by Unknown
She tentatively reached out to stroke a finger down my chest. "If the food is good I’ll forgive you."
The woman might not realize she was into me, but her body language spoke volumes. A little bounce in her step exaggerated the sway of her hips as she walked away, tossing one last glance at me over her shoulder. Shoving my fingers through my hair, I trailed out behind her. "Game on, sweetheart, game on."
Lola
"Game on," I muttered under my breath.
Steeling my spine, I made my way inside the restaurant. He sat at a table near the back of the room, staring out through the picture windows while he waited for me. I clutched my purse a little tighter and headed toward him.
Jumping up, he dragged a chair out from the table. I glanced at the chair and back at him.
"Your chair, sweetheart." He pursed his lips. "I won't bite, much."
"Thanks." Men didn’t pull out chairs, or at least, they didn’t in my experience. I took the seat and placed my purse on the table as he sat back down.
"Did you enjoy your afternoon?" He stretched his long legs out under the table and caught me off guard when his calf brushed against mine.
Electricity jolted up my leg and unfurled in my belly. I snatched my leg out of his way and crossed them under my seat. "I did."
One fist under his chin, he smirked at me and stretched his leg out further. "What did you get up to?"
"I explored the ship. How about you? Propose to any more girls?"
His lips twitched. "I’ve proposed to exactly one girl, and that’s all I’ll ever need to."
"A confirmed bachelor then?"
The server approached before he had a chance to reply, and I scanned the menu while he ordered and then added mine.
"Wine?"
"Yes."
He handed our menus to the server and settled back in his seat. "Where were we?"
"You were telling me about how you’re always going to be a bachelor." I tried to squash the grin threatening to take over my face. Flirting with him was part of the job, but it didn’t help I was enjoying it so much.
"Right. Well, in case you didn’t notice, the woman I’m going to marry hasn’t said yes yet."
His gaze was disconcerting, setting off a flutter in my belly. "Isn’t it customary to get to know people before you offer marriage, or do you always play hard ball?"
"Sweetheart, I’ve never had to play the game at all, but I can guarantee you, I get what I want."
The server came back with the wine and poured us each a generous glass. I picked it up and swirled the liquid around before sipping it. This stuff definitely didn’t come out of a box.
"Do you want to bet on it?" If I could have eaten my words, I would have. The glass slipped from my fingers and I scrambled to get a grip on it. Making a wager with a man like this was not the way to get what I wanted. I had to let him believe he had me by the end of this trip so he’d be willing to part with his cash. A wager was counterproductive if it left me owing him money, but then again, when the ship docked, I’d be gone.
One side of his mouth lifted in a predatory curve, and he leaned closer. My breath hitched and a lump formed in my throat as he studied me intently. I wanted to lean away from him. Instead, I mirrored his body language.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Well…" Now was the time to find out if he was the kind of man I thought he was. If his pockets were lined, he wouldn’t balk at a twenty thousand dollar bet would he? It would certainly make this little con act I was putting on much easier, since there was no way he was going to get me to marry him before we finished the trip. My throat constricted around the words. "Twenty thousand dollars. I’ll bet you twenty thousand dollars you won’t get what you want."
His grin widened. "Are you sure you want to play this game, little girl?"
"My name is Lola. And I’m sure."
The server arrived with our meals and placed them in front of us. Leo cut into his steak with gusto but my appetite had deserted me. I shifted the contents around the plate and took a mouthful of shrimp.
"We need rules and a contract." He interrupted my careful analysis of the green bean on the end of my fork.
"What?"
He’d cleared his plate in the time it took me to eat two mouthfuls and he patted his mouth with the napkin before he continued. "I may be used to getting my own way, and believe me I intend to, but I’m not silly enough to bet that kind of money and then have you avoid me for the rest of the trip. No, there needs to be rules about how much time we need to spend together."
"But—"
"Either you’re all in, or we can forget this little shenanigan, and you’ll still find yourself agreeing to marry me at the end of the trip anyway."
Twenty thousand dollars. I can pay off Brady, and I don’t have to con anyone. Setting my napkin down on the table, I drained my wine glass and stood up with an exasperated huff. "Fine. Where are we going to do this?"
"Let’s go to Stag. The bartender's a friend of mine. She can witness."
I tapped my foot as I waited for him to fix up the bill. This game we were playing was insanity. I’d never seen anything so crazy in my life, not even on TV, but I found myself prickling with anticipation. Two weeks with a rich guy who thought I was wife material, and at the end, I’d walk away with everything I needed. I couldn’t have created a more perfect scenario if I’d tried.
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Acknowledgments
It takes a lot to unscramble my brain and write a story readers want to read. I don't do this alone. Thank you to my children who put up with my incessant whining for writing time and actually giving me the space to do it. To my husband for letting me run ideas and scenes with him and never getting jealous of my characters.
Thank you to Sheri William's, Jennifer Ray, Jennifer Stewart, and Katrina Blake for always having time to run ideas and sort out the kinks and kinkiness.
Thank you to my editor Tami Lund who pushed me to take these characters and make them all that they could be. And finally you, yes you, the one reading this book. Thank you for picking up one of my books. I do hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. You are the best!
About the Author
Misti Murphy writes about smart, sexy women and the dirty talking alphas that love them. She also enjoys emotionally torturing them. Damaged alphas with a twist are her favorite.
When she's not writing, she's enjoying her own happily ever after with her teacher hubby, four hellions, and two fur babies. She has a weakness for chocolate, procaffinating, and stalking Facebook.