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Drake

 

 

 

I paced my study, a mahogany and forest-green room off to the side of my bedroom.

Damn her. Purchasing a wife was supposed to be easy. Uncomplicated. Unemotional.

I ran my hands through my hair, my eyes falling to the nearly full bottle of 55-year-old Macallan scotch I kept in a glass cabinet for when I had guests. I never drank. Alcohol numbed my brain and I needed my brain to run my business properly. Tonight, the scotch seemed to call to me.

Just one drink wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

Someone knocked on my door, breaking that line of thought. Loretta entered the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Well?” I demanded.

“She’s calmed down. For now.”

“About damn time.”

“Mr. Blackwell…” From the tone of Loretta’s voice, I could hear a lecture coming on.

I cut her off at the pass. “She’s disrespectful.”

“Good. Someone needs to stand up to you.”

“She’s obstinate.”

“She’s practically still a child.”

“I should send her back.”

Loretta sucked in a breath. “Your wife is not a manufactured good you can send back for a refund. She’s a girl, a woman, a human being. Be kind to her.”

“I am kind.” I made her my wife, didn’t I? I opened up my home to her. All her needs and whims would be forever taken care of. Women all over the country would kill to be in her position.

“You need to be gentle.”

“I am gentle,” I roared. The irony slapped me in the face. I let out a sigh and sank into an armchair. “I will try to be gentle.”

“Good. Even though I’m sure you’re eager to, um, get acquainted with her, I think it’s best if you leave her be at least for tonight.”

“What?” My dirty thoughts about getting acquainted with her that had been swimming around in my head since she tumbled into the limo all came back to me. Her slim body looked breakable. Her perky breasts looked like they’d fit in my mouth. And God, her lips did this pouty thing when she spoke back to me in that insolent tone that made me want to bend her over my knee and—

Hot desire coursed through my body. She was my wife. I wanted her. I wanted to possess her. I wanted her belly swollen with my child. With my heir.

She was mine. Her body was mine. There was no way I was leaving her alone for another second.

I stood and strode towards the door. Loretta blocked my path, jamming her fists onto her hips. “Drake Blackwell. I will not have you going in there and forcing yourself on that poor girl while she’s in a vulnerable state.”

I growled at Loretta, but I didn’t push her aside. I muttered something about obstinate women under my breath. Loretta glared back at me, not a shred of fear in her eyes. It reminded me of another obstinate woman…

“You have one chance to get her to like you, perhaps even care about you. She could make you happy, Drake, if you let her.”

She could make you happy. Loretta’s words poked at something long lain dormant deep inside me.

“Are you listening to me?” she said. “Don’t. Fuck. It up.”

I lifted the corner of my lip. “Loretta, I’m shocked. Did you just swear?” I didn’t think I’d heard her swear. Ever.

She straightened up, brushing down the front of her uniform, the one she insisted on wearing. “I don’t remember saying anything of the sort.” She gave me the eye. “Promise me that you’ll let her be until she’s ready.”

I growled. Suddenly I felt like a teenager who’d been told by his mother that he couldn’t have his girlfriend sleep over. Except that I was her boss, a fucking grown man, and the woman in question was my damn wife.

“Drake…” Loretta’s voice was a warning.

I let out a sigh. “Fine. I won’t get acquainted with her. Just for tonight.”

“For the week.”

The week? “Not a fucking chance.”

“Language.”

“Two nights.”

“A week.”

I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached. “Three nights and that’s my final offer.”

Loretta’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll agree to four nights. Only if you promise to use that time to get to know her.”

What? “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

Loretta frowned. “You shouldn’t have to be coerced into getting to know your wife better.”

“There’s one way I want to get to know her better but you’ve put a stop to that for four nights. You might as well have cut off my balls.”

“Language, Drake Blackwell.” Loretta’s mouth pressed into a stern line. “You are not too old to set over my knee, you know?”

Dear God, I bet she would, too. I let out a huff, feeling beaten already. “What do you suggest I do with her, then?”

“What do you usually do with your dates?”

I raised an eyebrow at Loretta. Come on, really?

“Oh dear Lord.” She shook her head, mumbling a small prayer under her breath. “Take her out somewhere nice. Have dinner with her. Talk to her.”

“About what? I doubt she has a mind for business.”

Loretta threw her hands up in the air. “There are a lot of things to talk about that are not work-related.”

“Like what?”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

Damn obstinate woman. “Fine. I’ll take her somewhere. Nice. And talk…about something.”

Loretta let out a long-suffering sigh. “You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Blackwell. Four nights it is and you’ll get to know her outside the bedroom. She’ll need a new dress to wear. Or ten. And shoes, women love shoes.”

I blanched. “I know nothing about dresses or shoes.”

She laughed. “Lord, no, Mr. Blackwell. You’re not going to take the girl shopping. I am.” She held out her hand. “Your credit card, please.”

It was only after she’d snatched the card I’d somehow found myself holding out for her that I wondered how the hell I got here.

Loretta beamed at me, clearly pleased. Somehow, I’d been duped. I suspected this was her plan all along.