Chapter 9
The car ride was dead quiet.
Karl sat back, one arm draped over the edge
edge of the door, the other resting near the gearshift, fingers tapping slowly against the leather.
His jaw was sharp under the passing streetlights, his eyes focused ahead, and not once did he look at me.
I didn’t speak. After the way he scolded me, I didn’t want to test my luck. I sat back in my seat, legs crossed tightly, fingers clutched around the edge of my bag, the last thing I wanted was losing the money
He hadn’t said a word since the ballroom and when the driver turned toward the coast instead of the city, I didn’t ask questions.
We pulled into a resort that looked like something out of a catalog.
Cream walls, glass balconies, rows of flickering garden lights. Valers in uniforms walked toward the car before it fully stopped. Karl stepped out first, slow and unbothered, then looked back at me with the smallest tilt of his head.
“Come on,” he said, like it wasn’t a request.
I followed him inside, my heels clicking softly against the marble.
The lobby was warm and wide, chandelier lights reflecting off gold accents and floor–length glass. A soft jazz plano played from somewhere above. the receptionist looked up and instantly straightened.
“Mr. Lever, welcome back, your suite is ready”
Karl didn’Lrespond. He signed something without reading it, handed over a black card, and didn’t even blink when the woman flushed while staring at his jaw. He turned to me and spoke low.
“Let’s go.”
1 walked beside him to the elevator, close enough to smell his cologne.
He didn’t look at me or smile. His fingers tapped once against his thigh
The elevator dinged on the top floor. The hallway was quiet, din, carpeted. We stopped at the end, and Karl slid the key into the door without a
word.
He stepped inside first. I followed and stopped dead.
It was gorgeous. A single suite, warm lighting, velvet chairs, glass walls overlooking the ocean, a tray of chocolate–covered fruit by the window.
I didn: move farther into the room. My hand stayed tight around the strap of my bag.
“Why here?” I asked, not looking at the bed yet, “why aren’t we going home?”
He didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he turned to face me, his hand lifting to the collar of his shirt.
He undid one button, then another. His eyes stayed on mine the entire time, like he was waiting for something maybe for me to look away but I
He took a step forward, and then another, every movement so steady it made the space feel smaller. The third button slipped open. I took a step back without meaning to.
My back touched the wall before I realized how close he was.
He didn’t touch me or raise lus voice, he just placed one hand flat on the wall beside my head and leaned in a little, not enough to touch, just enough to make (Lhard to breathe.
Tecause home doesn’t have a suite with cameras outside,” he said, his voice low, like he wasn’t saying it for me, but to remind himself, “and I need the world to believe you’re mine.”
1 held his gaze, even when my pulse jumped
His eyes dropped to my mouth for a split second, then returned to mine, “do you have a problem with that?”
1/2
Chapter 9
I wanted to scream yes, you literally scolded me for kissing you now this, but instead I shook my head once.
He didn’t move for a second, just watched me like he could see right through every layer I was trying to keep calm and then he pushed off the wall and walked away, like nothing about that moment was unusual.
My eyes flicked to the middle of the room, there it was. A king–size bed, one bed.
no way he could make an excuse for this.
I froze in place. There was no way in hell I was sharing a bed with him, there was no w
Karl dropped his blazer on the armrest, loosened his cuffs, rolled his sleeves back slowly,
He didn’t glance at
- me.
just walked toward the minibar.
“I can take the couch,” I said quickly, pointing to the two low chairs near the table, pretending like they made any kind of sense for sleep, “I mean. I’m fine there. It’s just one night.”
He opened a bottle
le of water, drank, then finally looked over his shoulder, his voice was calm, almost lazy.
“Don’t worry,” he said, setting the bottle down slowly, “I won’t touch you unless you ask nicely.”
I blinked,
He didn’t smirk. He didn’t wait for a response, He just walked to the bed, pulled back the covers, and sat, back resting against the headboard like he lived there like he wasn’t just sharing a bed with a woman he barely knew like this wasn’t strange at all.
I stood frozen by the door, heart thudding, unsure if I was supposed to laugh, run, or say thank you. He looked at me once more, this time slower, “You’re not afraid of the bed, are you?”
I cleared my throat, walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind me not fast or loud, just enough to show I wasn’t answering that.
Inside, I leaned on the counter, stared at the mirror, and tried to breathe.
The room was quiet, but not the kind of quiet that made you feel safe, the kind that made you feel like you were being watched, even through a door.
me on my face,
My mind went back to the party and I frowned, how come Darren and Layla had been there to begin with? And then a smile came on remembering the look on Layla’s face as she had been kicked out.
When I stepped out ten minutes later, he was still there, no shirt, sheets kicked back, his but he didn’t look up.
-I climbed into the far side of the bed without saying a word, pulled the blanket to my chest, laid on my side, facing away.
Just when I thought that was it, he spoke.
“Try to relax. Ellen. You’re acting like I bite. His deep voice sent a chill running down my spine.
I didn’t answer.
All of a sudden, he set the phone down without a word, then moved, quick and smooth, flipping onto his side before I could react.
In a blink, he was above me, his arms braced on either side of my head, his body pinning the space between us.
My breath caught as his face hovered inches from mine, my eyes went wide in shock, “wh…what are you doing?”
AD
