Adora sipped on her coffee once it arrived. It tasted like heaven, and she could get used to drinking the good stuff.
“Good?” he asked.
She smiled. “I think it’s the best coffee I’ve ever had. I think I’m in love.”
He chuckled. “You’re easily impressed. I like that.”
“You know all this is crazy, right?” Even though she felt a thrill going along with this insane plan, she had to remind herself that he was forcing this on her. She had to keep up her guards.
“It’s perfect,” he said.
“I want you to know that I’m not as innocent as I look.” Just because he was much older and experienced, didn’t mean she was a foolish child he could toy with. She’d lived a hard life, and wasn’t naïve to the darker side of humankind.
He used a crooked finger under her chin to get her attention. “But you are innocent.”
Her face heated, and her fair skin probably looked bright red. “That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about real life. Mine’s been a struggle, and I won’t be conned.”
“That’s a shame, but it all changes now,” he said. “You’re my woman. I take care of my own.” He pulled out his cell phone and focused on the screen for a while. When he finally tucked his phone away, he continued, “An offer of good faith.”
She was confused.
“Check your accounts. Your student loan is paid off, and I’ve covered the tuition for the next three years. You’re not being cheated.”
Adora was speechless.
“I think you should do the same, so I know you’re not a gold-digger.”
“What?” She almost shouted. “This was your idea, not mine, Mr. Bennett.”
He smirked, rubbing a hand over the salt and pepper stubble on his jawline. “Still, I need reassurance.”
“How?”
He finished off his coffee, and stood up. Tobias grabbed his jacket and jutted his chin for her to follow him. Adora left her seat and weaved between the people in the line-up, following him to the back of the coffee shop and into the restroom.
“The bathroom?” She was going to complain, but when she glanced around, she realized it was nicer than her apartment, complete with sofas and artwork. “Wow, this is nice for a coffee shop.”
“I only like the best,” he said. “Now, for my guarantee.”
“I have nothing to offer.”
“Oh, but you do, Adora. You have no idea how valuable it is to me.” He pressed her against the wall, his strong body trapping her in place.
He bent down and kissed her neck. She exhaled, a little moan escaping. When his hand slipped past the waistband of her pants, she tensed, grabbing his wrist. “What are you doing?”
“You’re a virgin. I want to be sure.”
His hand moved down her stomach, over the ugly scar she kept hidden. When his fingertips reached her dark pubic curls, he growled. He suckled her pulse point. His warm hand touching her most intimate part made her knees weak. She held onto his arms to keep herself upright. When one of his fingers curled into her pussy, she let out a series of gasps.
“Fuck, you’re wet, Adora.” He pressed his finger in deeper, his thumb rubbing slow circles over her clit. “You’re soaking my fingers.”
“I’m sorry.”
He smiled, stealing a kiss. Tobias continued to tease her cunt while she became lost in a kiss to end all kisses. His hard body was like an unmovable mountain, anchoring her from falling. When he slowly removed his fingers, she felt empty and achy, wanting so much more.
“Tobias,” she said against his lips. “Don’t stop.”
He stepped back and checked the time on his Rolex. “I think it’s time for my little girl to go back to school, no?”
What kind of monster was he?
Chapter Four
Tobias watched as Maria moved around his apartment. She’d been working late, and he’d come home early. He was taking her daughter out tomorrow night, and he’d not been in contact with Adora since his exploration of her body in the back of the coffee shop.
It had taken great effort on his part not to get in touch, to make this distance between them affect her. He wanted Adora to need him, to crave him, to want him so that by the time he took her out Friday night, she was desperate, and wouldn’t argue with him. She wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever known. All he ever had to do in the past was say his name, and women flocked toward him like a moth around a flame. Most of the time he didn’t even need to say his name: in his circles, everyone knew who he was.
He was used to getting what he wanted, no questions asked, and yet Adora challenged him. She made him think, and just remembering her smart mouth made him hard.
When she began to make offers and counter offers, he’d known she’d be a damn good opponent in the boardroom. He intended to play golf with her professor this very weekend in the hope of finding out the other man’s thoughts on Adora.
She already dominated a great deal of his thoughts. Not that he minded that at all. He loved thinking about beautiful things, and she certainly qualified. She wanted to date, fine. He had no problems dating, so long as she was in his bed. He also didn’t mind her continuing college.
There would be no condoms involved. Just the thought of her being swollen, pregnant with his child, aroused him, had his dick aching in the most delightful of ways.
He’d already picked out the apartment he intended for her to stay in, along with the furnishings. She would want for nothing, and he’d even gotten a small place to set Maria up in. Adora loved her mother, he saw that, even though he didn’t figure why. In a way he’d have dropped his own mother if their roles had been reversed.
Only love would have made someone take a deal they clearly didn’t want.
Poor Adora.
She didn’t want to be owned by him, and yet her body responded to him in ways that obviously confused her.
Tobias smiled, thinking of all the ways he wanted to pleasure her. He intended to get under her skin so there wasn’t anyone else in the world she could think of. Staring at Maria, he saw a beautiful woman. She didn’t appeal to him like her daughter did, but right now, he saw something … different.
Maria had to have been young when she had Adora, and with no father’s name on the birth certificate, it piqued his curiosity.
Who had gotten Maria pregnant?
According to Maria’s paperwork, when she had gotten pregnant she’d been working for a company who’d let her go a few months into that pregnancy.
He wasn’t a fool.
Someone had gotten her pregnant, and seeing as the company she once worked for only dealt with wealthy customers, it made Tobias curious about who the guy was.
Did he know him?
Had he eaten lunch with a man who’d disowned his claim to his child?
He had no intention of keeping Adora his dirty little secret. She’d be the mother of his child, and once she was pregnant, he had every intention of doing things right.
She wouldn’t fit with his parents’ idea of a perfect wife, but he really didn’t give a fuck about that one way or the other. She’d be perfect for him. It was like he woke up one morning and just wanted to have something for himself, to please himself, not his parents. He’d done that before, and they were never happy. He’d witnessed his brother’s destruction at their hands. There was no way he’d go down the same way. They had a whole host of women lined up to fill the position of nursing a future Bennett. Women who came from wealth just like him.