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I’ve shared the first three scenes from Sinful Rewards 1.
Today, I’m sharing the fourth scene.
I hastily don my purse, wearing the strap across my body. Leather smacks against my thigh, the fashion accessory designed for tall supermodels, not for my slighter proportions. If I leave the condo now, I can pretend I was never here.
I march out of the unit and into the hallway. The door closes behind me and the state-of-the-art lock buzzes, electronically clicking into place. My heels sink into rich red carpet. Gold light fixtures illuminate the common areas. Vanilla fills the air, the scent appealingly light. I’m surrounded by opulence and beauty. It feels good and right, as though I belong here, and no one, certainly not some tattooed stranger, will take my new home away from me.
I press the button for the elevator and study my reflection in the metal doors. My shirt is an impeccable white, the cuffs neatly folded at my elbows, the style copied from one of this month’s fashion magazines. The designer shirts in that spread had been expensive silk. My shirt is cotton, purchased at a discount department store. I’ve raised the hem of my black formfitting skirt so it skims my bare knees. My shoes match my skirt, the Louboutin knockoffs sporting the distinct shiny red-lacquered soles, the heel height and toe shape perfectly duplicated.
I brush a stray strand of hair behind my right ear. Even my hairstyle is borrowed from the pages of a magazine, my straight brown tendrils swept upward and contained by a plain clip. I might not be able to afford the real designs, but I can look damn close.
The doors open. Lona LaMarre, the notorious occupant of five oh one south, stands in one corner of the elevator. I hesitate, silently questioning if sharing space with her is wise. The aging beauty is rumored to be a high-class escort, a character no decent woman would ever associate with, a woman who makes my perversions appear normal.
She’s profited well from her perversions. Lona is clad in a gorgeous black Chanel suit, the detailing on the buttons and collar exquisite. She clutches a gold phone in one hand and a red Alexander McQueen bag in the other, the leather in mint condition.
Her flawless fashion sense lures me closer. I step inside the elevator car and press the button for the lobby.
The doors close and Lona raises her gaze from her phone. Her blue eyes are cold and assessing, not missing a single aspect of my appearance. I shift my weight from my right foot to my left, uncomfortable with her perusal, suspecting she’s determining my net worth down to the penny.
My measly net worth must amuse her. Lona’s lips twitch, her peach-colored lipstick immaculate. “Good morning, Belinda.” Her voice is husky, hinting of smoke and sex. Her floral perfume teases my nostrils, the scent expensive and refined.
Lona would never wear fake anything.
“Good morning,” I mutter as I claim the far corner. Our images reflect in the mirrored walls, and I wince. Standing next to her, I resemble a girl playing dress-up, short, slender, and insignificant, a cheap imitation of the real thing.
Even my good-girl reputation is a lie, as the tattooed man uncovered this morning. I gaze morosely at the red digital numbers, willing them to change faster. My telekinetic abilities are weak. The elevator descends agonizingly slowly.
“Your purse won’t last the day,” the escort murmurs, breaking the silence. “You should replace it before it falls apart.”
“It’s not that easy.” Her assumption that everyone has money irritates me. This week’s paycheck is already spent, the money needed to pay my mom’s rent.
“It could be that easy.” Lona smiles, her teeth straight and white and perfect. “You’re a beautiful young woman.”
I’m beautiful? I snort softly. Is she looking at the same reflection as I am?
“I have principles.” I want security and safety, a man who won’t leave me as my dad left my mom.
“Principles don’t buy designer purses or pay the rent, hon.” Lona’s brilliant eyes flash. “What happens when your bubbly little friend finds a man and settles down? She’ll want the condo to herself. What will you do then? Go back to that sleepy little one-stoplight town, work at the diner with your mom, taking orders from snotty teenage girls? Will you be content with that life?”
I jerk my chin upward and meet her gaze. “How do you know where I grew up?” How does she know about my mom, about the diner, about the teenage girls who made my high school days a living hell, forcing my mom to wait on them, to pander to their every need?
“Oh, baby.” Lona chuckles. “My sources might have given me the details, but I knew who you were the day you moved into the building.”
Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. I curl my fingers around the strap of my purse and dig my fingernails into the faux leather. Shit. This sensory distraction isn’t enough. I need to know. “Who am I?”
“You’re me, twenty-seven years ago,” Lona informs me triumphantly.
“I’m not you. I’ll never be you.” I’ll resist my unnatural urges, hide my perversions. No one will ever know. . .except for the tattooed stranger.
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Sinful Rewards 1
Cynthia Sax
Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.
Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.
But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.
Is her mystery man the reclusive billionaire with a wild side or the darkly dangerous bad boy?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-1-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11
