Page 9 of Stand Your Ground

Sometimes he made me feel like a kid again, like the carefree girl I had been before innocence was ripped from me like a rugfrom beneath my feet. The way he so easily smiled and laughed, the way he could take a joke from anyone, no matter how cruel, and still bounce around so happy and nonchalant…

I envied that.

I loved that some of it rubbed off on me.

And I sometimes wondered if there was more to this man than the joyous ball of sunshine he presented to the world.

Carter reached for the first stack of papers, brow furrowing as he flipped through them. I took my time settling into my seat across from him, crossing my legs and sipping from my glass as I watched his eyes flick over the contents.

“That one’s the business contract,” I said smoothly. “It’s a legitimate consulting agreement between you and LY Performance Coaching, LLC.”

Carter blinked at me. “You have an LLC?”

“I do now.” I smiled around the rim of my glass, nodding to the inked paper in his hands. “You’re paying me two-million dollars over the next three months, split into four, clean wire transfers, each with a lovely little invoice to match. In exchange, I provide one-on-one performance enhancement coaching, mentorship, and confidence training.”

“So, it’s legal, then.”

“As a marriage. Or should I say divorce, since I’m taking your money?” I swirled my wine with a teasing grin at that.

“Won’t Uncle Sam take his cut, then?”

I shrugged. “Of course. But that’s fine. There will still be plenty enough for me to jet off to the Exumas.”

And to freeze my eggs, parent a child solo, set my kid up with private childcare and schooling for life, make sure we never have to want for anything…

Carter’s smile climbed as he flipped through the pages. “It says here that early termination results in forfeiture — unless it’s initiated by you.”

“Correct. That means I can walk away at any time, for any reason, and still keep the full payment. But if you’re the one who ends it? You don’t get a refund.”

“That doesn’t seem fair, Doctor Young.”

“I never said I play fair,Rookie.”

He frowned at that. “Hey, I’m not a rookie. This is my fourth season.”

“And your first playing completely in the National League and not in the minors, if I’m not mistaken?”

His jaw clamped shut at that. “If we’re going by the league’s standards, I’m not a rookie. I’ve played more than twenty-five games at the national level.”

“Well, technicalities aside, youarea rookie in the bedroom. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here, would we?”

“Why do I like when you talk down to me like that?”

“Oh, honey,” I said, leaning forward with a salacious grin. “This is nothing. Let’s get through these contracts and you’ll see just how degrading I can be — and just how much you’ll love it.”

I knew without testing the theory that his cock was hard now. I saw it in the way his breath shallowed, in the way his pupils dilated, in the bob of his Adam’s apple. It was confirmation of what I’d suspected after all these years of teasing him.

He liked a little abasement.

He was excited to play.

But we had business to settle, first.

After a few minutes of perusing the fine print of the first contract, Carter seemed satisfied. We signed three copies — one for each of us, and one that would eventually be the legally binding, notarized version.

“And where exactly is our notary?” Carter asked, finally trying his wine. He hummed his approval, and I internally smiled. The man clearly had good taste — in wineandwomen.

“I have one on standby who works with discretion.”