Unfinished Seductions
Page 22
“I’m fine.” I rub the tiny swell of my belly. “Although I’m kind of hungry.”
“Let me see what’s in the kitchen.” He’s already halfway across the entry when his phone buzzes. He fishes it out of his jacket pocket. “It’s Mark, texting me. Do you mind?”
I’m so touched that he’s asking if it’s okay. “Sure.”
As he reads the text, he starts to laugh. “Oh, you’ll love this.” He turns the phone so I can see what he’s looking at. “TidBytes is closing.”
There’s a story right there on Disrupt Dispatch, announcing that TidBytes will be shutting down, capped off with an awful picture of Arne Fuchs.
I shake my head. “That’s too bad. I bet their writers will be looking for new jobs soon.”
Fuchs made good on his threat then. Logan kept to his promise to never spend a dime for TidBytes, and it looked like no one else in the Valley wanted it either.
Why would they? My site is kicking TidBytes’s butt every day. It would be a bad investment. No one seems to want to give Arne Fuchs any money at the moment.
He lost a lot of face when the stories about him came out on our site. He didn’t give a public statement about it, but I imagine he was furious. And now his gossip rag is gone too. I’m sure he’s furious with me, personally.
But I’ve got Logan and the Bastards in my corner. Let him come at me.
We’ll hire the best of their writers and keep moving forward with our media company. And Fuchs will have to find some other way to play his nasty games.
I’m sure he’ll come up with something, and we’ll have to be ready for it. But for now I’m going to enjoy my winery.
Logan is still staring at his phone.
“Are you going to be okay with this?” I ask. “Leaving work for so long?”
He blinks like he’s coming out of a dream. Then he turns the phone all the way off and sets it on the entryway table. “I’ll be fine. Work will still be there when I get back—they can’t fire me—and everything I need is right here with you.” He takes my hand. “My entire focus is going to be on you from now on. Let’s find you something to eat.”
I can’t argue with any of that.
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Ready for your next Bastard? Finn and Doc’s story is next in Competitive Instincts! Grab it here or read on for a juicy snippet.
An enticing standalone romance about a bad boy billionaire with a quicksilver mind and a secret heart of gold…
* * *
Ramona (aka Doc): I’ve got troubles: a wrongly convicted brother, an empty bank account, and a hopeless crusade I can’t abandon. Finn, the bad boy of Bastard Capital, is smoking hot, amazingly funny, and dead brilliant—and trouble with a capital T. Exactly what I don’t need. Except I can’t stop thinking about his massive… brain and his nimble… wit.
* * *
But Mr. Trouble is also the world’s greatest hacker and the only person who can access the evidence of my brother’s innocence. I’ll do anything for that, including tangling with a man who might snare my heart forever.
* * *
Finn: Doc’s got a smart mouth, a stunning body, and a fantastically sharp mind. She’d be the perfect woman, except for the fact that we have explosive chemistry and she refuses to act on it.
* * *
When I unearth proof that her brother was set up, it’s the perfect excuse to get closer. I’m going to prove my brand of bad is oh so good for her.
* * *
After a few (slightly illegal) break ins and some (super illegal) data theft, it becomes clear we’re up against an old enemy. And I’m terrified I’m not strong enough to fight him and hold onto Doc at the same time…
“Okay, here’s my question—why are you harassing me?”
His eyes widen at my open attack. I admit it’s a little much, but he’s so close I’ve been able to smell nothing but his soap and skin, and it’s starting to drive me a little crazy. Actually, a lot crazy.
“You’re the one who was stalking me across the Go forums.” His voice drops a degree, but he doesn’t move away. “Never letting on who you really were.”
Guilt makes my cheeks go cold.
“That wasn’t an answer,” I say to hide my reaction.
“No, it wasn’t. I choose a dare.”
A dare? When we started this game, I hadn’t even considered I’d have to give him a dare. Suddenly the only things I can think of are dirty, perverse, exactly the kind of things I was afraid he might suggest to me.
He smiles slow and wicked at my confusion. “You know, you can dare me to take my clothes off.” He raises his hand to the first button on his shirt. The chest hair thrusting out hooks on his index finger, and I can only imagine what it would feel like under my fingers as I run my hands along his chest. “The only rule was that I couldn’t make you take your clothes off.”
“I don’t…” I lick my suddenly dry lips. I know I’m giving too much away, but my brain is working harder than an overloaded circuit. “I don’t want to see you naked.” I say that so faintly he can probably smell the lie before I’ve finished.
“Really? You don’t think about me naked?”
I shake my head wildly.
He leans closer, his hand still playing with his shirt button. “Even just kissing me—have you wondered about that?”
I can’t look away from his fingers. “I don’t wonder about kissing strange men.”
“Good. I’m glad I’m not a stranger then.”
I close my eyes for half a heartbeat. “This is inappropriate.”
He ignores me. “I mean, I imagine kissing you. All the time.”
I blink up at him. “You do?”
I’m not some innocent—I’ve had my fair share of serious relationships—but I’ve never had a man admit so baldly that he fantasizes about me. It makes my knees do funny things. Thank God I’m already sitting down.
“Of course. I imagine how it would feel sliding my hand through your hair, cupping the back of your head, tilting your face up toward mine, your neck all long and pretty as I do.”
Oh God. I can see it too clearly, my entire body tightening in response yet also going liquid at the same time. Tight liquid, which makes no sense, which proves how badly he can scramble my brain.
He’s not done though. “And then once I have your mouth right where I want it, I’ll learn every millimeter of it.”
Millimeter. God, so much smaller than inches, so much more detailed, so much sexier.
“You never think about that?” His voice is so dark and sweet I swear I taste chocolate. “Me kissing you, and how I’ll take my time with it, bring my flashes of brilliance to it?”
Of course I have, which is exactly the problem. Dammit, I never should’ve chased him across all those Go forms, never should have tested my AI against his. I should have run the first moment I saw him.
Suddenly I realize that I’m sprawled in my chair, my legs wide open as if inviting him in. I was so lost in the fantasy he was spinning I completely lost control of myself.
Finn and Doc’s story continues in Competitive Instincts! Grab it here!
More Bastard Capital Stories
Enter the world of Bastard Capital: Unrivaled men. Unimaginable wealth. Unlimited power.
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Books in the Bastard Capital Series
* * *
Secret Acquisitions (Book One, Mark’s story)
* * *
Unfinished Seductions (Book Two, Logan’s story)
* * *
Competitive Instincts (Book Three, Finn’s story)
* * *
Intimate Mergers (Book Four, Paul’s story)
* * *
Hostile Attractions (Book Five, Elliot’s story)
* * *
Private Disclosures (Book Six, Dev’s story)
About the Author
Raleigh fell in love with billionaire romance as a teenager thanks to Harlequin Presents. She fell in love with San Francisco in her twenties thanks to how charming the city was. And she fell for a coding genius thanks to how charming he was.
Naturally, she had to put all of the things she loved into her romances.
You can find her online at www.raleighdavis.com.