Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance(8)

“If you play your cards right, I bet you can get at least fifty grand for it. Probably more if you get a few tech blogs bidding on it.”

“Wait, seriously?”

I nodded, standing up. “Seriously. Like I said, it’s only the second one in existence. The tech media is going to want to get a hold of that pretty badly.”

“And you’re just giving it to me?”

“Like I said, it’s a gift and it’s insurance.” I turned and started walking away.

“Carter.”

I paused and looked back at her.

She smiled at me. “Thanks.”

“Sure. Just try not to lose it.”

I turned and headed off, wondering how long I was going to be able to keep this truce. Probably a few hours at most.





5





Emily





Maybe I was too hard on Carter.

The phone thing seemed like a big deal. I did some quick Googling later on and found out that prototype phones like the one he gave me could sell for serious cash, just like he said. But more than that, a leaked prototype could totally wreck a company’s plans and cost them millions.

The phone wasn’t just insurance. It was also a promise. Carter was serious about all of this, or at least serious enough to gamble big money and bad press.

He was probably already gambling bad press, but still. That night, I found myself on the couch, fiddling with all of the functions on the phone.

He wasn’t kidding. I really could control most of the house with the phone. I could lock my doors, turn on the stove, even start the ice maker in the freezer. I could control the TV if I wanted to. It was actually pretty amazing that all of these things were connected up and easily accessed through a single phone. There was all the normal functionality built into it like apps and all that, and it felt pretty cool to hold, but the real impressive part was the home control aspect.

As I started to dig deeper into the phone, a message popped up on the screen.

“Enjoying yourself?”

I squinted at it for a second then responded. “So far it’s not too bad. Did you give this to me just so that you could text me?”

“Maybe.”

“What do you want, Carter?”

“I was just wondering if you were ready to call me daddy yet.”

I groaned, leaning back into the comfortable and stylish couch. I wasn’t sure when this joke was going to get old, although there was part of me that didn’t want it to. My heart did start beating fast in my chest every time he was near me and especially when he made it clear what he wanted to do to me.

He was arrogant and an ass, but he was sexy as all hell. I couldn’t deny that. Plus, he was smart, probably a genius, and that was hard to ignore. He may have been a playboy *, but he was still successful and powerful.

“No, thank you,” I typed back.

“Come meet up with me.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re curious. I promise I have the best of intentions.”

I knew that was a lie, but he was right. I was curious.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in my favorite spot in the house. I’ll send you the location on your phone.”

A second later, a little screen popped up with a map of the house. On the map was a little red dot marked “You” and a little blue dot marked “Carter.” I was surprised to see the blue dot move in circles around the room it was in.

“Did you see it move?” he asked me.

“Holy crap. It’s like the Marauder’s Map!”

“Solid Harry Potter reference.”

“Thank you.”

“It is a lot like that,” he typed back. “You can turn off the option to show your location in real time, if you want. I’ll show you how when you get here.”

“Who said I’m coming?”

“You’re coming.”

I bit my lip and sighed. He had me interested, and I was pretty bored anyway. I was just sitting around looking at my phone. I wanted to see what his favorite room in the house was like anyway, and so I stood and headed out.

I guessed it was going to be some Fifty Shades shit. Maybe a sex dungeon with swings, big dildos, all kinds of BDSM equipment. I was ready to run away as fast as I could as I rounded the corner and found the door to the room he was in.

I pulled it open slowly, expecting the worst.

Instead, I heard music.

“Hey,” he said, “Come in.”

I stepped into the room and looked around. The walls were covered in bookshelves, but instead of books, they held records. There was a bar along one wall, a fireplace burning wood in the middle of another, plus chairs and tables all over the place. Carter was leaning against the bar, and in front of him was a turntable spinning a record.

“This is really cool,” I blurted out despite myself.

“Thanks.” He motioned for me to join him. I walked over as he went around behind the bar. “Want something?”

“Sure,” I said. “Surprise me.”

He nodded and went to work as I looked around some more. I didn’t recognize the music that was playing, but the sleeve said it was by a band called The Cinematic Orchestra. It was like jazzy hip-hop without the lyrics, and although it was a little weird, I actually liked it.