Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
“Marrying her wasn’t an option.” Mainly since I’d kicked her out of our shared penthouse stark naked on the day our engagement had fallen apart, then filed a restraining order against her when she continuously found her way to my door, begging for forgiveness.
“You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?” Dallas slanted her lovely face upward, blinking with those dark, curly lashes that made her look like a Disney animal.
Denial settled on the tip of my tongue before I realized that, if I said yes, I’d spare Shortbread from heartbreak when I eventually got rid of her. Already, her body was too attuned to mine. Beneath the rebellious streak was a young woman capable of great love. Love I certainly wouldn’t return. It was better to establish we’d be nothing but a business transaction.
“Yes,” I heard myself say. It was the first time in years that actual laughter gathered in my throat. Me. In love with Morgan. I had more sympathy for the devil.
Dallas’s throat bobbed. She nodded, gathering her dress and standing.
“What about you?” I asked. “Does Madison have your heart?”
This was what Frankie had claimed. I’d been meaning to sniff around the subject. Not because I cared, but because I needed to know if I should monitor her. Just because I didn’t have feelings toward her didn’t mean I was receptive to a scandal that would rock D.C. to its core.
She paused at the door, her back to me. “Your co-worker and his wife are getting on my last nerve.” She ignored my question. “I would like to go home in the next ten minutes.”
I would’ve pushed her about Madison, but I simply couldn’t find it in me to muster the curiosity.
“I’ll call Jared.”
Chapter Twenty
Dallas
At the very least, I could rest easy knowing my husband’s lack of civility extended to others, too. Jared pulled in front of the mansion near midnight. My future husband unfastened his seat belt, his face still buried in his phone screen, reading an article on Forbes Money.
“Jared,” Romeo snarled, touching the door handle. “Stick around. I’ll head to the penthouse in about an hour.”
No please. No thank you. And, I realized, this poor excuse for a man, who had just confessed to being in love with his ex, expected me to perform oral sex on him before he retired to his bachelor pad. As a reward for my good behavior, no less. I could inform him he was wrong … or I could teach him I was more than an innocent little fawn and scare him off until the wedding. For the first time in my life, I chose education.
We made our way to the door. Silence hummed between us like a dramatic backing track. He opened it, letting me walk in first. “Your posture was weak, but otherwise, you performed well.” His version of a compliment, I guessed. No wonder Morgan had dumped him. The man was as warm as Uranus.
I kept silent, focused on storming up to my room without stabbing him. A win in my book. He followed one step behind.
“Actually.” I turned, placing a hand on his chest. His pecs flexed beneath his Eton dress shirt. He appeared mildly aware of my existence for a change. “Could you bring some whipped cream from downstairs?” I bit my bottom lip. “I’ve always had this fantasy …”
His expression clouded. “No.”
“Romeo, O, Romeo.” I knotted my arms over his shoulders, pressing my body against his. He was hard everywhere. And I meant everywhere. Poor Morgan might’ve had his heart, but his cock, it appeared, was community property. “That’s my dream.”
He peeled my arms off him. “Find a better one.”
Plastering on my longing, purest gaze that always got Daddy to bend for my will, I whispered, “It’s my first … experience.” That seemed to do the trick.
“It might just be your last if you continue acting like a brat.” He turned, trampling his way down to the kitchen. Holy crap. He was doing it. Momma was right. Men are more basic than a little black dress.
I hurried to my room, slipping into a soft-pink lingerie nightgown with crisscross satin bows wrapped around my chest. Thank you, Cara, for pimping my ride. Romeo appeared a few minutes later, a whipped cream can in his hand. It was beyond comical to see the most stuck-up, serious man I’d ever come across holding something so … random.
His eyes raked down my body. “Cara bought you this?”
“Yes.” I forced out a smile. “Do you like it?”
“I’ll like it more when it’s in tatters on the floor.” He pushed the whipped cream into my hands. “On your knees. Now, Miss Townsend.”
“Can you … get undressed first?” I swallowed, feigning shyness. “I’ve never been completely naked in front of a man before.”
“Full nudity won’t be necessary for what I have in mind for you.”