Read Online The Bachelor's Promise (Bachelor Auction) by Naima Simone - Free Book Online
Authors: Naima Simone
Tags: Romance, auction, millionaire, Entangled, blackmail, indulgence, bachelor auction, Mistaken Identity, Naima Simone
Ads: Link
mouth curled into a faint sneer. “Days ago, you wanted me out of Boston, and now you’re telling me I’m moving in with you. Why are you suddenly so gung-ho to have another Rana living in your house? Aren’t you afraid I’ll pilfer your silverware or steal away with your fine china in the middle of the night?”
Unbidden, a blast of anger seared his chest, singed his throat, so that for several moments he was rendered incapable of speech. Her question pitched him back to that afternoon a couple of days after his mother’s funeral when he’d walked into her home to find it ransacked as if a hurricane had torn through it. Hurricane Frank.
With a silent, deep breath, he buried the fury under a sheet of thick ice. But it hammered home the fact that the past stretched between them like a yawning, deep chasm incapable of being forgotten or crossed.
“I’m not worried,” he said, the same deep freeze coating his insides sleeting his voice. “I have a top-of-the-line security system.”
She flinched. The jerk of her shoulders was so small, so subtle, he might have imagined it. If not for the flare of something dark, almost bleak in her eyes, he would’ve believed he had. But he’d caught both reactions. Regret at his insult wormed its way into his conscience. Damn it. He was an asshole.
“Look, Noelle—”
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “Are we going to pretend? Is that how we’re going to approach this?”
He didn’t need to ask her what “this” referred to. It was the reason her staying with him made as much sense as wiping up a spill with tissue paper—all you ended up with was a big mess. They weren’t friends, but she’d once known him better than anyone. They weren’t lovers, but he knew the taste of her kiss, the flavor of her sex when she was aroused. Even now, staring at all that skin and the colors painting it, he fought to concentrate on their conversation and not tracing each and every branch, leaf, and petal with his tongue. He’d been robbed six years ago; if he was going to be tortured with her in his life, he could’ve at least found out if she would surround his cock as tightly as she did his fingers.
But he could say none of that to her. Nor could he talk about those few months that had been a couple of the happiest for him—because they reminded him of the joys and pleasures in life that his mother would never experience.
“Apparently we are,” she said on the tail of a sharp, dry chuckle. “Why did you come by here, Aiden?”
He clenched his jaw, grinding his molars into chalk. After a long moment, he stated, “To let you know I’m going to pay your grad-school tuition.”
Relief flashed across her face, and he didn’t miss the soft sigh that escaped her lips. “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll pay you back. With interest.”
“This isn’t a loan, Noelle,” he growled. “My mother wanted you to have it.”
“Even so, gifts are given willingly, and since you’re the one left with the responsibility, let’s just call this”—she waved a hand back and forth between them—“what it is. Emotional blackmail. So yes, I will be paying you back—with interest—even if it takes me years. The same thing with staying at your place. I’ll agree only if you take the rent I would pay here when I receive my first paycheck.”
“No,” Aiden stated. Hell no . “That’s ridiculous. I’m not taking your money, Noelle.”
“Then go get the box you just put in your car.”
“You’ve got to be…” He thrust his fingers through his hair, twisting the strands and pulling. It was either that or grab her and shake some sense into her. “Didn’t we just go through this? Where else will you go?”
“I fail to see how that’s your concern.” She arched a dark eyebrow. “Do you accept my terms?”
He studied her for a long moment, noting the stubborn tilt of her chin, the resolute line of her pretty mouth, the determined gleam in her
Unbidden, a blast of anger seared his chest, singed his throat, so that for several moments he was rendered incapable of speech. Her question pitched him back to that afternoon a couple of days after his mother’s funeral when he’d walked into her home to find it ransacked as if a hurricane had torn through it. Hurricane Frank.
With a silent, deep breath, he buried the fury under a sheet of thick ice. But it hammered home the fact that the past stretched between them like a yawning, deep chasm incapable of being forgotten or crossed.
“I’m not worried,” he said, the same deep freeze coating his insides sleeting his voice. “I have a top-of-the-line security system.”
She flinched. The jerk of her shoulders was so small, so subtle, he might have imagined it. If not for the flare of something dark, almost bleak in her eyes, he would’ve believed he had. But he’d caught both reactions. Regret at his insult wormed its way into his conscience. Damn it. He was an asshole.
“Look, Noelle—”
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “Are we going to pretend? Is that how we’re going to approach this?”
He didn’t need to ask her what “this” referred to. It was the reason her staying with him made as much sense as wiping up a spill with tissue paper—all you ended up with was a big mess. They weren’t friends, but she’d once known him better than anyone. They weren’t lovers, but he knew the taste of her kiss, the flavor of her sex when she was aroused. Even now, staring at all that skin and the colors painting it, he fought to concentrate on their conversation and not tracing each and every branch, leaf, and petal with his tongue. He’d been robbed six years ago; if he was going to be tortured with her in his life, he could’ve at least found out if she would surround his cock as tightly as she did his fingers.
But he could say none of that to her. Nor could he talk about those few months that had been a couple of the happiest for him—because they reminded him of the joys and pleasures in life that his mother would never experience.
“Apparently we are,” she said on the tail of a sharp, dry chuckle. “Why did you come by here, Aiden?”
He clenched his jaw, grinding his molars into chalk. After a long moment, he stated, “To let you know I’m going to pay your grad-school tuition.”
Relief flashed across her face, and he didn’t miss the soft sigh that escaped her lips. “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll pay you back. With interest.”
“This isn’t a loan, Noelle,” he growled. “My mother wanted you to have it.”
“Even so, gifts are given willingly, and since you’re the one left with the responsibility, let’s just call this”—she waved a hand back and forth between them—“what it is. Emotional blackmail. So yes, I will be paying you back—with interest—even if it takes me years. The same thing with staying at your place. I’ll agree only if you take the rent I would pay here when I receive my first paycheck.”
“No,” Aiden stated. Hell no . “That’s ridiculous. I’m not taking your money, Noelle.”
“Then go get the box you just put in your car.”
“You’ve got to be…” He thrust his fingers through his hair, twisting the strands and pulling. It was either that or grab her and shake some sense into her. “Didn’t we just go through this? Where else will you go?”
“I fail to see how that’s your concern.” She arched a dark eyebrow. “Do you accept my terms?”
He studied her for a long moment, noting the stubborn tilt of her chin, the resolute line of her pretty mouth, the determined gleam in her
Similar Books
