Page 250 of The First Taste

At last, the car pulls into the turnabout and stops. I step forward, making sure that Talia is actually the passenger. But she soon emerges, dressed in her usual dowdy corduroy skirt and the same heavy wool coat with worn patches in the sleeves. Her hair is at least brushed this time, and if I am not mistaken, she wears a little rouge on her cheeks.

She does not look half bad. I rake my gaze over her as I take her arm.

She looks at me, her expression catty. "Dare," she says by way of greeting.

My lips twitch. "Talia. You are very nearly late."

"Yet I am not. Let’s go. Let’s get this over with. I never want anything to do with the Morgan family ever again."

Gripping her by the arm, I turn and head inside. As I step through the threshold, I lean down and whisper a warning into her ear.

“I have you for the entire day. You are bought and sold. And I will choose the right moment to tell my twin’s fiancée that he is a dirty cheater. Before that, you should just keep your fucking mouth shut. Smile pretty and act like you fucking belong here."

She shoots me a murderous look, and her mouth thins into a tight white line. I give her a cool smile and continue to usher her through the foyer.

When we reach the long hallway, I pull her to the left, opening a door to the oversized coat closet. She looks at me, poking her tongue out against her cheek, and heads into the little room. I flip the lights on, and she waits until I close the door before cocking her head and motioning at the room. "What’s going on?"

"Relax. There’s no need to be so uptight. I brought some clothes for you to change into."

Talia’s eyebrows fly up. "What?"

Heading over to the wall lined with coats, I fish out a garment bag and present it to her. She looks at me skeptically and takes the bag, pulling the zipper down to reveal a sleek silver dress.

Her mouth turns down at the corners, and her eyes tighten on me. "You didn’t say that I would be required to wear a costume."

"It is not a costume. It’s a very expensive Valentino dress. I expect you to put it on and not ask any more questions about it. After all, I could just decide that fifteen thousand dollars is not worth it to me."

Her mouth balls up tight, and she huffs. "Where am I supposed to change?"

I gesture around the room. "Why do you think that we are in a closet?"

"Absolutely not. I’m not changing in front of you."

"Oh, my God." I roll my eyes. "First of all, it’s not like I haven’t seen everything that you have to offer before. I have seen better, honestly. Second of all, if you are really that uptight, I’ll turn my back. Does that make it better?"

"Hardly."

Sucking in my breath. I turn around and peel my own overcoat off to reveal the carefully hand stitched Armani suit underneath.

"I don’t hear you changing," I say.

Talia gives a dramatic huff and starts rustling around. She doesn’t say anything, so I hang up my overcoat. I turn my head one fourth of the way back, and she makes a loud buzzing sound.

“Don’t!” she warns.

I face forward, rolling my eyes. "I was just going to ask if you want me to throw your old clothes away."

She makes an angry sound, and I hear clothes thudding on the floor. "Obviously not, Dare."

I grin a little to myself, unable to help it. It’s too easy to mess with Talia. She’s so buttoned up and extremely uptight that the opportunity just can’t be passed by.

She heaves another sigh and says, "All right, you can look."

I turn around and see her acting like she doesn’t know what to do with her body. She is draped in a long silver chain dress that hits the floor with a dramatic flair. At the moment, she is holding the halter top and looking rather distressed. She grimaces.

"Do you mind doing the back? I can’t get it on my own.”

I smirk and approach, my gaze drawn to her silky smooth, pale skin at her shoulders. Before now she dressed like a freaking nun, so seeing her bare skin is titillating in a certain way. I let my eyes rove over what little there is of her exposed skin as I circle her, drawing my hands over her shoulders.