Page 19 of The Playboy
He keeps his attention on me and winks. Giselle is bright red and tries to cover her face in her hands.
“Good to know. Do you need help with something, Tait?” I ask, crossing my arms under my towel.
“Yes, actually, I do. Would you please come with me? I have something rather important to talk to you about.”
I look over at the girls, trying to convey my need for an excuse to not go with him. They shrug at me and give me their bestgood lucklooks.Thanks for nothing!I turn my attention back to Tait. “Sure. Girls, I guess I’m off. See you guys tomorrow morning.”
“Bye, Sam,” they say in unison.
I pick up my small tote bag and follow Tait into the hotel elevator. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” He hands me a small stack of papers and has a large grin on his face. “What’s this?” I look down at the collated stack and flip it open to the first page, skimming the contents. I close it and look up into his green eyes, disdain evident in mine. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I shove the papers back into his chest.
The elevator comes to a stop on my floor, and I all but run out of it.
He chases after me. “Wait, Sam. It’s more than you think it is. Give me a chance to explain.” I pull the key out of my bag and insert it into the lock, hoping he will just leave me alone. I push open the door, and he steps in, closing it behind him. “You have to let me explain. It’s not what you think.”
“Oh, so I’m not supposed to think you wrote up a contract to get me to have sex with you?” I throw my bag on the floor and lock myself in the bathroom instead. “You’d better be gone when I get out of here.”
I start the water and wait for it to get warm, ignoring Tait’s voice filtering through the door as he tries to get my attention.
How could he think I’d be okay with that?
I tune out the sounds of everything but the water as it cascades down. I wash my hair and body quickly but take a few extra minutes under the warm spray, hoping he’s not there when I get out.I have to call Emily when I get out of here.
I hear something on the other side of the door and then see the shadow of the door opening. I peak my head out, holding the curtain around my body, and see Tait sitting on the counter waiting patiently for me.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? You picked the lock just so you can try to convince me to sleep with you?” I sigh internally.He’s not going to go away without a fight.
“Not until you listen to me. This contract would benefit you far more than it would benefit me. I’m asking for five minutes of your time, and if you don’t want to go for it after we’ve talked, then you don’t have to. No hard feelings.”
I turn the water off, pull the towel into the tub, and wrap it around my body. I push back the curtain and look at him. “You’ve got five minutes. If I don’t like what I hear, then you’re going to leave me alone and our interactions will strictly be business. Understand?”
“Why don’t you come out and sit down.” He smiles and jumps off the counter. “I’ll go over everything.”
I follow him into the bedroom and sit on the edge of the bed as he paces the small space. I'm hesitant to even listen to this man, but I can’t say I’m not intrigued by the idea. I mean, it’s Tait Flanigan, and he’s jumping through hoops to get the chance to sleep with me—have sex with, not a relationship with me.
“All right, so I already know your hesitation with wanting to start anything with me, but hear me out. This contract is to protect you, not me.” He cards his fingers through his hair and takes a deep breath. “Basically, it states that we’ll become friends with benefits and I’ll set up meetings for you with contacts I have throughout Hollywood to get your film career going.”
“So, what if things don’t work out between us?”
“That’s the beauty of it. This would protect me from taking back my word. You tell me to stop at any time and I’ll back down, but you will still walk away with the meetings.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What about if you want to break it off? What are the terms of the agreement then?”
He smiles. “I won’t want to.”
“You can’t be sure of that. There needs to be a stipulation in there.”
“Fine, how about if I have it written in there that you have to continue to be my PA until the end of filming even if we aren’t sleeping together anymore.”
This seems too good to be true, which means it probably is.Am I really that special?“So, let me get this straight. We sleep together and you’ll help me get into the business even if I decide I don’t want to sleep with you anymore. Does it specify how many times? What if I say yes and then keep pushing you away?”
He stops pacing and bends at the waist so his face is in line with mine. “Lass, after one go with me, you’re never going to want to stop.”
I roll my eyes.Oh, please. He’s so full of it. There’s no way he’s that good.I push him away and stand. “Your five minutes are up. Get me a revised copy, and I’ll review it tonight. I’ll let you know later.”
He smirks. “You’ll think about it, huh?”