I shake my head. "Forever isn't happening."
"Ten years."
"Ten years without love?"
He nods. "How much do you want for ten years?"
Ten years as Tyler Hunt's wife. "Can I stay in New York?"
"You'll need to join me in London some of the time."
"And what will I do when you're in London?"
"Whatever you want." His voice stays firm. In control. Impossible to read. "Finish school. Record an album. Live your life."
"My life? Or the life you decide for me?"
"Your life. I'm asking you because I want you. If I wanted a girl from the Upper West Side… there are plenty."
Other candidates.
He has choices. Of course he has choices.
But he doesn't want those women.
He wants me.
It doesn't make any sense, but maybe it doesn't need to make sense.
He has money. I need money. Right now and in the future.
Money is a tool. It opens doors, it smooths cracks, it fixes things. And I have a lot of things that need fixing.
"What else are you offering?" I ask.
"Besides a scholarship for your sister and the mortgage paid in full?"
I nod.
He holds my gaze. "What do you want?"
I have a few ideas. "I asked a friend who works at a law firm." Okay, she's in law school, but close enough. "There's no standard for prenups. But a man with your net worth… his lawyer would advise him to offer at least a hundred million dollars."
He holds his poker face.
"That sounds fair."
"For ten years?"
"For ten years." My heart thuds against my chest. My limbs lighten. I'm asking too much.
I'm going to lose this opportunity.
I can't lose this opportunity.
I need his money.
And I absolutely, positively can't do this.
He shocks me with his response. "Ten million."
Ten million. Fuck. I stop breathing.
He continues, "and you agree you won't be with anyone else."
I swallow hard. "And you?"
"Neither of us will."
"I'm not taking money for sex."
"I'm not paying you for sex." His voice drops to something dirty and demanding. "When I fuck you, it will be because you want it. Because you're begging me."
Mmm. My body whines. It shares none of my concern. It's ready to slide into his lap right here, right now. "If I don't?"
"Then you won't."
"You'll go ten years without sex? Really?" I don't believe it. And I can't handle it either.
Sure, I haven't exactly spent the last three years getting my rocks off. I'm usually too stressed to even consider dating.
But sometimes, the tension fades, and I feel that want.
Attractive customers.
The single dad at Sienna's school with the gorgeous eyes.
A handsome man at a club.
After a few drinks, with music pouring into my ears—
I almost feel like a normal twenty-two-year-old with time for fun. I forget how tired I am and I let desire overtake me.
But I don't trust the men I meet at clubs.
I take my lust home. Touch myself. Fantasize.
Or remember.
It's always Ty.
Not my high school boyfriend. Not the one who came after.
Ty's hand around my wrists. Ty's lips on my neck. Ty's cock driving into me.
Ten years, by Ty's side without sex—
That's unthinkable.
"If that's what you want, yes." His eyes bore into mine. "But you're not going to convince me you don't want to fuck me." His voice is even. Demanding. "If I asked, you'd go home with me tonight."
"I wouldn't."
He raises a brow, daring me.
"Maybe I want to."
"Maybe?"
"Okay. I want to fuck you. But I want lots of things. I don't take all of them."
He stills. Studying me. Waiting.
The intensity in his gaze makes my body buzz. This side of him, patient and teasing and demanding—
I need it.
I miss it.
Why am I fighting?
Why not agree? Go to his place. Come in his bed.
"If you think I'll fuck you, ask," I say.
"No. I'm going to wait until you're begging for it."
Fuck. "If I don't?"
"You will."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I haven't even agreed. Should you really tease me?"
"No." He folds his hands. "I'm not being smart." He traces a line down my body with his eyes. "I'm not smart when it comes to you."
"What would be smart?"
He doesn't answer. "Ten years. Ten million dollars. Do we have a deal?"
"I want an out if it's not working," I say.
"I'll pay your sister's scholarship now," he says. "And a signing bonus."
"A signing bonus?"
He nods. "A hundred thousand dollars."
Fuck. Yes.
"With an NDA attached. If this goes public, you have to return the money."
"If I tell Sienna?"
"Do you trust her to keep your secret?"
Usually, that's an easy yes. But when there's a hundred grand on the line, I don't know.
"At the end of the first year, the mortgage. The rest is part of a standard prenup."
"And while we're together?"
"I'm going to take care of my wife," he says. "The details don't matter to me."
"And it's just us? You're not expecting anything?"
"Anything?"
"Children? That won't be…" I'm not sure if I want kids, but I know this. "I'm not raising kids in a loveless marriage."