Because He Plays Me (Because He Owns Me, Book Seven) Read online

  His gaze darkened. “You enjoy scrubbing toilets so much that you would blackmail me to keep doing it?”

  I gritted my teeth. Someone like him would not understand. People with so much money they could do whatever the hell they wanted without a second thought didn’t get the whole ‘support yourself because no one else will’ problem.

  “I’d rather not starve and have to sleep in my car,” I said between clenched teeth.

  One eyebrow lifted up. “In that case, why not go straight for what you want? Why not ask for money?”

  Was he telling her to blackmail him for money? “That’s criminal.” I ignored the voice in my head telling me to do it. To blackmail him. But if I did, I’d be exactly the kind of person that Jacob accused me of being. No good. Worthless.

  Madden snorted. “Like that’s ever stopped anyone. Surely you have your price Ms. Kinsey, everyone does.”

  “You couldn’t afford it,” I blurted out. I pressed my fingers to my mouth. What the hell made me say that out loud? I was not going to demand money from him.

  His gaze narrowed in on me and that same smirk from the picture turned his lips up. “Ten thousand dollars?”

  The floor tilted and my mouth fell open. He said it as if it were nothing. With that much, I could get further away, well away from JACOB, and have enough left to start over. For real. My hand dropped to my side and I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. So tempting.

  When I looked up at him he was staring at my mouth.

  I was all over the place and couldn’t think straight. Was I actually considering what he offered?

  “Just letting me keep my job is fine, Mr. Cross,” I breathed out.

  He stepped right in front of me again and used one finger to tilt my chin up. The air in my lungs froze. His eyes were dark and glittering with something that made my toes curl. “Call me Madden,” he said in a low, rumbly voice. His thumb drifted over my jawline and I almost tilted my head into his touch. Electricity followed in the wake of his touch, clouding my ability to think. Being this close to him was like taking a drug that made every nerve ending stretch tight while my blood felt like warmed honey.

  I shook my head to try and clear the fog. “What?”

  “My name. Say it, Ms. Kinsey and you have your ten thousand dollars.”

  I swallowed loudly. It would be so easy to just say his name. My throat tightened and my mouth went dry. Why did he want this so badly? I could see it burning in his eyes. It was that desire that made me want to open my mouth and do what he asked.

  Why was I fighting it so hard? Wasn’t money exactly what I needed? Why I‘d started working here in the first place. With one word I could have more than I needed to get further away from Maine than I had planned.

  “And yet you hesitate still. Interesting.”

  Madden…Yes in my head I could call him that.

  He leaned closer. “I don’t know many people who still have principles, Ms. Kinsey. You intrigue me.”

  I could not hold back the shudder when he slid his hand down the column of my neck. He held me there, firm but not forceful. I could step away if I wanted, but I didn’t. Not while he was looking at me like that. “Should I sweeten the deal? I can feel your pulse racing under my fingers. Did you like what you saw earlier?”

  Madden leaned in so close that our noses were almost touching. His gaze burned into mine.

  “Did you wish it were you?” His silky soft voice washed over my lips as he caressed the heartbeat pounding in my neck.

  Caught up in his stare, I nodded before I realized what I’d done. Triumph flashed across his face. “Ten thousand dollars and the weekend. With me. That’s my only offer now.” His fingers skated along my collarbone, releasing a rush of desire through my body.

  Would it be so bad, spending a weekend with him? I glanced up from under my eyelashes to study him. I could tell that he was used to getting what he wanted, but why did he want me?

  “Why?” I asked. He had not moved away and the heat radiating from him only heightened the spell he had on me. There was no denying that my body craved what he was offering. It had since the minute I stepped into the office and saw him with that woman.

  “Because we’re both adults and we both want something here. Spend the weekend with me. I have business I need to attend to, but then...I’d like to give you my undivided attention.” His eyes got even darker and he brushed his lips across my jaw. “Two days, Skylar. That’s all I want.”

  I was on the verge of declining, of trying to do the logical thing, when he said my name. The huskiness in his voice, the promise, tipped me over the edge. I wanted to know what his fingers felt like gripping my hips, moving me how he liked best, playing my body until I couldn't take anymore.

  My chest ached from the need to breathe. Madden sucked all the air of the room with his presence, leaving me no other choice but to cling to him.

  I could give him two days.

  I wanted to and there was no use denying it. My life had been spun out of control but this was one choice I could make for myself and I did.

  “Okay.” I whispered, cementing the deal with this red hot devil of a man.

  Chapter 2

  At exactly eight the next morning, someone knocked on the door of my motel room.

  My overnight bag was packed for the weekend—but then again, it had always been packed. It was the same stuff I’d taken with my when I’d run away from Jacob and my old life in Maine.

  All I saw when I peeked through the peephole of my door was a dark uniform. A blinding panic took over.

  My hands went numb and my entire body shook.

  Oh god, how did he find me?

  I backed away from the door. There was only the one window in the front of the room. How was I going to get out?

  The knock came again, louder now. Then...voices.

  A harder knock. “Ms Kinsey, if you don’t get your ass out here in thirty seconds, the deal is off.”

  Relief so sweet that I almost melted into the dirty puke green carpet. It wasn’t Jacob—It was Madden. I inhaled air into my lungs and tried to get my racing heartbeat under control.

  I was still safe.

  I pushed the chain out of the lock and opened the door to find a very irritated Madden Cross with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

  “In the future, Ms Kinsey, when I knock I expect you to answer immediately.”

  In the daylight, he looked even larger than life looming in the doorway. I reached down and grabbed my bag. He took it from me and handed it to a man in a navy blue uniform standing next to the door.

  “And how high would you like me to jump? Just so I’m prepared and all,” I snarked. I’d gotten maybe three hours of sleep while tossing and turning imagining the thousand ways I might die this weekend after agreeing to go away with a virtual stranger. Then I’d remember what I saw him doing to that woman in his office, how he made me feel with just a touch, and just like that my body went from cold to burning hot.

  Adding to all my confusion was the fact that I had no money and motel instant coffee and day old donuts were almost worse than nothing at all. I was irritable to say the least.

  “You’ll jump as high as I want,” he said. Amusement danced in his tone and I looked up at him. He seemed more relaxed this morning, softer, if that was possible for such a chiseled body and face. Instead of a business suit, he had on a black button up short sleeve shirt and jeans today. It made him seem more approachable, but it also accented the muscles in his arms that rippled with every movement. Strong enough to hold a woman in place…

  We hadn’t even left the motel parking lot and I was already getting all hot and bothered. I knew what the deal had been for, I wasn’t some naive country girl. He was bringing me with him for sex.

  I just didn’t know when he expected it.

  “Are you ready, Ms Kinsey?” Madden put his hand on my lower back and guided me to the enormous limo waiting in the parking lot. The man in the uniform opened the door
and I ducked inside after a slight encouraging pressure on my back.

  “Skylar,” I said absently as Madden slid in across from me. Holy god. I had never in my life seen anything like this. “Wow.”

  Madden chuckled and I realized that I must have said it out loud. But really, this was amazing. Polished chrome gleamed in the lights running along both sides of the inside of the roof, flanking a moon-roof that was closed. A glass-top bar took up almost one whole side of the car and there was so much room I could have laid down on the floor.

  I glanced over at Madden who had sat back and was watching me with that smirk on his lips. A rise of heat climbed up my neck. Maybe it was the first time I’d ever been in a limo, and yes, I might be a little wide eyed at it all. I straightened my shoulders and leaned back against the soft black leather seat. Then I tilted my chin up and met his stare.

  “It’s okay I guess,” I said in my best nonchalant, bored voice. “But I thought these things always had hot tubs in them or something.”

  Madden threw back his head and laughed. The sound, thick and rich like expensive whiskey, warmed me from the inside. As soon as he got into the car, it seemed to shrink. He had a presence that no one would deny. This man was an enigma already. Last night he’d been harsh and demanding and I’d responded to it like a desert flower to water. Today, the arrogance was still there, he wore it as easily as that shirt, but he seemed more relaxed.

  “So we’re going where?” I asked. The limo glided forward and I watched as we passed my little grey Mini Cooper. I used all my money to pay for the room for two weeks, so it should be okay parked there for the weekend.

  “I’ve recently purchased a resort that is currently under renovation. I need to go over several things with the foreman and a meeting with one of the investors, but after that…” His intense gaze pierced mine and my breath stuttered. Nothing more was said about after, but his glance kept moving between me and his phone.

  Each time I felt more and more undressed.

  I didn’t have many clothes and definitely nothing worthy of a resort, even one in the midst of construction. My jeans were clean and this morning I had chosen a light peasant blouse that was probably the dressiest thing I owned. At least my toes were still painted pink from last week’s pedicure and didn’t look bad in my strappy white sandals.

  “Where is this resort? In the city?”

  Madden looked up from his phone. “Off the coast of South Carolina. Its really an island that was turned into a resort about thirty years ago.”

  He bought an island. In the Atlantic. I don’t know why I thought it was local. It never occurred to me that we might be traveling someplace. “You bought an entire island?”

  “It’s what I do.” He glanced at his phone, sighed, then set it on the console next to his seat. Then he reached over to the bar and opened a cupboard I didn’t even notice was there. Ice clinked into a glass and then he poured something amber over the cubes. “Would you like something? Wine? Mimosa? Sparkling juice?”

  “Water?”

  The way my stomach flipped over every time he looked at me, it was probably the best idea. Keep it simple.

  Madden reached into a small fridge, also concealed and made to look like part of the cabinets, and handed me a Pellegrino.

  I flashed a nervous smile. “So you buy islands on a regular basis?”

  “Real Estate. I thought everyone in the city knew what Cross Industries did? You work there and you had no idea?” He tipped back the glass and his throat moved as he swallowed. Even that was strong. He set the glass down and stared at me. Right. He’d asked a question.

  “The agency that hired me only told me the company name. I just got to town a few days ago so I wasn’t familiar with you or your business. It’s not really forthcoming inside either. Nothing really identifies what you do.”

  Madden smirked again. “The enormous pictures of high rises on every wall didn’t give it away?”

  “You could be a computer nerd with a fetish for tall pointy things for all I know.” All my life I had lacked a filter on my thoughts. They sprang to mind and came out of my mouth. It was the cause of most of the problems I had with just about everyone growing up. Something I had not outgrown either apparently. The second I said it, I felt the heat in my cheeks. After last night I was pretty sure I already knew what his fetishes were.

  He didn’t reply, just watched me, like a patient and only slightly hungry wolf.

  I cleared my throat, looked out the window and then unscrewed the top of my water to take a large gulp. All the while Madden watched me. “That’s interesting,” I croaked. “Real estate I mean.”

  He lifted one eyebrow and I nearly choked on my water.

  Thankfully, the limo began to slow and when I glanced out the window, saw we were at an airport. “We’re flying?” I wasn’t a great flyer. Panic tended to crowd out any other emotion when I stepped onto a plane.

  “The drive is kind of a bitch,” Madden said.

  I could feel my pulse pounding in my ears already and we were still in the car. The limo slowed and then stopped, then a few seconds later, the door opened. Bright sunlight streamed into the backseat. Would a sixteen hour limo ride be that bad?

  Fighting back the urge to throw myself into the corner of the seat and grab anything bolted down, I took the offered hand and stepped out onto the runway. Madden was right behind me and again, put his hand on my lower back. It helped ease a little of the tension gripping my body.

  “I’ll bring the bags, Sir,” the man in the uniform said.

  Madden nudged me and I stepped forward. A small jet sat on the runway waiting in front of us. The captain stood by a set of stairs and reached out to shake Madden’s hand when we got close enough.

  “Good morning, Sir. We’re fueled and ready to go when you are. Beautiful weather all the way down the coast so it should be a good flight today.”

  The captain smiled warmly at me and I smiled back. This was crazy. I’d only flown a handful of times in a crowded commercial aircraft and here I was about to get on a private jet. I half expected to wake up in my grubby hotel bed and find myself in the throes of an epic sickness and this was all just a conjuring of a fevered mind. But the warm hand at my back grounded me in this moment.

  “Thank you Tony. As soon as Mark brings the bags, we can take off.”

  Madden guided me up the steps and onto the airplane. As soon as I stepped on board, I froze. Holy shit. I thought the limo was fancy but it had nothing on this. This was a luxury penthouse with wings.

  Two overstuffed chairs faced each other on one side of the plane. They were covered in soft buttery yellow leather that matched the fabric on a full sized sofa along the opposite side. There was another room just past this one, and I saw a dining table set up like a fancy restaurant.

  Lush carpet ran along the entire length of the floor.

  “There is a full bathroom just through there,” he said, pointing through the dining room. “As soon as we reach cruising altitude, I’ll have breakfast served if you’re hungry.”

  My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly and that smirk was back.

  “Breakfast it is. Do you prefer facing forward or backward?” He lifted one eyebrow and I could read double meaning in his words, though he tilted his head to indicate my choice of seats. I sank down into the one facing the cockpit and sank down into the most comfortable chair I’d ever sat in in my life. It cradled my body like it was made just for me.

  I ran my fingers over the armrest. The leather felt like cashmere it was so soft. I thought about the grimy coverlet on my bed in the little motel I was staying in, and shook my head in disbelief at how much my surroundings had changed in a few hours.

  Madden sank down opposite me.

  “I’d never leave this thing,” I said. “If there was a bedroom it would be perfect.” When he lifted an eyebrow I couldn’t stop the burst of laughter. “Seriously? There’s a bedroom?”

  “With a king sized bed.” Was it my
imagination or did his voice deepen when he said that? I licked my suddenly dry lips. Would we be taking advantage of it later? As if he’d read my thoughts, his eyes darkened.

  My breath stopped when he leaned forward close enough to reach out and touch me. Then his hands were at my waist. Joining the mile high club in this would be an experience for sure. A metallic click brought me back to my senses. He was already settling back into his own seat and putting his seatbelt on.

  “Good morning, Sir,” a pleasant woman’s voice said just behind me. I craned my neck and saw a beautiful blond standing there. She had on a red blazer and cream colored pants. Her hair was up in a very neat French twist. Her smile bespoke more than a passing familiarity, and when I glanced at Madden, he had an equally easy smile on his face.

  Had they...no, I didn’t even want to think about it.

  “Hello Gretchen. This is my guest, Ms Kinsey. We’ll be ready for breakfast as soon as we’re settled.”

  “Very good. I’ll let the captain know that you’re ready.” She walked past and my eyes followed her. She was tall and willowy and so graceful. Maybe he’d had her bent over that couch, her hands behind her back...I clenched my hands in my lap and tore my gaze away. It didn’t matter if he had. It wasn’t like I was there as anything other than his companion for the weekend, though the why part was still unexplained.

  When he had someone like that or the woman from his office available to him at any time, why would he want me to be the one for the next two days?

  I was about to ask when the captain’s voice came over the intercom. “We’re about to begin our taxi and there is one plane ahead of us, so we should be in the air in just a few moments. Our cruising altitude today will be forty-one thousand feet and we are on schedule to arrive at our destination in two hours and fifteen minutes. Flight attendant, please prepare for takeoff.”

  I gripped the arm of the chair as the plane jerked forward. “How often do you fly?” I asked.