Page 20 of Blackmailing the Bad Girl

She shook her head again. Definitely surreal. But what could she do? She couldn’t get rid of him by force. And she could hardly call the police and get him thrown out. She took a sip of champagne. It was icy cold, and sharp, and the bubbles burst on her tongue.

What were her choices here?

Her best bet was to just ignore him.

Maybe he’d get the hint and leave.

Or maybe he wouldn’t.

She grabbed the bottle of champagne and headed to the bathroom. After slamming home the bolt behind her, she stood for a moment, bottle clutched in one hand, glass in the other. She drained her glass in one gulp, poured herself another, then put the bottle on the floor. Sinking down onto the closed toilet seat, she tried to get a grip on her emotions, which were in danger of spiraling out of control.

Everything seemed so unreal. Being out like this. After so long. She started to shake and wrapped her arms around herself.

What had he said? Off balance. Disoriented. Yup. All of that.

He was right. All day, she’d only wanted to be alone. And now the idea terrified her.

A bang sounded on the door. “Are you all right in there?”

He was crazy. Why didn’t he just leave? “Go away.” But at least it shook her out of her funk. She stood up. Then she turned on the taps and added bubble bath.

She felt weird taking off her clothes with Nik in the next room—weird and sort of hot at the same time—but she wanted to relax in that bathtub. As the room filled with perfumed steam, she undressed slowly, finally slipping into the hot water, submerging herself completely until she ran out of oxygen and had to come up for air.

Maybe champagne would help. She reached over the side and picked up her glass.

She was out, if not exactly free.

Things could have been worse. He could have handed her to the police and she probably would have walked straight back into prison. She’d only gotten away so lightly because as far as anyone knew, it was her first and only crime, and she hadn’t actually gotten away with any money. Nik could blow that theory right out of the water. She’d taken his money, even if she hadn’t kept it. Then there was Trenton Industries. If anyone started looking, would they find a connection? To her? And to Danny, who’d provided her with alternative identities as well as hacking his way into numerous systems? All because he was her friend.

But so far, Nik hadn’t given her up.

She’d swear, despite his being just about everything she hated in the world, that underneath, deep down, he wasn’t an evil person. He wouldn’t play with her just to hand her over when she thought she was safe.

So what did he want? While she wasn’t experienced, she’d caught one or two glances that had made her insides melt. She was the first to admit that she had self-image issues. It would be stranger if she didn’t. But, as unbelievable as it might seem, she had to accept that Nik wanted her. A man like that—gorgeous, rich, sexy. He could have any woman he wanted. Why would he want her?

Was she the one that got away?

Had he built her up into more than she was simply because she was unfinished business?

Maybe if they were “finished” business, he would let her go.

Her eyes drifted closed as she pictured him in her mind. Those big hands. That big body. His dark eyes. His mouth.

She might have let out a little groan, but hopefully it wouldn’t carry through the door.

She always liked to distill things down to logic. So here were the facts.

He was blackmailing her and had enough evidence to put her away for a long time. But so far, he hadn’t tried to force her to do anything bad. In fact, all he wanted was her to work for him, at a good job, one she would never have otherwise landed with her record and her lack of official qualifications. Plus, he was paying her a great salary. Granted, she didn’t want his job. The last thing she wanted was to work for a big organization like Masterton. She hated them—a company like his had torn her family apart.

Okay, here was where it got murky…

He wanted her. He might not have come right out and said it, but she wasn’t that naive.

And finally, and maybe most importantly, she wanted him.

She exhaled, blowing a whole load of bubbles off her breasts. There, she’d admitted it. The weird, creepy sensation that had been afflicting her since she’d first set eyes on him that morning was lust. Obviously, for most of the day, it had been somewhat overshadowed by the other emotions raining down on her: fear of being sent back and locked up for the foreseeable future, anger, frustration, vulnerability. But the lust had been there all along.

So, she wanted him. Hot and hard and naked. Like she’d never wanted anyone in her whole life before. As she finally admitted the truth to herself, the tight knot in her belly unraveled.

Would it make her situation worse?

She didn’t see how itcouldbe worse.

Was she drunk? She glanced over the edge of the bath at the half-empty bottle of champagne. Probably.

She had a gorgeous man in the living room. She hadn’t had sex in…a very long time. For tonight, she wanted to forget.

Just how much persuading was he going to take? Because she’d never seduced anyone in her life before, and if he played hard to get, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to change his mind.

All the same, she was going to try.

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