Page 5 of Rotanev
Then wondered if I was supposed to be giving these details about myself. I knew my home address was a secret to be kept from all clients for security purposes. Not that any of them couldn’t find me if they wanted to. If these wealthy men wanted to locate someone, their bank accounts could afford them whatever information they desired.
“So young,” Nero mused, a glimmer in his eyes.
I studied his crisp suit, athletic physique, and handsome face. “You can’t be that much older. Maybe thirty.”
His lips quirked up on one side. “Oh, I am much older than thirty.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” I replied, taking his flirtatious bait. “Thirty-five at most.”
He chuckled. “I’m beginning to think you actually don’t know.”
“Should I?” Was he someone famous that I should recognize? Because I sucked at the who’s-who socialite game. I was too busy surviving to memorize bachelor profiles. Assuming all the men here were even single.
Maybe I should be researching some of these men. The last thing I wanted to do was get in the middle of a troubled marriage.
Nero finally took a sip of his scotch, his gorgeous eyes regarding me the entire time. Then he set it to the side with a finality. “Mmm, all right, little one. I’ll play, but only because you have me intrigued. An hour ought to be enough to break you, yes?”
My eyebrows rose. “Break me?” I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. And yet, the devious twinkle in his gaze had me wanting to say yes anyway.
He leaned in, his lips brushing my ear. “You did agree to kneel for me, did you not?”
My thighs clenched in response. “Oh. I, yes. Yes, I did.”
“Then I want an hour,” he replied, his palm falling to my hip. “Alone.”
I inhaled sharply, his scent—crisp as an ocean breeze—overwhelming my ability to think. There was something I should do, words I needed to say. But as he drew back to stare down at me through his hypnotic irises, all I could do was nod.
Everything about him struck me as a take-charge kind of man. He required submission, and some ingrained part of me readily gave it.
“Is that a yes?” he asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.
“Yes,” I whispered, unable to utter another sound. I couldn’t believe I was actually agreeing to this, to an hour alone with a man I didn’t know. But this entire week had been about doing things outside my comfort zone, from the interview to the mostly nude photos I took afterward to showing up tonight for this audition.
It was exciting. Terrifying. Thrilling. Intoxicating.
Because even without the guarantee of payment for tonight, I’d be tempted to follow this man. He wasthatcharismatic that the idea of a one-night stand more than appealed to me. And I’d never done anything of the sort.
Actually, my experience bordered on pathetic. Which evoked a whole flurry of concerns.
What if I don’t satisfy him?
What if I mess this up?
What if he finds out I’m—
His hand lifted and curled around the back of my neck, his mouth still at my ear. “What happened to my confident little nymph? Do you want to kneel for me or not?”
My insides melted at the prospect, my heart skipping a beat. “Yes,” I said, louder, a needy moan slipping through at the end. No one but him could have heard it, but it gave me away completely. And the look darkening his expression confirmed it as he shifted back to study me.
“Now I want ninety minutes.”
I swallowed. “Okay.” I’d give him three hours if he wanted it.
He smiled. “Give me your wrist, Kailiani.”
“Yes, sir,” I whispered, holding up my hand.
“Oh, darling vixen, the things I am going to do to you…”
