Free With His Consent (For His Pleasure, Book 13) by Kelly Favor Page A

nodded with a wide smile. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
    She slapped her forehead. “Oh my God. I am such an idiot.”
    “Don’t worry, it’s my fault for not properly introducing myself.” He held out his hand to her. “My name is Ryan Singer and I’m the owner of this hotel.”
    Scarlett felt like she might faint. She took his hand, but it seemed like someone else was doing the moving of her body. She was having an out-of-body experience.
    “I’m sorry if I said anything rude.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you spoke openly and honestly about your stay and everything.”
    She realized that Bryson was going to be irate at her. She had blown his chance to introduce himself and start fresh with the owner. Instead, she’d gone ahead and ruined everything by blabbering away without thinking about what she was doing or saying.
    “Listen, give me a chance to tell you about this movie,” she said.
    Ryan adjusted his glasses. “I’ll listen,” he said. “Mostly because seem like a sweet girl.”
    She blushed. “Thank you for saying that.”
    He sat back in his chair and smoothed his tie. “Okay, I’m all ears.”
    Scarlett began telling him about the script. Fresh off of reading it and enjoying it herself, she felt a lot of passion about the story. For the first time since being hired to help Bryson, she actually had something concrete to do—a way she could contribute.
    She had to get across to Ryan how good this movie was going to be.
    He listened calmly, politely, to her entire speech. When she was done he smiled approvingly. “That was well done,” he said.
    “Thank you.”
    “How many days will you need to film in our hotel?”
    She hesitated. “I’m not sure. The director is here, he can answer those questions.”
    “The problem is, whenever a big production shoots in the hotel, we have to shut down for large periods of time and it hurts our customers.”
    “Did I mention that Dale Nolan and Eliza Johnston are going to star in the movie?”
    “They’re great actors,” he replied. “But…I sort of promised myself I wouldn’t let the hotel get dragged into another big film shoot again.”
    “It’s going to make your hotel look wonderful. I can show you the script,” she said, rushing to try and get him back on her side. Then she remembered what Bryson had said about the hotel being a character in the movie. “The hotel is like the third lead in the film. It’s a real character in the movie—this movie could do for your hotel, what Cheers did for the bar in Boston.”
    He laughed. “Really? This is going to be the next Cheers? That’s what you’re promising me now?”
    “I’m just—I really believe in this movie. And I think your hotel is lovely.”
    Ryan sighed. And then he looked her in the eye. “Okay, here’s my answer.”

    ***
    When Scarlett got back to the hotel room, Bryson was in the shower. She waited anxiously for him to come out of the bathroom. She was nervous for any number of reasons. First of all, because of what they’d done the night before. And secondly, because of her conversation with the owner of the hotel.
    Bryson finally walked out of the bathroom wearing just his towel around his waist. His body was still damp and glistening from the shower.
    Scarlett had to avert her eyes. His muscular frame and handsome face were bringing back painfully exciting memories that she didn’t want to think about right now.
    Memories she might never want to think about again, given how things had gone at the end of the night.
    “Hey, where have you been?” he said, running a hand through his wet hair. He stood in front of her, unabashed in his near nakedness.
    “I was having breakfast.”
    “You could have waited for me,” he said, sounding annoyed. He walked to where his clothes were folded and picked them up, turning his back to her so that the butterfly tattoo was momentarily visible.
    She hated that tattoo now. She hated that her asking him about it had