Page 45 of Man Seeking Woman

"It's tough as shit to get in, I got lucky."

"Did you sleep with the owner?" Justin asked, chuckling to himself. All of us gave him a look, but he didn't care, continuing to laugh to himself. "I'm just saying, sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get what you want."

Ignoring the comment, August said, "Kayla, Justin, make yourself comfortable, I have something to show Ella." Twining his fingers around mine, he pulled me down the hall.

"What's down here?" I asked.

"You'll see," he said, smiling down at me. "It's right in here." Pushing the door open, he let go of my hand and spun around to face me.

"Is this my room?"

"It'sourroom." His smile grew wider, baring his teeth.

"What do you mean our room?"

"I mean—our room,what else could I mean?"

"Oh no, no way. I'm not sleeping with you, I want my own room."

"Ella," he said, walking forward and taking my hands. "We need this to look as real as possible, we can't be sleeping in separate rooms. Don't worry, I'll behave, I promise." Drawing an X across his chest, he dipped his head. "Cross my heart."

"Ella! Ella you got to see this!" Kayla yelled.

"We'll talk about this later." My face drew stern, eyes serious and determined to make sure shit gets my approval too.

He wanted to make it look real, but we still needed boundaries and rules, we needed a concrete set of guidelines to follow so that none of this got out of hand.

The last thing I wanted was for one of us to become emotionally invested in an unhealthy way. August was asking me to give him a child, but that didn't mean we would be an actual couple, it didn't give him permission to treat me like his wife.

I would feel much better once we were alone and we could discuss the fine details. It was the first thing I wanted to do once Kayla and Justin left. The sooner we set the ground rules, the easier it would be to move forward with any other expectations.

A baby, he's paying you for a baby.

The thought made it hard to breathe, it sucked the oxygen right out of the air. My lungs struggled to work, taking quick short breaths.

You agreed to this, there's no backing out now.

This child would give me some stability, it would create free income, and I was securing a limitless future for the baby. I loved the idea that my child would never suffer, it would never hear the word no or be told that something was too expensive.

That meant a lot to me, it was like hitting the lottery at birth. This child would be lucky.

It would have everything I'd never be able to give it on my own, even with a decent teaching job. I was giving it a future with promise.

“Ella! Where the hell are you?” Kay asked, her heels echoing off the walls as she stomped down the hall.

“I'm right here,” I said, poking my head out of the room. “What is it?”

Snatching my wrist, she dragged me back down the hallway and into the living room. “Oh my God, you have to see this.”

“What?”

“Look,” she said, twisting me with one hard spin. “Look at that fucking view.”

The sky looked endless, the horizon a living painting. Standing in awe, August came up to my side and nudged me with his hip. “What do you think? Could you get use to waking up to this everyday?”

“It won't be easy, but I can try.” Smirking, I gave him a wink. “I bet you're used to it by now. You probably don't even bat an eye at it anymore.” Keeping my gaze on his, I couldn't stop my smile from spreading wider.

August was looking at me, his eyes growing darker, as if he was devouring me in his mind. My cheeks flushed as his gaze shifted around my face, dancing across my lips.

“I think I'm finally going to start enjoying it now.” Biting his bottom lip, his lids lowered halfway as he flashed a sexy grin.

My heart skipped a beat and a cold sweat dripped down my spine. He was the hottest guy I had ever seen, and that was dangerous. August Burke was a piece of irresistible man meat that I wasn't sure I'd be able to resist.

Do you really want to resist that?

Living in sin was going to be even harder than I thought.

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