Requested Surrender Read Online Free Page B

have to do with us being practical?” When she stepped back and went to open her mouth to explain it to him he held up his hand in a bid to silence her. “Nothing. Unless you’re worried about setting off the security alarms at the airport.”
    “Exactly. I’m glad you understand.”
    David’s heart went out to her because she truly believed he was going to let this slide. He supposed the way he’d dealt with her thus far was the reason behind that egregious misconception.
    “Oh, I understand.” He turned and walked to the large upholstered chair positioned in the corner. Sitting down he looked right at her. “But I’m sure TSA has come across kinkier stuff than The Queen Anne locked on a person.”
    “Yes, well, I’d rather not find out if that’s true. Do you think it’s true?”
    Ethan’s wife must be rubbing off on her. Lacy actually scrunched her nose when she’d asked that question and all he did was nod.
    “So what’s it going to take? A handwritten apology?”
    “Don’t be flip.”
    “When you stare at me like that it makes me nervous.”
    “I’m glad something I do has an effect on you.”
    She scowled. “Lots of things you do affect me.”
    He doubted that. If it were true they wouldn’t be dealing with all this. “I’m only going to ask you once. Why did you do it?”
    When she did one of her devil-may-care shrugs again, his palm started to itch. He wanted to spank all that nonchalance right out of her. “Simple. With Joe here, there was no fear that I’d invite you over.”
    “You worried about me being here?”
    “Yes, because then we’d screw and as soon as we did, everything would end.”
    “I see.”
    “I can tell you don’t believe me, but it’s true. Follow my logic with this.”
    “I’m trying.”
    She pursed her lips and tilted her head studying him. “I know—at least I was told by Colin—that you have a strict policy about your home. No women. You only play at the clubs and since I don’t do that, my place would have been the logical choice, right?”
    Her place being a logical choice? Yeah, the answer to that was never, but he didn’t share that with her. Instead he asked, “Why do you think everything would end if we were intimate?”
    “It always happens that way.”
    “Ah…” He nodded, adding this little gem to the growing list of her fucked up shit. She was a veritable treasure trove buried under the minutia of a life he couldn’t wait to dig her out of.
    She pulled the edges of her robe together, hugging herself. “The thing with Joe. It’s not what you think.”
    “I’m confident it is.” He sat back and studied her. “Tell me. How long did it take you to figure out that he was playing into you being a pushover?”
    “He didn’t…”
    David sat forward and pointed down. “These cherry-wood floors instead of the white ceramic you wanted.” He waved his hand at the walls around them. “Peach paint in place of the neutral you were so excited about.” Dropping his hand to his lap he scowled. “How long was it before you started to manipulate him in order to get what you wanted?”
    “A few weeks.” Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear her. “I didn’t intend to string things along like this, it kind of happened and I didn’t want you to get mad.”
    “Too late for that.”
    She tried valiantly to sit on the bed, but eventually abandoned that idea and said, “It was easier this way, you know what I mean?”
    Now they were getting somewhere. “No, I don’t know.” He rested his elbows on his knees and shifted forward. “Tell me.”
    “Joe likes to be bossed around. Not when it comes to the products he installs. I realized too late that the guy is thrifty when it comes to job material. So after thinking about all the stuff he insisted I use for one reason or another I, ah, gave him things to do. That made him happy and when he was happy he wasn’t so stubborn when I said I didn’t like the samples he showed