CHAPTER THREE

Bree's host didn't like having the control of his kitchen whisked away from him and he looked it.

But she didn't give a dam about it.

The only other option would have been to let him get something burning again or spend all morning trying.

She wasn't a fan of the former neither did she have all morning to dedicate to his endless and utterly unsuccessful culinary practice.

She finished up with the food and went on to serve it with no help whatsoever from Sir Broods-alot.

Standing by the table she'd set, she waited, meeting his glare with an unwavering stare of her own until he caved in and pulled himself a seat.

They silently dug into their food, a heavy silence swallowing them and disconcerting Bree.

The only sound in the room was of their breathing and of cutleries meeting fine china.

She waited until they were both done eating before she asked the one question that's been niggling her mind since she woke up in the room that wasn't hers.

"How did I end up in your house?"

She asked.

He didn't answer immediately, probably contemplating the best way to torture her with his answer before he gave her one.

"Sex for money." 

He said in his usual blunt tone.

"I offered and you took the deal."

Bree was coughing up the juice she'd been trying to swallow before she even noticed the barely there smirk playing at the left corner of his lips.

The bastard, she thought as she tried to focus on getting the fluid out of her trachea and oxygen into her system.

Not that it'd have been a problem if she'd had a taste of this handsome man hunk because technically she wouldn't be cheating on anyone, but she wasn't that type of girl to bury hurt with sex.

And it'd be a shame to have done that and not have any memory of what it had been like.

When she finally has good sex, she wanted to remember every detail of it, every feeling it brought.

And as absurd as it may sound, she knew this man would deliver in between the sheets.

He looked the type that brings his woman to the brink of insanity multiple times with pleasure before finally letting her grasp on to a body shaking, mind wrecking orgasm.

He reminded her of the description of skilled lovers in the arrogant CEO themed books she indulges every now and then.

"I didn't have you pegged for a Puritan."

He said, staring at her like she was an enigma he wasn't sure how to deal with, a puzzle he was yet to decide how to fix.

"I'm not."

She corrected.

"Your....uhmm, suggestion only took me by surprise."

She insisted.

"Tell me, little one, what part did?"

He drawled, looking into her eyes with darkened orbs, thick in their blueness.

"The sex for money or saying you took the deal."

There was more to it that he was actually saying, she could read it in his eyes.

But then, he smirked and that melted most of the palpable tension his comment had brought and the question she'd wanted to ask too.

Bree thought he looked better when he smirked, if only he'd learn to do that more often, or try smiling, instead of walking around with his usual scowl tattooed on his face.

"Please tell me what happened last night."

She said quietly, carefully avoiding the bait he'd set with his earlier question.

There must have been something in what she'd said or maybe it was the way she'd said it because in a split second, the inviting smirk was gone and he was all business again.

"How much of last night do you remember?"

He asked, looking at her in that way that only he could manage, making her want to be on her toes and do his every bidding.

"As far as coming into the Glitz. Everything after is just too hazy for me to make anything out."

She raised her eyes to his, waiting for him to say something, anything to cure her of this temporal amnesia.

He took his time before he answered, making her wait for it.

"Like I said, I made you an offer last night and you took it."

He said, only succeeding in spiking her confusion.

An offer, what was he saying?

Hopefully, he wasn't serious about that guised prostitution gig he'd mentioned earlier.

She patiently waited for him to continue, letting him take all the time he wanted even though it was killing her to.

"Remember telling me about your boyfriend and the blonde neighbor?"

Oh.......yeah, she did now.

And she remembered the stranger at the bar with the attitude and enough arrogance to fit ten obnoxious macho men.

"It's you."

She muttered.

"The 'I'll rather fuck you' stranger."

It was his turn to look confused for a full second there before he bursted out laughing at the memory.

His laugh was deep and beautiful and nothing like Cole's almost high pitched cackle.

She could listen to it all day and not get tired except she was still too mortified from saying that name out loud.

It should have stayed in her head where it belonged, but no, her loose mouth just won't hear of it and now all she wished for was the power of invisibility.

"What was that? What did you call me, little one?"

He asked, making her turn so red she thought she'd combust from blushing so hard.

He was back to watching her with that 'I don't know what I'm going to do with you' look in his eyes and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Well, she could give him a few pointers on exactly what she wanted him to do to her and he can be guaranteed that all of it involved him without the annoying covering of clothes.

Him, holding her against the next level surface and putting those long, rough fingers and naughty tongue to use inside her, before filling her up with a more interesting and definitely more satisfying part of his anatomy.

Damn, that was hot and the total  opposite of what she should be imagining right now.

"What did your offer entail?"

She asked, her voice still shaky from the effect of that steamy thought she'd just entertained.

Whoa, guess who desperately needs good sex.

"Revenge." He said with a straight as fuck face.

"He hurt you, your boyfriend, I mean."

"Ex boyfriend."

She couldn't help correcting him.

"Whatever he is, the point is, he did what no man should ever do to his woman to you. I'm not going to be in town for long but for the while I'm around, I could use your company.

"Go out with me while I'm in town and I'll have your bastard ex begging to get back with you, his best apology on his lips. And like I said, what you do then will be none of my business, I won't get involved.

"It's a no strings attached deal. You are free to reject it now while sober."

It sounded like a good plan to her.

Anything to get back at bastard Cole and Bella the bitch was worth giving a shot.

Somewhere inside, she believed him, knew he'd deliver his end of the bargain.

Question now was, will she be able to keep her own end with the no strings attached clause in.

If Brianna Mathews had any flaw, it'd be trusting too much and getting attached easily, worse when it's something she wants.

And damn, did she want this hot piece of male specimen.

Well, this should be interesting, she thought.

"Let me think about this please."

She said, with less confidence than she actually felt.