“However,” he added, when she did not – could not- reply, “I do have some sense of…delicacy. I’ll be willing to take you to dinner first, maybe a bit of dancing. And then afterwards…” He slanted his head to plant a kiss right on the corner of her parted lips. The pressure was light, yet all the more breath-taking for its veiled promise. “It’ll take more than one night to slake the past four years’ frustrations…so I’m willing to make do with three. Three nights, Bella, and you get all the support you need for that quaint company of yours.”
It was only when he withdrew moments later that Bella could actually piece her thoughts together. His proposition rang through her head over and over, even as she stared into his face searchingly, just to be sure he was actually serious. There was no trace of jest in his eyes, which seemed darkened from grey to black with the strength of his intent.
He backed away, hands outstretched. “Well, Bella? You know the deal. This is your chance to wipe the slate clean – in more ways than one. So what’s your answer going to be?”
“My answer,” she began, eyes narrowing with the anger and powerlessness she felt, “is to let you know that you’re not going to get away with… sexually blackmailing me! I’ll speak to my lawyer about this and I’m sure he’ll know exactly how to handle your kind of “deal”.”
Instead of looking threatened, he actually smiled. “Somehow, I don’t think you’ll do that,” he said with a careless shrug. “The unnecessary embarrassment…the possible disgrace – not to mention the cost of taking action against an executive of this company. Face it, Bella, I’ll have more of a chance of convincing people that you tried to proposition me, not the other way round.”
For some reason, she realized that he might actually be right. It was unlikely that anyone one would look at Jason and think he’d ever have to sink to the level of blackmailing a woman for sex. Not only was he incredibly good-looking and fit, he was rich and successful.
She hid her inner consternation behind a smile. “Yes, I can imagine that you must have plenty of female admirers – which makes it so unfathomable why you would choose to do this. In a way, I know I should be flattered that you want me this bad that you’d sink so low. However, a part of me senses that this is simply a ploy to further demean me, shame me for what you think I did to you.”
“So what do you suggest?” he asked, ignoring her accusations. “Forget the past ever happened? Forget how you made me a laughing stock of all our friends? You were the spoiled rich girl, while I was the classic geek on a scholarship who fell for the cheerleading Queen. The tables have certainly turned now, haven’t they?”
“I never saw you that way, Jason!” she replied emphatically. “I cared for you – a lot! It’s just…things went out of control with Roy. I never meant to…”
Jason lifted a hand, effectively cutting her off. “I’m not here to play the blame-game, Bella. I need an answer to my proposition and that is all I care to hear from you.”
Bella sighed raggedly. She could say “no”, but that would destroy any chance that she had of getting her life back on track. But damn it to hell if she was just going to lie down and take it like he wanted her to. She finally looked up at him and said, “Do I get time to think about this?”
She could see the look of gloating in his eyes, knew he thought he’d already won.
“You have until tomorrow,” he said brusquely, making her head shoot up in surprise. “As you know, time is of the essence, so I see no need for procrastination, do you?” He sent her a thin smile. “If you don’t show up here same time tomorrow, I’ll know your answer is “no”. That gives you, oh…about twenty four hours to make up your mind.”
“How generous of you,” she said, her own tone tinged with sarcasm. “You must have had this all thought out the minute you saw my name on that file. Well, Jason, I hope you don’t end up regretting this.”
“How can I?” he murmured, with that irritatingly careless shrug of his. “When either way, I win? If you refuse, you still pay. And if you say yes…” He left the sentence unfinished, but Bella didn’t need to hear more. He was definitely right; either way, she lost. She just had to figure out which was worse…losing her dignity and pride, or losing all she’d ever worked for…
* * *
Bella wasn’t sure how she’d left that office, or how she’d made it back home. All she knew was that she was standing inside her living room, staring into space and wondering how things had just gone from bad to worse.
Seeing Jason again, coming face to face with his frosty thirst for revenge – she hadn’t exactly foreseen that when she’d woken up that morning.
She had to remember that she had only a certain number of hours in which to make her decision. The bastard! His misplaced desire to make her suffer in some way for the past was going to cost her more than she ever dreamed. In her heart, she knew she should tell him to go to hell. But could she pay the ensuing price?
“Bella? Is that you?”
Bella turned sharply, dashing the tears from her cheeks and pasting a smile on her lips as she faced the woman who’d just walked into the living room.
“Hello, mom,” she said, and hoped she sounded normal, and she moved forward to embrace her mother.
“You’re back so early. Is anything wrong, are you unwell?” the older woman asked with concern. Katy Turner was still a very beautiful woman, but a frail one ever since she’d had to fight off cancer for a whole year. Now, she still had several treatments to go before she could be in the clear. Treatments Bella had to make sure were paid for.
Bella swallowed down a sigh, and then pulled back to look into her mother’s face. “I had a meeting earlier, mom. It really took a lot out of me. I decided to come home instead to rest…and think.” She patted the only slightly wrinkled cheeks of her mother with tenderness. “Or maybe I’ll just hang out with you. What are you up to?”
Katy Turner smiled, not really fooled by her daughter’s bright face and words. But she decided not to push. “I was just about to go into the garden, dear. My green fingers have been itching all morning to put those seeds in. It’s a few days early, but…”
Bella wrapped an arm around her mother’s waist. “I think it’s a great idea, mom. Let’s grab some gloves and an apron.” That, would at least, take her mind off her immediate problems. When her mother had walked in and Bella had seen her, with her graying blonde hair only just growing out after all that chemotherapy…she’d known what her answer to him was going to be. If she had only herself to worry about, then she’d have told him where to stick his filthy proposition. But there was her mother, whose expensive medical bills had to be seen to, among other things. Bella thought of facing Jason again the next day with her answer – and an involuntary shudder passed through her. Only heaven knew what lay in store…
* * *
"So you actually came."
The triumph, the scorn that laced his words was enough to make her want to turn right back around and leave. But she stayed still in the middle of his expansive, ultra-modern office. She’d been shown in just a minute ago, and her heart hadn’t stopped pounding in confusion, anger, and helplessness. Bella knew what she had to do, but it was the how that worried her…
"Yes, I came," she said through gritted teeth, "but only to see if I could talk some sense into you one last time. Jason..."
"No begging, Bella," he said coldly, face set in stone now as he rose to his feet in irritation. "It didn't work yesterday; it certainly won't work now. I'm afraid absolutely nothing could possibly convince me to change my mind."
Bella felt tears of anger sting the back of her eyes, choking her throat. "Why are you doing this, Jason, when you can have any woman you want?"
"Ahh, but that’s not true, is it Bella?”, he declared huskily, moving forward to where she stood still as a pillar of salt. “I couldn’t have you.”
Bella forced herself not to flinch when he placed himself behind her, his hands falling heavily on her shoulders as he whispered in her ear, "A man never really gets over his first love, you know. That first youthful, erotic fantasy… You sweetheart, have clouded every single love affair I've ever had since we parted. Every beautiful woman I've ever f**ked...it was always your face I saw. Even those times I'm deep inside her and she’s calling out my name, it's your voice I hear telling me, "I'm coming Jason, I'm coming..."
He laughed deeply when she shrunk from his lips, tossing her head angrily. And then his voice hardened. “I want you like this, helpless, needy, desperate. I want it this way because it's dirty and nasty and wicked. And it's going to feel so damn good."
He's obsessed, she thought despairingly, the breath coming fast in her chest. She whipped round to face him. "So, if I do what you say, what then?"
She cringed to hear herself say the words. Hated herself for even thinking it. But she couldn't think about herself at such a time, could she? There was her ailing mother for one thing. Could Bella throw away her mother’s well being on some stupid sense of self-worth and dignity? Her business had kept the family going for so long; if she lost it, she lost everything.
Bella cursed her cheating, thieving boyfriend for the umpteenth time for his part in putting her in this situation. If she ever got her hands on him, she'd...All train of thought fled from her mind as Jason reached out a hand to trace the line of her jaw with his fingertips, before they dipped past her shoulder blade to trail down the lapels of her jacket. Her heart began to pound faster than ever as she looked up into his blazing, darkened gaze. The searing heat of lust in them almost made her feel faint with sickening anticipation. Why he had such power over her, she could never tell. There was an almost animal magnetism oozing from him that even she couldn’t deny. Raw, untamed and fierce – it seemed strong enough to engulf her in its flames.
“If you do what I say,” he returned calmly as his hand fell away, “Then I’ll call off the debts. Postpone them till you’ve got ample time to work things out. How’s that for a fair deal?”
Swallowing convulsively, she made herself say, “Oh, I think you can do better than that, Jason. For three nights of sex, I want the debts cancelled. All of them.”
He paused, then chuckled softly as he shook his head. “Making demands now, are we? I knew you’d want more. Okay, Bella. I’ll give you exactly what you want if you do the same. Consider it a deal.”
A ragged breath escaped her at his flippant reply. “So, what now?”
“Just be ready for me tonight.”
Her head shot up from the paper she held in her hand. “Tonight?”
“When I pick you up for our date, of course,” was his casual reply. Bella gritted her teeth to keep herself from saying anything. But there was more to come. She watched as he reached behind his desk and unearthed a small shopping bag, inscribed with the name of a prestigious lingerie boutique.