Page 25 of Twisted Devotion

I inhale slowly.Breathe, Kelsey.“Awesome. Isn’t there another woman you could offer your . . . generosity to?”

“I’m offering it to you,” he says without missing a beat.

My eyes narrow. “Why?”

“Because you’re fiery and incredibly stunning. I’m not hesitant to admit my attraction to you.”

I press my lips together for a moment while my heart beats at a quicker pace than I’m used to. “You don’t know me.”

“Not yet. Not as much as I’d like to.”

My fork halts halfway to my mouth. It’s takes me a beat to recover and set it down before saying, “Do you always try to woo the women you want to sleep with?”

His eyes glimmer with amusement. “Would you like me to call you special, Red?”

I level my gaze on him, trying to ignore the way my pulse is ticking faster. “Not particularly. Like I said, I’m here to do a job. To keep you alive while you make buckets of money off fae who no longer want to be fae. I suggest we keep our personal lives separate from our shared professional lives.”

He seems to consider that before he says, “That doesn’t sound as fun as what I was envisioning for the two of us.”

“I’m not here to sleep with you, Jackson.”How else can I phrase it?I’m confident he understands what I’ve said; he’s simply choosing to disregard it. He believes he’s going to convince me, but he’s wrong. My resolve is far stronger than the tiny part of me that’s attracted to him. The same part that wonders what it might be like to get all hot and heavy with the fae across from me.

“You’re here to protect me,” he says. “Maybe I’m in danger. I could die of loneliness.”

I almost choke on the water I’m drinking.His one-liners may kill me before my three months are up. “There isn’t a chance in hell I would ever believe that.” I set my glass on the table and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

He leans back in his chair, sighing heavily. “Fine. You feel free to let me know when your hand gets tired. I’ll be happy to give it a rest for a night.”

My eyes go wide as heat floods my cheeks.Dear god.“I’m good, thanks,” I force out.

“Hmm. I have no doubt about that.” He takes a sip of his red wine, his eyes locked on me over the rim of his glass. “I’ll be here when you’re ready to change your mind.”

“You’ll be waiting a long time,” I tell him, ignoring the way my palms are clamming up. I wipe them on my pants under the table and take another drink of water.

He shrugs. “Oh, I doubt that.”

I arch a brow at him. “Come again?”

“You will.” He smirks. “Plenty.”

I’m mortified at my poor choice of words. “Jackson—”

“You seem so sure that we won’t end up in bed together at some point.”

My throat is bone dry no matter how much water I drink, so I nod instead of attempting to verbalize a response.

Jackson cocks his head to the side. “Care to make a bet?”

“Probably not,” I force out as the room seems to increase in temperature.

His smirk widens. “Come on, Red. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You couldn’t offer me anything—”

“I’ll double your salary,” he cuts in.

My brows shoot up my forehead. I immediately start thinking about what I could do with that much money. All the places I could visit or even live for a while.Damn. I wish it wasn’t as tempting as it is. “You . . . you’rethatconfident you’ll get me into bed?”

He licks his lips. “I think you know the answer to that.”

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