Read Online What He Bargains (What He Wants, Book Nineteen) by Hannah Ford - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t smile, but his eyes were softer now. “Maybe you’ll come back and join us again sometime.”
    “Somehow I doubt it.” As she was crossing the foyer to leave through the front door, someone called out to her from behind. At first, she thought it was the tuxedoed man again.
    “Leaving us so soon?” came the familiar voice.
    But when she spun, Raven saw none other than Jake Novak walking down the stairs after her.
    She caught her breath and tried her best to act natural, as if this happened to her every day. “Yeah, well, it’s past my bedtime.”
    “That’s too bad,” Jake said, still coming closer. “I was hoping we’d get more time together.”
    Raven shrugged. “A girl can’t wait around all night.”
    “Nobody asked you to wait around all night. I’m standing right here,” he said. “And so are you.” He walked another step closer, and now he was so near that Raven could see the stubble on his jaw, the flecks of green in his brown eyes, the small scar above his eyebrow.
    “I should go,” she said, not even knowing why she was saying it. She wanted to talk to him, after all.
    But now that the moment had arrived, she was indescribably frightened.
    “What’s your name?” he asked.
    She hesitated. “Why do you want to know?”
    He laughed. “That’s a very strange response to a simple question.”
    “Maybe I’m strange. I just…” she didn’t know what else to say. She was getting more and more scared as he kept watching her. If he’d kissed her instead, it might have been easier.
    “What’s your name?” he asked again, insistent.
    “Raven,” she told him.
    “I like that name,” he said. “It suits you.”
    “Well, I guess it would. It’s my name, after all.”
    He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “You don’t take compliments very well,” he told her.
    Raven could still feel the heat from his fingertips as they’d grazed her cheek.
    She looked away. “I think I’m just tired, and a little drunk.”
    “I’d like to meet with you again.”
    Now she did look at him, because she couldn’t believe he’d said those words. Was Jake Novak asking her on an actual date? Or was he just fucking with her?
    Was someone filming this for YouTube?
    “You want to meet with me,” she said, as if by restating it, he might tell her she’d totally misheard him.
    “I’m in town for a few days to kick off the new tour, and I’d like to get together with you while I’m here.”
    Her heart soared. This was beyond belief, and yet, she had to admit it was real. Jake Novak was interested in her—her out of all the others. “Okay. Yeah, sure, why not?” she laughed. “I’ll give you my number.”
    Jake’s expression changed at this suggestion. His eyes grew cold and serious. “That’s not typically how it’s done. We have to let the agency know about this first—I can’t just cut them out of their commission.”
    “Agency?” she squinted at him. Did he think she worked as a model or something?
    He laughed, but sounded slightly annoyed now. “The agency. The one that brought you here.” He looked at her like she was speaking gibberish, like she was the crazy one.
    “Stop screwing with me,” she told him, getting nervous now. Really nervous.
    “Did you or did you not sign a contract?” he said. He stared intently at her.
    She swallowed. Her breathing felt stifled. “I…I just signed some kind of…what do you call it? I signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement.”
    Jake wasn’t smiling anymore, not even a little. “You signed much more than that, Raven.”
    “I don’t work for any agency,” she said, her voice urgent now. “I just came here with my friend as a favor, to hang out with her. All I signed was a non-disclosure thingy. That’s it.”
    He sighed, as if she was being difficult. “The only way this is going to happen is if I pay you for your services.”
    It was like a slap in the face. “Pay for my…my services? What does that even