Read For His Keeping (For His Pleasure, Book 3) for Free Online Page B

on the street is that tomorrow morning is going to be bloodbath for Jameson International in the markets. The stock’s going to hit rock bottom. All the rats will scurry to leave the sinking ship.”
    “Are we really sinking?”
    He just shrugged. “Not if we can salvage this company.”
    Nicole swallowed. “I’m just a glorified intern,” she said, and then laughed. “This is a big assignment to bring me along for. Isn’t there someone better qualified, like Edward or someone from the marketing department?”
    Red shook his head and grabbed her hands in his own. “You’re the one that I trust, Nicole. I have one hundred percent faith in your ability to work hard and be smart under pressure.”
    She smiled, feeling her cheeks turn red. “Thanks for saying that. Of course I’ll come with you.”
    “And then,” he said, squeezing her hands and looking into her eyes, “we come home and get married straight away.”
    For the first time in the conversation, she broke from his gaze and looked into the distance. “Red, I don’t know about getting married so quickly.”
    His voice took on a flat quality. “What’s wrong with getting married sooner?”
    “What would we do,” she said, “just go to some justice of the peace and do a five minute ceremony?”
    He looked at her and she could tell he was wounded. “All I want is to marry you, Nicole.”
    “And I want to get married, too. But I want to do it the right way. Why the rush all of a sudden?”
    Red shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking again. “Forget I said anything about it,” he said, quickly accelerating his stride toward the mansion.
    “Hold on, where are you going so fast?” she cried, trying to keep up with him.
    He didn’t respond, just kept walking.
    “Red!” she yelled, and then ran the extra few steps to catch up. “Will you stop for one minute and let me explain myself?”
    He stopped, folding his arms and staring at her with his hardened, guarded expression. “Go ahead, then.”
    “Don’t do this,” she told him, breathing heavily.
    “Do what?”
    “Don’t push me away because I said something that hurt you.”
    His stare grew more intense and his jaw tightened. “What am I supposed to do, Nicole? I put my heart on a plate for you.”
    She tried to touch him, but he pulled away.
    “Red,” she said, “I already told you I want to get married. But I’d like to have our family and friends there, witnessing it. I want to tell the world that we’re together.”
    He snickered. “You mean you want it in the papers and on TMZ.”
    She felt a flash of anger course though her veins. “How dare you accuse me of being all about fame and the media? You’re the one who’s made us a public spectacle!”
    Now it was her turn to try and walk away from him. She couldn’t believe he’d say something like that about her.
    But Red grabbed her by the shoulders. “Wait. I’m sorry, Nicole. Please come back.”
    She spun on him. “What do you want from me? I’m here. I’m with you even though your life is crazy. But I love you, I love you more than anything in this world and so I’m going to stick it out with you no matter what.”
    He was laughing a little, which only made Nicole more furious. She slapped at his hands, and then he grabbed her and pulled her close. Suddenly he was kissing her hard on the mouth, even though she resisted at first.
    But Nicole could never resist Red Jameson for long, and soon she was melting into him, into his kiss, and the warmth and passion that radiated from him.
    When they finally broke off, he smiled into her eyes. “I’m a fool. Please forgive me.”
    “You are a fool,” she said, shaking her head.
    “I know. But I’m smart enough to know that I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. I wanted to get married sooner because I know that people are going to try and tear us apart. People like my mother…”
    “Don’t let her get in the way of living our lives the way we want