Page 42 of Nothing to Win

“Babe,” he hissed a fraction of a second before his climax hit the back of her throat.

Gia swallowed, emboldened by the achievement of pleasuring this man into shooting his load inside her.With his taste still fresh, she tucked him away and pulled his waistband to his hips.Sinking back to sit on her heels, she ran her fingers through her hair, peeking up to find him looking down on her, a curious expression on his face.

“Gault doesn’t like disharmony,” he said, his voice deeper and slower than usual.“He sees corporate conflict as a waste of energy and resources and doesn’t believe in grudges.He’s an unusual man.”

Running a finger beneath her lower lip from one side to the other, she took a second to let her heart rate climb down.

“And so if you can show that you have a known competitor’s daughter in your bed, you look like a reasonable guy.The type who doesn’t hold grudges?”He tipped his chin to the side in a semi-nod of assent.Her thoughts carried on down the track.“And by extension, Daddy, who hated the idea of us being together, can send the same message if he shows he has no problem sharing his daughter with an adversary.”

“Yes.”

“Wow,” she breathed out, deflating, hands resting on her thighs.“I suddenly feel very important in your little game of corporate chess.”

Snagging her robe from the floor, she put it back on but only gathered the sides together instead of tying it.Ignoring his proffered hand, Gia climbed to her feet.

“Irish,” he said when she started to go.

She turned back.“It’s okay, Brogan,” she said.“We’ve been doing this for a week; it’s not like I was madly in love with you.I’m not hurt.I always knew this setup was rooted in some scheme.Thank you for telling me the truth.”

Even though she’d had to ask for it and had kind of coerced it out of him, she was grateful to have some answers.

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,” she said.“You want me to do as I’m told until our deadline and I will so long as you keep helping Shanna.That was our deal.Knowing more about your motivation doesn’t change our arrangement.”She cleared her throat and jabbed a thumb into the air above her shoulder.“I’m going to get ready and go to the spa.”

“Do you have your credit card?If you need money—”

“No,” she said.“My mom has an account there, her and her cronies go all the time.Her bill is so high she doesn’t notice my add-ons.”She backed up.“She says it’s a woman’s place to be groomed at all times anyway; I think she’s secretly relieved that I go.Shanna and I are going shopping this afternoon.”

“Pick out something nice for tonight.”

She shook her head.“We just window shop.”

“We’ll have plenty of engagements over the next few weeks.You can keep the clothes.Get whatever you want.”

Gia stopped by the door.“It was my choice to blow you and I didn’t do it for payment.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“There’s nothing to feel guilty or bad about,” she said, offering a smile.Somehow she sensed he wasn’t trying to pay for the sex act as much as he was trying to make up for what he saw as deception.“I knew you had ulterior motives and it’s not the first time I’ve had a man use me to influence my father.What time do you need me tonight?”

“If you’re not going to buy something, you’ll need to change,” he said.“There are clothes here for you.Come back and get ready when you’re done with Shanna.Use this as your base.”

“Okay.”It made sense to stay there in the city rather than traveling to her parents just to come back to town.“Brogan…”

“Yes?”

“Thank you,” she said and slipped out to go back to her room.

Brogan had given her knowledge.Now she had an idea of what was going on.

What she’d said about not being in love with him was true.Even if some part of her wanted to think they were starting something, or there was something between them, nothing so far suggested their attraction might go further.

His motives for making this deal were his own, she’d had motives too.Their deal was an exchange, a quid pro quo.Each was getting something from it and that had been the arrangement from the start.Nothing was different.Not yet.

Lost in the steam of the shower, Gia leaned back against the wall and touched her lip.Their deal was one thing, it was straightforward compared to processing what their new intimate “relationship” was doing to her.Brogan wasn’t the man she’d expected him to be.Was she as unexpected?

Their weeks together were laid out ahead of them.This was just beginning.Where would they be when the bell struck eight weeks and their deal was over?Would she turn back into a pumpkin or would she be saved by her Prince Charming’s kiss?