I rub my eyes, noticing as I do that my hand is shaking. “I don’t know if I will. I don’t know.” I draw a deep breath in. Force myself to look into his dark eyes. “I don’t think I would agree to sell her island to you. You seem like an asshole.”
“Do I?” He steps closer, and my chest and cheeks go molten hot.
I grit my teeth. “Yes. You are an asshole. I can spot one.”
“You’re a beggar.”
“How did she die?”
“Excuse me?”
“How did my grandmother die, asshole?”
His face hardens. “It was cancer. Do you care?”
“Of course I care!”
His sneer tells me what he thinks of that, but I ignore him. “Pancreatic cancer?” I ask.
He frowns.
“Did she die of pancreatic cancer?”
“Lung.”
I exhale slowly, feeling faint. “She didn’t want to meet me, did she? It was you who told me to come here.”
He nods, and my throat constricts.
“After your first e-mail, I did some digging. I found out about your financial woes. After she passed, I gave you a ‘gift.’”
“A bribe.”
“It’s not a bribe. It’s a gift. A token of my intent if you were to decide, on behalf of the trust, to sell the island to me. Her trust will get the money. A little under a million, if I’m correct about the island’s worth. You can keep the sixty thousand I give you, and I get to continue living at my home.” He holds his hands out, as if everything he’s said is totally logical.
I shake my head.“Just because you were dumb enough to deposit money into my account—under false pretenses, might I add—that doesn’t mean I have to agree to sell the island to you. How could I do that, anyway? If you’re one of the trust’s administrators, wouldn’t that be like…illegal?”
“I’d have to remove myself first.”
“Why do you care so much about this island?”
He shakes his head, as if he speaks another language. As if he’s lost. When he speaks, his voice is surprisingly soft. “It’s my home.”
“Only if I decide to give it to you. So far, I haven’t thought of a single reason why I should.”
“What if I told you the money is gone unless you do?”
I snort. “Are you a magician?”
His eyes harden.“The money is gone, Red. It’s been gone since this morning. I had it removed.”
“W-what do you mean?” My voice is squeaky.
“Your check for car you bought won’t bounce. I removed it after that.”
I start to tremble, shoulders first, then chest. “Are you fucking kidding me? Is this a fucking joke?” I fumble for my phone and he steps closer. “Go ahead and check,” he says. “You’ll see.”
I can barely get to the bank’s web site, my hands are shaking so badly. When I see the balance, I nearly vomit: $245.13.
“I don’t understand. Why did you do this?”
“I needed to get you here.”
“I would have probably come if you’d asked like a normal person!”
He shakes his head. “I needed a guarantee.”
I grind my jaw together as hard as I can and put my head in my hands. I haven’t felt this screwed—this utterly and totally fucked—since mom was diagnosed.
I feel his hand touch my shoulder, and I slap him off. “I can’t believe this shit. I can’t believe—”
He holds up a check, and I go quiet.
My name is in the “to” space. The dollar amount is $60,000.
Suddenly, my lungs work again. It takes me a moment to find my voice, and when I do, it’s raspy and weak. “How can I trust you? If you can deposit and remove money from my account one time…” I shake my head. “How did you even do that?”
“It wasn’t easy. It’s not something just anyone can do. I doubt I could do it again, for what that’s worth.”
It’s worth nothing. “I’ll never trust you.”
I take a step back, and his hand closes around my arm as his black eyes find mine. “I’m sorry I did things this way. I really am. I’d like nothing more than to hand this check to you—and I will. As soon as you sign the island over to me. Come with me, Red. Just for a night. Give me a chance to talk you into this. You can see where your grandmother lived.”
I look at the blue and white sailboat beside us. It’s got two benches in the middle, two motors on the back, and a steering wheel podium near the front. I shake my head. I’m not getting on that boat with him. “God, this is so my luck. Some asshole poses as my grandmother, and now you want to steal her island from me. You’re like…the big bad wolf.”
He blanches for just a second before he turns his face into something more neutral. “Get into the boat, Red. I promise you’ll be glad you did.”
WOLFE
Surprises.
Fucking hell, I’m rocked by her surprises. For starters: the little redhead makes my dick hard. The righteous outrage. I’m glad I pissed her off. How fucking sexy is that mouth when she’s using it to slap me around?
As she stands there with her hands on her hips, glaring at me like she’s she knows how big and bad I am, I’m shifting to try and hide my erection.
I can’t keep my eyes from returning to her breasts. They stretch her long-sleeved gray t-shirt. I run my gaze down to her curvy hips and wonder what she’d do if I grabbed her ass right now.
I can’t believe my reaction to her. The way my dick salutes her. The way my balls draw up like she’s tickling them with her tongue.
It’s not because she’s classically beautiful. She’s got a strange look: long, straight, red hair; red lips; pale skin with a smattering of freckles on her nose. Her blue eyes are big and wide. If I had to paint her as an animal, I’d make her a fox. Sleek. Striking.
I roll my gaze down her small, lithe body, lingering on her hips, encased in jeans. I wonder what her cunt would taste like.
Strawberries, I bet.
I imagine thrusting two fingers into her slick, pink flesh; working my pinkie into her tight asshole.
I’d love to see those legs sag open for me.
I want to hear her moan and pant, feel her writhe under me.
“This is a really terrible thing to do to someone,” she says, hands on her hips. “You’re using my financial issues to manipulate me.”
I arch a brow. “I’m offering you an easy chance to drive off tomorrow with a check for sixty thousand dollars and an opportunity to net much more for your grandmother’s foundation.”
“Really? Because it looks to me like you gave me thirty thousand dollars, then snatched it away in order to control me. I’d rather be poor and homeless than manipulated by an ass like you.”
Christ, she’s sexy.
I struggle to suppress a smile.
“I’d like you to come and see the island,” I try.
“So I can decide if I want to give it to you?” She snorts. “I can tell you right now, my answer is ‘no.’”
“Reconsider.”
She bites down on her lower lip, and my dick pulses. I wonder if she’s red between her legs.
“Why should I get into a boat with you, wolf?”
I hate how she keeps calling me that—my real last name—so I’m a little terse when I say, “Do it because I asked.”
A little laugh, soft as the wind. “Are you sure you were my grandmother’s employee? Something about you feels really…lawyer to me. Lawyer or…hmmm.” She strokes her chin. “Maybe banker.”
I force myself to breathe. “You’ve got it all wrong, Rojo.”
I step down into the boat to give her the illusion of space. If she turns to leave, I’ll go after her, but she doesn’t need to know that.