John was naturally a flirt, and it got him into trouble more often than not, so it must have driven Maya mad when he didn’t show any interest in her. But truthfully, it was for his co-producer’s sake that he had kept his distance. He had one golden rule: never get involved with a married woman, a creed he obediently practiced since his teenage years.
So, John said nothing, watching the waitress carefully, and a moment of silence hung between them.
In any other case, he would have dismissed the whole ordeal with the blink of an eye, but two things held him back. First, he and Allessandro had just begun collaborating on what was turning out to be a multi-million dollar project, even larger than the last production had been. If something were to come between he and Severo now, it would mean drastic debts for John to the tune of twenty million dollars.
And second, the woman trying to game him was drop-dead gorgeous, and he wanted her.
“So this isn’t a threat,” John mused, uncrossing his legs and leaning back, putting an arm over the back of his chair. “It’s blackmail. Enough games. Who are you, and what do you want?”
The woman smiled, and the way her lips moved as her eyes glittered with mischief, John wanted to kiss her on the spot.
“My name is Jane Eyre Sinclair, and like I said earlier, I want you to marry me.”
So she wasn’t kidding. The statement hit John like a shot to the chest, and his heart pounded with triumph.
Fucking unbelievable.
“You…”
“Yes,” she said as he trailed off, “I mean it. I want you, John Alexander, to be my husband.”
John watched Jane’s face carefully, and now in her eyes, he started to see the telltale signs of fear. She became terribly nervous, and he couldn’t imagine how hard she must have trained herself to make such a demand in an even tone.
“I know your reputation,” Jane went on, “you’re a playboy, a flirt, and you’ve said over and over again that you’d never let someone tie you down. But I’m desperate and I need to get married and it has to be you—”
“I accept.”
And just like that, John turned the tables right back on her, leaving a shocked expression on her face. How do you like that, sweetheart? His tiger growled in agreement.
Jane opened and closed her mouth, lost for words.
“What’s the matter? Were you expecting me to put up more of a fight? Didn’t think you’d make it this far, did you? I said ‘I accept.’ I’ll be your husband.”
She looked even more bewildered than she had before.
This was just too much. John put on a show to throw her off-guard, but there was no question about what the beast within him, the beast that was part of him, knew and demanded.
This woman was going to be his.
John didn’t want to think about what his siblings would say. The youngest of all the brothers, he had always thought of himself as having the wildest heart. He’d been fiery and untamed from the moment he set out on his own. How many times had he teased his oldest brother Quinn for tying himself down? Something in the back of his mind wondered what Quinn would say to him now, but in the moment, nothing mattered except keeping this woman in his life.
As his piercing eyes held her entranced, he moved his hand across the table and took one of hers, bringing it to his lips and kissing her fingers gently. “So, darling, when would you like to make this official?”
* * *
Jane felt her face going red as he reached over and kissed her hand, his thumb rubbing against her palm as he held onto it after. She hardly even heard the words that came out of his mouth.
John Alexander had to be the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on. He was tall, with dark skin and the most brilliant green eyes she’d ever seen. He sat there in his chinos and white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his muscular forearms, and his long, dark hair tied back with just a single lock falling free in front. He looked like he could own the world if he wanted to, with his easy confidence and charming smile.
And he’d just agreed to marry her.
She still couldn’t believe what she’d heard. Much less that she’d even made it this far.
While it was true that John was the most attractive man she’d ever seen, it wasn’t out of pure lust that she’d done all of this, that she’d arranged for those compromising photos to be taken, and then tracked this LA producer all the way to Vegas to blackmail.
The Alexander family name meant something. And for Jane, that something meant protection. With someone like John as her spouse, Jane would be safe.
But even with him, there was a different kind of danger to deal with. Jane knew exactly why those piercing green eyes of his had the power to render her so immobile, so helpless before him, even as she practiced steeling her will against him with all her might.