“You’re such a moron.” She rolled her eyes, but they had a determined glint now that he liked a lot better than the raw vulnerability she’d let slip a few minutes ago. “My charity trains clowns to work with children at hospitals. Sick kids need to be cheered up, you know?”
“That’s admirable.” And he wasn’t even blowing smoke. It sounded like it meant something to her and thus it meant something to him—as leverage. He glanced around, taking in the bare walls, the massive and oddly masculine dark-stained desk and the rolling leather chair under her very fine backside. Not much to her operation yet, which worked heavily in his favor. “How can I help?”
Suspicion tightened her lush mouth, which only made him want to kiss it away. They were going to have to fix this attraction or he’d spend all his time adjusting her attitude in a very physical way.
On second thought, he couldn’t figure out a downside to that approach.
“I thought you were trying to talk me into marrying you,” she said with a fair amount of sarcasm.
“One and the same, sweetheart.” He gave it a second and the instant his meaning registered, her lips curved into a crafty smile.
“I’m starting to see the light.”
Oh yes, now they were ready to throw down. Juices flowing, he slid a little closer to her and she didn’t roll away, just coolly stared up at him without an ounce of give. What was wrong with him that he was suddenly more turned on in that instant than he had been at any point today?
“Talk to me. What can I do in exchange for your name on a marriage certificate?”
Her smile gained a lot of teeth. “Tell me why it’s so important to you.”
He bit back the curse. Should have seen that one coming. As a testament to her skill in maneuvering him into giving up personal information, he opted to throw her a bone. “I told you. I’ve had some fallout. My mother is pretty unhappy with me and I don’t like her to be unhappy.”
“Mama’s boy?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned. Who didn’t see the value in a man who loved and respected his mama? “There’s no shame in that. We grew up together. I’m sure you’ve heard the story. She was an unwed teenage mother, yadda, yadda?”
“I’ve heard. So this is all one hundred percent about keeping your mom happy, is it?”
Something clued him in that she wasn’t buying it, which called for some serious deflection. The last thing he wanted to have a conversation about was his own reasons for pursuing Roz for the first and only Mrs. Hendrix Harris.
He liked being reminded of his own vulnerabilities even less than he liked being exposed to hers. The less intimate this thing grew, the better. “Yeah. If she wasn’t in the middle of an election cycle, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But she is and I messed up. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get this deal done. Name your price.”
“Get your mom to agree to be a clown for me and I’ll consider it.”
That was what she wanted? His gaze narrowed as they stared at each other. “That’s easy. Too easy. You must not want me to figure out that you’re really panting to get back into my bed.”
Her long silky laugh lodged in his chest and spread south. She could turn that sentiment back on him with no trouble at all.
Which was precisely what she did. “Sounds like a guilty conscience talking to me. Sure you’re not the one using this ploy to get me naked without being forced to let on how bad you want it?”
“I’m offended.” But he let a smile contradict the statement. “I’ll tell you all day long how much I want you if that floats your boat. But this is a business proposition. Strictly for nonsexual benefits.”
Any that came along with this marriage could be considered a bonus.
She snorted. “Are you trying to tell me you’d give up other women while we’re married? I don’t think you’re actually capable of that.”
Now, that was just insulting. What kind of a philanderer did she take him for? He’d never slept with more than one woman at a time and never calling one again made that a hundred percent easier.
“Make no mistake, Roz. I am perfectly capable of forgoing other women as long as you’re the one I’m coming home to at the end of the day.”
All at once, a vision of her greeting him at the door wearing sexy lingerie slammed through his mind and his body reacted with near violent approval. Holy hell. He had no problem going off other women cold turkey if Roz was on offer instead, never mind his stupid rules about never banging the same woman twice. This situation was totally different, with its own set of rules. Or at least it would be as soon as he got his head out of her perfect cleavage and back on how to close this deal.
“Let me get this straight. You’re such a dog that the only way you can stay out of another woman’s bed is if I’m servicing you regularly?” She wrinkled her nose. “Stop me when I get to the part where I’m benefiting from this arrangement.”
Strictly to cover the slight hitch in his lungs that her pointed comment had caused, he slid over until he was perched on the desk directly in front of her. Barely a foot of space separated them and an enormous amount of heat and electricity arced through his groin, draining more of his sense than he would have preferred. All he could think about was yanking her into his arms and reminding her how hot he could get her with nothing more than a well-placed stroke of his tongue.
He let all of that sizzle course through his body as he swept her with a heated once-over. “Sweetheart, you’ll benefit, or have you forgotten how well I know your body?”
“Can you even go without sex?” she mused with a lilt, as if she already knew the answer. “Because I bet you can’t.”
What the hell did that have to do with anything?
“I can do whatever I put my mind to,” he growled. “But to do something as insane as go without sex, I’d need a fair bit of incentive. Which I have none of.”
Her gaze snapped with challenge. “Other than getting my name on a marriage license you mean?”
The recoil jerked through his shoulders before he could catch it, tipping her off that she’d just knocked him for a loop. That was uncool. Both that she’d realized it and that she’d done it. “What are you proposing, that I go celibate for a period of time in some kind of test?”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of it like that.” She pursed her lips into a provocative pout that told him she was flat-out lying because she’d intended it to be exactly that. “That’s a great deal. You keep it zipped and I’ll show up at the appointed time to say ‘I do.’”
His throat went dry. “Really? That’s what it’s going to take?”
“Yep. Well, that and Helene Harris for Governor in a clown suit. Can’t forget the children.”
Her smug tone raked at something inside him. “That’s ridiculous. I mean, my mom would be happy to do the clown thing. It’s great publicity for her, too. But no sex? Not even with you? There is literally no reason for you to lay down such a thing except as cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Careful, Hendrix,” she crooned. “It’s starting to sound like you might have a problem keeping it in your pants. I mean, how long are we talking? A couple of months?”
A couple of months? He’d been slightly panicked at the thought of a week or two. It wasn’t that he was some kind of pervert like she was making it sound. Sex was a necessary avoidance tactic in his arsenal. A shield against the intimacy that happened in the small moments, when you weren’t guarded against it. He kept himself out of such situations on purpose.