Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

KIERRA

A fter Sin finished fucking me, he told me to get dressed, so I did, in one of his oversized t-shirts. I walk into the kitchen and he arches an eyebrow. "You look much better in my shirt than I do."

I do a ridiculous curtsy. "Thank you, Daddy."

I'm sure he looks better in it than I do with those well-defined muscles that have me constantly salivating. He grabs the food from the oven and places it on two plates.

"You don't have to go to all this trouble for me in the future, baby girl."

As he places the plates of fish, rice, and vegetables on the dining room table, I follow behind him. "It's no trouble. I enjoy taking care of you."

He flashes me a sad expression before schooling his features. "One week, baby girl. That was our agreement. Please don't forget it."

We both sit at the table, him on one side and me on the other.

I nod slowly as I swallow past the lump in my throat. "Yes, I understand." I haven't forgotten. What I meant was while I'm here. I want to take care of you. Is that not okay?"

Sin sighs audibly while he pushes his food around on his plate. "It's fine, baby girl. I just want to be completely transparent about my intentions with you. Eat."

Picking up my fork, I get a bite of fish while he takes a forkful of his at the same time. After he swallows his food, he says, "Thank you, Kierra. It's very good and unexpected."

I grin at him. "I'm unexpected."

Sin chuckles and his smile with that dimple on the one side fills my chest with hope I probably shouldn't have. "Yes, baby girl, that you are."

He stares at me with an intense gaze, making me think I have food on my face. I grab the napkin and wipe at my skin, but he doesn't stop looking at me.

"What?"

He shakes his head. "Something is going through your mind. I can see it, but I don't know what it is."

I don't know how he does that. It's like he's so aware of my emotions, like he can feel them, and right now, I don't know if I like it.

After taking a sip of my wine, I say, "It's nothing."

"Kierra," he snaps, "When I ask you a question, I expect an honest response."

I set my glass on the table as I stare at him defiantly, "I don't remember you asking a question. It was a statement. Statements don't require a response."

He chuckles softly, "Fucking brat. Let me rephrase for you, baby girl. What's going through your mind?"

My emotions are all over the place and I'm afraid to tell him the truth because I'm not sure what his reaction will be.

"Kierra, you can tell me anything."

I shrug my shoulders as I stare down at my plate. "But why would I? In a few days, I'll be in your rear-view mirror. I am nothing to you. Spreading my legs? Yes, that I can do, but why should I make myself vulnerable to a man I won't even know in less than a week?"

He nods slowly, as if he understands. "Very well, Kierra. Keep your secrets."

And I will, even though there's a part of me that wants desperately to divulge everything. I so badly want someone to lean on but I am an intelligent woman. I know my temporary daddy can't be that person.

After we clean up from dinner, he takes my hand and pulls me to the couch and hands me the remote control for the TV. "Put something on."

I scroll through the options and finally settle on Titanic , which has him groaning. "That's so long and everybody knows there was enough room for both of them."

I giggle as I press play and put the remote on the arm of the couch. "Come here, baby girl."

He pulls me into his arms as the movie starts. And the way he stares at me confuses me. His arms wrapped tightly around me, dragging me into the illusion. The false sense of security I feel is not real. Yet, if I die tomorrow, it will have been worth it.

Sin

I can't stop staring at her and I never want to. She's so fucking perfect. I keep wondering what her throat would look like with my collar around it. That she's not mine and I will do the right thing doesn't stop the fantasy.

In another lifetime, baby girl. One where you know what you're signing up for. Heartbreak. These arrangements never work out long term, not for me. She's so good and I refuse to drag her through hell with me because of my own selfish desires. I will let her go, not because I want to, but because I have to.