Page 47 of The Pleasure Contract

“You’re proving my point.”

It would take him two steps, maybe three, to cross the room and get his hands on her, but he didn’t do it. Because her fists were on her hips, her eyes were blazing, and even though he had the presence of mind to understand that this was not going well for him, he couldn’t help but find this version of Bristol even more beautiful. He’d never seen it before.

And as he thought that, he realized he’d never heard her voice raised before, either. Surely he shouldn’t find that...exhilarating.

Confusing, maybe, but he couldn’t deny that underneath the uncertainty there was nothing but adrenaline.

And that same need that had gripped him from the first moment he’d seen her on that video.

“I don’t understand your point,” he said when he was sure he could sound far more calm and rational than he felt. “Why is it so impossible that I might have fallen in love with you? I liked you from the start. It’s why I—”

“Hired me? Yes, I know.” She looked around the small space as if she was trying to conjure up an answer from the walls. “And I took your offer because I had no idea what else to do with myself.”

He tamped down on his own temper. “I’m not often a last resort. I’ll admit, I almost enjoy the novelty.”

“I’m an academic, not an escort,” Bristol shot back at him. “Though I have a lot more respect for escorts than I did before. I don’t know how they do it because I’m not built for it.”

“The flattery might kill me.”

“Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with what you do or the women you do it with. I’m not sorry I tried it.” She blew out a breath. “But it’s obviously not where my talents lie.”

“Then don’t do it anymore,” Lachlan gritted out. “This is a perfect opportunity to shift into something else.”

“You mean renegotiate?” But she was shaking her head as she asked that question, which he supposed was an answer. If not the one he wanted. “I mean, congratulations, Lachlan. You’re not bored for once in one of these relationships. The relationships you make sure can only and ever be boring, according to your very strict rules.”

“They were boring because they weren’t you.”

Again, she shook her head, something a little too angry to be pity on her face. But it was close enough to sting.

“If it wasn’t me, it would eventually be someone else,” Bristol said. Dismissively. “Because you’re not actually in love. How could you be? You make all the rules. You have staff to make sure there’s always distance between you and the woman currently playing the part of your girlfriend. All the conversations we have are about you. All the sex we have is about you.”

That blow landed. Hard.

“You might not love me back, Bristol,” he gritted out. “But don’t stand here in front of me and pretend you haven’t enjoyed every single second we’ve spent naked together. Because I know better.”

“And you think that’s all there is, don’t you?” She let out a sound that might have been a laugh, but not a happy one. “Naked feels a lot like vulnerability, Lachlan. But it’s not. Not if sex is the only place you show it.”

He didn’t like that, but he couldn’t let himself get caught up in how much he didn’t like it. Not when there was so much at stake.

“Tell me what you want.”

She laughed again, and it sounded even less happy than before. “I have spent so much time trying to answer that question. But it turns out it was right in front of me all the time. I want everything.”

“You’re in luck, then. Because I can give it to you.”

“Can you?” He saw that she was trembling, slightly, and wanted to go to her—but the fierce look on her face stopped him. “This isn’t a transaction, I’m afraid. I don’t want to be in a box. I don’t want contracts and rules. I want to be a whole person, and we both know that’s not something you value.”

Lachlan felt winded. “Bristol—”

“I quit, Lachlan,” she hurled at him. “Effective immediately.”

It was meant as a blow, he could see that. And it landed.

But he could take a hit.

He stayed where he was, studying her. He watched as her belligerent chin lowered. As the fists on her hips relaxed.

“You’re looking at me like you didn’t hear me,” she said, and she sounded...less sure, suddenly.