Chasing Temptation by Payton Lane Read Free Book Online Page B

piece together is that, overnight, you visited all the shops along this street,” he said. “You propositioned them with a kickback, I'm sure. All they had to do was mention to their customers they would get seventy-five percent off.”
    “You're quick.” Lynne lifted her glass. “Didn't think with all the work you'd be able to pick that up. But you're wrong. I went to one shop and the word spread. But aren't you curious about the kickback?”
    “Money.” The answer was simple.
    Her laugh washed over him. “You have so much to learn about me and this town. It was a bet. Yes, money in a way, but more so that I could make the newbie on the block work for me as long as the owners sent people to my store. For a sale, of course, but not a dime had to come out of my pocket to persuade my fellow co-conspirators.”
    For a moment he forgot about the pain in his feet. “You're kidding?”
    “Got a thirty-year-old bottle of scotch for my sass.” Her eyes filled with triumph over the rim of the glass.
    He glanced down at his empty cup. She'd given him a taste of her spoils of war. God, he didn't want to like her.
    In a measured tone, he said, “I'm surprised how you maneuvered this wager. Kind of have to respect you.” He gave her his empty glass. She placed it next to her hip.
    “You underestimated me. Want to count sales slips for the day?” She lifted a brow in challenge.
    “Refill my glass, and I will sit here while you gloat.”
    She slipped off the desk, taking his glass with her to the corner of the office.
    She gloated. “I'm guessing over five thousand, but I may be low-balling.”
    “You're low-balling.” He relaxed despite the fact she was his competition. “I will eat crow today, but it doesn't change the end result.”
    The light in her eyes didn't dim. “That I will win.” As she handed him the refilled glass, their fingers brushed.
    “What makes you so sure?” He forced himself to ask. The brief moment of their fingers touching left him unsettled.
    “What makes you?” she countered.
    He leaned forward, not because she had perched on the desk again, allowing him a view of her thighs, legs and feet, but to make a point.
    “I've done this again and again. I'm guessing you didn't look me up. You really should so you know what you're up against. I can read your tells. I can almost smell a competitor’s uncertainty, their desperation. I've never named a price that someone wouldn't take.”
    “As I recall...” A corner of her lip turned upward into a crooked smile. “I shot yours down.”
    Her hand was steady as she took a sip of scotch. She made a sound of appreciation, and placed the glass back on her thigh. Lynne's tongue ran over her top lip, catching the stray liquid before it trailed down her mouth.
    Nate knew she hadn't done that on purpose. Nor that sound. The unconscious actions became that much more sensual.
    He wanted to know how she tasted with scotch on her lips. The thought should have made him sit back out of reflex.
    Awareness flickered in her gaze; not of what she'd done and his reaction to it, but of him as a man. As someone who could be, and should be, desired. She cleared her throat, but neither of them moved.
    All he had to do was drag her down and lean forward. God, it was the stupidest thought he’d had since...Shit. Since ever, but despite that, Nate rose and leaned forward.
    The ice in the glass had cooled her lips, but they warmed at his touch. He gripped the cup in his hand like it was a hold on his sanity, but then she parted her lips on a sigh, granting him entrance to her dark and wet depths.
    Need, not curiosity, got the better of him. He parted those creamy thighs that had taunted him moments before. He nestled there and in her mouth like he belonged, like he had somehow found home.
    When she moaned, her breath caressed his tongue. Nate leaned closer. He couldn't get enough of her. He wanted to be consumed, lost in this moment. He bit into her bottom lip and teased