids fluttered shut, and he buried his nose into the side of her neck, inhaling deeply as if taking in her scent. “Guess that’s something, huh? I’m special, then.” She swore she felt his lips caress her skin before he lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. “So why don’t you want to call the police?”
“What am I going to tell them? There’s a handful of people who want me dead because I cleaned out their bank accounts? There’s no reason to call them. I don’t need them asking questions and looking into Lisa Smith’s background. I’ve survived this long by keeping my head low and staying out of trouble. I’ll hire a crew to clean up the place, and I’ll change my locks.” Or run far away where no one would ever find her again.
This time she wouldn’t let her guard down. She’d go back to the persona of a mousy secretary and not think that she could have a semi-regular life with friends and a career. She hated the idea of leaving the friends who had become more like a family to her than her actual blood relatives.
He toyed with the ends of her hair. “Do you have any clothes to change into?”
“Yeah, I have a bag in the car with the clothes I wore as I set up the wedding. Why?”
“Because it looks like everything you own has been ruined, and as sexy as you look in that dress,” he said, his gaze raking down the length of her body, “I doubt you want to wear it at the hotel.”
No way could she stay in his hotel room.
It was hard enough to pretend she didn’t still love him, but the more time she spent with him, the harder it would be to maintain the charade. “Hotel? I’m not going—”
“You are.” He spoke as if she didn’t have a choice, which if they were in a scene would really turn her on, but in the real world only managed to piss her off. “You’re going to stay with me until we figure out who did this to your condo. It’s not safe for you to be alone right now.”
“I don’t think that would work out too well. I can stay with a friend until my place is cleaned.”
He snaked an arm around her waist and tugged her to him, bending to whisper in her ear. “Have you already forgotten your promise to me? I own you for seven days, and that means if I want you staying with me, you’ll stay with me.”
She shivered. It had nothing to do with the night air and everything to do with his display of dominance. “Six. Last night was the first, so we have six nights left.”
He chuckled. “Last night didn’t count. You hadn’t agreed to my terms yet. So seven.”
Intending to push him away, she placed a hand on his chest but instead found herself drawing closer. “Have you always been this bossy?”
“Yes. You never minded it before.” He tipped up her chin, his thumb caressing her cheek. “In fact, I remember you loving my bossiness, especially that time when we played CEO and the secretary.”
“In my defense, you made a hot secretary.”
He bit her earlobe. “Maybe next time, I’ll let you be the secretary.”
She fought against the wave of pleasure rolling through her pussy. “So cliché.”
“There’s nothing cliché about you and me. Now are you coming with me, or do I have to pick you up and carry you again?”
She was losing control.
Control of her body.
Control of her mind.
Control of her emotions.
Grappling to regain some sense of restraint, she moved away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, as if that would give her some protection from him. “How do I know this isn’t all part of some wicked plan for revenge against me? You make me fear for my life, you swoop in as the hero, and then steal me away so you can cut me up into a million tiny pieces and feed me to the fish.”
He shook his head and snorted. “I’m the owner of a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, not a mafia enforcer. And if you still don’t believe it wasn’t me who did this to your condo, talk to the people working the front desk at the hotel last night. They can vouch for when I arrived and when I left.” He clenched his jaw. “Is that what you need to trust me?”
Trust him? How could she trust him when she’d spent her entire life telling herself that everyone had a motive to lie?
But at this point, she didn’t have a choice. She needed him to divorce her.
She had to see their agreement through.
Even if it destroyed her.
Chapter Six
“NICE ROOM,” LISA quipped, standing right inside the door of Sawyer’s penthouse suite. The suite came with two bedrooms, a living room with a long S-shaped couch, a large desk, and a full kitchen with stainless steel appliances.