Filthy Beast(71)

“What, does he think I’m going to corrupt you too easily?”

She blushes a little. “Probably.”

“Maybe he’s right.” I lean toward her with a wicked smile.

She blushes deeper and looks away. She pauses for a second. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

We’re interrupted briefly as the waitress returns with our drinks. I sip my whisky and Sadie fusses with her wine.

“I wanted to know why you spent so much money,” she says finally, blurting it out once the waitress is gone.

I grin huge at her. “Maybe I just like kids.”

“Maybe,” she says. “But you could just write a check instead of bidding on me. Or you could have bid on any other girl.”

“You interested me,” I say.

“Did you . . . know about my family?”

I sigh, leaning toward her. “That’s what this is about?”

She shrugs. “A lot of people do things just because of my family.”

“That’s not why I bought you. Actually, that’s a reason not to. I think your family hates me.”

She smiles a little. “Yeah. They do.”

I laugh. I like how honest she is. “Do you really want to know?”

She nods, getting into the conversation. “Yeah, I do.” I can see a little sparkle in her eye.

“It’s because I want you,” I say simply.

She looks surprised. “W-what?” she stutters.

I smirk at her again and sip my whisky casually. “As soon as I saw you on that stage, I knew you were different. And I wanted you then, and I still want you now. Do you even know the effect you have on men?”

She gapes at me, clearly shocked and at a loss for words. I can’t help but laugh softly at her reaction. I can tell nobody has ever talked to her like this before, and she doesn’t know what to do. Conflicting emotions play on her face. She’s torn between disgust, surprise, anger, and pure desire.

“I see,” she finally says. “Are you always this forward?”

“No,” I admit. “Not always. But I wanted to see you blush again.”

That finally gets the reaction I want. She blushes slightly and looks down at the table. “So you bought me just because you want to sleep with me.”

“Not entirely, no,” I say. “That’s part of it. I want to undress you and make you experience things those rich little prep school assholes could never do.” She stares at me and bites her lip, and I know I’m right about that. “I also thought you’d be different from those other stuck-up rich girls up there. I didn’t plan on bidding at all, but as soon as you stepped out, I couldn’t help myself.”

She watches me quietly for a second. Her face sets into a mask of distant anger, but I like that about her. She looks a little defiant, and it wouldn’t be any fun if she didn’t put up a little fight.

But I saw it already. I saw that look on her face, while she was trying to decide how to respond. It was desire, clear and plain as day. She’s still an upper crust rich girl and she has to put up a front. She can’t just give in to what she wants.

Not at first, at least.

“What was it about me that interested you so much? Aside from your crude thoughts.”

I smirk and shrug. “You know how it can be. Girls like you have a certain way.”

“Girls like me?”

I sip my whisky. “Rich girls.”

“I see. It always comes back to that, doesn’t it?”

“How can it not? It’s what you are.”

“So that makes you a poor boy.” She arches an eyebrow.

“I guess so,” I say.

“You poor, poor boy.”

I laugh softly. “Not at all. I love where I come from.”

“So do I.” She crosses her arms a little.

I laugh again and watch her. I can tell that she’s annoyed by the assumptions I’ve made about her, and I can’t blame her. But the thing is, I know I’m right.

Fortunately, we don’t have to get too into it. The waitress comes and takes our orders, breaking the tension. I feel a little guilty, but I couldn’t help myself. She was practically begging for it, and the look on her face was priceless.

I’ll have to make it up to her, though.

“I kissed my first girl in this restaurant,” I say to her once the waitress leaves.

“Did you have to pay her half a million dollars?”

I grin at her. “Fair enough, I deserved that. Do you want to hear the story?”

“Fine.”

I can tell she’s annoyed, but this story always loosens people up. “I was thirteen years old, just a young man. Didn’t know a thing about girls.”