I try to pull away, but his embrace tightens, keeping me close.
Regarding him with open suspicion, I demand, “Are you trying to tempt me, Hunter Maxwell?”
“Maybe.” He dips his head, brushing his perfect lips across my temple. “Do you feel tempted?”
Yes.
I try harder to pull away from him. “Let me go. I am not going to hook up with you when my mom is almost certainly straining to hear what we’re talking about in here—and keep your voice down, you dirty talker.”
“Is that the only reason?” he teases.
I shoot him a look. “And then there are the other dozen or so, but I wasn’t even going to mention those.” He finally lets me go. I take a step back to help clear my head. “What is this, Hunter? What are you doing?”
“Playing with my girlfriend,” he says, his whole demeanor more relaxed and playful than I’ve seen him lately.
“I am not your girlfriend,” I tell him.
He smiles. “Oh, yes, you are.”
There’s something I don’t like about the way he says that. He sounds suspiciously sure of himself, so I lift my chin in faint defiance, but I don’t argue. I wait to see what else he says.
“See, you told me to be creative.” He takes a step toward me and grabs my hip, pulling me close again.
I let him, since at least I can be sure he’ll keep his voice low if he’s right on top of me.
“You told me to find a way around your resistance. Well, I have, and I think I’ve done better than you expected me to.”
The way he says that sends a slight chill down my spine. “What do you mean?”
He’s warm and loving despite the declaration he just made. Gazing down at me fondly, he caresses my jawline. “You’re mine, Riley. I want everyone to know it. I want to effectively own you,” he murmurs, bending to press his lips against mine.
I let him kiss me, but I don’t kiss him back.
I swallow, my heart racing. I have a sinking feeling I know where this is heading.
“And you want something, too,” he murmurs against my lips. “Your motivation is much nobler than mine, but that doesn’t matter.” He pauses, then says, “Your family needs my money, and I’ll give it to them. But I’ll want something in return.”
“What do you want?” I ask warily.
“You,” he says simply.
I don’t trust that answer. It’s too simple. “You have me.”
“No. Not the way I want you. I want full access. I want all of you. I want the word no to fall out of your vocabulary. You’re going to be my girlfriend—no asterisks. No holding back. I also want you to quit your job at the diner.”
“Hunter!”
“Sherlock knows you work there,” he says before I can argue. “I don’t want him to know where to get you alone.”
My heart sinks. I hadn’t even considered that.
“Now, I think you should take advantage of not having to work right now. Use that time to focus on your studies, and your last year at home with your mom, and your boyfriend. But if you’re dead set on working, I have a better idea. Once Ray opens the gym, we’ll need people to work reception. You could work there a couple of days a week. It wouldn’t be a terribly demanding job; half the time we’d probably be paying you to sit at the desk and do your homework or read a book.”
My eyebrows rise with interest. “That does sound better…”
“In the meantime, I’ll give you a credit card. You can use that to pay for whatever you need.”
His insistence on fostering dependence on him still makes me uneasy. “You’re asking for a lot of power over me, Hunter.”
“I’m not asking for it.” He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses it, holding my gaze. “I’m demanding it. But I won’t abuse it,” he promises.
“You have before,” I remind him.
“I won’t again. Remember I told you about my dad and his wife?”
I nod.
“She told me that a relationship is like a bank account. The more you invest, the more you’ll get out of it over time, and I like that. But she also told me you can’t afford to make too many big withdrawals.”
I look down at our hands as he spreads my fingers to make room for his, then intertwines them.
“She said when he fucked up with my mom, it was a turning point in their relationship, but it wasn’t the same for both of them. His mistake made him love her more, but it made her love him a little less. And he couldn’t take back what he did, so he could never get that love back. He could deposit more into the account and try to make up for what he cost them, but she’ll always love him just a little less than she could have, and he’ll always have to know that.”