Page 55 of Cruel Offer
Waving the waitress over, he orders a scotch for himself and sparkling water for me. He seems tense. I’d think after last night, he’d be a little more relaxed like me. Apparently, light bondage and spanking doesn’t relax him for long.
But me? I never knew that sex could make a person feel this way, and we’re not even having sex-sex. How he resisted last night, I have no idea. Everyone talks about men as if they have no self-control, but Nate holds himself back like an expert. Didn’t want to damage the goods, I guess. He can’t “ruin” me for a potential husband.
Which I understand, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disgusted that virginity is still a bargaining chip in this day and age. Why is a woman’s value determined by how many partners she’s had, but men can have as much sex as they want and nobody cares? It’s archaic. But if it means a solid future for Nana, I’ll behave myself…even though I want Nate to fuck me more than anything.
Especially last night when his hand was on my ass, his fingers stroking that sensitive place between my ass cheeks that should have made me shrivel with embarrassment. But didn’t.
“Yes, I have a sister. Eliza. She’s nineteen and coming home from college for a short visit.”
He says this with a slight irritation that does nothing to mask the affection in his tone.
“She didn’t want to stay with your parents?” I ask innocently, hoping he doesn’t realize that I’m trying to dig for more information.
My question generates a look of pure distaste. He’s never spoken about his parents, and I never looked up hisfamily on the internet, so I’m oblivious to who exactly they are or what they do. But there’s no internet required to tell from his face that he and his parents don’t have the best relationship.
“Eliza is smart, so no,” he says drily.
The waitress delivers our drinks.
“I know what it’s like to have difficult parental relationships,” I say lightly as I reach for my water. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He arches a brow. “Talk about what?”
Nate was quiet on the way to the theater and during most of the show. He made pleasantries with a few people but carried his champagne around during intermission without having any. Now that I know what’s going on, it makes sense that he’s been in an off mood.
“I don’t know. Aren’t your parents upset that Eliza picked your place over theirs?”
He seems to ponder this for a moment. The oil lamp casts flickering light over his strong features and my pussy tingles as I imagine that face hovering over me as he slips his cock into?—
“You might be right about that,” he concedes. “My mother is affronted, of course, but she should be used to it. The moment I moved away, Eliza started spending long weekends with me whenever she could get out of Connecticut, including most of her school breaks.”
“That must be hard on your mother. I’m sure she feels rejected.”
“Well, she’s a difficult person to be around,” he says. “Some thorough self-reflection and stepping away from the wine for a while might make her more tolerable.”
My mom can be difficult in her own way, too, mostly because she pretends bad things don’t happen and that everything can be fixed with a smile. Though her recent declaration that she might leave my father and her impromptu cooking display suggest she might really be ready to make a change. Maybe Nate’s mom feels the same way my mom always has—trapped in a high society marriage that has completely squashed her sense of self and any semblance of the person she always hoped to be. Or maybe I’m just projecting.
“If your family dynamic is anything like mine, then I think I can understand where your mom is coming from,” I say. “Let me guess. Your father is always working, and your mom fills the void by attending a constant string of social events she has no interest in but needs to show her face at to keep up appearances? Which means that poor you, and Eliza, often got dragged to those God-awful things until one day, you behaved so badly that she never forced you to go ever again?”
Nate lets out an amused breath, then tips his glass against mine. “That was pretty good, minus the acting out part. What did you do to get permanently banished, Piper?”
Shrugging a shoulder innocently, I glance around the club nonchalantly. Truthfully, I’m trying to see if anyone is taking photos of us again tonight, but the lighting is too dim to tell. Nate said earlier today that he was in the process of interviewing bodyguards, but for now, we’re on our own.
“What makes you think that I did anything? I was just guessing, that’s all.”
He smirks. “Tellme.”
“Oh, fine. Did you ever have to dissect anything in school? You know, for science class?”
“Sure. Frogs, owl pellets.”
“You know those Madagascar cockroaches that fit in the palm of your hand? We had to dissectthose. Anyway, one of the guys from my class snuck his roach home…and brought it to the garden party our parents forced us to attend.”
Nate looks aghast. “Piper, no…”
“Yes.” I put my hands up. “But it wasn’t me! He’s the one who brought the thing and then threw it at me in the garden. I freaked out and swatted it like a baseball, and it ended up in the champagne fountain. There was no way we could fish it out before anyone saw it, either. It was…chaos.”
“Dear God,” Nate says, sounding sort of impressed.
