Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

Penn groaned. “I want to sweep you up right now and ravish you, but…”

“But?”

“I have to go into the city for a meeting.”

“Really? Today?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Penn veered into the walk-in closet, and I followed, waiting for that towel to drop. I arched an eyebrow at the goods. “Getting a good enough look?”

“I wouldn’t mind taking a good, long look with my mouth,” I suggested.

His dick twitched at my words. “Maybe we have time for a quickie.”

“Nope. You’re just going to have to wait until after your meeting.”

He moved into my personal space, backing me up into the closet wall. He was an Adonis sculpted out of marble and just as gorgeous. “Do I?”

“Well, you don’t have to,” I said as he stroked me through my thin panties. I tilted my head back and sighed. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“Tonight,” he said with a cocky grin as he stepped back and started to get dressed.

“Tonight…what?”

“I’ll be back tonight.”

“You want to make me wait all day for you?”

He slid into a blue-and-white button-up. “I want to have enough time to celebrate your book and to celebrate you. If I took you now, it would be three hard thrusts and a kiss good-bye.”

“I’ll take both,” I said, helping him with the buttons.

“And I’ll give you both,” he said devilishly. “Both tonight.”

“Ugh! You’re killing me.”

“This tie?” he asked with a grin. He held up a navy-blue tie, and I nodded.

“Yes. Everything you wear is hot as fuck. Though I’m not used to the suits anymore. You’re so relaxed here.”

“Honestly, the suits are more who I am. It’s strange, not having to go into the office every day in one. And we had to wear them all through high school as part of our uniform.”

“Well, this is me.” I gestured to my outfit and then remembered I was only wearing his T-shirt. “I mean…whatever. You know what I mean.”

“I know who you are.”

My heart melted.

He finished with his tie and then pulled on the black suit jacket. “I’ll see you tonight. Don’t wear anything you don’t want to get destroyed.”

“Guess I’ll have to be naked,” I said suggestively.

“Perfect. I will see you tonight, completely naked.”

“Deal.”

“You don’t mind watching Aristotle? I can take him to the apartment.”

“Oh no, Totle can stay with me.”

Totle—who, up until this point, had been too busy lounging in the sun—trotted into the master bedroom to find out why we were saying his name. His tail wagged, and his ears were all floppy. I scooped him up into my arms and kissed him a dozen times.

“Just you and me today, buddy. You know what that means?” Totle licked my face. “That’s right. All the treats you want, and your dad won’t be here to tell me to stop spoiling you.”

Penn rolled his eyes. “You two are trouble.”

I gave him the most innocent look I could muster. “We’ll behave.”

“Only until I get back,” he said with a wink.

His mouth dropped hard on mine in a lingering kiss that made me want to reconsider letting him leave. How important could this meeting really be? But Penn pulled away, looked back at me once regrettably, and then disappeared. I watched the Audi leave and sighed.

“Now, it really is just me and you,” I told Totle as I let him out onto the back deck.

It ended up being a productive day without Penn. More like what I’d expected every day to be like when I first signed on to the job. I’d met with the decorator and seen the progress in the guest bedrooms. As much as I’d loved the feel of the house before, the decorator was a genius, and I hadn’t even seen the end result. But everything was already so much more modern while still holding on to the traditional aesthetics of the place.

With the motivation from my agent’s call, I managed to write two whole chapters on the new book. Totle and I took a good, long walk on the beach, and I even got in a swim. Thank god the pool was heated because the temperatures were dropping. I knew they’d have to close it down soon, and I wanted to get every chance I could to swim.

While Totle finally fell asleep on the bed, I took a luxurious shower and blew out my long hair. I didn’t normally wear much makeup, but if we were celebrating tonight, I thought it would be worth it. I added the red lipstick he loved so much and then threw on his T-shirt and a pair of sweats while I waited. When I found out what time he’d get back, then I’d strip.

A thrill ran through me at the prospect.

I sent him a text to see if he had an ETA but didn’t get a response.

I shrugged. Maybe he was driving.

My phone buzzed noisily, and I reached for it. My heart sank when I saw it was Melanie and not Penn.