Phoenix looked down at Cait and couldn’t believe the young woman was resorting to such tactics to get a husband to pay off her debts. She just simply didn’t seem the type.

Her eyes were sparkling as she looked at him like she adored him. But did she really like him as much as she claimed to? Or was she just pretending?

He pushed back her hair and whispered, “You’re beautiful.”

Cait ran her hands through his hair, “Thank you. So are you.”

He kissed her because he couldn’t stop himself. It made him sick that he was falling so much into her trap. He’d nearly called off the bet to make things right with her. Then her secret was found out, and it made him sick.

Their bodies worked so fantastically together. He knew sex would be phenomenal with her. She was in tune with him in almost every way imaginable. As their mouths copulated the way he wanted their lower regions too, he got the impression that she might be about to let him go all the way as she moved his hand to cup her breast.

She was grinding her body up to his and moaning. He could feel the heat coming from her as he was wedged between her legs. Rain began to pelt the window panes, making things even cozier than they’d been.

Phoenix was all over Cait, their breathing was growing more frantic as they rubbed each other in all the right ways. She moved one hand between them and reached into his jeans, taking his swollen cock into her hand and stroking it.

His lips left hers as he said with a husky voice, “Cait, please.” He kissed her neck, nibbling it then biting it as she moved her hand faster. He ached to be inside her. But she wasn’t about to give him everything.

She tried to get a confession out of him. “Phoenix, tell me.”

Both of their minds were nothing but blurs as the passion dulled all other senses except that of touch. Phoenix thought she wanted to hear something other than what she really wanted, so he said, “I love you, Cait.” It just came out without him expecting it to.

He wasn’t even sure he meant it. But he went with it, anyway. Why not coddle her into thinking she was going to get what she wanted? Him to marry her.

“Phoenix,” Cait moaned. “Don’t lie to me.” She stroked him harder, making him quiver.

“Cait, come home with me this weekend. I want to prove to you I want more with you.” He cupped the back of her neck then kissed her as she kept stroking him with her hand.

The kiss was sensual, making Cait want to give herself to the man. The waiting was killing her. But he’d gone too far with telling her the lie of loving her. She knew better than that.

Phoenix was going to resort to anything so he could to win the bet. And now her passion turned to anger. Pulling her hand out of his pants had him groaning and trying to get her to keep it up. She wrenched her mouth from his. “My parents will be home soon. We need to stop.”

“Are you fucking with me, Cait?” he growled at her. “Are you really going to take me this far and leave me hanging?”

“I have to,” she said as she pushed at him to get off her. “You guys need to get going before our parents get home. Dad’ll give you all what-for if you’re still here.”

Phoenix made a short laugh. “Your dad’s a kitten compared to your mother.”

And just like that, Cait was thoroughly pissed. “Well, be that as it may, you and your friends need to go.”

He stayed right where he was, pinning her to the sofa. “You haven’t told me if you’ll go back home with me this weekend. I want to show you where I live.”

She stared into his eyes. “Why would you even want to do that. Can’t you at least be honest with me about this one thing?”

“What one thing?” he asked in confusion. It was Cait who needed, to be honest, in his opinion.

“This thing we have going on,” she said as her lips quirked up in one corner. “You know it won’t last. So why take me to your home?”

He trailed his fingertips over her cheek. “Are you psychic or something? What makes you so sure this won’t last?”

“Because it won’t. And what’s the deal with throwing out the, I love you, Phoenix?”

He didn’t know why he did it, himself. How was he to explain it to her?

“I just felt it in the heat of the moment,” he finally said.

“To get what you want,” she said as she frowned at him. “Isn’t that, right?”

Suddenly it was he who was pissed. He moved off her and stood up. “I like how you act like you didn’t want it to go further than it did. Kind of an asshole sort of thing to do to us.”

“To us?” she asked as she sat up.

“You and me, that us,” he said as he zipped and buttoned his jeans. “Don’t pretend it isn’t hurting you to stop what we were about to do. I know you’re aching for it too. Just like I am. Only you’re teasing us both. When do you think you’ll stop doing that, Cait?”

“When are you going to be real with me, Phoenix?” she asked as she got up and ran her hands through her hair to tame it. Her clothes were awry, so she straightened them.

“Probably about the same time you decide to be real with me, Cait,” he said then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her body immediately pressed into his. Her mouth opened and her tongue played with his. She was warm and inviting as she ran her hands up his arms then over his back. Phoenix knew she was holding back in order to trap him. He eased his kiss then asked her again, “So, will you come home with me for the weekend?”

“Promise me you won’t pressure me into having sex the whole time and I will.” She leveled her eyes at him to let him know she was deadly serious.

“I tell you what, Caity-cat. I won’t even make one attempt to get you into bed. I have a spare bedroom that’ll be yours while you’re visiting me. But you have to do the same for me. No, teasing. You know you’ve been doing that, right?”

She played dumb. “No, I didn’t realize that at all. I thought we were making out is all. I’m not the kind of girl who sleeps around. I’m not easy.”

“No, you are not,” he said then let her go. “I’d never call you that.”

Cait watched as Phoenix walked away from her. And she had to fight herself not to blurt out everything. How they knew about their stupid bet and had come up with something just as stupid to get back at them for making her and her sisters pawns in their game.

What she didn’t know was Phoenix was fighting himself not to tell her about the bet and what they’d overheard the girls saying too. It seemed they were on the same wavelength but were too afraid of the others being mad at them to say what they wanted to.