“Hey…” I whisper, my thumbs brush the tears beading in the corners of her eyes. “Don’t.”
She turns her head away. “I’m fine.”
She speaks in the same way my mouth autocorrects what I really want to say because it’s easier to say “fine” than the truth and most people aren’t all that interested in the complicated reality. “No, you’re not.”
She sniffles once, then faces me, her eyebrows raised. “You know how I feel better than I do? Why did you bother to ask then?”
“Because…” I bite back a curse. I want to fix it, but I know I’m the center of the problem. “Come on. Let’s take a nap. Neither of us slept well last night, I imagine.” I need the tactile reassurance of holding her in my arms. Even though I just had her, can feel her in my arms now, the fear that she’s going to vanish cuts through me like a knife.
She shakes her head. “You go ahead. I need to check up on Nonny.” She pulls away, her head held high.
I tense, ready to lunge and grab her. My mind abruptly flashes to last night. I had my hand around her wrist, and she told me I was hurting her. And that pulls another memory—that of Annabelle Underhill’s bruised arm.
I press the heels of my palms against my eyes. My wife is moving quietly, her bare feet barely making any noise. But I sense it the moment she leaves the bedroom. That vibrant charge is gone, and my skin no longer prickles with awareness. Suddenly the air seems colder.
My lips part as I let out a sigh. I’ve screwed up. I’m smart enough to know that. I’m also smart enough to know that if it hadn’t been for the need to provide for her sister, she would never have accepted my proposition.
A chill slithers over my skin, making me shiver. When I first made her the offer, I was content with our deal. Money for the pleasure of her body. But now I’m craving more. I want her smile, her nearness.
But money won’t be enough for either, and I don’t know that I have anything to offer except making her come until she sees stars. Looking at the cool emptiness next to me in bed, it’s clear that that, too, is woefully insufficient.
Chapter Three
Annabelle
Thankfully Nonny recovers from her spiked punch without any problem. She’s young, resilient, and I should’ve known she’d be fine…even if I myself couldn’t stay calm. I notice signs that she hasn’t been sleeping well, but that most likely has nothing to do with the alcohol. Nonny sometimes suffers from insomnia when she’s fretting about something, and my guess is that she’s unhappy about not really meeting Ryder Reed. She leaves for school on Monday after giving me a tight hug. She loves the new school and her new classmates. The kids are cool—much more inclusive—and it’s a huge relief that she’s fitting in. One less thing I need to worry about.
Elliot is in his office, probably on some massively impo
rtant business call. I let out a shaky breath. My inner muscles are sore. He and I haven’t been talking since that morning sex, but he comes to me every night and takes me with almost violent single-mindedness until I come over and over again and my head is empty of everything except the pleasure flooding my body. Just thinking about it makes me clench, and not only with heat. There’s something more.
Earlier this morning, he buried his face between my legs and gave me four toe-curling orgasms before taking his pleasure from my boneless body. The kiss he gave me afterward was so tender, the backs of his fingers brushing against my cheek with such sweet reverence, tears prickled my eyes as my heart ached.
But even as I crave the way he makes me feel, a small part of me is cold with apprehension. It’s as though he knows I’m trying to rebuild the wall around myself, and he’s doing everything in his power to stop me.
We both signed the contract. It is only two pages long, and we both understood what we were getting. So why do I have a feeling that neither of us wants what we originally agreed to?
It’s too early for me to leave for my meeting with Dennis. I look over the calendar. I need to redo the dinner. It’s Elliot’s and my first event as a couple, and I want it to go well…even if it will be for the second time. And this time, Tiffany will not be invited. Maybe I’m being harsh, but I just can’t bring her back here. She didn’t look the slightest bit sorry when she left. She was more upset about me asking her to leave than the fact that Nonny had passed out.
The second time is just as overwhelming as the first. I can’t recycle the menu or invitations from before, which means I have to come up with something new. I just don’t have the experience for something like this, and I don’t want to bother Elliot.
I scroll through the contact list on my phone. Josephine Martinez is a fashion person, and I doubt she’d know or have the time. She’s probably busy spending some of her clients’ money at a fancy boutique, turning another drab girl into a fairy tale princess. My former best friend Traci Burton… She might’ve gotten over my father’s role in destroying her family’s finances, but she probably wouldn’t answer my call. Even if she did, she knows about as much about high society dinner planning as I do.
My gaze lands on Elizabeth. I got her number earlier when she texted me her RSVP to the original dinner. She would definitely know everything, but it seems a bit presumptuous to call her. Although she’s always been kind to me and Nonny, I don’t really know her that well. On the other hand, I owe her an apology for the way I lost it at the previous dinner.
Before I can stop myself, I dial her number. As the phone rings, I bite my lower lip.
What am I doing? Elizabeth is only kind because that’s expected, not because she likes me. She probably thinks badly of me now after that scene.
I hit the red button before she picks up.
My phone rings a minute later. I close my eyes briefly. It’s Elizabeth, and of course I can’t ignore her call without being a jerk. “Hello?”
“Hi, Gigi. This is Elizabeth. Did you call? I’m sorry I missed it.”
“Um, yeah…” I clear my throat. “Sorry. I was trying to call someone else, but I pressed the wrong button.”
A short silence. “I see. Listen, I’m in downtown. Do you have time for coffee?”