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“You shouldn’t have come here.” I can barely growl the words out against her mouth. I’ve started something I’m not sure I know how to stop. Not sure I want to.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” Her fingers fist tight in my hair, keeping me from pulling back even if I could. She pushes against me, knocking us back a few steps until my back hits the living room wall. “You’re not the boss of me either, Fynn Hadaway.” Her lips are back against mine and I have nowhere to go. No way out.
Thank God.
“Christ you’re perfect.” Lacing my fingers in her thick hair, I slide them through the long strands as I drag my mouth down the delicate column of her neck. “Where did you come from, Valerie Berdard?”
She barely stiffens in my arms, the soft, willing woman I was holding disappearing in an instant.
I straighten, staring down into the whiskey eyes I could drown in. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” It’s barely a whisper.
“Don’t lie to me, Valerie.”
She takes a quick breath. “I didn’t mean to kiss you like that.”
The admission stings. “Do you regret it?”
Her fingers come up to brush across her lips as she shakes her head. “No.”
I keep my hold on her, unwilling to lose the feel of her against me. “Why are you here, Val?”
Her lips curve into a slow smile. “No one calls me Val.”
She dodges my question, but I don’t mind. I don’t mind anything she does. Especially when she’s looking at me the way she is now. Like I’m everything she wants. “You don’t like it?”
“I like it when you say it.” Reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind one ear, her eyes fall from mine. She takes a slow, oddly shaky breath. “And I came here to make a proposition.”
I can think of about a million propositions I would love for her to make, and all of them involve way more than the kissing she didn’t mean to do. “What kind of proposition?”
“We both have problems we’re dealing with.” Her eyes come back to mine. “And I think we can help each other make those problems go away.”
My brows lift in surprise. This is the first I’ve heard of Valerie having problems, but now I’m wondering if those problems are what brought her to me in the first place, and it’s disappointing as hell. “Is that what this has been about from the beginning?” I release her, the possibility stinging my pride and crushing my hopes.
“It is why I was at the bar waiting for you.” She stands her ground, refusing to look appropriately guilty. “But I genuinely like you. I sincerely want to help you because I know you don’t deserve what’s happened.” Her cheeks barely flush. “And you’re the only man I can see myself making this deal with.”
An hour ago I might have been flattered by that, but not now. Now all the caution I felt when Valerie first entered my life is back and I’m again questioning whose side she’s on in all this. “And what, exactly, is this deal you want to make?” I’m not taking it, whatever it is, but I am curious to know what she wants from me.
And that’s all this is. Valerie wants something from me.
Her hands twist in front of her and she hesitates.
“Spit it out. You’ve gone to great lengths to get here, Valerie. Don’t get shy now.” My tone is harsh and she flinches. I don’t care.
I don’t.
“Is it money? You want money?” I start to guess because I can’t stand it. The waiting. “Or maybe you’re hoping I’ll offer up my connections for your use?” I step closer, crowding her, my anger flaring hotter with each passing second. “Or maybe this is all just an elaborate plan to take me down further.” I laugh, the sound bitter and hollow. “If that’s the case, I’ve got news for you, I can’t get any fecking lower.”
Valerie’s head tips back as if I’ve slapped her. “I’m not trying to take you down.” Her sweet face twists into what might almost be a scowl. “I told you. I want to help you.”
“You want to help me.” I scoff. “Right.” I meet her glare. “And how do you plan on accomplishing that?”
She holds my gaze, refusing to back down. “By marrying you.”
CHAPTER NINE
VALERIE
