Page 2 of Pretty Little Prey
She was tired of running, but she wanted to live. She had to live.For mama. If she lived by her on-the-run rules, Rohan might never catch her.
Might.
She shivered just before the penthouse suite door cracked open.
She expected to be met with the sounds of hooting and hollering and possibly catch glimpses of a naked stripper. Instead, the inside of the room was quiet.
For a moment, she thought maybe she had the wrong room.
Then, she locked gazes with the most handsome man she had ever seen.
Long, golden blond hair, ruffled with soft waves, hit just above the man’s shoulders. Piercing light brown eyes; so bright, they were more like crystalized amber or dark honey. A dangerous, sticky sweetness.
Staring at him was like staring at the sun; Luna felt it could lead to lasting consequences. Definitely a form of blindness.
The man smirked and…dimplesformed. And not the “Oh, how cute” kind of dimples. The little indentations in the man’s cheeks taunted the obvious truth:I can get whatever I want. Always. All I have to do is ask.
He was…huge. So tall, her neck craned to look at his face. Wide shoulders and meaty arms like he played professional sports. Like he enjoyed tackling and wrestling and dominating…
Luna swallowed hard as the man tilted his head and narrowed his golden-brown eyes on her, swiftly dragging his gaze from her head to her toes.
“You are—” He cleared his throat. “—not what I expected,” the man murmured. He appeared in his early thirties. Luna was bad at guessing age—maybe because she had grown up, fending for herself, at sixteen.Six years have flown by. “And you’re late,” the man added. “He’s been waiting for an hour.”
Hmm. The vomit call had been placed just fifteen minutes ago. Again, Luna worried she had the wrong room, but the unbelievably handsome man took her elbow and pulled her into the massive hotel room.
The extravagant living room was empty.
This is not the bachelor party. Had it ended already?
“Um,” she started to say, but the beautiful man cut her off.
“I’m digging the maid costume, but maybe wear something that shows more skin next time or people will get confused,” the man said.
Ah, the first sign of majoruh-ohterritory. “Um, I am here to clean—”
He held up a tan hand with long, large fingers. “You can save the act; I’m not your client. Though I have to say, the more you look at me with those twinkling blue eyes of yours, the more I’m wishing that was not the case.” He winked.
Winked. Ather. She blinked in surprise.
He continued, “The man you were hired topleasetonight is waiting for you in the bedroom just through there.” He waved to a door down the long hallway. “When you’re done, you can collect the money here.” He gestured to a briefcase on the coffee table.
Okay. Many details to unpack. Clearly, she had the wrong room. Also, the man had mistaken her for a prostitute hired to pleasure another strange man in the master bedroom of the penthouse. In addition, there was a briefcase full of money.
Luna’s first thought was,How much money?
Should she have instantly mentioned how she was not the hooker they hired? Maybe. Instead, she said, “And what if I want to renegotiate the price?”
The man’s dirty blond eyebrows shot up in surprise. His smirk deepened along with the dimples. “Is the ten thousand not enough for one hour of your services?”
TEN thousand dollars? For one hour? Luna tried not to let her face show her absolute shock. That kind of money could sustain her for months on the run. It would be… It would literally be a life saver.
She swallowed again. Could she really do it? Sleep with a stranger for money?
If the man was as sexy as his friend who answered the door, maybe.
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip.
The man’s smirk fell into an expression of genuine curiosity as he squinted at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman have second thoughts about sleeping with him. I hope you know, your hesitation is something I will tease him mercilessly about for days to come.”
