Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

“I’ll catch feelings that he doesn’t reciprocate, and I’ll have to drag my ass back to Charleston, brokenhearted.”

“So dramatic. All that is going to happen is, you will have a month of incredible sex with a fucking hot billionaire and come home to Charleston, out of your dry spell. Then you can have a serious relationship like you always do.”

“None of that is going to happen.”

Amy held her finger up. “Actually, I was talking to Daron and Zachary the other day, and Zach asked about you.”

My eyes rounded. Zachary Tipton and Daron Hartage had been the hottest guys in all of Charleston when we were in high school. I hadn’t even known that they knew who I was.

“What?”

“Oh, yeah. He said he saw us on the beach one day and thought you were hot. He also didn’t realize that you were the same Natalie from high school, but whatever.”

“Sometimes, I love and hate you. The point is that I shouldn’t have a casual fling with Penn. And before you go on with your master plan, I don’t want a relationship with someone like Zachary Tipton, who has no clue who I am!”

“Just go get fucked and stop complaining,” Amy said, shoving me down the hallway.

“Bitch,” I hissed at her.

“Slut!” she shouted right back.

I ducked as if I could save Penn from hearing Amy scream that word at me. But she just laughed and hurried into the guest bedroom.

With a deep breath, I continued my steps. Totle found me first, jumping up and down with excitement. I hoisted him into my arms and carried him into the living room with me. He was a good barrier between us.

“Hey,” I said.

“I got Melanie a water bottle and some crackers. I also picked up a Gatorade when I walked Totle. I figure she’ll need that and some Tylenol when she’s finished being sick.”

“That’s…really nice of you.”

“Least I can do.”

I watched him in the kitchen, arranging everything he’d gotten for my sister. He’d removed his suit jacket, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He’d clearly been running his hands through his hair again, as the ends were sticking up all out of place. He looked…handsome and wild.

Could I be casual with a man like Penn?

Did I want to find out?

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked tentatively. My stomach was in knots at all the ways this conversation could go.

“You don’t have to say I told you so,” he said quickly.

I blinked, taken off guard. “About what?”

“Your sister.” He glanced up at me in apology. “You were right that we shouldn’t have taken her out to get drunk. Now, she’s just miserable. It would have been better if we had gone to the beach house.”

“Oh, well, yeah. But we all had such a good day. I wouldn’t want to trade that. We probably shouldn’t have let her drink with strangers.” I shook my head and soldiered on. “But that isn’t why I came out here to talk to you.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I want to have a month of casual sex,” I blurted out.

He arched an eyebrow and just stared at me with that cool blue gaze. “Excuse me?”

“We’re not just friends. Not after what happened in Paris. Not after that kiss. I’m here for another month. We might as well make the most of it.”

“And to you…that means a month of casual sex?”

“Uh, yes,” I said hesitantly. I’d never done anything like this before in my life. I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking right now. “Unless you don’t want to…and I’m making this awkward. And I should just stop talking…”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it.”

“Wait, just like that?”

“What guy is going to say no to that?” he asked with a smirk.

I opened my mouth to respond and found I had no answer. Obviously, nearly every guy in existence would be interested in sex with no strings attached. It was just something I had never really thought about other than when I was in Paris. Apparently, Penn brought it out in me.

“Well, I think that we should set up some rules about…”

One second, Penn was standing in the kitchen, listening to me talk, and the next, he strode to where I was standing, grasped my jaw in his hands, and kissed the breath out of me. Having his lips on mine was like sweet relief. As if the past week together had just been the buildup to this moment. The questions I had about entering into this dissolved with the touch of his tongue.

I’d wanted this last week and stopped myself. It had felt so right, and I had forced myself to believe it was wrong. Maybe it was wrong. Maybe we should stop all of this. But I didn’t want to.

It was crazy that one day out with my sister and best friend had completely changed my mind. But it had. There was no reticence in his demeanor. None of the carefully crafted bullshit from Paris. None of the Upper East Side bad boy. I’d seen him for him without all his many versions layered on top of that persona. And I liked what I’d seen.