Bet in the Dark by Rachel Higginson Page B

to do it that way. I didn’t have a choice. Because if for even a sEcond I thought about the consequences of helping Fin with his illegal game or whatever illegal activity he needed all that money for, I would succumb to the panic attack I was just barely holding at bay.
                  And one panic attack in front of Fin Hunter was enough for a life time.

Chapter Four
     
                  “Hungry?” Fin asked after two hours of what he called “orientation” and what I called a giant waste of time. I didn’t understand what he did online at all. Not the gambling, not the business side of it and especially not the programming part of his website.
                  “Why?” I asked suspiciously. “How long do you want me tonight?”
                  There was a charged pause between us while I stared at my computer refusing to look at him. He was a senior in college; there was no way he was going to take the easy and juvenile joke here.
                  “All night,” Fin finally answered in my ear, low and growly. “Girl, I want you all night.”
                  I swung out and punched him in the shoulder. He laughed at my response but didn’t scoot back any. “But then we wouldn’t get any work done and your ten hours of my time would be up for the week,” I reminded him trying to stay as calm and casual as I could. Although that wasn’t exactly easy and it had nothing to do with his joke and everything to do with how close he was sitting next to me right now.
                  “Ellie, I promise you, if you spent the night with me, I wouldn’t have to bargain for your time, you’d come back willingly. Over and over and over,” his voice was husky now and so full of innuendo I felt my face heat to a fast blush.
                  I finally lifted my eyes to meet his and while his mouth was tilted in a playful smile his dark eyes were heated and not at all playful. A tingle rolled over my skin, every inch of me while my brain tried to convince my body that he was just messing with me.
                  “So all boys are perverts then?” I asked dryly. “You never grow out of that?”
                  His eyes relaxed and he leaned back in his chair, his lips twitching. “You tell me, you’re the one that grew up with three brothers.”
                  “Yeah, but they weren’t perverted around me!” I squeaked. Although that wasn’t entirely true, it had gotten better now that we were all older.
                  That got another bark of laughter out of him. “Ok, so dinner, yeah? We both need to eat.”
                  “You’re not going to make me pay for it are you?”
                  He smiled down at me but didn’t answer my question, which made me nervous. I mean, I was just joking. But seriously, I was just joking. I couldn’t afford dinner. If I had to pay for it, we’d be eating from my stash of Ramen Noodles. And the muscles, defined and rippling all over his body, told me a sodium filled package of dried noodles wouldn’t be nearly enough nourishment for him.
                  “Food allergies?” Fin asked from where he stood at the gray slate kitchen counter, multiple take-out menus spread out in front of him.
                  I kind of hated how cool his apartment was.
                  But his question seemed really considerate. “Um, no. But I, even though it’s not exactly a food allergy, I really, really hate mushrooms,” I confessed. Ugh, he made me so nervous and we were only talking about mushrooms .
                  “Noted,” he said on a smirk. “Extra mushrooms.”
                  I wanted to convince myself that he was just kidding, that he wouldn’t really order extra mushrooms. Plus, it was a lame joke, right? I mean what was with him and taking