“No. You said so yourself: a bet’s a bet. After the month’s up, you’ll be off with Parker, he’ll become a doctor, you’ll get married and have your two-point-five children and I’ll never see you again.” He grimaced at his own words. “I still have three weeks. I’m not giving that up for lunch room gossip.”

“No baby, I’m not scaring you. You’re just scared. You give me a little more, you’ll see I protect it. More, I’ll protect that too. More, I got that too. When you give it all to me, if it works with us in a way that lasts, you’ll never be scared. You’ll feel safe enough to have your eyes open, your arms up and you’ll enjoy the fuck outta the ride. I’ll see to that, Red, and that’s a promise.”

“Use it all you want. Marry him. He’ll never really be yours, and you’ll never know it.Or maybe you will.”

“You’re right about something else,” hesaid, his voice ragged. “I’m scared to death of you. Because I want you, when common sense and a lifetime of experience tells me I should kill you. I want you, and if I give up then you’ll own me, and I’ll have nothing left to fight with.”

“But what I can do is paint you a picture of what you’ll never see when you’re with a guy who’s really into you: You’ll never see you staring maniacally at your phone, willing it to ring. You’ll never see you ruining an evening with friends because you’re calling for your messages every fifteen seconds. You’ll never see you hating yourself for calling him when you know you shouldn’t have. What you will see is you being treated so well that no phone antics will be necessary. You’ll be too busy being adored.”

“Heather leaned toward me and placed a soothing hand on my knee. “It’ll be fine, sweetie. You’ll see.”“I’ve never done anything like this. What if I can’t go through with it? I’ll feel like such a dolt.”“I won’t let that happen. Once I get you warmed up, you’ll forget all these silly insecurities. And I’d bet my favorite dildo that the instant you see Blake in the buff, you’ll be damn glad you followed through on this little plan.”