Page 29 of Some Like It Deadly
“Fine.” Straightening, she tapped the top of the legal pad. “The parties will sleep in separate bedrooms, shower in separate bathrooms. They will refrain from intimate contact, with a minimum of six—no, make that twelve—inches of distance between them at all times. Conversations may include friendly banter, but must avoid overt sexual advances and at no point will I sleep with you.”
Richard grinned and read his way through the contract. Damn if she didn’t give him a lot of wiggle room, particularly with the first item. “I have no problems signing this.”
“For a contract to be valid, it has to have three things.” She stopped his signature with a finger on the back of his hand. “An offer, an acceptance…”
“…and consideration.” The woman’s mind never quit. “I think your brain is the sexiest thing I’ve ever known.”
“That falls under sexual advances,” she countered, but she was smiling. Yes, he had her. The last knot in his gut relaxed. She was brilliant, but when it came to cutthroat negotiations, he was better and he knew how to close this deal.
“The offer is my house and care for the weekend. The acceptance is you spending the weekend with me under my care.” He added that to the contract.
“And the consideration?”
The sizzle in his blood turned up at the arch challenge in her voice. “I don’t suppose you’d let me take it out in trade?”
“Nope.” But she laughed again.
“Consideration is just quid pro quo. I want to get to know you better and this arrangement lets me do it—and it gives you a chance to get to know me.”
“I do know you,” she murmured, and the soft whisper of her voice stroked him. “Pretty well, I think.”
“Then how about it gives you a fair opportunity to change your mind about pursuing an off hours relationship—no harm, no foul if you decide against it.” He wanted her like he wanted air. Getting her to his place for the weekend, that was a win, but he played for stakes in the longer game.
“And this is fun and enticing as hell, but saying yes? That’s the thing chaos is made of.” She still wasn’t sayingno.
“So, all we need is consideration. That’s not a yes or a no.”
Retreating a step, Kate rubbed her hand against the back of her neck and he could see the exhaustion weighing on her. She ended his internal debate with another exasperated sigh. “Thehell with it. Put it on there. I’m tired and you’re right—you have a great pool.”
Scrawling his signature, he turned the pad around and handed her the pen. “Now that wasn’t so hard was it?”
“Said every spider to every fly ever, but game on, Mr. Prentiss. You have the next sixty-eight hours of my life.”
And I’ll make every single one count.
Chapter 8
Kate
Peterson waited for them at the cliff-side beach house and, to her boss’s credit, he didn’t say a word about the overnight bag Richard carried inside or the fact that she would be staying with her protectee for the weekend.
“If you’ll give us a moment, I want to get Kate settled in a guest room.” The solicitous and intoxicating need he had to take care of her could prove dangerous. The only way to truly nip it in the bud was to tell him the truth—andthatcame with another inherent set of problems.
“Actually—” she paused in the living room, “—I’m fine just sitting down for a while and I would like to hear what they have to say too.” What arrangements had been made while she’d been stuck getting her shoulder stitched? What had they found out about the shooter? The car? She’d given a description to the police officers and to Peterson, but the details remained sketchy.
“You should probably get some sleep.” The adorable pit bull returned full force in that statement. Richard was sweet and thoughtful and it needed to stop or he’d wrap her up in cotton and she’d never be able to do her job.
“I’m physically tired, but not mentally.” Countering that base protective instinct meant appealing to the logical, if ruthless,man beneath. When she’d said she knew him well, she’d meant it. Under that warm, extremely civilized exterior lurked a merciless attorney who played to win. He knew exactly how to leverage his charm to get what he wanted. She was at his house, wasn’t she? “And you’ll just have to tell me everything he says anyway…”
A scowl tensed his forehead, then relaxed when she didn’t look away. “All right,” he relented. “Do you want something to eat? We didn’t have dinner.” It was after eleven and they’d spent their entire evening at the hospital, then her apartment.
Shifting her attention to Peterson as she sat on the sofa, Kate murmured, “Pizza?”
His subtle nod assured her the gate security protocols wouldn’t be affected by the request.
Richard sat the bag down by the steps to the upstairs before joining her and pulling out his phone. “Pineapple?”
Surprise rippled through her and she blinked. “Yes.”
