“I know that was for show. But we slept on that stupid couch together and you…well, you know! I know it was because of me and being sexually frustrated and…oh, my God, I don’t know. The freaking pasta and there was something in the air.”
He tried to speak again but I was on a rant now. “I felt cooped up and then we surfed and, Bastian, you were decent at failing out on that board. And then I thought I wanted to tell you stuff about my family, and normally I would have just done it because we know I just do everything, but I didn’t. That’s a large sign something’s off for me.”
He stared at me. “So you kissed me?”
“It wasn’t a good idea!” I threw my hands out and beelined to the fridge and reached on top of it for my lighter. I needed a scent in the air to calm myself down or something. “But I’m just here and you’re here and I keep thinking, well, I can go to the food truck and work and get away from you, but if I go to the food truck, is a mobster going to come there and ransack it? And if I go surfing is someone going to drown me if you’re not there? I know that sounds ludicrous but, well, is it?”
He stared at me like he was waiting for me to work it all out for myself.
I leaned in and whispered, “Those stocks are worth a ton of money, Bastian. Millions.”
“Yes, Morina. How do you think your grandmother had the majority vote? With thousands of dollars’ worth?”
“Well, okay, in my defense, I didn’t think she had any vote until the day of the will hearing.” I wanted to smack him for being logical. “And then I guess I just didn’t put two and two together. I–”
“You avoided it because the idea scared you.”
“Don’t say that like it's what I do all the time. I do everything and anything. I go with the flow.”
“Until you’re scared of the flow.”
“I resent that statement because I’m doing this fake marriage stupid plan with you even though it scares the ever living hell out of me. My gut said no. I usually go with my gut. And can I just say, it hasn’t been a walk in the park, okay? I just…you were gone and I felt alone and now you’re here and it feels like you’re everywhere. You’re just everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You’re in my space with your food and your voice and your body everywhere and I had a very healthy sex life with Bradley and guys that were–”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” His jaw was granite, sharp edged and flexed. “I don’t need to know about your sexual history, Mo.” He sounded mad, and maybe even a little disgusted.
“Well, I’m just trying to explain. Normally, Bradley comes over or I go out. Thisisa tourist town, mostly. Men want a fling and I enjoy–”
“Stop.” It was yet another time I heard more emotion in his voice than his usual stoic persona. He pulled at the collar of his shirt and then rubbed his forehead. “Maybe you need an outlet.”
I narrowed my eyes. What he could possibly mean by that? Didhewant to be the outlet?
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. I considered grabbing it while he went down on me and was immediately okay with the idea of him stepping in for a roll in the hay.
“I’m serious,” he grumbled. “I can’t have you around me ready to go all the time without delivering on it.”
What a dick!I glared at him as I set a hand on my hip, ready to give him hell.
He covered my mouth before he leaned in, taking a step closer. Suddenly we were chest to chest, body to body. I had to look up to meet his eyes. My embarrassment at his words deteriorated as I felt the length of him against my stomach. He was long, thick, and rock hard.
He whispered in my ear as he retracted his hand, “Maybe I need an outlet too, okay?”
I bit my lip to keep myself from doing something stupid again. He was so close. I breathed in while he breathed out. Both of us were fighting an attraction we really didn’t need.
Especially when his attraction was probably only because I was a warm woman who’d come on to him.
His allies and his business associates came first. He lived his life based on rules and I lived mine on desire. We were a match made in hell. Tonight, when I lit my candles, I’d remind my grandma of her terrible matchmaking skills.
He took a deep breath and in turn my chest rose with my own inhale. His pupils dilated as he glanced down. My shirt left little to the imagination while his dick twitching against my stomach had my imagination running wild.
He picked at one of my tangled waves. “I guess no one really knows what’s going on.”
He mulled it over and I watched how he tried to remain completely professional. He dropped my hair and stuck his hands in his pockets. “It could work. You’ve been in and out of the penthouse. We’ve had a whirlwind relationship so the tabloids have said. Let’s draw attention by attending the gala separately and you do what you want beforehand.”
“Okay.” I drew out the word, frustrated that he was distancing himself rather than just fucking me on the countertop.
If he was willing to go and discreetly do something with other people, we could go ahead and really cause a scene. I glared at him. “Why don’t we just actually go to the event with whoever we like? You can get your fix, and I can get mine. I’ll take Bradley.”
His face hardened. “Bradley?” Did he feel the frustration too all of a sudden? He cleared his throat and his features. “If that’s what you want to do.”