Chapter 4

CHAPTER

FOUR

FOX

I’ve been hard since the moment I shoved Alida into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. My knuckle still tingles with the memory of her soft skin grazing against it. What I wouldn’t have given to have helped her the rest of the way out of that dress. But the last fucking thing I should be entertaining is messing around with Brett’s sister. There’s always been a spark between us, but even if she didn’t blame me for her brother’s death, it’s not something we should explore.

My dick does not approve of that logic, however.

“You’re clearly not going to chain me to that dungeon bed,” Alida says as the mansion disappears in the rearview mirror of my truck. “So what’s this favor?”

No sense in beating around the bush. “You’re going to be my fake girlfriend for Christmas.”

“Excuse me?”

“I didn’t stutter.”

“Doesn’t mean you aren’t speaking fucking Greek.”

“We’ll stop by your house so you can pack a bag.”

“Christmas isn’t for three more days.”

“We’re heading out tonight.”

“To where?”

“To meet up with my family.”

“I can’t.”

Though it makes me feel like a total ass to say it, I fire back with, “I have a hundred thousand reasons that say you can.”

Alida falls silent, fiddling with a silk blindfold she took as a souvenir from the mansion. Though the room was over the top for my tastes, it hasn’t stopped my dirty imagination from working overtime. That blindfold could lead to her ultimate pleasure, if only I wouldn’t burn in hell to show her.

“I’m supposed to work?—”

“You’re off through Christmas.”

“ No , I’m not.”

I brace for the incoming hostility my next statement will surely get me. “I called in a favor.”

“How?”

“Your boss is a friend of mine.”

“You talked to Dawn ?” Her disbelieving words are laced with venom.

“What good is vacation time if you never use it?”

“I thought we already had this conversation,” she hisses. “We agreed. No more overstepping.”

I grip the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turn white. There’s no point in having this argument again. Kayleigh was headed off to college—out of state—without a car. The medical bills for their mom were racking up, and I knew damn well the money the family received from Brett’s passing would be yanked right out from under them because of it. I kept my promise to Brett that I’d look after his sisters and found Kayleigh a reliable used sedan.

In hindsight, choosing the day after the funeral to give them the gift was likely shitty timing.

“Considering I just wrote a check for six figures, I don’t think you get to call the shots here.” I feel like an ass for saying it, but I need her to believe she’s at my mercy. Otherwise she might get some fucking stupid idea to go back to the auction tomorrow and put herself up for sale again.

“And if I refuse to be your fake girlfriend?” she asks, folding her arms across her chest and staring straight out the window. Thankfully it’s too dark and snowy for her to notice her car is no longer in the ditch. But she’ll have a chance to be livid about that when we show up at her house and it’s sitting in her driveway.

“Then I refuse to sign off on my purchase.”

“What does that mean?” I hear a hint of panic beneath her defensive retort.

“If you’d actually read your contract, you’d know you don’t see a dime until your bidder rates his purchase.” It’s a dirty fucking system, which is one of the many reasons I never wanted anything to do with that place. If Alida hadn’t signed up for something she never should have known about in the first place, I wouldn’t have come within ten miles of this place.

“The higher the rating…”

“Exactly.”

“How is that fair?” The question escapes her lips as little more than a whisper as I turn onto the main road. I can practically feel her shudder as the gravity of what I’ve just said to her sinks in.

“If you do this holiday thing with my family, I swear on your brother’s life I’ll give you the highest rating when it’s over.”

After several beats of silence, Alida asks, “What do I need to do?”

“Pretend to be my girlfriend in front of my family.”

“That’s it?”

“You’ll need to be convincing.” I didn’t come up with this hair brained scheme until I was following Alida up the mountain road to the mansion. I was never going to buy her for sex. But I knew the curvy beauty would fetch a high price tag. I couldn’t give a fuck about the money. But I can’t let Miss Independent know I had no reason to buy her other than to save her from her own bad decisions.

The fake girlfriend thing might be taking it too far, but I need an insurance policy to make sure Alida doesn’t sign up for round two of the auction. Keeping her close is the only logical course of action. That it might get my overbearing family off my back for one holiday is just the cherry on top.

“On one condition.”

“You’re not exactly in a position to be calling the shots,” I tease, flashing her a half smile before returning my focus to the road.

“Kayleigh is never to know about any of this. Not the auction. Not the money. And not about the fake girlfriend thing.”

“That’s your one condition?”

“Swear to me, Fox.”

I expected her to set some ground rules for the fake relationship. Set parameters for public displays of affection or demand separate bedrooms or insist there won’t be any sex. But it’s clear Kayleigh is not only her number one priority, but her only priority.

“I swear.”

The primal side of me yearns to be set loose so I can show her what it means to make her a priority. To take her to heights of pleasure she’s only dreamed of so she can experience what it’s like to be the sole focus.

It’s possible this fake relationship proposal was a bad idea.

A very bad idea.