The Bargain Read Online Free PDF Page B

gulp of my drink.
    He stared at me, burning up my insides with a predatory gaze. His eyes swept down my body, lingering on the deep “v” of my dress, sending a tingling sensation straight to my core before his eyes met mine again. “Fine. If that makes you comfortable, I don’t mind pretending we don’t know the end game…at least for a little while. We’ll finish our drink first. ”
    My hand froze; drink in hand, halfway to my mouth. I stared at him, my lips parted, my breathing accelerated as his words washed over me. Panic, astonishment, and excitement swirled inside of me. Conflicting urges to flee or drag him back to my hotel room warred inside my body. Both thoughts seemed ridiculous. Weighing my options, I shifted to the end of my seat. “What’s the end game?” I asked, my throat dry and a bit shaky.
    He leaned forward trailing a fingertip along my jaw line. “We can sit here and have a friendly chat, but we both know that this night ends with me buried inside of you.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m hoping it happens sooner rather than later, though,” he said, lowering his voice to a wicked drawl.
    Who said shit like that? I snickered trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t help. Desire brewed in the air around us, making it impossible to ignore him. I drew in a forceful breath as my eyes flittered around the bar, searching for Vera. Normally, she stood out like a beacon in a sea of blonde and brown, but I didn’t see her long, flowing red mane anywhere.
    “She disappeared toward the beach with a man a few minutes ago.” Ryker waved his hand in the direction of the long span of doors open to beach at back of the bar.
    “Vera?”
    “Is that her name?”
    I nodded as I swallowed nervously. “Why are you interested in me?” It was a dumb question, but the thought tumbled from my mouth before I stopped it. I wasn’t ugly, but I didn’t draw the attention of many men either. Vera does…not me.
    Secrets danced behind his guarded eyes, but Ryker didn’t answer. He snagged my hand and pulled me off my chair. A heated, tingling current traveled the length of my arm, but I didn’t have the time to analyze it. Instinctively, I tensed for a beat, pulling back…resisting him, but he didn’t release my hand. He pulled me closer until his hard chest whispered a darkly suggestive promise against mine.
    “Let’s dance,” he said, his lips only millimeters from my bare skin. Shivers cascaded down my neck, and my heart sputtered. I was enthralled, spellbound, and already dancing to his seductive tune.
    Even as I followed him into the maze of people, I knew I shouldn’t go anywhere with him, but when I gazed into his smoky gray eyes, I buried my better judgment into the recesses of my mind. At twenty-four years old, I needed to start living my life for me instead of my family. And right now, that included doing things I had every intention of blaming on the ignorance of youth.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
    In the middle of the dance floor, he circled his arms around me, pulling my body flush against his. My silky black dress didn’t offer much of a barrier between his body and mine. The fevered glide of my skin against his black cotton shirt and his muscular thighs as we moved to the beat felt good. Better than good. Fucking amazing. I inwardly heckled myself for my inappropriate behavior even as I slid closer. I wanted to sink into him, embrace the moment. What harm could come of it?
    In a foreign country, in the arms of a stranger with no familiar faces to judge my actions and report my unbecoming behavior, I decided to live. Fuck Evan and all his apologies that filled my phone on a daily basis. My mom, my brother, my friends…everyone except Vera wanted me to give Evan another chance. They reminded me of Evan’s promising future career in politics at every turn. His dad was a U.S. Senator, and Evan probably would be one someday too. If I married Evan after