Brady stood a little taller. “Absolutely.”
The necklace was heavy on her skin, as if he were still touching her. Reminding her who she belonged to. It didn’t feel ornamental, beautiful as it was—it felt like a collar. A brand of ownership.
It felt so good it scared her.
He wanted to keep her safe.
She stepped back and glanced at the two Finns in front of her. “You should know in advance that I’m going to be a little hard to manage.”
Stephen smirked. “Should I pretend to be surprised?”
“Smartass. Just trust me and follow my lead, because I know it will make Burke salivate. Brady needs to play the bored, babysitting bodyguard, and you just have to let me sit on your lap and touch you inappropriately without looking surprised. Oh, and threaten me with the occasional punishment. Spanking. Going to the room to wait naked on the bed without supper. That sort of thing.”
Brady’s cheeks were a shade darker. “I’m not sure I should be here for this conversation.”
Tasha crossed her arms, ignoring Stephen’s groan as the move nearly pushed her breasts out of her dress. “Get that blushing out of the way now, Brady Finn, because you guard this secretly kinky senator and you’ve seen it all. You’re going to be seeing naked men and women in chains or collars doing the kind of things you good, traditional boys only expect to see in the bedroom after dark.”
“Jesus help me,” Brady muttered.
Stephen walked over and patted him on the shoulder. “Just focus on the job. With Natasha’s help, we’ll survive the rest.”
They’d survive. She would make sure of it. No Finns were going to fall on her watch. She, on the other hand…
Tasha sighed, reaching up to fiddle with her new necklace. Clearly the verdict was still out on her getting out of this intact.
When a knock sounded on the door, they were ready with their luggage and already in character.
Burke wouldn’t know what hit him.
Chapter Seven
Tasha smiled as the sun’s rays warmed her skin. Forgetting the details—that the senator was on a mission to send their wealthy, sleazebag host down the river and she was his distracting arm candy—so far she was having a wonderful time.
Stephen and Brady’s initial reactions had definitely contributed to her ebullient mood. Her date had a much better poker face than his bodyguard—she would say it was his political training, but he’d been like that for years. In the last few days, she’d seen more emotion from him than she had since he was the young and angry high school senior his parents worried about and she was still only a freshman.
But now he was sharp and focused. He wanted to take Burke down, and to do that, he’d fallen into the role of dominant male catering to his mistress as if he’d been born to it. As if he enjoyed it.
After they’d swept the bedroom for bugs with a little device Tasha now wanted for her own, Brady and Stephen had both expressed disbelief and shock at what they’d seen on the way through Burke’s crowded mansion.
“You said people would be naked, but I didn’t think they’d answer the door like that.”
“Someone had her on a leash and she was wearing a fox tail in her— Tasha have you seen that before?”
“People were stepping on that poor guy. On purpose. How can that be a thing?”
Tasha had just looked at them both and started to laugh. She couldn’t help it. Their expressions reminded her of a pair of ten-year-old boys who’d wandered into the wrong tent at a carnival.
She’d warned them that they would see a lot of inexplicable things and that there was a fetish for almost everything, whether they found it exciting or not. Burke had obviously invited a few players specifically to shock the innocent senator.
It was up to Tasha to shock Burke right back.
Leaning on her arms, she tilted her head back, listening to the sounds of people splashing playfully in the massive infinity pool while she inhaled the aroma of the filet mignon that shirtless men in collars were cooking on the grill.
She could feel eyes on her as she sunbathed in her bright, lime-green bikini. A lot of them. Good. It was the reason she’d packed this bathing suit. The color and the lack of fabric were always attention-getters.
Stephen’s stare was particularly penetrating. She had a feeling if he’d seen her before she shed her wrap in front of the other guests, she never would have made it out of their bedroom.
She glanced over her shoulder, hooking her sunglasses with the crook of one finger and pulling them down the bridge of her nose to meet his hard blue gaze. He lifted his hand off the lounge chair in silent command and Tasha felt an actual physical tug in her stomach in response.