Read The Proposition (The Plus One Chronicles) for Free Online

to her profile. Her eyes were wide, her jaw bulging at the joint.
    Walk away, damn it .
    Slapping a hand on her hip, she muttered, “Do it.”
    The two words took him by the throat. Sloane recognized the iron will fighting to dominate whatever terrified her.
    Not only was he not walking away, God help anyone who got in his way.
    He stepped up next to her. She was breathing in her nose and out her mouth, determination crystallizing her blue eyes into jewel tones. He kept a small space between them and said softly, “Kat.”
    She whipped her head around and sucked in air. Frown lines hovered between her eyebrows before recognition smoothed them out. “Sloane. I was just leaving.”
    Unlikely, given the death grip she had on the doorframe and her dilated pupils. “Okay,” he said.
    She turned back to the cab interior. “I need to get in.”
    “That’s usually how it’s done,” Sloane assured her.
    “People do it all the time.”
    “Without a doubt.”
    “Right.” She frowned. “I thought you went home hours ago.”
    Ah, there she was, coming back online. “I rarely do the expected.”
    She sucked in her lips and blew out a breath. “I bet you could get in the back of a damned cab.”
    He leaned against the side of the idling cab. “I don’t know why I would. I have two cars, plus a limo. Getting in a cab seems redundant.”
    She pulled her mouth tight. “Do you have one of those cars with you tonight?”
    “A Mercedes CLS63. Black. Perfectly safe. I even know how to change a tire should the need arise.” He was taking her home, however, he’d let her come to that realization on her own. But damned if he didn’t want to pull that band out of her hair again. Or just touch her in general.
    “The meter is running, lady.”
    Sloane leaned back a fraction to glare at the annoyed cabbie.
    The other man shut his mouth and turned around.
    Finally Kat sighed, stepped back and shut the door. “I don’t suppose you’d let me drive?”
    Sloane handed the cabbie a couple bills before Kat could get her wallet out. “Tell you what. I’ll drive, you pick the music.”
    She raised her chin. “I can pay the cabbie.”
    “Move faster next time.” He closed his hand around her elbow, keeping his hold gentle.
    She stiffened.
    Time to get serious. “Use your words, Kat. You’re in control here. All you have to do is tell me to get my hand off you, and I will.”
    She looked up at him. “You’re blunt, aren’t you?”
    Pleased that she hadn’t snapped at him to let go of her, he steered her toward his car. “In most cases, bluntness works.”
    “And in other cases?”
    Opening the door, he waited until she slid in and said, “I do whatever it takes to win.”

    ***

    Kat sank into the butter-soft leather, her body heavy with fatigue and aches. Her eyes were gritty, her head throbbed, yet she was vitally aware of the man next to her in the driver’s seat.
    Sloane guided the car through the quiet streets of San Diego. He had his shirtsleeves pushed up, revealing strong forearms dusted with hair and lined with veins.
    “Music?”
    Normally, she loved music. She’d blare it when creating recipes, doing her version of dancing. But right now she was just too overwhelmed. “None, thanks.” Scoping out the interior, she said, “Nice car.” Like a hundred-K nice.
    “Big enough for me. The other car I have is a Fisker Karma.”
    The name didn’t register with her. “What’s that?”
    “Electric car with solar glass roof.”
    “You have an electric car and a limo?” Wasn’t that counterproductive? A limo had to be a gas guzzler while the electric car was all about new energy and protecting the environment.
    “The Fisker is for fun, the Mercedes useful, and I get a lot of work done in the limo.”
    “Do you keep a driver on call?” Who was Sloane Michaels? Curiosity bubbled through her exhaustion.
    Sloane glanced over at her. “He lives in a guesthouse on my property.”
    She tried to figure him out. Who