I stood in front of him, gazing down at him, so confused that I hated all these complications.

The way he looked at me proved that he wanted me. I knew he did. Lust remained a consistent currency between us.

But it almost seemed like he was gazing up at me with something more like… love burning in his smoldering eyes.

“Be my good girl and dance for me.” He parted his legs to invite me closer and onto his lap.

“I’m always a good girl,” I teased smugly as I leaned in and started to dance to a tune in my head.

“But are youmygood girl?” he asked, setting his hands on my hips as I ground down over him, hopefully tormenting him with a seductive private dance like the night I’d met him.

Letting a smile cross my face, I spun and lowered back over him to rub my ass over his crotch. “That’s for you to decide, isn’t it?”

He groaned, thrusting up toward me as he gripped my chin and turned my head so he could kiss me.

32

MAXIM

This is a trap.

Sloane arched back over me, moving her body sensually and erotically, proof that while she’d been in my home for almost a month now, she hadn’t lost her skills. She could dance well, and within seconds of her rubbing and rocking over me, pushing her ass into my crotch, she showed how damn sexy and good she was at this.

I was instantly hard. It never took me long to be aroused in her presence, but with her approaching me like this and setting the mood to treat me to a homecooked meal and a dance, she was taking the initiative to really wow me.

What are you up to?

Even though desire channeled through me in a hot tidal wave, I was still with it and kept my guard up. Normally, I was the one to demand she come to me. I was the one in control between us, and she seemed to enjoy my command and authority over her. She was an independent woman at heart, but I saw how muchshe treasured submitting to me and granting me the power to make her feel good.

But this was something else.

She was trying too hard.

She was being too obvious.

Enjoying her dancing on my lap, making that short dress ride up and showing more of her delectable, smooth skin, I tried to quickly figure out what her ulterior motive was.

There was never any need for her to try this hard. I’d never explain or admit it, but I could be fucking putty in her hands. That was how badly I wanted to please her and see her content.

And her question?

“It’s up to me to decide if you’re my good girl?” I asked her. That was how she’d worded it—reminding me that I called the shots.

“Mmm-hmm,” she replied, not even dropping into using actual words or a sentence. With that sultry, hooded gaze, she looked more aroused than I was as the recipient of her spontaneous dance. One thin strap draped over her shoulder, and I tried to temper my impatience not to rip the whole thing off and have her bare on my lap.

“You know that’s what I want,” I told her as she kissed along my jaw and spun to face me on my lap. She hadn’t lost a single bit of that grace and athleticism to move her body like this, not giving up any part of our hot contact.

“Is that all you want from me?” she asked. Again, her tone was soft and breathy, as if she’d have to call defeat in this war of lust before I would.

“What are you offering?” Answering her questions with one of my own wouldn’t get us anywhere, but then again, this wasn’t about rushing to the finish line. This seductive journey was supposed to be prolonged. Because time was on our side. Whether or not she’d ever admit that she wasmygood girl, she was mine. And she wasn’t leaving, ever.

“Right now,” she said as she turned again to grind back on my lap, “I want to offer you my thanks.”

I chuckled, low and gritty, as I thought back to how it had all begun with her. She’d given me a private dance at that club as a sign of thanks. With that one dance that became so much more, she’d shown me a token of gratitude for getting her out of that spot where those three creeps had cornered her.

“And I want—” She jerked upright, startled, at the sound of my phone.

The distinct beeps jarred me out of this hazy spell of lust. I hadn’t been so hard into it yet, skeptical and guarded with why she was trying so hard to distract me tonight, but I wasn’t so alert that I’d been counting on this interruption.