Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
But it was too late.
My breasts started feeling heavy and swollen, and I found myself fighting to keep the heat off my cheeks when my nipples started to pucker. The SOB was still staring at my tits, and I just wished...I really wished I could say he made my skin crawl. God, if only. But no, it was just the fucking opposite. The way he was looking at me, it was almost as if he were saying...
I own you.
I can play with you any way I want.
And you'd like it.
Cocky, cocky piece of sheikh. It made me want to yank one of my shoes off and throw it at his face, and the only reason I didn't was because we both knew...
Those words were also the truth, dammit.
The "sheikh" (yes, I'm still not completely buying he was one, even though he did rather look the part) finally lifted his gaze back to my face.
"Something's different about you."
Naturally, I couldn't help thinking.
"I've watched your interview."
"What do you mean you watched my interview?" Did this mean Dahlia had never met him?
"The interviews were taped," he replied with a touch of impatience that had me gnashing my teeth. "And the more I think about it," the SOB continued contemplatively, "the more I'm convinced you had only been pretending at that time. You thought you'd improve your chances by making yourself appear docile?"
Docile?
Me?
The thought alone made me want to gag, and it was all I could do not to snarl that it was not me he had been watching but Dahlia, who had no doubt pulled her usual poor-little-me act during the interview.
"Nothing to say?"
"I was out of my mind at that time," I said shortly. "But I'm thinking clearly now, and that's why I've decided it won't work."
"Mm." The contemplative sound rubbed me wrong for some reason, and I had to clench my jaw against the urge to say something foolish.
"You look almost as if you're prepared to go to war with me if I do not let you have your way." A slight smile played over his lips as he spoke, and despite my anger, there was no way for me to deny how his smile just made him more dangerously attractive.
"Not at all." I worked hard to keep my voice brisk and professional, knowing instinctively that showing any kind of emotion would only put me at a disadvantage. "It's just that, after thinking things over—-"
"You believe you could simply return the advance to cancel the whole agreement?"
The...advance?
I cleared my throat. "This advance..."
"Two hundred thousand euros—-"
I almost had a heart attack. Two-hundred-fucking-what? Even if he were willing to change the currency to US dollars, I still wouldn't be able to repay a fraction of that, and the thought made me feel like hyperventilating, with a six-digit noose suddenly tightening around my neck.
"Paid in cash, of course," he drawled.
And it just kept getting better and better. Cash in Dahlia's hand was like sand slipping through her fingers, dammit.
"In case you've forgotten." His tone was so mockingly polite, it had my fingers curling against the urge to drive my fist right at his extraordinarily handsome face.
This man has the money to cause you trouble, Smarter Side of My Brain pointedly reminded me, and since trouble was something I couldn't afford, I forced myself to let his assholeness slide and focus on what mattered.
"I'm truly sorry if my decision messes up your plans for fatherhood," I said doggedly, "but I'm afraid I won't be changing my mind."
Instead of answering, he rose to his feet and sauntered towards me, his movement so akin to the deadly grace of a panther that just watching him made me feel like I was about to be eaten.
A smile still lingered on his lips, but I wasn't fooled by it. Not one fucking bit. This sheikh was one cold SOB, but I had a feeling most people wouldn't be able to see past his sexy smiles to realize this.
My heart started pounding as he came closer, and when he was only a few feet away, I was stunned to feel a frisson of something acutely sexual skitter down my spine.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
I forced myself to ignore this and lifted my chin in stubborn defiance. "You don't scare me."
But when he took another step closer, I found myself stepping back and eating my words. Shit. He was too damn tall. Since I stood five-foot-seven, I was at eye level with most guys, and so it always felt a little surreal every time I had to look up to meet someone's eyes...
Whoa!
He closed the distance between us the moment our gazes met, and the next thing I knew, one hard arm was already curled around my waist, and he had successfully imprisoned my wrists behind my back.
His gaze glittered with amusement as he pulled me close, so damn close that I knew if I took a huge gulp of breath, I'd cause my breasts to rub against the muscular wall of his chest.