Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Marco choked on his coffee and took a moment to regain his composure. “You are kidding, right?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “I don’t even know him enough to know what he is capable of. He led me to believe he was paying attention and interested in what I like. He even arranged this incredible lunch for us at the Met and was asking all the right questions. I thought he cared. Then I found out that he had his assistant make a file on me and is having me followed and under surveillance. He didn’t do any of it, his assistant did.”
“Is that normal in your world?” he asked.
“No, having your intended stalked is not okay. When I found the dossier on me, I was livid, and when he sees the next report on me, I want him to be just as angry.”
“You are intentionally pissing off one of the most powerful men in the country. A man you are going to be legally bound to till expensive lawyers do you part?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Yes.”
“And you are putting me in his crosshairs, too,” he pointed out.
I felt a little guilty about that, but I was pretty sure that once Mr. Manchild did his digging into Marco and found out I wasn’t his preferred body type, he would leave Marco alone.
“I want to see if he will care.” I sat back and took a sip of my coffee.
“Then let’s turn this fire up a bit, shall we?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’m going to use everything I have learned in every acting class I have slept through. I will channel my inner straight man, and we’re going to be disgustingly cute and in love.”
He made a face, and I couldn’t help the giggles that poured out of me. He grabbed my chair and pulled it around the small table so I was sitting next to him so he could lean and whisper into my ear, “This is so weird.”
I laughed again as he put his arm around me and pulled me in closer.
“Is pretending to find me attractive that much of a struggle?” I teased.
“Shhh, in my mind you are six-two with broad shoulders, a great ass, and a gigantic cock.”
I shook with laughter as I leaned into his embrace.
His body was warm and comforting, and Marco was very handsome, but I didn’t feel the same undeniable pull I did with Mr. Manchild.
Marco’s touch didn’t cause a fire to race through my veins or heat to flood my core. My body didn’t ache for him. Instead, he made me feel safe, protected, but the same way Harrison made me feel when he hugged me when I was little. It was a brotherly embrace, which was good, but not what I felt with Luc.
I hated that Luc was the only man who had ever made me feel like that.
“My friend,” he said under his breath, all but whispering in my ear. “If we are going to sell this, you have to look like you are at least enjoying my extremely awkward and unpracticed displays of affection.”
I turned to face him, pressing my forehead to his. “Sorry, I just thought of him for a second, but now I am back in this moment with you.”
“Good, because I need you to answer a very important question for me.” His hand reached up to caress my cheek before moving down to my leg. He slid his fingers under the hem of my dress, not inappropriately high, but high enough to imply intimacy.
“Anything.”
“What is the point of a man touching a woman’s thigh? If you were a dude, I’d be trying to figure out how big your dick is… but…”
I laughed so hard I had to sit back in my chair.
“There, that’s the smile we need to sell this.” He grinned at me, and I could feel my face heating as I turned a little red. “Now hold on to that and tell me what’s the real reason we are doing this. This can’t be just to make him mad. What do you want to happen here?”
That question hit harder than I expected.
I grabbed my coffee and took a sip to give myself a moment to think.
What did I want to happen? Did I want to make him jealous?
Would he even be jealous? He would be mad.
What I didn’t know was if he would be mad because another man had his hands on me, or just territorial because another man was touching what he thought was his.
Or did I just want to show him I had options, or maybe prove to myself I had some power over him?
Honestly, I wasn’t sure. Maybe if he thought I was with other men, he wouldn’t want to marry me.
He knew he was the first to have sex with me, but maybe if he thought my heart belonged to another or if he thought I was willing to let another man inside me since my virginity was now long gone, maybe I could get him to call off the wedding.