Page 58 of Slumming It

"But—"

"It wasyourchoice, not mine. So if you want an apology, get it from yourself." He extended his hand, the one holding the two-thousand dollars, as if he thought that moving the money closer to where I stood would make it harder for me to say no.

My heart was hammering now. The cash was so close, I could practically smell it. And yet, I made no move as my dignity warred with my greed.

But was itreallygreed if I used the money for something good? Vivian wassoworried about that down payment. I was worried, too. So far, running the hotel hadn't been nearly as profitable as we'd hoped, and the best months for tourism were firmly in the rearview mirror.

Sure, we would get some business from travelers coming upstate to admire the fall colors, and we were heading intohunting season, which might get usa littlebusiness along the way. But after that, cold weather and snowy roads would greatly hamper travel.

Our situation might've been different if only we'd taken control of the hotel sooner, when beach season was in full swing. But we hadn't, which meant that we had missed our chance to make financial hay while the summer sun had been shining.

I gave a hard swallow. Maybe Ishouldtake the cash. I would be stupid not to, right?

My mind was still whirling when Reese Murdock said, "And, you'll be coming back to work."

His statement snapped me back to reality. "You don't mean for you?"

"That's exactly what I mean. Same deal as before."

I made a sound of protest. "But that's totally separate from the apology."

"Not to me," he said, giving the money a maddening little flutter. "So decide. You've got five seconds, starting now."

"But—"

The jerkwad started counting. "Five. Four. Three."

Shit.I bolted forward and yanked the cash from his hand, clutching the money so tight, my fingers literally ached. A long moment later, when something like sanity returned, I reluctantly looked up to meet his gaze.

He gave me a knowing smile. "Smart choice."

Yes.

It was.

Iknewthis. But I still felt dirty – and even more so when he flicked his head toward the hall just outside the closed door. "Now get changed. And make it quick. We've got somewhere else to be."

My stomach lurched.Oh, yeah. I'd been bought, alright.And from the look on his face, he knew it, too.

Damn it.Maybe everythingwasfor sale.

Including me.

Chapter 21

Emily

Tonight, Reese Murdock was driving a gorgeous red Ferrari, and I couldn’t help but wonder how he'd managed to have two different vehicles in a city that he was merely visiting.

The Ferrari in particular was far too expensive to be a rental. And even if it weren't, the fact that I'd seen this exact same sportscar on the internet would've been a dead giveaway.

I'd caught a picture of it just this morning while studying an article detailing Reese Murdock's obnoxiously big car collection. The jerkwad owned not just one, but four different Ferraris – as if a single cockmobile wasn't enough.

The greedy bastard.

If I recalled correctly, the dollar value of each Ferrari ranged from four-hundred thousand to over a million.

I repeat.More than a million dollars for a single car.