Her Collateral Bride: A Lesbian Age Gap Romance

soothing, but it’s also mysterious.” She slid her hand up

Claire’s thigh another inch, pushing up the fabric of her dress.

“I want you, Claire. I’m not scared.”

Finally, Claire reached down and plucked Haley’s hand off.

She didn’t let her fingers linger. She moved her hand, pushing

it back across the middle console. “That’s the dumbest thing

you’ve said yet, and here I was just thinking that you did have

some intelligence after all. This is nothing but a transaction.

You can’t separate sex from emotion. You can’t because

you’re too soft and full of feelings.”

“The water,” Haley went on, looking at Claire the entire

time. “Is exquisite. You could drown in it, but it would be a

nice death.”

“That is utter romantic nonsense,” Claire huffed. She gave

Haley enough side eye that she could tell she was looking at

her, talking about her. “You’re only proving my point.”

“You think that if you’re mean and rude that will chase me

away? Is that why you do it? Because you’re afraid of your

own emotions so you don’t want anyone else to have any

either?” That was the thing about people who had too much

money. They could get away with just about anything. If they

wanted to be left alone, they could buy peace and silence. “It’s

not going to. What you want is relevant because what you

want started all of this. You wanted revenge. That’s why I’m

here. That’s why we’re getting all tangled up and tripping over

it and feeling things. You’re feeling them too, whether you’re

ready to admit it or not.”

Claire took the cruise control off and pressed down on the

gas a little harder, as if she could get them home faster and

escape that way. “We aren’t having this conversation.