A J. S. Cooper Box Set: Three Standalone Romances

by J. S. Cooper

  “I don’t know.” I shook my head, feeling dazed. “Where did your friend go?”

  “Home.” He nodded. “He wasn’t happy, but he does what I say.”

  “Why wasn’t he happy?”

  “Because he doesn’t like to leave me with strange women.”

  “What strange women?” I said stupidly. “Me?”

  “Yes you. He doesn’t know what plans you have for me.”

  “He doesn’t know what plans I have for you?” My jaw dropped. “Say what?”

  “Well, it’s not every day a bachelor gets dropped off at his bachelor party and is then seen leaving early with one of the strippers.” He grinned. “Or maybe it is.”

  Chapter 33

  “Say what?” My eyes widened as I stared at him and the smirk on his face. “You’re the bachelor?” I swallowed as I stared at him in shock. “As in you’re the guy getting married?”

  “Well, yes and no.” He laughed and grabbed my hand.

  “Don’t touch me.” I pulled my hand away from him, still in shock.

  “This is my bachelor party, but I’m not getting married.”

  “What?” I looked at him, feeling confused.

  “I like to have these parties for fun. See who I can meet.”

  “Who you can meet?” I frowned.

  “Girls like you.”

  “Girls like me?” I repeated. “What does that mean?”

  “Girls who are down for some fun and to have a good time.”

  “I’m not down for any fun, and I’m not having a good time.” I shook my head, feeling slightly let down. Was this something he did often?

  “I never force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do.” He stared at me seriously and pulled a wad of cash from his pocket. “I have five grand here for you, and you can walk away.” He handed it to me. “Or you can be adventurous and make a lot more.”

  “You mean have sex with you for cash?”

  “No.” He shook his head.

  “Then what?”

  “You’ll have to trust me and wait and see.”

  “I don’t know that I trust you.”

  “Understandable.” He nodded, his arm still outstretched and the cash a mere inch from my fingers.

  “How many times have you done this?” I asked him quietly, wondering why I was still standing there like some sort of fool.

  “Once.” He nodded. “I’ve only done this once before.”

  “You’ve only had one fake bachelor party before?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I’ve had many fake bachelor parties. I’ve only met one other woman at a party who I’ve wanted to come to an arrangement with.”

  “And what happened?”

  “That’s not important.” He shook his head. “So what do you say?”

  “You can’t buy me.” I licked my lips. “Plus I don’t even know what I’m agreeing to.”

  “You have to be patient.”

  “I don’t even know your name.”

  “Grant.”

  “Like President Grant?”

  “Like Grant Slate.” He stepped back. “My name is Grant Slate. I’m just a man wants to get to know you better.”

  “Most men who want to get to know me better ask me if they can buy me a drink.”

  “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “They don’t offer me five grand a drink.”

  “I’ll offer you fifty thousand dollars to spend one week with me.” He paused. “And the drink of your choice.”

  “And you’re not expecting sex for fifty grand.”

  “If we sleep together, it won’t be because of money.”

  “I’m crazy to even be here right now.” I shook my head and looked down at the ground. “This is just crazy. I don’t even know you. You could be a serial killer.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Like you would say if you were.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “I should go.”

  “I’m not stopping you.” He took a step towards me and stared at my lips. “You have beautiful eyes, even with the mousy glasses on.”

  “My glasses aren’t mousy.” I swallowed as he stepped towards me again.

  “No, they themselves aren’t mousy. I should say you have beautiful eyes, even when you wear glasses that give you a mousy appearance.” He removed my glasses again and leaned down. “Very beautiful and vibrant. When you’re angry, they almost seem to be spitting darts of green fire at me.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t get so close. You don’t want to get burned,” I whispered as his lips came closer to mine.

  “I don’t burn.” His blue eyes glittered as his lips met mine again. This time, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him as his lips started a war on mine. I felt his tongue slip inside my mouth and I capitulated easily, sucking on his tongue and enjoying the warm sensuality passing from him to me. It felt easy to surrender when it was with a man like Grant. Even his name was sexy. Grant Slate. Shit, I knew I was in trouble. I’d always been the smart girl. I’d never had casual flings or just fallen head over heels for anyone, yet something about Grant infiltrated my senses and my brain. When he finally pulled away from me, my body felt like putty and my brain was fuzzy. I held onto his arms to steady myself.

  “You can’t just kiss me,” I gasped finally, coming back to my senses.

  “You didn’t seem too concerned just now.”

  “That’s because you, you just, you just...” I sputtered out, not even sure what to say. “I think I need to leave.”

  “Do you want to leave?” He ran his fingers through my hair. “Do you really want to leave? Or is a little voice inside telling you that you should leave?”

  “Yeah, my common sense is telling me to get the hell out of Dodge.”

  “Out of Dodge?”

  “It’s slang.”

  “I know the saying.”

  “So why ask me what it means?”

  “I wasn’t asking you what it means.”

  “You’re difficult.”

  “I’m difficult?” He smiled at me. “You’re difficult.”

  “I should go.”

  “With or without me?”

  “I don’t even know what you want with me, so I’m going to have to say without.” I shrugged, and I could see the disappointment in my body reflected in his face. What did he care? He was handsome and obviously rich. He could have any girl he wanted.

  “That’s a shame.”

  “Why is it a shame?”

  “I think we could have a lot of fun.”

  “I don’t know what fun you’re talking about, Grant Slate.”

  “Then why don’t you let me show you, Evie Peaches?”

  “My name isn’t Evie Peaches.”

  “Would you prefer me to call you Peaches and Cream?”

  “Ug, no. That guy was gross.”

  “Unlike me, right?”

  “You’re not gross,” I said honestly, and sighed. In any other circumstance, I’d have been quite pleased to have met him. I’d be excited someone so good looking was into me, but this wasn’t a normal meeting or situation. No guy had ever offered me fifty grand for anything. Shit, no guy had even offered me a twenty. I’d been on dates where the guy had expected me to pay.

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “So I guess this is when I should get a cab.” I bit my lower lip.

  “Unless you just come home with me.”

  “I’m not a prostitute.” I shook my head.

  “I already told you—”

  “I know, I know. You don’t expect sex.” I nodded. “It just feels off.”

  “What feels off?”

  “What are you expecting for fifty grand?” I shrugged. “I mean, it could be everything but sex. It could even mean anal.” I shuddered.

  “I think anal is considered sex.” He laughed. “Unless you disagree with that.”

  “I’ve never had it.” I made a face.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing.�
�� He grinned.

  “A whole bunch of pain is all I’m missing.”

  “Come back to my place tonight, finish the dance, and tomorrow morning I’ll tell you what I want for the fifty grand.”

  “I don’t know.” I shook my head, though a little voice in my head was screaming at me, ‘What do you have to lose, Evie? What’s a dance? Isn’t this the excitement you’ve always been craving?’

  “Just for one night.” He smiled. “You can leave in the morning. I can call Tyler and he’ll pick us up. You can trust me. And you can trust Tyler. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I don’t know you or Tyler from Adam.”

  “Tyler is my driver, and he’s an ex cop.”

  “So?” I shook my head. “That means nothing to me. Tyler could be the ex-head of the CIA for all I know.”

  “He was never in the CIA.” He shook his head.

  “Why do you care so much if I come?”

  “I just want to get to spend the night with you. I don’t care what we do. We can do as much as you want or as little as you want.”

  “What will you be wearing when I dance?” I bit my lower lip. “I’m not doing a naked lap dance.”

  “We can wear what we’re wearing now, if makes you more comfortable.”

  “I just don’t understand why you want me to come.”

  “I don’t understand many things. Doesn’t mean I don’t do them.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath. “You can call Tyler. I’ll come over. One dance. And we can watch a movie or something. And then I leave.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” He pulled out his phone. “You won’t regret it.”

  “Why did I do this?” I muttered to myself as I stood in the bathroom of Grant’s bedroom. “Why did I agree to come with him?” I sighed as I pulled out my phone again. There was absolutely no signal in his house. I didn’t even really know where we were. Tyler had appeared ten seconds after Grant had pulled out his phone, and I’d been ushered into the back of the limo before I even knew what was happening.

  “You okay?” I heard a knocking on the door, and I froze.

  “Yeah, coming,” I called back, flushing the empty toilet. What had I been thinking?

  “Hey.” Grant nodded at me from the edge of the bed where he sat.

  “Hey.” I nodded at him and fiddled with my glasses.

  “You can take your glasses off.” He nodded at me as I walked towards him.

  “I won’t be able to see if I take them off.” I shook my head.

  “That seemed to help loosen you up in the club.”

  “I don’t need to loosen up.”

  “Okay.” He shrugged and lay back on the bed. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

  “Ready for what?” I stood still as I looked around the room. It was less masculine than I thought it would be, with the white bed sheets and cream walls. All the decorations seemed softer than I’d imagined someone like Grant Slate being into. His house was also huge. When we’d driven up the driveway, I’d been shocked at how big it was. When Tyler had opened the door for us and then disappeared, I’d been scared. Now, I was unsure and just a little excited. Fear was an aphrodisiac I’d never known existed.

  “My dance.” I watched as he loosened his tie.

  “On the bed?”

  “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “It’s hard to dance on the bed.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

  “You have a nice house.”

  “You didn’t come to talk about the house.”

  “What do you want me to do for fifty grand?” I spat out and shivered as I walked towards the bed. Grant was lying there with the top two buttons of his shirt undone and a glossy look in his eyes.

  “You can do whatever you want.”

  “Whatever I want?” I stopped. “What if I don’t want to do anything?”

  “Then you don’t have to.” He sat up slightly and waved me forward. “Is that what you want?”

  “I don’t know.” I sighed, embarrassed to be slightly turned on by him. I didn’t even know him. He was a stranger, yet my body craved his touch.

  “Too many people worry about what a society they don’t know will think of them before they do anything. Why are you arguing with your body? Why are you distrusting your base instincts?”

  “You don’t know what my body is thinking.”

  “I knew the moment you sat on my lap. I knew the second you agreed to come to my home.” He stepped off the bed and walked towards me, his fingers deftly undoing the rest of the buttons on his shirt. “I knew the moment you popped out of the cake.”

  “What did you know?”

  “I knew I wanted you.” He pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the floor. I stared at his chest in amazement. It was as perfectly sculpted as I’d expected it to be, but the scar running down the side of his chest surprised me.

  “Where did you get that?” I pointed at the scar, and he ignored me. Instead of answering me, he turned away and walked to his closet. I watched as he pulled out a thick silver chain.

  “What are you doing?” I gasped as he wrapped the chain around his chest and arm.

  “I like the feeling of the metal against my skin. It reminds me of my strength.” He turned towards me as he pulled the metal along his body.

  His muscles bulged with the strength of a hundred men as he gazed at me with soulless eyes. I swallowed as I stared at the thick steel chain slithering across his skin like a snake. There was something so sensual in the movement, and I couldn't move my eyes away from his chest.

  “What are you going to do?” I whispered as he moved towards me like a panther tracking down its prey.

  “Whatever you want me to do.”

  “What if I don't want you to do anything?”

  “Then we might have a problem.”

  “Then we might have a problem,” I repeated as he stopped in front of me, his eyes never leaving mine as he continued moving the chain across his skin.

  “Are you scared?”

  “What do you think?” My eyes widened as my voice cracked. I took a deep breath. “I’m going to kill Hailey.”

  “Who?” He frowned.

  “My best friend. I was working for her.” I closed my eyes to avoid his intense gaze as my body shivered. “I would be at home watching TV right now if it weren’t for her.” My eyes popped open as his fingers touched my arm.

  “What makes you so mad?” He said gently. “The fact that you took the job or the fact that you’re here?”

  “The fact that I’m standing in front of a stranger with a big silver chain.” I gulped and licked my lips slowly.

  “And does make you mad, or turned on?”

  “What are you, a bloody professor or something? What’s with all the questions?”

  “Why are you repressing your sexuality?”

  “What?” My jaw dropped as I stared at him, my face heating up.

  “Why can’t you celebrate being here with me? I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “Let me just give you the lap dance and go.” I bit down on my lower lip. “You can keep the five grand. I think I might have given you the wrong impression of me.”

  “Oh, why’s that?”

  “I think you’re under the impression I want to be with you in a way I don’t.” I mumbled as I stared at his bulging biceps. Shit, he was so cut and built. I’d never seen a man as muscular and fit as him before. I wanted to reach out and touch his muscle to see if it was as rock hard as it looked.

  “I see.” He took a step back. “That’s disappointing then.”

  “I suppose.” I shrugged and turned away, feeling bereft and alone. Part of me wanted him to beg me to give him a chance. Part of me wanted him to stare at me with lust and desire so profound I wouldn’t be able to say no. Deep inside, I didn’t want to say no.

  “Stop.” His voice was low and gentle, yet commanding and all-
consuming, and my leg froze in midair. “Look at me.”

  I turned towards him slowly, gazing at the look on his face. Gone was the laughing teasing man from the club. In front of me was a man so serious, so immobile, I wondered if he was the same person.

  “The chains weren’t to scare you.” He pulled them off and dropped them on the ground. “I’m not going to use them on you.”

  “I would think not.” I shuddered as I stared at the mass of steel on his cowhide rug.

  “So this isn’t going down as I thought it would tonight.” His lips curled up in a small smile.

  “What did you think was going to go down?” I asked curiously, and then my phone started ringing. I looked at him and then at my handbag and he nodded at me to answer it. I walked over to my bag and lifted it up quickly and pulled out my phone. “Hello.”

  “Evie, where are you?” Hailey’s voice sounded anxious. “Starr and Crystal just called me. They said you just disappeared.”

  “I didn’t mean to just leave.” I mumbled, feeling guilty and hoping I hadn’t jeopardized Hailey’s job. “I just had to get out of there.”

  “Where are you? Why aren’t you at home? What happened?”

  “I kinda met a guy.” I whispered quickly, hoping she wouldn’t really understand what I was saying.

  “You what?” She screamed into the phone.

  “Hailey.” I turned away from a grinning Grant. He seemed to be enjoying eavesdropping a bit too much. “I’ll tell you more when I get home.”

  “Evie Johnson, you come home right now!” she shouted into the phone.

  “I thought you were on a date?” I asked suspiciously.

  “I am and he’s here, but I’ll send him packing when you get here.” She sighed. “You’re not meant to hook up with the guys. You don’t know them, Evie. He could be a psycho.”

  “He’s not a psycho,” I whispered, hoping Grant couldn’t hear me. “I’ll come home as soon as possible.”

  “Evie, tell me where you are and I’ll come and get you.” Hailey sounded worried, and I was about to turn around and ask Grant for his address when I felt his arms around my waist. I froze for a second and looked up at him. “Evie?” Hailey pleaded in my ear, and I was about to speak when Grant grabbed the phone from my hand and ended the call.