The Favor

I straightened as he withdrew his cock. He stepped back, still panting, and stared at me—his gaze utterly unreadable. I stared back, not knowing what to say. Apparently, he had no words either, because he didn’t speak.

I righted my top and slipped off the counter. I sensed more than saw him remove the condom and fasten his fly as I pulled on my underwear and pants.

Meeting his eyes, I forced a smile. “Goodnight.” Lame, sure, but I really didn’t need to listen to a “that was a mistake” speech.

Keeping my chin up, I casually padded out of the kitchen and headed up the stairs, my inner muscles still pulsing. In my room, I sank down on the bed and closed my eyes. Had I really just had sex with Dane?

Yes, I had. Raw, rough, epic sex.

I’d never come that hard in my life. Probably because I’d never once been fucked like that—with such want and need and aggression.

It was like four years’ worth of sexual tension exploded between us—because, yeah, it was clear that I’d been wrong; I wasn’t the only one who felt it. He’d done an amazing job of fooling me all this time. But then, he was a freaking expert at deception.

Not that I thought he might have some sort of “thing” for me. Nor was I under the mistaken impression that he’d want a repeat of tonight. I wasn’t so dumb that I didn’t understand one very important thing: I could have been anyone to him.

He hadn’t been desperate to have me. He’d been angry and needed an outlet for all that pent-up emotion. If I hadn’t pushed him tonight, if I’d just walked away when he reacted so badly to my saying I’d leave o-Verve, his control would never have snapped like that, and the sex would never have happened.

Yeah, it stung to know it had meant absolutely nothing to him. But I wasn’t going to whine about it. I was a big girl.

The ghostly sensations of his fingers biting into my thighs and his cock moving inside me lingered. And I couldn’t find it in myself to regret what had happened. It had been stupid for certain. But life was all about making memories, right? That was what Nancy always said.

Of course, the old woman also said that Charles Manson was just misunderstood.

I sat up straight, determined not to give myself a hard time about sleeping with Dane. After all, what was done was done. It had been a nice way to break my dry spell. This didn’t have to be a bad thing. It just needed to be a one-off.

Chapter Sixteen

Setting my empty coffee cup on the drainer the next morning, I heard footsteps approaching. Determined not to exhibit any awkwardness, I pasted my default smile on my face and turned. Damn. Suited-up and oozing authority, Dane looked impossibly gorgeous and totally in charge.

As casual and aloof as always, he arched a brow. “Ready to go?”

Apparently, he was on-board with the “pretending last night never happened” plan. Good. That made things easier.

I nodded and gathered my things. “Ready.”

In the car, I turned my gaze to the window and watched his lush landscaping go by as we descended the long driveway. The estate really was beautiful. A lonely place to be at times, but still beautiful.

“It can’t happen again, Vienna.”

I forced myself not to tense. Without looking away from the window, I said, “I know.” Because I’d never mastered the art of separating emotion from sex. Thanks to the developing crush, I was already close to crossing the emotional line with Dane. He just didn’t know it. If we made sleeping together a regular thing, I’d struggle to not go past that line.

At least he hadn’t branded last night a mistake. He wouldn’t have been wrong, but it still would have stung to hear him say it.

Eager to change the subject, I looked at him and said, “Hope and Travis came to see me yesterday while you were talking with the teams.”

His dark eyes narrowed slightly. “And you’re only telling me this now?”

“You were in a shitty mood yesterday. I figured it could wait.”

He raised the privacy screen and asked, “What did they say?”

“They told me about the trust fund—allegedly, Jen agreed with them that I should know. Hope and Travis tried convincing me that you only married me to gain access to it; they think I should leave you now so that you can’t use me any more than you already have.”

Dane’s jaw hardened. “You should have told me immediately.”

“Like I said, you were in a foul mood. I planned to tell you when we got back to your house, but I didn’t have much success at calming you, and then …” Then you fucked me in your kitchen.

“Hope should have known better. I warned Travis to leave you alone. Clearly being barred from his favorite casino hasn’t inspired him to change his ways.”