Page 12

“Of course, I’m going to buy you a dress. And shoes. You’ll be very out of place atCognoscentiin your flip-flops, no matter how sexy they look.”
I sputtered, trying to get all my thoughts together, but I just couldn’t manage it.
“Clock’s ticking, Esme. Let’s go.”
“My…my flip-flops look sexy?” was the thought that made it to the top of my jumbled mind.
“Damn straight.” He grinned, giving me a gentle nudge out of the kitchen, through the entrance hall, and into an internal access garage. A gleaming, very expensive SUV sat in the middle of the otherwise empty space. It was a deep, wine red, with the shiniest grill I’d ever seen.
Wolfe opened the passenger door and waved me in. “In you get.”
Climbing in, I said, “This is a lotta car for one person.”
“I like a lot of space.”
Sinking into the soft leather, I felt the seat mold to my back and let out a sigh. Never, in my life, had I sat in something this luxurious. I watched while he rounded the hood of the car, to the driver’s side. “It’s very lovely. What is it?”
“Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600.”
Looking around, it felt like how I imagined flying in first class would be. The soft, buttery leather seats, elegant wooden trim and polished metal accents. The garage door rose smoothly behind us, Wolfe pressed the ignition and the SUV purred to life. “Feeling tense?”
I won’t lie, I actually was feeling a little tense, worried to touch anything in case I left a mark on any of the immaculate surfaces. “A little.”
He played with some dials on the central dash and,
“What the fuck?” The seat was undulating gently beneath me, pressing into my hips, the small of my back and my shoulder blades.
Putting his hand on the back of my seat, he turned to me, flashing his perfect white teeth in a gorgeous smile. “It’s a massage function.”
“Jesus.” I still had my hands gripped in my lap and my shoulders slightly hunched.
His smile faded. “Now, Esme, listen to me.”
Oh shit, this sounded serious. “I’m listening.”
“I’m taking you out for your birthday and I’m going to spoil you rotten. Ask me why.”
There was the billion-dollar question. “Why?”
“Because it’s fun, and I’m bored, and you deserve it. So just for tonight, let it go, just like in the song.”
I rolled my eyes, and he smiled again.
“I mean it. I have a lot of money. I’m going to spend a bit of that on you and you’re going to let me. For my sake. Just go with the flow, don’t overthink it and we’ll both have a great time. Okay?”
I rubbed my lips together, really struggling to get my head around what was happening to me. This morning, I’d woken up in a black pit of sadness, wondering how the hell I was going to get through the day without crying the whole time. Now, sitting in Wolfe’s car, this morning felt like a lifetime ago.
“I mean, you’re welcome to get out of the car, go back to the town square and spend the rest of the day weeping into your chocolate cake, if you really want to.”
“I don’t want to do that.”
“Then we have a deal? I’m going to spoil you and you’re going to love it.”
I blew out a breath. “We have a deal.”
He held his hand out and I shook it, feeling his warm palm against mine, his strong fingers wrapped around mine. Electricity tingled up my arm, and I pulled my hand away, carefully folding it in my lap. It’s just one night of fun. Don’t go overthinking it. There’s no way a man like Wolfe Rivers would ever go for a girl like me.
CHAPTER7