“I need a moment,” she requested.
He stepped out of her way, moving away from her enticing scent. Sabrina rounded the desk and sat down in Merriweather’s chair.
Several minutes ticked by as she read the contract to the end. He still didn’t know any more than when he’d entered the office. Was she going to reject him outright? Was she going to toy with him?
When she finally looked up, her face was unreadable.
“Let me clarify this. You want to hire me as your escort, to share your bed and your home, to live with you, to travel with you, to attend every family function with you. I’m to be exclusively yours, no other lovers. And you won’t have any other lovers either. Any children I might bear will be recognized as your legal heirs and will grow up as your children. In exchange I’ll be entitled to half your wealth. And then the termination clause.” She paused. “You should fire Merriweather as your attorney. I don’t think he has your best interest in mind. The termination clause doesn’t give you an out.”
“That’s how it’s meant to be. No out for me. I’m not looking for an out, I’m looking for an in. It’ll all be in your hands, just like you wanted it all along. You call the shots when it comes to termination of the contract. I’m ready whenever you are.”
Sabrina shook her head. “I hope you don’t mind if I make changes to this contract? Nobody ever signs a contract the way it’s presented, least of all a lawyer.”
She didn’t wait for his approval but started making annotations. Did this mean she was willing to accept this crazy proposal? Would she really do it? He knew he wanted her to be his forever, and while he would have rather asked her to marry him, he was willing to start with what he thought she’d be more comfortable with.
She’d said it bluntly at the cottage. She couldn’t be more than his whore. Fine, he’d take her and then show her what she really was: the woman he loved.
When Daniel saw her sign the contract, his heart was beating up into his throat. She was his.
“Here. I’ve accepted. You need to initial Paragraph seventeen. I’ve made changes.”
Paragraph seventeen? He frantically tried to recall what the paragraph was about, when it hit him: compensation.
She nodded when she saw the realization on his face. “It’s not nearly enough for what you want. I need more.”
More? His heart sank. Sabrina was taking him to her cleaners. He couldn’t have misjudged her like this. She’d never shown any interest in his money, but now that she had him where she wanted him, had her true side come out? God, he hoped not.
She shoved the contract into his direction. “Don’t you want to read it?”
He felt as if his legs were filled with lead when he took a step toward the desk. Had she played him like a fiddle, pushed all his buttons, intoxicated him and then hung him out to dry?
“Daniel, read it,” she urged him. The way she said his name made him look at her and connect with her eyes. There was nothing cold in her eyes. Instead, they were full of warmth. Her actions didn’t compute with the way she looked at him.
She lowered her eyes toward the contract, begging him again to read the change she’d made. He finally did. What he saw made his heart jump. She’d crossed out the entire paragraph and written in the margin. There it was in blue ink: Compensation – Daniel will give Sabrina his love and respect, every day, every night.
That’s all she wanted, nothing else. She’d signed the contract. He had to contain himself.
“May I borrow your pen?” Daniel was choked up as he reached for her pen.
A second later, the ink on the paper dried, his signature next to hers.
***
She looked at him and smiled. When she’d read the first few paragraphs of the contract, she’d thought he’d gone crazy. She’d even felt slightly insulted about what he was offering her, but when she’d read the termination clause, she’d realized what he was truly offering her was himself.
There was no way for him to terminate their contract. And the only way out for her? Marrying him. He would only release her from the contract if she agreed to become his wife. She understood now.
With steady steps, she walked toward him, stopping only inches away from him. She felt the heat from his body ignite the air between them.
“So you think you can pay my price?” she asked.
“I don’t think so. I know so. Want a taste of it?” His look was searing, adding to the scorching heat in the room.
She licked her lips to cool them as she watched his mouth come closer. “I need more than a taste,” she mumbled before his lips met hers.