Page 248 of The First Taste

His eyes twinkle for a moment with dark amusement. "We’ll see about that."

I huff at his words. "That’s a ridiculous thing to say." I adjust my skirt and cross my legs, feeling prim. "Now, about the ten thousand dollars."

He leans forward in his seat, steepling his fingers and looking contemplative. "Yes. I’m thinking that I could pay you five thousand like we talked about to get the story on tape. Then for the other five thousand, I would pay you to actually come with me and confront my brother."

I pale, my heart rate rising suddenly. "What? No. I can’t do that."

"Really? Because you are the one who said that you are so hard up for money."

"That’s not what I meant," I say, my expression turning bitter.

Dare sits back in his chair, staring at me like he can see right through to my very soul. A long moment elapses. Finally, he flicks his hand out in aforget about itgesture.

"Okay. Fine. Make it twenty thousand total. Five thousand for the videotape and fifteen thousand for the bearing witness bit."

At the prospect of twenty thousand, I find myself gripping the side of my desk. "Twenty thousand?" I echo.

"That’s what I said. Take it or leave it."

"I… I can’t turn that money down. That could save my house. Save this store. Save Hope House from closing.”

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, so I hear. I think I am making a very generous offer."

I lick my lips, my nerves getting the best of me. I stare at him, pinning him in place with my eyes. He doesn’t squirm or fidget. He just stares right back at me, unmoved.

"You know, you’re a heartless bastard."

"And you are a conniving swindler who is only interested in seeing how much money you can get out of me. We both have our flaws, don’t we?"

My jaw drops. "I am not a swindler. And I am not conniving either."

"Agree to disagree," he says firmly. He folds his arms and glares at me.

Before I can even think about the repercussions, words come tumbling out of my mouth. "I think I hate you," I say, a note of confusion evident in my tone.

He doesn’t so much as skip a beat. "Don’t be fooled, Talia. I feel the fucking same. I just want to get this shit recorded so that I never have to interact with you again."

Staring at my feet, I run my hands along my skirt. "Well, this cannot be over fast enough for me."

He waves me down. "Sit, then. We can do the first bit right now."

Dare pulls out a cell phone, presses a few buttons, and points it at me. I watch him as he does it, wondering how to go about telling him that I don’t trust him to just pay me afterward.

Before I can get a word out, he holds up his free hand. "Relax. I will wire the money as soon as possible when I have this video. Okay?"

Teeth clenched, I nod. "Fine."

I look into the camera, my face feeling hot. He stares at me, making a go on gesture behind the camera. I clear my throat and straighten my back, my crossed legs clenching.

“I met Burn at the Raven's Head Club. We talked and drank together. Then we went out to his car, drove to a spot a little outside town, and had sex.” I glance at Dare, feeling like I’m at a loss. "Is that good enough?"

"No." Dare looks at his phone, frowning. "Go through it again, with more detail. Especially about you two having sex."

I suck in a deep breath, reminding myself that this moment of embarrassment would not last forever. And I will get five thousand dollars out of a few shameful moments.

"Okay." I look square at the camera, trying not to fidget. "I met Burn at the Raven’s Head Club. We talked. He seemed nice enough. We were both drinking. Burn poured me drinks and made sure that I was tipsy, if not drunk. I ended up on his lap. Burn asked me to take a walk with him outside. I did, because I was all flushed, so outside seemed like a refreshingly cool place to go. We ended up walking to his car. He has a fancy car, a Maserati that’s bright red. I know because I asked."

I take in another breath and exhale it in a burst of air. "We started kissing. I let myself get carried away. He suggested we get into the car, and then, once inside, we started driving, he drove just a bit out of town to some property he said belonged to his family… we hooked up. It wasn’t non consensual or anything. I was tipsy and laughing the whole time. He…" I press a hand to my face, feeling how hot my cheek is. "When we were having sex, he was all raw sex. There was no calling me honey and sweetie. He… he was really complimentary of my breasts. He called them amazing fucking tits."