“I’ll walk you.”
“If you say so.” We walk in silence but then I wonder if I should make small talk. I can’t be weird—or weirder—if I keep my mouth shut. That sounds like a solid plan. Too bad I don’t do it. “How come your family hasn’t selected a wife for you?” He lifts a brow as he cocks his head my way.
“How come your parents aren’t taking offers for you to get married?”
“What?” His question completely catches me off guard. I once again stop walking. “They aren’t? How do you know that?”
“Just heard people talk.” He shrugs absently.
“About me?” Panic starts to rise again.
“I mean, I’m sure you got a lot of offers before they shut it down. People are going to talk if they pretty much put out a blanket statement that they’re not entertaining them. You didn’t know?” I shake my head. “Probably because you’re in school.” He grabs my hand and pulls me to start walking again.
“You’re holding my hand.”
“Yeah, I kind of knew that when I grabbed it.”
“Right,” I say absently. My mind is still whirling from everything he said. He thinks I’ve gotten a lot of offers? Was it because Mom decided I should go to college? They didn’t make Amelia, but maybe that has something to do with Felipe.
It’s not until we’re at my door that I realize we’ve walked the rest of the way here without saying a word.
“I was an asshole, Mara. Let me make it up to you.”
“Why? You don’t like me.”
“I never said that,” he growls. Something about the sound sends heat rushing through my body and settling between my thighs.
“You said to stay away from you.” He releases my hand and runs it down his face. I think he’s flustered, and I understand that. Though I don’t think I look as charming as he does when I’m jumbled up.
“You want to know why I pushed you away, Mara?” He steps into me, and when I go to back up, I don’t get far before I’m pressed against my door.
“Yes.” My voice comes out breathy, and he licks his lips. When his eyes go to my mouth, I feel that heat between my thighs again.
“Then agree to let me make you dinner tonight.”
“Then you’ll tell me?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, dinner,” I agree.
He begins to smile, and I really don’t understand. Why does he want to have dinner with me so badly? And why is he trying to make it up to me? Maybe he doesn’t really dislike me.
“Because I was hard.”
“Hard?” I ponder his words, not understanding.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re adorably sexy when you get that confused expression on your face?”
“Never.” I shake my head. Wait. Is he saying that I look adorably sexy?
“When your lush little body ran into mine, I got an erection.” He steps into me more until his big body is flush to mine. I can’t think with him pressed against me. “I got hard.” He leans down, and his mouth brushes mine. “Like I am right now.”
“River,” I gasp when I feel exactly what he’s talking about pressing into my stomach.
“Dinner. Tonight, sweets.” He steps back suddenly, taking all the warmth with him.
“Sweets?”
“You still smell damn sweet,” he says before he turns, taking the stairs up to his place.
My eyes flick to the elevator. I’d been so lost in everything, I rode it without even a thought.
What the heck did River just do to me?