Liars Like Us (Morally Gray, #1)

by J.T. Geissinger

My vagina wakes up from her six-month nap and screams at me that though this man looks like the emotionally unavailable type with major control issues, she would very much like to be wrecked by him.

If my vagina could detach from my body and fling itself right onto his face, it would.

In a daze, I turn slowly and squint at him. “I’m sorry, did you just say…?” “Yes. Ten million dollars.” “To…save my store.” “Yes.” “And…marry you.” “Yes.” A long, tense pause follows, during which I blink rapidly and he burns holes into my head with his eyes. Finally, I say, “Pardon my manners, but are you fucking nuts?”

His dark eyes burn. He says softly, “Is that a yes?” I throw my hands in the air. “Of course not! I met you ten seconds ago!”

“If the large and intimidating stranger who walked into your bookstore and proposed marriage were looking at you as if you were his next meal, you might be tense too.”

His tone gently mocking, he says, “I’ve been obsessed with you for years. I’ve watched you from afar, planning, scheming, waiting for exactly the right moment to make you mine. Now all my planning has paid off, and the moment is here.” His mysterious smile grows wider. “Hello, little lamb. Welcome to the lion’s den.”

“Telling a woman not to overthink something is as dangerous as telling her to calm down when she’s angry.”

Why does he have to be so handsome? And smell so good? God, he’s awful.

“You’re sensitive, but you hate that about yourself, so you try to hide it. You want to be in control of everything and take care of everyone, but the effort exhausts you. You’d never ask for help, however, because your pride won’t allow it. You’re strong, so everyone relies on you, but you’re also lonely, and you worry too much. And you’ve never had anyone ask you what you wanted to do with your life, because it was already decided for you before you were born. Which makes you resentful, yet also guilt-ridden for that resentment, because you know that all things considered, your life has been much better than most.”

“You’re something much better than beautiful. And when we’re married, I’ll tell you what it is.”

In a hot, dark voice, he says, “Because my wife asked me to. And I’ll give her anything she wants.”

“No. I don’t care what other women think of me. Because they’re not you.”

“You never have to be afraid of anything again. If you have a problem, I’ll fix it. If you need something, I’ll give it to you. If anyone bothers you, I’ll make them wish they hadn’t. Whatever you want or need, you tell me, and you’ll have it. You’re mine now.”

“When I said you don’t have to be afraid of anything again, that includes me. I’ll never harm you, Emery. And deep down, you know that, or you’d never have agreed to become my wife.”

“It might be all the sex talk that’s got me so worried. Especially this consummate-the-marriage thing. You never mentioned anything about that before. In fact, you promised I could have my own bedroom if I wanted. I’ve decided to take you up on that.”

I’ve made it this far in life. I’m sure I can handle a bossy billionaire who apparently has a predilection for spanking tender body parts.

He carries me through a door at one end of the garage with the ease of a man accustomed to abducting adults from their places of business, scrambling their brains with some unexpected, filthy sex talk, then speeding away with them to his bachelor pad in the hills.

“You wear my ring. You sleep in my bed. You made a promise in front of witnesses to have and to hold me for the rest of your life. You chose me, Emery. And because you chose me, you own me, now and forever, come what may.”

“There are a million shades of gray between good and evil, love. Am I on the darker end of the spectrum? Yes. Am I a bad man who does good things or a good man who does bad things? Both. But you made this monster your slave. All of what I am, good and bad, light and dark, belongs to you.”

Not all happily-ever-afters are for white knights, darling. Sometimes the villain gets the girl. And isn’t that a much more interesting ending to the story? With all my black heart, Your monster