Page 3 of Bought (BOUGHT TRILOGY #1)
CHAPTER THREE
Erin
My heart is still pounding against my ribcage from the kiss, and it beats double time with the music. Why is Cass calling? What do they need? Has something gone wrong?
“That’s another rule,” he says. “No personal phone calls.”
“Tough,” I snap.
Rushing away from him, I bend down and scoop up the coat. I pull it on, covering my scantily clad body as I fumble through its pockets.
Stepping outside for privacy, I answer the phone with a quick, “Hey,” just before it goes to voicemail.
The apartment door shuts behind me, and I finally take a breath.
Not because I was scared. That wasn’t fear back there. It was something worse.
Desire.
And now, this call. It has to be an emergency. She knows better than to call otherwise.
She’s calling my name. “Rin! Erin, are you still there?”
“Yes, sorry. What’s going on?”
“I had this strange feeling! I just had to check on you.”
“What?” I exhale, unsure whether I feel relieved or angry. Maybe both. “God! Cass! You can’t just—call me—when you get a weird feeling! You know I’m…with a client.”
“A client,” she snorts. “More like a pervert. What’s so wrong with him that he has to pay for sex?”
His face appears in my mind. Beautiful and cold.
“Nothing.”
“Yeah right. If you stay, you’ll see for yourself soon enough?—”
I hiss into the phone. “I haven’t had the chance! Maybe I could figure out what’s wrong with him if you’d just let me!”
“Sorry,” she breathes. “I was just worried.”
“I know.” I stare at the door. “I have to go. I’ve got a job to do.”
Another pregnant pause fills the conversation.
“Don’t do this, Erin,” Cass pleads.
I think about her, Ryan, and the tough choices we’ll soon have to face if I don’t. I must.
I force a smile. “I want to. Honestly, he’s not bad. He’s actually really good looking?—”
“Ugh,” she groans. “You’re really going to do this?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Don’t tell me anything else. Just get home as soon as you can.”
“I will.” I release a sigh. “Do NOT call again. Got it?”
“Got it.” Our pause. Feelings are being felt on the other end of the line. Then, Cass surprises me by saying, “Love you.”
“Wow. You must really be worried,” I tease.
She groans again. “Stop.”
“Love you too, Cass.” I grin. “Give Ryan a kiss for me.”
“Already did. He’s sleeping soundly.”
“Gotta go.” I hang up and turn off the ringer. No more calls, no more interruptions. I slip the phone into my pocket.
I grasp the cold metal door handle, hesitating before turning it. My reflection in the stainless steel looks like a stranger with flushed cheeks, slightly disheveled hair, and swollen lips. My body’s still vibrating, my skin still remembering every place he touched me.
I hate this.
This was meant to be simple.
A simple plan.
One night. One transaction. One step closer to what we need.
Instead, I stand outside his apartment with his scent still on my skin and his kiss echoing on my lips.
Last chance to walk.
I should have taken it.
This is already complicated.
I don’t date men like him. Never have. I don’t allow it.
Not after everything I’ve been through and the things I’ve seen.
I learned from watching others’ mistakes, then fought my way out of that world for everyone’s sake.
And I sure as hell don’t plan to drag us back into it for a man with cold eyes and dangerous hands.
Except…
He wasn’t only made of ice.
There were moments, tiny flashes, when I saw something warmer in him. Heat that should’ve made me run before I get burned, but instead it draws me in like a moth to a flame.
Turning the knob, everything inside me urges me to leave. Now. But something keeps me going forward. That heat. His body, his eyes, the sound of his voice. And maybe the challenge he offers.
I don’t want to leave; I want to stay.
I walk back inside, and the steel door shuts behind me with finality.