‘Yes,’ she said, because she was, even though the thought of having to leave him tomorrow was crucifying her.
She rolled over and sat up, gathering the torn bodice of her dress, feeling suddenly defenceless. Scared to look at him. Scared not to.
‘I damaged your beautiful gown,’ he said. ‘Can it be repaired?’
‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘I can make another. I like to do it,’ she added, because he looked a little dazed. She knew the feeling. How could the sex be so powerful, so overwhelming, so right, when everything else seemed so wrong?
He nodded. ‘We will talk tomorrow morning. And work this disagreement out,’ he said.
The sadness settled back over her body, dispelling the golden glow of the orgasms he’d given her. But she nodded. Prepared to pretend she believed it.
‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ he said.
‘Yes,’ she said.
She wanted to snag his wrist, to ask him to stay, to sleep with her, to hold her, just this once, but she knew that indulgence would only make tomorrow harder.
So instead she watched him leave the room. Then dropped back on the bed and blinked furiously, to stop the tears she wanted to shed from falling.
Their marriage had been legal for approximately three hours. And already it felt so much more real than it should. Which was why she couldn’t give in and accept the money.
She had to preserve her independence, and this was the only way she could think of to do it, because it would be far, far too easy to surrender everything to this man. Not just her body, but also her soul.
While all the time knowing he would never be willing to surrender more than his body in return.
CHAPTER NINE
FEVERISH THOUGHTS CIRCLED Ally’s brain as she showered and dressed the next morning. It was past nine o’clock when she stepped into the apartment’s living room feeling as if she were about to step into the abyss.
Dominic sat at the breakfast bar eating a bagel and scrolling through what she suspected were market reports on his phone.
He put the bagel down and wiped his mouth when he spotted her.
‘Bonjour, Alison.’
She drew in a breath and forced herself to walk towards him. Even dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, his feet bare and his damp hair slicked back from his forehead, he looked indomitable and unreachable.
Her heart sank. She’d gone over all the possible solutions she could think of to their problem and she couldn’t see one. She couldn’t take the money, and Dominic would not accept her refusal.
‘Don’t look so worried,’ he murmured as he held out his hand. ‘I have an idea that will satisfy me and I hope will also satisfy you.’
She placed her fingers in his palm, felt the familiar fris
son of electricity as he grasped her hand and directed her to the stool next to him.
‘I still can’t accept the money,’ she said, scared that his solution would involve going over the same ground as yesterday.
‘And I cannot accept leaving you destitute when we part.’
She wouldn’t be destitute, but it was pointless arguing about it once more.
‘Then we’re at an impasse.’ She blinked furiously, pathetically close to tears, again. Why was she about to cry?
His intransigence, his unwillingness to bend on a point that was so important to her, surely proved this arrangement had always been doomed to failure.
‘Not necessarily.’ His lips curved in a persuasive smile. ‘How about, rather than giving you a million pounds at the end of this marriage, I invest in your business instead?’
‘What business?’ she asked, completely nonplussed.